Health Notes is an occasional listing of health happenings around Louisiana. Have something you’d like to share? Contact us at [email protected].
Cancer researchers complete LCRC program
Ten college undergraduates and postgraduates presented their research projects after an immersive eight-week program designed to support the next generation of Louisiana’s cancer researchers.
The Louisiana Cancer Research Center’s Summer Undergraduate Cancer Research Experience selects a group of students and assigns them a faculty mentor from LSU Health New Orleans, Tulane University School of Medicine or Xavier University of Louisiana.
The students’ research projects include:
- Saanvi Gambhira, Temple University, studied gene expression using bioinformatics and data from breast cancer cell lines with mentor Dr. Victoria Belancio at Tulane Cancer Center.
- Sohan Gummadi, Seton Hall University, investigated the impact of obesity on prostate cancer in Black and White males, working in the lab of his mentor, Dr. Hari Koul of LSU Health New Orleans.
- Handerson Hasseth, Tulane University, researched endocrine receptor positive breast cancer with two LCRC faculty mentors at Tulane School of Medicine: Dr. Matt Burow and Dr. Jorge Belgodere.
- Jake Hebert, Louisiana State University, researched the CD36 protein for therapeutic options against triple-negative breast cancer in the lab of mentor Dr. Fokhrul Hossain at LSU Health New Orleans.
- Emily Jemison, Duke University, analyzed the Equity Justice Index for the Louisiana Tumor Registry under the mentorship of Dr. Xiaocheng Wu, the director of the LSU School of Public Health.
- NyEla Pete, Xavier University of Louisiana, conducted spatial mass spectrometry analysis of pancreatic cancer biomarkers in the lab of Dr. Jiri Adamec at LSU Health New Orleans.
- Rohit Srivastava, Baylor University, analyzed the CISD1 protein for the development of potential new therapies for triple-negative breast cancer with mentor Dr. Qiang Shen at LSU Health New Orleans.
- Sebastian Salm, Emory University, assisted program director Dr. Charles Wood of LSU Health New Orleans, with research detecting Kaposi Sarcoma herpes virus in tissues for downstream testing.
- Laniyah Thurman, Louisiana State University, worked in the lab of Dr. Jennifer Fang at the Tulane School of Science and Engineering, studying vascular biology and the growth of tumor blood vessels.
- Imille Woodard, Grambling State University, analyzed data on potential links between e-cigarette use and academic performance at the Louisiana Tobacco Control Initiativeunder the direction of mentor and TCI director Dr. Michael Celestin of LSUHSC School of Public Health.
Free men’s health clinic in Baton Rouge
Registration is open for a free men’s health clinic at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge on Saturday, Aug. 22, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The clinic, at 6400 Perkins Road, will provide health screenings, demonstration, exhibits, activities, panels and giveaways for men ages 18 and up…