CSC represented at INBRE conference

CSC student Emmanuella Tchona and CSC alumna Dr. Nisha Durand gave presentations, while alumna Isioma Akwanamnye was honored with the James Turpen INBRE Scholar Award. Professor Dr. Ann Buchmann, mentor of the INBRE students, also attended the conference.

Although CSC student Joshua Kruse conducted summer research as an INBRE student, he was unable to present at the conference.

Tchona gave a presentation about her research seeking an effective treatment of Schistosomiasis, a disease caused by a parasitic worm that affects 250 million people.

She said one-eighth of the world population is at risk of infection and there is only one cure available, Praziquantel, which has several shortcomings.

“Praziquantel is rarely curative, has a short half-life, and is only effective against the younger developmental stage of the worm,” she said.

Her research this summer focused on developing a compound effective against developmental stages of the parasite (young and adult), is curative, and has a reasonable half-life, or time that it is effective.

Tchona said the INBRE summer program was crucial to learning more about research and graduate life.

“It is something I will recommend to all science students regardless of whether they want to obtain a PhD or not. There are other options. Everything you have learned in your preparatory classes will make sense and you will see the direct application of science. You will learn critical thinking and the beauty of failure. I one hundred percent recommend INBRE,” Tchona said.

Durand presented about Becoming a Cellular Therapy Process Development Scientist. She explained her work developing cultured cells for use in clinical therapies at the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the Mayo Clinic and about her journey from Dominica to a science career in the U.S.

She is the Principal Research Technologist and Operations Manager at the Human Cellular Therapy Lab-Center for Regenerative Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Florida. She is responsible for developing processes and techniques in support of all phases of cellular product development, and stem cell production in support of Phase I clinical trials.

Durand graduated from CSC with a bachelor’s in Human Biology in 2012 and went on to earn a doctorate in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 2017.

Akwanamnye received the James Turpen INBRE scholar award in recognition of her dedication and research efforts.

“Receiving the award is a great feeling. Dr. Buchmann has been a supporting teacher and mentor, trusting me to work on the project for the past two years and patiently troubleshooting any problems with the project with me. I wouldn’t be who or where I am without my mentors who have taken the time to teach me and help me grow into the person I am today,” Akwanamnye said.

Akwanamnye joined the INBRE program in April 2020 during the pandemic. She said she was able to conduct meaningful research with Buchmann, working on a Triple-negative breast cancer project with fellow CSC student Lelisse Umeta.

Akwanamnye will attend graduate school at Case Western University working on cancer immunotherapy. Eventually, she plans to return to her native Nigeria to help improve scientific research there.

Buchmann said Akwanamnye is smart, dedicated, enthusiastic, and hard-working.

“She has the desire and drive to make a real difference in the scientific world both here and in Nigeria,” Buchmann said.

Buchmann said it is a privilege to watch her students grow into confident professionals in scientific fields.