MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL, THE
Grant: $11,980 - National Institutes of Health - Jul. 9, 2009
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Award Description: Gene Mutation and Rescue in Human Diaphragmatic Hernia
Project Description: Abi Maheswaran worked full time over summer. She originated and sustained cell lines for CDH cases and patient families, extracted DNA, performed immunohistochemistry in embryonic lung and diaphragm mouse model for FOX2, GATA4, COUPTFII and other genes. Eleanor Rask worked part time over the summer and is continuing her internship through the end of November. She is continuing polyacrylamide gel analyses of proteins in biological fluids, the analyses of which can contribute to the diagnosis and increased understanding of the pathophysiology of CDH. Thus far she has learned to perform protein quantification, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and western analyses.
Jobs Summary: Funds have been requested to support the stipends and supplies for two summer/fall students (1 undergraduate and 1 high school student). The students will enhance the goals of the grant by assisting a post-doctoral fellow and junior faculty. The parent grant, R01HD055150-4 'Gene Mutation and Rescue in Human Diaphragmatic Hernia uses a combination of clinical, molecular, genomic, and cytogenetic strategies to identify mutations causing CDH, with the hope of elucidating perturbed biochemical pathways that can then serve as functional targets for pharmacological studies. Abi Maheswaran is a returning student who worked in our laboratory as a high school student in the summer of 2006, and recently sought to resume a summer project in our laboratory. She was selected as a National Merit Scholarship Finalist and was an AP scholar at Lexington High School. Notably, she earned 3rd place in Public Forum at Dr. Kaiser Debate Invitational, and 4th place at DKDI in 2006. Abi received the Abigail Adams 4-year scholarship from Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to attend Boston University. She is now a sophomore on the Boston University Dean’s List who was invited to join the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and is applying for early admission at Boston University Medical School. Without this funding, she could not have returned. Eleanor Rask who was born in Stockholm, Sweden and is a permanent resident of the U.S. has just completed her sophomore at Lexington High School. She will be doing her first internship in our laboratory and is interested in exploring a career in health or medicine. These funds made this position possible. The students will learn to perform either genotyping, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence, or specific protein purification and acrylamide gel analyses, and the development of patient-specific primary cell cultures. They will learn how to interpret data from genomic platforms such as aCGH and RNA expression arrays during development. These techniques will provide them with a foundation in genetics and genomics. In addition to assisting with the time-consuming tasks required for successful completion of the specific aims of the parent grant, all of which can be performed more effectively with help, even if only temporary freeing post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty for more discovery-oriented work, an important goal of this opportunity is to expose young students to ongoing research projects and ultimately to train physicians and scientists specializing in areas of research important to reproduction and the mission of NICHD. Dr. Patricia Donahoe has perpetuated a notable tradition of mentoring more than 150 students and trainees at Massachusetts General Hospital over the past 30 years. Like Abi and Eleanor, students have often individually sought out an opportunity to work in the lab. Our summer internship program has placed emphasis on including students of all backgrounds, socio-economic groups, and geographic regions. (Total jobs reported: 1)
Project Status: More than 50% Completed
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