ISU Biomedical Research Institute Members
IBRI Undergraduate Students
Kelchner Lab
Tsedey Kssaye Betre
Senior in Biochemistry
NSF Undergraduate Research Assistant
Research Focus: Bioinformatics and curation of genomic resources.
Devaud Lab
Front row (left to right): Leslie Devaud, Ph.D., Emily Baergen.
Back row (left to right): Bikul Koirala, Praweg Koirala,William Reilly, Anil Mandel
Bikul Koirala: in the M.S./B.S. program in Chemistry, also with an undergraduate major in Biochemistry. Bikul has worked in our lab for about two and a half years. He is involved in several projects and recently submitted his first first author publication for our findings on sensitivity to ethanol during ethanol withdrawal using an animal model of alcohol dependence and withdrawal. He has made important contributions to our research, seen as authorship on eight abstracts for poster presentations at regional or national meetings. Bikul has participated in molecular biology, neurochemical, bioanalytical and behavioral projects. He is currently optimizing the method for measuring plasma levels of gonadal steroids in our lab animals. He completed his B.S. degree in May, 2007 and will complete his M.S. in May, 2008. He is in the process of applying to several major research institutions to enter a Ph.D. program in Neuroscience.
William Reilly: is a Junior in Psychology, expecting to graduate in May 2009. William joined the lab nearly two years ago. He has been a coauthor on 5 abstracts for poster presentations at regional and national meetings. William especially enjoys conducting the behavioral experiments, measuring ethanol withdrawal responses and how pharmacological treatments can alter withdrawal symptoms. He also works in the Rasmussen Lab group (Department of Psychology) where he has been involved in lab animal model as well as human subjects studies. William intends to further his education by joining a Ph.D. program in Neurosciences, with an emphasis on translational research, once he completes his undergraduate degree at I.S.U.
Praweg Koirala: is a sophomore majoring in Biochemistry. He has been a lab member for nearly two years and is involved in a number of lab projects. He has been an author on two abstracts for posters presented at a regional meeting during this time.
Emily Baergen: is a senior in Biology who recently joined the B.S./M.S. program. She has been a member of our lab group for about one and a half years. Emily has been an author on 5 abstracts for posters presented at regional and national meetings. She was involved in initiating the hippocampal slice culture technique in the lab and generated enough data to submit an abstract for a poster presentation at this year's Society for Neuroscience annual meeting. After completing her M.S. degree, Emily intends to apply for a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at a major research institution.
Anil Mandel: is a junior in Chemistry and recently accepted into the M.S./B.S. program in chemistry. He is a recent addition to the lab group but has assisted with several behavioral experiments and in additional lab projects.
DeVeaux Lab
Patrick Gygli, Microbiology major. Pat has been a lab member for more than a year, and has recently been accepted into the B.S./M.S. program in Microbiology. He has presented his work at regional meetings, including the Intermountain Branch of the American Society for Microbiology and the NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium. Pat' major focus of research has been to clone and express the RPA proteins from the model archaeon Halobacterium sp. NRC-1, in order to understand the role of these proteins in resistance to ionizing radiation.
Celena Shrum, Microbiology major. Celena joined the lab in the summer of 2007. She has extensive laboratory experience from working in the lab of Scot Kelchner, as well as her continuing work in the Molecular Research Core Facility. Celena has been working on regulation of transposition in the model archaeon Halobacterium, as well as developing microarray analysis of persistence in Deinococcus radiodurans.
Jennifer Downey is a senior in Zoology, and has been working in the lab since Spring 2007. Jen has taken the lead on understanding the connection between antibiotic persistence and persistence to ionizing radiation, using the extremely radiation-resistant eubacterium Deinococcus radiodurans.
Bhushan Lab
Maria Lai: is a junior in Microbiology and has started her third year of being a member of our laboratory group. She has worked on a variety of projects, some of which concern the development of new drugs for cancer treatment and the toxicological effects of nanoparticles on normal and cancer cells. Maria is a co-author on a proceedings paper and a paper that is being revised for publication, as well as an author on eighteen abstracts for poster presentations at regional, national, and international conferences. Maria intends to apply for medical school upon her completion of her bachelor's degree and hopes to continue with cancer research.
Rasmussen lab
William Reilly is a junior in Psychology, expecting to graduate in May 2009. He joined our lab nearly two years ago, and has run several projects on behavioral outcomes of gestational undernutrition. He has also coauthored one poster presentation at a regional meeting. Currently, William is conducting experiments on humans and impulsivity with food- and money-related stimuli, which he plans to present orally at an international meeting in May (Association for Behavior Analysis). He is also co-authoring a paper on these results. William also works in the Devaud lab, conducting behavioral studies on alcohol withdrawal. He intends to join a Ph.D. program in Neurosciences, with an emphasis on translational research.
Christopher Krebs is a senior majoring in Psychology. He has been a lab member for over two years and is involved in a number of lab projects. He has presented posters at a regional and an international meeting. Chris is in the process of applying to graduate school for doctoral programs in behavior analysis.
Sally Huskinson is a senior majoring in Psychology. Sally joined the lab almost two years ago and studies the effects of opioids on food reinforcement in gestationally undernourished rats. She is also currently working on a project that determines how cannabinoids affect food reinforcement in obese Zucker rats. Sally has presented a poster at an international meeting. She is in the process of applying to graduate school for doctoral programs in behavior pharmacology.
Megan Roberto is a senior in Psychology and has worked in the lab for a year and a half, assisting with several projects.
Becky Hansis O'Neill is a junior in Psychology. She joined the lab group just under a year ago, and has assisted with several behavioral experiments.
Katie Wilson is a senior in Psychology and plans to apply to graduate programs in Experimental Psychology within the year. She is a recent addition to the lab group but has assisted with several behavioral experiments.