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Project Descriptions
Spring 2025

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Impact of acute and chronic glucocorticoid exposure on cellular oxidative stress

Jose Pablo Vazquez-Medina, Professor  
Integrative Biology  

Closed. This professor is continuing with Fall 2024 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Spring 2025.

The aim of this project is to examine the impact of acute and chronic glucocorticoids (GC) on marine mammal muscle cells. Environmental and ecological stressors increase the concentration of circulating GC potentially affecting an individual’s behavior, physiology, and fitness. However, the consequences of chronic GC exposure remain elusive in many species, and particularly in marine mammals. Such lack of knowledge hinders our ability to predict health outcomes in response to increased exposure to environmental stressors and anthropogenic activities. The goal of This project is to identify pathways that differ between acute and chronic stress as well as predict the effects of increased stressors.

Role: The student will learn relevant experimental techniques including mammalian tissue culture, immunofluorescence, RNA extraction, nucleic acid extractions, ELISA, qRT-PCR, and western blot. The student will participate in lab meetings and journal club discussions. At the end of the internship, the student will be experienced in basic wet lab procedures, sterile techniques, will be able to read scientific literature, and will gain knowledge of experimental design and interpretation of scientific data.

Qualifications: Basic knowledge or experience with cell cultures/molecular biology are highly desired

Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Dr. David Ensminger

Hours: to be negotiated

Related website: https://www.vazquezmedinalab.com/

 Biological & Health Sciences

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