Renz Research Projects
Past Projects
Tim Renz has always been a student-centered instructor. Back in the early days, each of his General Biology students would end the year with an Independent Research Project. Students explored a wide variety of topics, from the effects of microgravity on lung tissue, to effects of second-hand smoke on fetal development in mice. Mr. Renz's focus on biotech started with his first lab research opportunity at Seattle Biomed in the summers of 2013 and 2014 working on the binding mechanisms of infected red blood cells and cerebral malaria. More recently, Mr. Renz had the opportunity to work in two different research labs at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, working in an immunology lab in 2019 and in an evolutionary biology lab in 2021.
Current Projects
Current projects include work with the UW Genome Sciences yeast evolution project including in-house genome sequencing, a student directed Gut Biome genome sequencing project, and starting a student run Biotech business (Bulldog Biotech) focusing on the production of strains of C. elegans and the plates needed to culture them.
The next step in the continued development of the Biotech program is to have students doing Independent Biotech Advanced Research (iBAR) work, circling back to independent student research projects.
Personal
Mr. Renz has been in the Tukwila School District since it was called the South Central School District. He did his student teaching in the 5th Grade at Thorndyke Elementary School with Mr. Jack Skeel during the 1989-1990 school year. He was then hired as a 4th Grade teacher at Thorndyke Elementary School on June 5, 1990. He transferred to the Foster High School in September of 1997.
In his spare time, Mr. Renz enjoys SCUBA diving, supporting women's soccer (Go Seattle Reign!) and travelling internationally. During the summer of 2023, he was fortunate to be able to do all three at the same time travelling to watch the 2023 Women's World Cup.
Link to Resume aka Curriculum Vitae
Publications
Experimental evolution of S. cerevisiae for caffeine tolerance alters multidrug resistance and TOR signaling pathways
Renee C. Geck, Naomi G. Moresi, Leah M. Anderson, yEvo Students, Rebecca Brewer, Timothy R. Renz, M. Bryce Taylor, Maitreya J. Dunham
bioRxiv 2024.04.28.591555; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.04.28.591555Summary:
Yeast can adapt to grow in high concentrations of caffeine. In collaboration with high school students, we grew yeast in increasing concentrations of caffeine to select for ones better adapted to caffeine. We sequenced these yeast to identify mutations that promote growth in caffeine, and showed they are related to pumping caffeine out of the cell, or changing pathways within the cell that are otherwise blocked by caffeine.
Complete Paper is available on the on the bioRxiv preprint server for Biology and is titled “Experimental evolution of S. cerevisiae for caffeine tolerance alters multidrug resistance and TOR signaling pathways”
Experimental evolution of caffeine-tolerant yeast alters multidrug resistance and PP2A-like signaling pathways
We successfully evolved caffeine-tolerant clones in collaboration with high school classrooms using our yEvo protocol. The most commonly observed mutations corroborate previous findings that yeast evolved to have increased caffeine tolerance acquire different mutations than the mutation profile from other selective pressures like azole drugs.
Research completed under the guidance of Dr. Renee C. Geck of the Dunham Lab by Foster High School's Intro to Biotech class as part of the yEvo project 2022-2023 School year.
230720_PNWYC_Geck_poster.pdfDO NOT POST Final Draft Ancient domestication of an Iris-like viral envelope gene in mosquitoes and other non-dipteran insects.pdfClick to expand to see the whole poster.
Ancient domestication of an Iris-like viral envelope gene in mosquitoes and other non dipteran insects
Under the mentorship of Dr. Tamanash Bhattacharya in the Harmit S. Malik Lab at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center, an investigation looking at an Iris-like domesticated viral gene to determine when it was domesticated by mosquitos and other related insects. Also investigated were the source of the original viral gene and the possible function of the gene. Research was primarily focused on Bioinformatics, using BLAST extensively to compare gene sequences.
The Slide Deck that was used to present the results of my research to the Malik Lab can be accessed here.
Research completed as part of the Hutch Fellowship for Excellence in STEM Teaching Summer of 2021.
Neoantigen discovery in leukemia for novel immunotherapies
Under the mentorship of Kim Foster, a former student FHS c/o 2011, in the Marie Bleakley Lab at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center, an investigation looking for new antigens to use for immunotherapies. Research was primarily focused on cell culturing, cell counting and flow cytometry. First summer was intended to be used for training with the main project scheduled for the second summer. The pandemic hit, the Hutch shut down, and the mentor moved on to an Immunology PhD program at the University of Washington. The decision was made to spend the second summer in a different lab.
Research completed as part of the Hutch Fellowship for Excellence in STEM Teaching Summer of 2019.
Neoantigen discovery in Leukemia for novel immunotherapies Summer 1.pdfMessing About with Proteins The QPOE2 Way - Supplemental Grant Poster.pdfEncouraging students to pursue science careers by introducing biotechnology skills and techniques into the High School classroom
Research was done to determine if students would be more likely to pursue science careers if they were introduced to high level Biotechnology skills and techniques in the High School environment.
Research was completed as part of the Supplemental Grant associated with the M.J. Murdock's Partners in Science Program in 2015-2016.
Effects of binding mechanisms in Plasmodium falciparum on cerebral malaria
This is the slide deck used for the oral presentation of this research as presented at the Partners In Science National Conference in January of 2014. The presentation was meant to present the scientific matter in an educational model. The QPOE2 model, developed by Marty Coon as part of his doctoral thesis at the Van Andel Education Institute, was piloted by three teachers in the 2013-14 PIS cohort. Following the pilot, the QPOE2 model was implemented for all of the 2014-15 cohort of the M.J. Murdock's Charitable Trusts' Partners in Science Program. This presentation pushed the boundaries of what was considered "acceptable" for a scientific research oral presentation and was met with thunderous applause and a wealth of questions.
Research was completed as part of the M.J. Murdock's Partners in Science Program in 2013-2014.
Oral Presentation v5.pdfTim Renz PiS Regional Conference 20130809 v5 final.pdfEffects of binding mechanisms in Plasmodium falciparum on cerebral malaria
Under the mentorship of Dr. Marian Avril in the Joe Smith Lab at Seattle BioMed a two summer investigation into the different binding mechanisms that the proteins expressed in malaria infected red blood cells attach to cerebral tissues, the cause of cerebral malaria. A further investigation was done to determine if bioinformatics could be used to predict the binding mechanisms of previously undocumented proteins. Research was primarily focused on using PCR techniques, DNA and protein purification, bacterial transformation and bioinformatics.
Research was completed as part of the M.J. Murdock's Partners in Science Program in 2013-2014.
