Simmons College
73RD Eastern New England
Biological Conference
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
LINDA K. PARESKY CENTER, MAIN CAMPUS BUILDING, 3RD FLOOR
SESSION ONE:
P1-1: The Scientific Method: A Road Map to Problem Solving
Hillary OʼKelly, Mentor: Dr. Boriana Marintcheva Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, MA
P1-2: Impact of Benzyl Butyl Phthalate (BBP) and Acetone Exposure on Fundulus heteroclitus Gut
Flora Diversity
Gabriella C. Finello, Hannah Kissinger, Erica Kleinbaum, Billy Ze Mieng Chang, Kaelan Hayes, Jordyn Platz,
and Lisa A. E. Kaplan Quinnipiac University, Department of Biological Sciences, Hamden CT
P1-3: Testing for stimuli that influence reactions of individual zebrafish fry to novel visual environments
Helen Anthony, Dr. Maria Abate Simmons College
P1-4: Impact of Benzyl Butyl Phthalate on Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches Feeding and Defecation
Tyler Cabral, Leah Serunjogi, Sherilyn Rivera, and Lisa A. E. Kaplan
P1-5: Impact of Benzyl Butyl Phthalate on Serotonin Expression in Procambarus clarkii Brain Tissue
David J. Turco, Allie Deegan, Rachael Steinhauer, Boluwatife Osofisan, Julia Accorsini, and Lisa A. E. Kaplan
Quinnipiac University, Department of Biological Sciences, Hamden CT
P1-6: Attempting to Create Functional GFP Fusions with Ribosomal Proteins Using a Novel in vitro
Method
Carolyn Kraus, Dr. Paul E. March Emmanuel College, Boston, Ma
POSTERS P1-7: The development of lipid drug delivery vehicles for Enzyme Replacement Therapy in Lysosomal
Storage Disorders
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Nicole LeDuc; Wayne Lencer MD.; Daniel Chinnapen PhD. Emmanuel College Boston, MA; Boston
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Childrenʼs Hospital, MA; Harvard Medical School; Harvard Digestive Diseases Center
P1-8: Understanding novel roles of Bfa1 in S. cerevisiae mitotic exit using the GAL-BFA1 allele
Chloe D. Egan, Jenna M. Whalen, Anupama Seshan Emmanuel College, Boston MA, MIT Koch Institute for
Integrative Cancer Research, Cambridge MA
P1-9: Hemolytic Assessment of Amphibian Mucosal Protection
Ryan Heimroth, Robert Dickey, Daniel Lukason, and Gregory D. Maniero
P1-10: Insights into Evolutionary Conservation of the Vertebrate Complement System
Ryan Heimroth, Robert Dickey, Daniel Lukason, and Gregory D. Maniero Stonehill College
P1-11: The Quest for Xenopus CD4
Jacob Gillis, Taylor Uccello, John Walent, and Gregory D. Maniero Stonehill College
P1-12: Assessment of visual acuity using the visual evoked potential
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Tyler Brown , Anne Fulton MD , Ronald Hansen PhD , Anne Moskowitz OD, PhD , Pablo Altchwager MD ,
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Lucia Ambrosio MD PhD Emmanuel College, Boston Childrenʼs Hospital Department of Ophthalmology
P1-13: Persistent Neurogenesis in Adult Mouse Olfactory Epithelium
Robert Pijewski Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Thomas Schoenfeld Fitchburg State University
P1-14: Affinity Purification of a ClpXP Protease Trap
Tatjana Von Rosen, Pauline Ngo, and Celeste N Peterson Department of Biology, Suffolk University, Boston,
MA, 02114
P1-15: Myosin Id is Expressed in Cranial Neural Crest Cells During their Migration in Xenopus
Embryonic Development
Afnan Almazrua, Gina DʼIsodoro, Kendra Kumph, Janine M. LeBlanc-Straceski. Department of Biology,
Merrimack College, North Andover MA
P1-16: Knock-down of Spt5 and its effects on RNA polymerase II elongation
Mariamawit Gebremeskel, Seth Maleri Ph.D Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
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P1-17: High Fat Diet Induced PPARδ Enhances Stemness through Promoting Rac Mediated βCatenin Activity
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Michael Xifaras , Semir Beyaz , Miyeko Mana , Adam Akkad , Ray Dogum , Omer Yilmaz Emmanuel
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College, Harvard University, MIT
POSTERS P1-18: Sleep Deprivation and the Effects it has on Myocyte Cell Functioning
Narjis Syed Institution: Simmons College, Beth Israel Hospital
P1-19: Phenotypic Characterization of Hematopoietically-Derived CNS Macrophages Following
Busulfan-Induced Mixed Chimerism
Zachary Heroux, Todd Williams, Josef Kurtz Emmanuel College, Boston MA
P1-20: Isolated Miniature Swine T Lymphocyte populations: Monitoring their Expression and
Proliferation in MLR
Wesley Insko, Harrison Powell, David Leonard, and Josef Kurtz Center for Transplantation Sciences at MGH,
Emmanuel College, Boston MA.
P1-21: Predicting episodic memory for movie events
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Sarah Dowcett , Hanlin Tang , and Gabriel Kreiman, Ph.D.
Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical
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School, Boston, Massachusetts Department of Ophthalmology, Childrenʼs Hospital Boston, Boston,
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Massachusetts Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts Emmanuel College,
Boston, Massachusetts
P1-22: Heavy metal resistance in Geobacter
Steven Dixon, Dawn Holmes, Western New England University
P1-23: Localization of the circadian protein, PERIOD, in the brain of the nudibranch mollusc,
Melibe leonina Gabrielle R. Lepine*, James M. Newcomb New England College, Henniker, NH
P1-24: Studying the Effects of Aberrant Lamin A/C and Sun2 Expression on the Development and
Functionality of Mouse Neutrophils
Richard Giadone, Margery Pelletier, Krishnakumar Malu, Peter Gaines University of Massachusetts Lowell,
Lowell, MA
P1-25: Is Carnivoran Skull Morphology Dependent on Predatory Style?
Eric W. Dewar, Enian Kallamata, Brett J. Murray, Magen M. Hartnett, and Ankit Sood Suffolk Univ., Boston
P1-26: Investigating the Role of RNA 3ʼ-end Processing Factors in the Yeast Cell Wall Integrity
Pathway
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Samisa Brioso , Claire Moore , Jason Kuehner Emmanuel College, Tufts University School of Medicine,
Boston MA
P1-27: UV-damaged DNA
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Kaitlyn Kelly , Thomas Tallo , Claire Moore , Jason Kuehner Emmanuel College, Tufts University
School of Medicine, Boston MA
POSTERS SESSION TWO:
P2-1: Histoplasma capsulatum Suppression via Protein Kinase inhibition
Maxx Lawson, Katelynn Doiron, Sam Kezim, Lincoln Lima, and Jimmy Franco Merrimack College, North
Andover, MA
P2-2: Generation and characterization of an LGMD2I model zebrafish
Alexander, MS; Serafini PR; Feyder MJ*; Gibbs, DE; Vieira, NM; Lek, A; Kawahara, G; Widrick, JJ; Kunkel
LM Boston Childrenʼs Hospital and Harvard Medical School Emmanuel College, Department of Biology*
P2-3: Siderophore production in Actinomyces naeslundii
Heather Lynn McFarlane and Lori Bergeron Department of Biology, New England College, Henniker NH
P2-4: Measuring Transcription in Actinomyces naeslundii using Promoter/cat Fusions
Elizabeth Aksten and Lori Bergeron Department of Biology, New England College, Henniker NH
P2-5: Measuring catalase gene expression in Actinomyces naeslundii
Meng Zhao and Lori Bergeron Department of Biology, New England College, Henniker NH
P2-6: Actinomyces naeslundii Isochorismate Synthase
Kaitlin Warwicker and Lori Bergeron Department of Biology, New England College, Henniker NH
P2-7: Genome Editing: Using CRISPR-Cas9 to Knock-out Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase, an
Oncogenic Driver of Pediatric Neuroblastoma
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Paz C, Moore N, George R. E. Emmanuel College, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston MA.
P2-8: Pseudomonas aeruginosa Two-component System BfiSR Regulates Biofilm Development
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Barry K, Schaefers M, Priebe G. Emmanuel College, Boston MA, Boston Childrenʼs Hospital, Boston MA
P2-9: Free Radicals and Cell Survival in Models of Neurodegenerative Disease
Sana Sajjad, Caroline Coughlin, Dr. Bruce Gray, Simmons College Department of Biology
P2-10: Deep genome annotation of Verticillium alfaalfae base excision repair genes
Arica Aiello and Anna Klimes Western New England University, Springfield, MA, 01119
P2-11: The Identification of L,D-transpeptidase Inhibitors for the Treatment of Tuberculosis
Cherie-Jean Doucette, Courtney Silva, Camila Pachon-Posada, Lloyd Hoehle, Dr. Jimmy Franco Institution:
Merrimack College
P2-12: Characterization of new roles for Bfa1 in mitotic exit and identification of novel Mitotic Exit
Network alleles
Jenna Whalen, Aydah Mwangi, and Anupama Seshan Emmanuel College, Boston, MA
POSTERS P2-13: Creation of Functional Fusion Proteins Between E. coli GTPases and the Open Reading Frame
from Green Fluorescent Protein
Kaitlyn M Waters, Paul E March Emmanuel College, Boston MA
P2-14: Genetic Characterization of a Methylobacterium isolate and Examination of Association with
Armillaria gallica
Casey Cosetta Stonehill College
P2-15: Prospecting for transcription factor binding determinants on the surface of RNA polymerase
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Barrasso K, Hochschild A, Deighan P. Emmanuel College, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA.
P2-16: "Are You Still Hungry?" An Analysis of Students' Hunger Post-Lunch
Katherine Consavage, Juliana Cohen, Eric Rimm, ScD Emmanuel College, Harvard School of Public Health
P2-17: Impact of Benzyl Butyl Phthalate on Serotonin Expression in Fundulus heteroclitus Brain
Tissue
David J. Turco, Julia Accorsini, Allie , Rachael Steinhauer, Boluwatife Osofisan, and Lisa A. E. Kaplan
Quinnipiac University, Department of Biological Sciences, Hamden CT
P2-18: Evidence of the Island Rule in the White-Footed Mice on the Boston Harbor Islands
Rossano Butcher, Suffolk University
P2-19: Blueberry supplementation attenuates microglia activation and increases neuroplasticity in the
brains of mice consuming a high fat diet
Abigail M. Rovnak, Kelsea R. Gildawie, Casey K. Gilman, Amanda N. Carey Simmons College, Department of
Psychology, Boston, MA 02115
P2-20: The quantification and distribution of Meissnerʼs corpuscles in wild-type CD1 mice foot and toe
pads
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Casey K. Gilman , , Nicole Neubarth , Brendan Lehnert , David Ginty Harvard Medical School, Department of
Neurobiology, Boston, MA 02115 2Simmons College, Department of Biology, Boston, MA 02115
P2-21: Effects of environmentally realistic herbicide and pharmaceutical exposure on the reproductive
behavior of male sailfin mollies, Poecilia latipinna.
Longo, B., Preston, A., Noncent, D., and Walak, A. Merrimack College
P2-22: Investigating the effects of environmentally realistic herbicide and pharmaceutical exposure on
hormone concentrations and aggressive behavior in convict cichlids.
Holmes, V., Panarese, B., and Langone, A., Merrimack College
P2-23: Silent Circuit affects Metabolism in E. coli K12
Valentina Laclare McEneany and Jane Lopilato, Ph.D. Simmons College, Boston, MA
P2-24: Developing Cre-Dependent Viral Vectors to Map Neural Substrates underlying Comorbid Aggression
in Autism Spectrum Disorders
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Olivia Lamb , Mark Johnson , , Matthew Anderson , Emmanuel College1, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center ,
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Harvard Medical School , Boston, MA 02115
POSTERS P2-25: Fitchburg State University Biology and Chemistry Club Sparks Interest in Science in the
Fitchburg Community The Fitchburg State Biology and Chemistry Club
Brandon Marques, Robert Pijewski, Rachel Schultz, Dr. Billy Samulak) Fitchburg State University
P2-26: Detection of Dopamine in Crayfish and Mummichog Brain Tissue
Allie M. Deegan and Lisa A. E. Kaplan Quinnipiac University, Department of Biological Sciences, Hamden CT
P2-27: The Effects of Sleep Deprivation and Stress on Interleukin 6 (IL-6) Levels Getey Anwar
Simmons College The Effects of Sleep Deprivation and Stress on Interleukin 6 (IL-6) Levels
Getey Anwar, Janet Mullington; Department of Sleep and Inflammatory Systems, Beth Israel Medical
Deaconess Center 330 Brookline Ave., Boston, MA 02115; Bruce Gray, Simmons College.