Student Research Week to Highlight Biochemistry

• By Suzanna Cisneros
• February 24, 2020

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences will host the 32th Annual Student Research Week March 10-13 at the TTUHSC Academic Classroom Building 3601 Fourth St.

Every year, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences students organize Student Research Week to showcase the next generation of biomedical researchers and their work and invite distinguished national speakers to present discoveries on a specific theme. This year’s Student Research Week theme is, “20/20 Visions of Biochemistry.”

“Student research week is an end-of-the-year culmination of student research across every department and most every school,” said Bradley Schniers, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences student and event chair. “The event is a great way to learn more about the students and their research.”

Student Research Week committee members also include: Mariacristina Mazzitelli, director of Marketing, Rachel Washburn, director of Poster Competition, and Ryan Sweazey, director of Operations.

“Student Research Week is one of the largest events at TTUHSC with over 300 participants,” Schniers said. “This year will be the first year that it's an interprofessional event, stressing that students interact with someone outside of their discipline.”

This year’s keynote speakers are Ernest M. Wright, Ph.D., a Distinguished Professor at the UCLA Department of Physiology, and Maralice Conacci-Sorrell, Ph.D., assistant professor at the Department of Cell Biology at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Wright is the first researcher to clone a mammalian transporter. His research focus is to understand sodium-glucose cotransporters from the atomic level to their physiological roles in humans. Wright studies the structure and function of human and bacterial SGLTs using a combination of biophysical, biochemical, molecular dynamic and genetic techniques to unravel how these molecular machines convert the energy stored in sodium gradients to drive the uphill transport of solutes.

Conacci-Sorrell’s research lab investigates basic mechanisms of cell survival and migration, with the ultimate goal of identifying druggable pathways involved in metastatic behavior. She discovered a new pathway for regulating Myc levels and function in normal and in cancer cells. Her current research uses integrative approaches to understand the fundamental functions of Myc in normal and cancer cell biology. In addition, it explores the role of protein acetylation as a key coordinator of cancer cell survival and migration.

Student Research Week events include:

March 10 (Tuesday), TTUHSC Academic Event Center

Vendor Show and Career Fair, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. (Academic Classroom Building first floor lobby)
Poster Exhibit I, noon – 1 p.m.
Poster Session I, 1:15 – 4:15 p.m.

March 11 (Wednesday) TTUHSC Academic Event Center

Poster Session II, 9 – 11:30 a.m.
Poster Session III, 1:15 – 4:15 p.m.
Poster Exhibit II, noon – 1 p.m.

March 12 (Thursday) TTUHSC Academic Event Center

Poster Session IV, 9 – 11:30 a.m.
Poster Session V, 1:15 – 4:15 p.m.
Poster Exhibit III, noon – 1 p.m.
Student Research Week Banquet “Roaring 20’s,” 6:30 p.m.                   
            McKenzie-Merket Alumni Center 2525 17 Street                                      

Invitations limited to faculty, staff and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences  students

March 13 (Friday) TTUHSC Academic Event Center

Select Student Presentations, 9 – 11:15 a.m.
Keynote speaker (Wright), 11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Lunch, 12:30 – 1:15 p.m.
Keynote speaker (Conacci-Sorrell), 1:30 – 2:15 p.m.
Awards ceremony, 2:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Coffee with the speakers, 4 – 4:30 p.m.
For more information about Student Research Week, call the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at (806) 743-2556.