December 11, 2007 == MEDIA ADVISORY
Summary: Two Calvin College biochemistry students have received student
travel awards to present their research at the Biophysical Society annual
meeting.
Full story see
http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2007-08/biochem-student-travel-awards.htm
Two Calvin College biochemistry students have received student travel awards
to present their research at the Februay 2008 Biophysical Society annual
meeting.
Seniors Sarah Kamper, 21, of Grand Rapids and Laura Porter-Peden, 23, of
Longmont, Colorado, will use the awards to attend the annual meeting in Long
Beach, California to present their research on a particular enzyme and its
complementary inhibitor.
Kamper and Porter-Peden partnered on the research with Calvin chemistry
professor Kumar Sinniah and several faculty from Cambridge University. They
will be presenting posters on their work with carbonic anhydrase, an enzyme
which, when it becomes overactive in the eye, builds up pressure that can
damage the optic nerve and cause glaucoma.
“The inhibitor we’re studying is based on medical drugs that inhibit the
enzyme and decrease its activity. We’re studying the interaction between the
enzyme and the inhibitor,” Kamper said.
Both students have already presented their research at the American Chemical
Society national meeting last spring, and they are the lead authors (along with
Sinniah and the Cambridge collaborators) of an article titled "Investigating
the Specific Interactions between Carbonic Anhydrase and a Sulfonamide
Inhibitor by Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy" in the November issue of the
American Chemical Society journal Langmuir.
The duo have enjoyed both the lab work and the writing process.
“It’s been a really good experience as far as learning a lot of lab skills
and the thinking involved in designing an experiment,” Porter-Peden said.
“I’ve also learned about what it takes to write scientifically and how
to get a paper published..”
Kamper, who is in the process of applying to graduate programs, envisions a
career in bio-inorganic chemistry, the study of the role of metal ions in the
body. Porter-Peden is likewise applying to graduate programs in biochemistry
and molecular biology.
The two students are excited about the awards and the opportunity to share
their work with a larger audience.
“I didn’t realize how big of an honor it was, so in some ways the
excitement has grown as I’ve realized it was more prestigious than I
thought,” Porter-Peden said. “It’s validation of the fact that we have
put in good work, and someone has recognized that.”
“This is a great honor for Sarah and Laura and for Calvin College as well,"
Sinniah agreed. "We have a thriving undergraduate research program at Calvin
during the summer, and have been blessed by a large number of top quality
students. These kinds of awards recognize that work. The entire department is
proud of both Sarah and Laura, and what they have accomplished.”
-end-
Received on Mon Dec 10 23:55:31 2007
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Mon Dec 10 2007 - 23:55:31 EST