USS Bits and Bytes - Electronic Newsletter of the Miami University's Undergraduate Summer Scholars Program (USS)

Vol. 1, #1, August 22, 1997

Assessing Oxidative Stress in Rats
Summer 1997 project of Robyn Rice under the mentorship of Dr. Ann E. Hagerman, Dept. of Chemistry

Photo of Robyn Rice The legendary Pied Piper of Hamlin led all the rats out of the village, thereby decreasing the spread of disease, but senior Robyn Rice uses these rodents to help counter disease. Using rats as laboratory subjects, Robyn's Summer Scholar project focuses on the antioxidant ability of tannins, which could be helpful in cancer prevention because oxidative damage in the body is believed to cause heart disease and cancer. Her project, titled, "Assessing Oxidative Stress in Rats" has special meaning because it allows her to fulfill the required capstone for her Chemistry major, but also because, it relates to the medical health arena, a field she is very interested in and plans to pursue.

As the only undergraduate working on this project for professor Ann Hagerman, Robyn had the opportunity to work more independently than she had before. The study consisted of placing the rats on four different diets including a control in order to test the antioxidant ability of tannins (found in foods such as apples, red wine, peas, pears and bananas). Although this project was selected by her mentor, Robyn says that it wasn't hard to stay motivated knowing that it was necessary to have a complete understanding of the research in order to explain and present it to faculty and students for her capstone.

Before the study began, Robyn had to perfect one of the tests performed on the blood samples using DNPH Assay. The DNPH Assay reacts with carbonyls but Robyn needed to determine the pH of the Assay touse. Carbonyls are biproducts of oxidative damage to proteins. Thus, analyzing the carbonyls reveals the amount of oxidative damage. Besides Robyn's test, two other tests will be performed later to test both antioxidant levels and damage to lipids.

From her work thus far, Robyn believes that tannins have antioxidant ability, confirming her hypothesis. More tests will have to be done, and the experiment repeated for a more definitive conclusion.

Robyn's future goals include going to medical school, or to graduate school to become a Physician's Assistant. She maintains an active interest in her Spanish minor as a break from her science classes and as a means of becoming a more well-rounded student. Furthermore, she hopes to continue research focusing on cancer prevention. As most pre-med students, she has spent considerable time volunteering at places such as McCullough Hyde hospital and the Children's Hospital ER in Buffalo, New York. Robyn also previously worked for an orthopedic surgeon doing medical research and helping with patients. During this experience, she also had the opportunity to view several surgeries (both orthopedic and others). As stated earlier, she is interested in the medical field, however, she is not sure what she would like to specialize in.

Robyn Rice is one of 120 Miami University undergraduates who participated in the 1997 Undergraduate Summer Scholars (USS) Program. This University program is an initiative aimed at heightening the intellectual challenge of the learning environment at Miami University. This program enables Miami undergraduates to do research or other creative activities in the summer under the supervision of faculty.

In 1997, some of the USS activities were supported by a National Science Foundation Grant to Miami University entitled "Creating a Research-Rich Curriculum: A Model for Lifelong and Continuous Learning" (DUE-9652063, Dr. J.A. Czaja, PI). This funding was provided under the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education's program on Institution-Wide Reform of Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology.

Summary and Photo by Cindy (Cynthia) Bubb, a Mass Communication major with a minor in Marketing, Miami University class of 1998.