2010 LSAMP Magazine - University of Alabama at Birmingham

Maria Teresa
Rodolis is currently
a Junior at
SUNY New Paltz,
majoring in Chemistry
with a minor
and possible double
major in Cellular
Biology. As part
of LSAMP-INT, she
will be going to the
Costa Rica field
station operated by
the Organization for Tropical Studies. Maria is the Vice President
of the Chi Alpha Epsilon honor society maintaining a GPA
of 3.82. She began doing research in the summer of 2008 with
Dr. Preeti Dhar on a project motivated by an increase in antimicrobial
resistance by bacteria and fungus which led to many
incurable diseases such as the flesh eating Methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus. Her research project involves synthesizing
monocyclic -lactams, the molecule responsible for the
antimicrobial activity of many antibiotics. By using varying starting
material, she was able to determine how functional groups
affect the -lactam’s properties most importantly its ability to kill
or inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungus. Maria has presented
her research project at the state wide LSAMP and
CSTEP conference and will be presenting at the national ACS
conference in March 2009, where she hopes to publish her
work in the American Chemical Society journal. Maria enjoys
working in the laboratory, hiking, listening to music, dancing
and caring for her many pet animals.
Alvero Rodriguez is a molecular Biology Major at Texas
A&M University. His previous research entailed a project of
great importance to the environment. Even though cyanide is
highly toxic, it is commonly found in industrial waste generated
by several industries such as metal plating and mining. This
chemical is hazardous for many organisms, including mammals,
since it inhibits key factors in the respiratory pathway.
Surprisingly, several fungi and bacteria can degrade and even
survive cyanide’s presence. These microbes count on a variety
of cyanide degrading enzymes as part of a process to metabolize
cyanide into less toxic compounds. An example is the Cyanide
Dihydratase (CynDstut) found in Pseudomonas stutzeri
AK61. The enzyme operates optimally around pH 7-8, but most
polluted waters have much higher alkaline pH. The aim of this
research project is to construct genetic mutants for this enzyme
that are able to operate in these highly alkaline environments.
These novel mutant enzymes can then be analyzed for improved
properties useful for bioremediation of cyanide waste
waters. Alvero’s
summer will be
spent at the University
of Strasbourg,
France
where he will work
with Prof R. Stote.
He has many hobbies
including a
passion for astronomy.
Help us congratulate these twenty 2009 LSAMP undergraduates going abroad!
1) Samuel Ares, PR-LSAMP, Industrial Biotechnology Major, UPR-Mayaguez will go to CEA, Grenoble, France
2) Jabari Bailey, Georgia LSAMP, Biology major, Morehouse will go to UBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
3) Alexander Blair, Georgia LSAMP, Biology major, Morehouse will go to USP, Sao Paulo , Brazil
4) DeMario Butts, Georgia LSAMP, Biology/Chemistry, Morehouse College will go to UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil
5) Julie Cojulun, CAMP, Aerospace Engineering, UC–Irvine will go to UBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
6) Charlie Corredor, NYC-LSAMP, Chemical Engineering, CCNY will be going to the Universite Pierre Marie Curie, Paris, France
7) Frederick Crawford, Ohio LSAMP, Chemical Engineering, OSU will go to UNESP-Araraquara, Brazil
8) Julius Edson, NYC-LSAMP, Chemical Engineering, CCNY will go to University of Graz, Austria
9) Willems Leveille, Northeast LSAMP, Civil Engineering, UMass, will go to University of Nairobi, Kenya
10) Jorge Medina, CSU-LSAMP, Physics/Math, CSU-Long Beach will go to UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil
11) Diane Render, FGLSAMP, Math, Albany St will go to Charles University, Czech Republic
12) Maria Rodolis, SUNY LSAMP, Biology, SUNY New Paltz, will go to Organization Tropical Studies Field Station, Costa Rica
13) Alvaro Rodriguez, TAMUS LSAMP, Molecular Biology, Texas A&M , will go to University of Strasbourg, France
14) Selisa Rollins, WAESO LSAMP, Chemical Engineering, Arizona State will go to UNESP-Ararquara, Brazil
15) Octavio Romo-Fewell, CSU-LSAMP, Chemistry, San Diego State will go to Chulabhorn-Bangkok, Thailand
16) Pamela Sanchez, NYC-LSAMP, Math/Biology, Queens College, will go to UNESP-Ararquara, Brazil
17) Alison Scott, CSU-LSAMP, Biology, CSU-Los Angeles will go to UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil
18) Matthew Temba, Georgia LSAMP, Math/Economics, Morehouse will go to University of Strasbourg, France
19) Aisha Williams, Illinois LSAMP, Biochemistry/Biology, Chicago State will go to LeLoir Institute, Argentina
20) Justin Wilkerson, TAMUS LSAMP, Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M will go to USP, Sao Paulo, Brazil
By Randy Duran and Mike Scott, Department of Chemistry, University of Florida
Troy Sadler, School of Teaching and Learning, Univ. of Florida
Tom Emmel, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, and
James P. Brown, Morehouse College
duran@chem.ufl.edu www.chem.ufl.edu/~reu
8 Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation