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To understand how to cure some of the world’s most devastating diseases, scientists must first understand those illnesses, and chemistry major David Shellhamer ’07 (Yardley, Pa.) conducted research aimed at just that.
Working with Yvonne Gindt, assistant professor of chemistry, Shellhamer performed experiments involving the way protein strands bind together, or fold and unfold.
“There are many diseases that are characterized by misfolded proteins, such as Alzheimer’s,” Shellhamer says. “By trying to understand the steps of the proteins when they fold and unfold, other researchers down the line could possibly help to better understand these diseases.”
He and Gindt worked together as part of Lafayette’s distinctive EXCEL Scholars Program, which allows students to 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.
Gindt received a $100,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue her research with Lafayette students on understanding protein folding and aggregation, which has potential biochemical implications for a number of diseases. Her students have presented their work in a variety of forums in the last few years, including national American Chemistry Society meetings.
“This research has taught me many things about thermodynamics, and has taught me to use thermodynamic equations to analyze data,” Shellhamer says.
Gindt says the research included quantifying the fundamental processes in the folding and unfolding of the proteins. This involved measuring how much energy it takes for a protein strand to bind together and determining what conditions need to be present for that to occur.
While understanding how protein strands misfold in their blue-green algae sample won’t lead to the cure of diseases, their results could help establish a link as to why diseases form when certain protein strands in human fail to bind, says Shellhamer.
Being involved in research tied to finding a cure for incurable diseases was interesting in itself, he says, but simply being in the lab conducting experiments was engrossing.
Shellhamer learned how to grow cells, extract the protein from them, use various scientific instruments to take measurements, and use math functions to create models of their results.
Gindt says she hopes Shellhamer, whom she describes as having intelligence, common sense, and a good work ethic, learned more than how to conduct an experiment.
“I think the most important thing he’s learned is that experiments don’t always work,” Gindt explains. “In fact many times experiments don’t work and so it can be very frustrating in the lab.”
Shellhamer plays violin in the orchestra and volunteers through the Landis Community Outreach Center.
As a national leader in undergraduate research, Lafayette sends one of the largest contingents to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research each year. Forty-two students were accepted to present their work at the last annual conference in April.