Student Projects

My graduate work is on the microRNA, miR-10 and it’s role in the wound signaling response and outcome in larval zebrafish. I intend to do this by performing miR-10 overexpression, miR-10 knockdown, and rescue experiments during larval zebrafish caudal-fin regeneration. I’m also performing knockdown of miR-10 in a variety of transgenic lines to better understand the role of miR-10 during the healing process. Specifically, looking at innate immune response, proliferation and cell death, vimentin expression, and wound healing projection formations.

I am currently working on a project focusing on the immunomodulatory effect of cancer cell line derived microvesicles in transgenic zebrafish. Through this research we will determine the effect of cancer-microvesicles on the recruitment and resolution of innate immune cells such as neutrophils and macrophages. This project is being supported by the Scheidemantel fund for undergraduate research.

At this time I am working to establish a tissue regeneration model using larval burbot. Burbot are a freshwater fish that call Lake Superior home. Interestingly, they live in, and mate, in extremely cold water (near freezing!) The purpose of this study is to look into how cold temperatures affect burbot wound healing, and to see how changes in temperature influence the healing process.