Six biochemistry majors devote summer to research as Langford-Yates Research Fellows
While summer is often a time when academic communities across the nation gear down to prepare for the upcoming school year, a group of six Lipscomb biochemistry students are hard at work, immersed in research as the 2021 Langford-Yates Summer Research Fellows.
Office of Public Relations & Communications |
The 2021 Langford-Yates Summer Research Fellows are, from left to right, Madeleine Phan, Matthew Khalil, Pedro Gallardo, Markous Boushra, Alexus Brown and Beth Nguyen.
Alexus Brown, Markous Boushra, Pedro Galhordo, Matthew Khalil, Beth Nguyen and Madeleine Phan each received a stipend to conduct scientific research accompanied by Lipscomb faculty this summer as part of the Langford-Yates Summer Research Fellowships program. These students received the fellowship after submitting research proposals that went through a thorough adjudication process by a selection committee.
Each year, Lipscomb University’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences awards summer research fellowships to select biology, chemistry and biochemistry undergraduates from the Langford-Yates Endowment for the Advancement of Science. These fellowships enable students to stay on campus over the summer and engage in research with a principal investigator.
Research is a vital component of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, which also organizes the university-wide annual Student Scholars Symposium that showcases the research of more than 300 student scholars each year.
“Undergraduate research has been highly documented as one of the most important ‘high impact educational practices’ that should be available to students,” said David Holmes, dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. “Our college values student research, especially faculty-mentored undergraduate student research and creativity. I’m so proud and honored to work with outstanding CLAS faculty who are passionate about mentoring undergraduate students. I am proud of this year’s class of Langford-Yates Research Fellows and of the high quality of their research proposals and projects.”
The 2021 Langford-Yates Summer Research Fellowships and research initiatives are:
Matthew Khalil
Senior, biochemistry major
Project title: Development of a Micro-Plasma Collection Card Method for Intestinal Permeability Assays
Faculty Mentor: Matt Vergne, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences and director of the Bioanalytical Core Laboratory at Lipscomb University
Alexus Brown
Junior, biochemistry major
Project title: Isolation of FimH for Analysis of Adhesin’s Surface Energy
Faculty Mentor: Brian Cavitt, professor of chemistry
Markous Boushra
Senior, biochemistry major
Project title: Extraction and Measurement of Catechins from Herbal Tea
Faculty Mentor: Stephen Opoku-Duah, associate professor of chemistry
Pedro Galhardo
Senior, biochemistry major
Project title: Surface Energy Profiling of PapG and PapF
Faculty Mentor: Brian Cavitt, professor of chemistry
Beth Nguyen
Senior, biochemistry major
Project title: Multistep Synthesis and Binding of Organic Dyes
Faculty Mentor: Brian Cavitt, professor of chemistry
Madeleine Phan
Senior, biochemistry major
Project title: The Isolation of Bacterial Fimbrae Protein, Fim A, for Further Analysis of Surface Energies and Adhesion
Faculty Mentor: Brian Cavitt, professor of chemistry
“The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Lipscomb celebrates excellence in student engagement through research and creativity. Engaging undergraduate students in research and scholarly activity makes them partners in creating knowledge,” said Florah Mhlanga, associate dean of the college and professor of biology. “In fact, students learn best when they are engaged in hands-on experiences in which they are invested. As a college of liberal arts and sciences, we believe that the essence of undergraduate research is in creating a supportive, encouraging and intellectual partnership between mentor and student through which the student experiences the process of theory testing, skill application, decision making, data analysis and, ultimately, new knowledge acquisition in a meaningful context. We are proud of these students and of their research efforts.”
The Langford-Yates Summer Fellowships are funded by distributions from the Langford-Yates Endowment for the Advancement of Science, which was established at Lipscomb in 2007 by Judith B. Duncan (’59) and the late Thomas R. Duncan, M.D. Duncan, a radiologist, served for 12 years on the university’s Board of Trustees. The Duncans established the endowment in honor of Paul Langford, longtime chemistry professor and department chair, and the late Oliver Yates, longtime biology professor and department chair.
Langford joined the Lipscomb faculty in 1962 as an assistant professor of chemistry. He was later appointed associate professor and served as the chairman of the chemistry department from 1980 through 1993. He also served as the premedical committee chair. During Langford’s tenure as chairman of that committee, medical school acceptances stayed well above the national average. Langford’s dedication assisted many students in entering medical, dental, pharmacy, veterinary, nursing, optometry, podiatry, chiropractic, physical therapy and other allied health programs. Though he retired in 1995, Langford served the university for a number of years following that by helping to recruit premed students who express an interest in university programs.
Yates joined the Lipscomb faculty in 1957. He served as chairman of the biology department from 1972 through 1993 and was on faculty at Lipscomb for 54 years. Yates is known nationally for his research into paraganglioma, a tumor of neurological tissue which produces tremendous negative effects on the nervous system upon removal. Yates has helped in the development of the pharmacology and treatment of patients who have had such tumors removed.
The largest of Lipscomb’s 10 colleges, Lipscomb’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences offers a variety of academic programs in the humanities, social sciences, physical sciences and mathematics that provides every student with the fundamental core to the university’s Christian liberal arts curriculum. Rigorous academics combined with hands-on learning and practical experiences enhance students’ critical-thinking skills and allows them to explore their passions further. Learn more at www.lipscomb.edu/arts-sciences.