NIC students present biomedical research during conference
Several North Idaho College students recently presented their research during the sixth-annual Idaho Idea Network of Biomedical Research Excellence research conference at the University of Idaho.
The students presented research posters, which are visual representations of the research the students completed.
Representing North Idaho College, Emily Crawford and Tiffany Hansen Keefer, both of Coeur d’Alene, Kelly Kee of Boise, and Christopher Strain of Rathdrum participated in the Idaho Idea Network’s Scholars Program, a two-week research program.
The students worked with Juliette Tinker and graduate student Chadwick Davis at Boise State University on a project involving use of the cholera toxin from Vibrio cholerae bacteria to elicit a mucosal response for possible vaccine production against Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of the black plague.
Veronica Hendricks of St. Maries completed a fellowship with Julia Oxford and Bill Knowlton at Boise State University through the Idaho Idea Network’s Fellows Program. Hendricks was one of 32 students selected statewide for a 10-week fellowship.
She received $200 for winning second place in the poster contest with her research poster, “Characterization of Collagen Type I Nanowire for Use in Biomolecular Sensor.”
Former NIC student Dan Gingrich of Whitehouse, Ohio, now a senior microbiology major at the University of Idaho, also completed a fellowship through the Fellows Program.
His research utilized a nucleosteminlike protein involved in floral organ development in the plant Arabidopsis.
Hendricks also participated in the Idaho Idea Network’s internship program, which provides students with 400 hours of experience on real research projects in laboratories throughout the region.
She interned at Accurate Testing Laboratory and presented a poster titled, “Water Quality Analysis,” related to her research.
Other students presenting posters on their participation in the internship program included:
“Machele Gonzalez of Post Falls, who interned at Kootenai Medical Center and presented a poster titled, “Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Identification and Rates at KMC.”
“Tom Croschere of Coeur d’Alene, who interned at Coeur d’Alene Cellars and presented “Wine Analysis: Quality and Regulation” based on his research.
“Christin Winniford of Spirit Lake, who also interned at Coeur d’Alene Cellars and presented a poster titled, “The Science Behind It: Wine.”
“Katherine Zebedeo of Post Falls, who researched jointly with the University of Idaho’s Biosensors and Nanotechnologies Applications Laboratory and Blue Water Technologies on “Disinfection of Secondary Effluent Using Advanced Oxidation and Filtration.”
Idaho Idea Network of Biomedical Research Excellence, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is designed to give undergraduate students an opportunity to gain research experience in biomedical science.
The research conference was sponsored by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.