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Interactions among cancer, tumors, and the immune system are the focus of an intensive yearlong research project for biology major Kerry Stormes ’04 (Nanuet, N.Y.).
She has earned the distinction of being invited to make a presentation on the research at the 18th annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research April 15-17 in Indianapolis, Ind.
NCUR is a major annual event drawing more than 2,000 undergraduates, faculty, and administrators to hear and discuss undergraduate creative and scholarly work. As a national leader in undergraduate research, Lafayette sends one of the largest contingents to NCUR each year. Forty-two Lafayette students have been accepted to present their work next month.
Stormes is conducting her research under the direction of Robert Kurt, assistant professor of biology. The project aims to determine whether two proteins made by many breast cancer specimens play a part in the spread of cancer to different sites. Stormes is doing the research in pursuit of departmental honors in her major field, biology.
Kurt is a leading researcher on the production of chemokines, a group of proteins that direct cell migration through the body. He received a $214,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to study the immune response to breast cancer.
“I think one of the strongest qualities of Lafayette is the opportunity it offers students to work independently on projects such as this,” Stormes says. “I feel privileged to have worked so closely with a professor and to have so many resources available to me. A full college education should be composed of much more than what can be taught in the classroom. Lafayette provides students with such opportunities, one of which I have been able to take advantage of.”
By participating in the national conference, Stormes will receive feedback from both educators and other student presenters, Kurt notes.
“This will provide Kerry an opportunity to show others what a great student she is and the outstanding research she has conducted,” he says. “Kerry is one of the best students I have had in my laboratory. She pays close attention to every detail of her project and wants to learn everything she can about it.”
Kurt anticipates that Stormes’ work will eventually published in a scholarly journal. He will make presentations on the research at the annual meeting of the American Association of Immunologists in Washington, D.C. in April and at the International Congress of Immunology in Montreal in July.
Stormes believes her experience involving laboratory research will have lasting, beneficial effects in her professional career.
“Having conducted independent research in this manner provides me with the opportunity for more involved positions in research environments,” she says. “Having had this experience, I am more comfortable and confident in applying for positions that would require more independent input and self-analysis rather than to those positions that require only basic skills in the laboratory.”
Stormes is a member of Association of Lafayette Feminists and Lafayette Environmental Awareness and Protection. She has also been involved in photography for the campus newspaper, The Lafayette.
She is a graduate of Nanuet Senior High School.