26 Apr 2019

Effects of Keytruda Plus Chemotherapy on Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Tumor Growth and Overall Survival Rate

Karlie Marlow '19

Traditional first line therapy for non-small-cell lung cancer that does not have a targetable mutation is a platinum based chemotherapy. Patents that have a programed death ligand 1 tumor score of 50% or greater there is a significant drop in overall survival rate. The hypothesis that was being tested was the addition of Keytruda to chemotherapy would result in a greater overall and progression free survival. This was tested by a double blind test were 616 patients were randomly assigned the Keytruda + chemotherapy, or the placebo + chemotherapy treatments. They needed to have a confirmed NSCLC tumor with no sensitizing EGFR or ALK mutations. 200 mg of chemotherapy was done every 3 weeks for 4 cycles, followed up by 35 cycles of Keytruda, or placebo. The results were measured by overall survival, and progression free survival as the primary end points. Results show the addition of Keytruda to chemotherapy has produced significantly higher response rates, and progression free survival. The median follow up was 10.5 months with a 12 month overall survival of 69.2% in the Keytruda + chemotherapy group and 49.4% in the placebo + chemotherapy group. The median progression free survival was 8.8 months in the Keytruda + chemotherapy group, and 4.9 months in the placebo + chemotherapy group. Improvement in overall survival was observed in all PD-L1 categories, with the greatest improvement seen in those with a PD-L1 score of 50% or greater

Young blood reverses age-related impairments in cognitive function and synaptic plasticity in mice

Jojo York '19

As we get older the chances of us developing and suffering from a cognitive disorder become increasingly higher. Some examples of these age related disorders include dementia and Alzheimers. The elder community and us as well, are at risk for experiencing these declines in cognitive ability and so it is important to find ways to counteract these aging processes. The objective for this experiment is to determine if young blood can counteract aging of our brains and rejuvenate our cognitive processes like spatial learning and memory. Parabionts - connection of circulatory systems - was conducted between a young and aged mouse to be able to find gene expression profiles and signaling pathways to observe the benefits of young blood. To test the effects of receiving young blood, contextual fear condition and spatial learning and memory were performed. It was found that due to the activation of the hippocampuses cyclic AMP response element binding protein called Creb, spatial learning and memory were enhanced in aged mice that were receiving young blood which in turn improved cognitive function. Two strategies were determined from this experiment, the first being that transferring ‘youthful’ elements of young blood to aged individuals can reverse age related cognitive problems, and second is that revoking pro-aging factors from ones aged blood can also reverse these impairments.

Tracking Antibiotic Resistance Genes and Total Resistance Through the Mississippi River

Jordan Wik '19

Antibiotics are one of the great medical advancements of the modern era but bacterial resistance to antibiotics has been a growing problem over the last 50 years. In 2013, the CDC released a report that in the United States alone, two million people developed antibiotic resistant infections and at least 23,000 people will die each year. The report also identified that there were gaps in knowledge and in my proposal I plan to fill one of those gaps. My proposal will try to understand the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes between sedimentary and aquatic systems and their impact on overall resistance in the Mississippi River. I will be performing qualitative PCR to track antibiotic resistance genes through the length of the Mississippi River which are transferred from the sediment reservoir to the water through plasmids. I will also be tracking percent resistance of the bacteria at the same sites PCR will be done. Samples will be taken from upstream and downstream from urban locations along the river to gain an understanding of the entire system. I expect that my results will show that antibiotic resistance will increase along the length of Mississippi River. They will also show that ARGs transfer between the sediment of the river and the bacteria in the water system.