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Finding ways to cure or at least control cancer has been one of mankind’s most vexing problems. For Mevan Jayasinghe ’08 (Colombo, Sri Lanka), cancer research is just a regular day at the lab.
Jayasinghe has been working since last summer with Robert Kurt, assistant professor of biology, on a project that examines Chemokine CCL5, which has been linked to metastasis, or the spread of cancer cells to other tissues. Findings from the EXCEL project were recently presented at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science.
CCL5 is a type of protein produced by T cells and a vital part of the immune system. In most people, CCL5 causes the body to produce an effective immune response but in cancer patients, these cells are unable to ward off the disease. Last year, the National Institute of Health awarded Kurt a $192,750 grant to conduct research with Lafayette students that ultimately may lead to more effective treatment strategies.
“If the project achieves 100 percent efficiency results, it eventually would be a cure for cancer or be a way of sustaining cancer patients for longer periods,” says Jayasinghe, who has held an interest in cancer research since his youth.
As a double major in economics and business and biology, the work is an ideal opportunity to explore a direction for his career, and he receives praise from his mentor for his hard work.
“He has very good technical skills,” Kurt says of his protégé. “He’s single-handedly gotten done what I thought would take five or six students to do.”
Lafayette’s EXCEL program allows students and faculty like Jayasinghe and Kurt to collaborate on projects other institutions often reserve for graduate programs.
“Students are able to do work for us so it makes our job a lot easier,” Kurt observes. “Once we get these students trained, many of them stay in the lab. They go on to graduate school and medical school and take their training with them.”
Jayasinghe adds that he’s now more prepared for the requirements of higher-level courses.
“Dr. Kurt helped a lot in getting me trained in the lab, getting me acquainted with the equipment and the mechanisms,” he says. “He was a very encouraging person. You can always ask him a question and he will explain it to you very well. [The EXCEL program is] a very good opportunity because it helps us to get a feel of what we really want to do. It helps a lot at this stage.”
Jaysainghe has been named to the dean’s list, serves as president of the International Students Association, vice-president of the Asian Cultural Association, and is a member of the Economics Club. In addition, he is an office assistant for the biology department. Previously, he was President of Ramer Hall, and a member if the Tsunami Relief Committee.
Kurt is a leading cancer researcher whose work has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Defense, and National Institutes of Health. Since joining the Lafayette faculty in 2000 he has engaged more than 25 Lafayette students in his research program.
He holds a doctorate in microbiology/immunology from University of Arizona, Tucson, and a Bachelor of Science degree from Bowling Green State University. He has received three Sigma Xi travel awards, an AAI Junior Faculty Travel Award, and was honored for Best Presentation at the 1996 Annual Meeting of the Arizona Imaging and Microanalysis Society.
In Lafayette’s distinctive EXCEL Scholars program, students conduct research with faculty while earning a stipend. The program has helped to make Lafayette a national leader in undergraduate research. Many of the more than 160 students who participate each year share their work through articles in academic journals and/or conference presentations.