Lakeland biochemistry students Tegan Schneider and Mitchel Larsen recently presented their research at the 50th annual Society for Neuroscience (SfN) meeting in Chicago.
This national meeting, which was attended by more than 27,000 people, allowed the students to share their work with neuroscientists from around the world, as well as learn about all of the different work being done in the field. They were joined at the meeting by LU Assistant Professor of Biochemistry Jered McGivern.
The work by Schneider, of Plymouth, Wis., and Larsen, of Sheboygan, Wis., which was conducted with McGivern, was part of Lakeland's highly regarded Lakeland Undergraduate Research Experience (LURE) summer research program.
The students used a donated skin sample from an adult female to make brain tissue in a dish. The goal of their work was better understanding how neural signaling compounds (called neurotransmitters) are regulated in the brain.
"The tissue we received was chemically 'tricked' into thinking it was fetal tissue, and then we chemically directed those cells to develop into brain tissue," McGivern said. "The whole system is still in the exploratory stage where Tegan and Mitchel are determining if this tissue acts in a way that is consistent with how normal human brain tissue might work.
"It's difficult to study, because most people are not willing to part with their brain tissue, so we need to use techniques like these. Our hope is that this type of model system can be used to not only understand normal brain function, but also in circumstances where there are defects or diseases."
The two students have continued their research into this semester.
"I am really proud of the work they're doing and their attitude at this conference," McGivern said. "It's always good to hear that people were surprised that these were not graduate students."
The students were able to attend the meeting thanks to a gift from 1969 graduate Cliff Feldmann, a generous benefactor for a number of programs in Lakeland's School of Science, Technology & Education.
