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Marquis Scholar Matt Rausch ’03 (Cranford, N.J.) is laying groundwork during a summer-long research project that eventually may help lead to a cure for cancer.
Rausch is working as an EXCEL Scholar with Robert Kurt, assistant professor of biology, to examine the molecular interaction between two pathways in T-cells.
“T-cells are responsible for almost every immune response,” explains Kurt. “To get to an infection, T-cells must migrate along a certain pathway. We’re trying to determine how T-cells talk to each other during this migration or movement through the body.”
Rausch, a biology major, is studying the role played by chemokines, proteins that work to stimulate the body’s immune response. The undertaking may open doors to new areas of cancer research. And it has inspired him to pursue a career in immunology.
“In this project, I’m examining how SLC, a chemokine that is secreted by certain cells, including tumor cells, affects signaling through the T-cell receptors of T-cells. I’m using Western blots to examine a protein that is activated during signaling through the T-cell receptor,” says Rausch.
“I have learned some very important techniques and concepts that will be valuable to me in my future plans. This project is much more in-depth than anything that I’ve ever done before in my classes and labs,” Rauch says.
“Lafayette provides its students with unique opportunities like this that students at other schools wouldn’t get a chance to do,” he adds.
Kurt applauds the opportunity for Lafayette students to be “enveloped in research.” “EXCEL during the summer is a great way for students to pursue a project without any distractions. Matt is certainly benefiting from this.”
A National Leader in Undergraduate Research. Matthew Rausch ’03 coauthored an article with Robert Kurt, assistant professor of biology, in the journal Immunological Investigations.