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Marquis Scholars Mara Shainheit ’03 (Hainesport, N.J.), Erin Allison ’03 (Brewster, N.Y.), and Rachel Harris ’04 (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) are exploring potential avenues of cancer treatment this semester.
The biology majors are participating in two separate intensive research projects on anti-tumor immunity led by Robert Kurt, assistant professor of biology.
A leading cancer researcher, Kurt has received National Science Foundation and Department of Defense grants totaling more than $350,000 since 2001. Several Lafayette students conducting research with him shared their findings this year at the 78th Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science.
“Professor Kurt is a genuinely caring person who is more than willing to help his students in class or lab with any questions concerning work, or for me, my future plans after Lafayette,” says Shainheit. “I never hesitate to ask him questions about lab procedures and he is the first person who comes to mind when I have questions about applications or entrance exams, or if I just need some advice. He invites students and faculty to his home for dinner and is very supportive of extracurricular activities.”
“He’s honest, yet very optimistic, which is a quality I feel every professor should have both inside and outside the classroom,” she adds.
“He is very supportive and always available for me to ask questions and get help,” says Harris. “I’m glad to be working with him because he is very involved with his research — it means a lot to him. He enjoys working in the lab, which makes it fun for me.”
Kurt says that experiments earlier this year aimed to make cancer cells stop producing chemokines, proteins found in many of the body’s cells that play a pivotal role in the maturation of the immune system and the initiation and maintenance of an immune response.
“Because of their key role in the immune response, the aberrant expression of chemokines can have a profound effect on the ability of T cells (immune cells) to respond to antigen (substances that form antibodies),” says Kurt.
“For tumor immunity, T cells are critical because they have the ability to kill tumor cells without destroying normal tissues,” he explains. “Furthermore, once T cell immunity has been established and the threat to your body has been removed, you are left with immunological memory. This means that if the tumor comes back, your body is already prepared to handle it.
“We have found that several breast cancer cell lines produced chemokines capable of recruiting T cells. However, instead of increasing anti-tumor immunity, the tumor-derived chemokines may have prevented an effective immune response by desensitizing T-cell chemokine receptors.”
Due to the unexpected outcome of the experiments, the students are verifying those results and making sure there was no technical error.
“They’re really learning what science is like — when experiments don’t work as expected,” says Kurt. “The hypothesis is not always correct, but scientists have to take the data and figure out what it’s telling them.”
Shainheit hopes to create a carrier that will block production of the chemokine, called KC, from the cancer cells. Harris and Allison also are working on creation of a plasmid, a circle of DNA found in bacteria, to stop the production of KC in tumor cells.
“The objective is to create a retroviral vector that will serve to block the KC production of cancer cells,” says Allison. “More generally, this project has a focus on studying immunological aspects of cancer.”
Shainheit explains that KC is associated with a certain kind of immune cell, neutrophils, which swallow any kind of pathogen that enters the body. Since neutrophils aren’t well studied in connection to cancer, “this project is pretty new to the field of cancer biology,” she says.
“They’re doing very well. It’s frustrating, but that’s science,” says Kurt. “It’s opening our eyes to something new.”
Harris says she got involved with the research because “it sounded like something that had the potential to help a lot of people. Since I’d like to go into medicine, having a knowledge of cancer and research to cure it was too good for me to pass up,” she says.
“I am excited to study these aspects of biology because often we are studying areas that have not been researched extensively,” adds Allison. “I also become excited to do research related to cancer because any advances in the field may help diagnose individuals.”
Both Allison and Shainheit became interested in independent research after taking Kurt’s Immunology class as sophomores.
“I became excited about the opportunity to study a topic related to cancer research,” says Allison. “The mixture of studying immunology and aspects of cancer seemed a perfect combination for me. I plan to ultimately do cancer research through and following graduate school, and the experience of working with Dr. Kurt is both useful and valuable.”
Allison and Shainheit presented results from their research under Kurt’s guidance last school year at the 78th Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science in Pocono Manor, Pa.
“I am very glad to be working with Dr. Kurt for a second year, says Allison. “He is a very personable individual with an extensive knowledge of immunology and all related aspects. He is more than qualified to guide us through our research project, in effect allowing us to gain valuable research experience. In addition to serving as the mentor for the independent study, he has been more than helpful in giving advice on graduate school.”
“Dr. Kurt is a great mentor and I’m hoping to pursue similar biological research in graduate school,” adds Shainheit.
All three students agree that provides an excellent environment for research.
“At bigger schools with graduate students, students like me wouldn’t have the opportunity to get anywhere near a project like this,” says Harris. “We acquire a lot of skills and knowledge that give us an edge when trying to get into graduate school or to get a job.”
Shainheit comments that Lafayette’s “intimate class atmosphere makes it easy to build a good rapport with a professor, which leads to a more intense and focused independent research project.”
Adds Allison: “The main advantage is the intimate atmosphere, which has allowed us to work closely with Dr. Kurt and interact with him in a way that allows us to ask many questions and explore many ideasI am very pleased with the research I have been able to do at Lafayette.”
Shainheit conducted research on Epstein-Barr syndrome at Tufts University this summer. She is co-captain of the softball team, an Immunology lab teaching assistant, and a member of Lafayette Leadership Forum. She also belongs to Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
Harris is a coxswain and secretary for Crew Club. She is a member of Concert Band, a teaching assistant for Evolutionary Biology lab, a writing associate, and a member of Haven, which offers substance-free events and living space.
Allison is co-captain of the varsity softball team and a teaching assistant for one of Kurt’s Immunology labs.
A National Leader in Undergraduate Research. Erin Allison ’03 made a presentation on research she did under the guidance of Robert Kurt, assistant professor of biology, at the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science.