USU-UB Student Awarded Funding For Biology Research
When’s she’s not reading Sherlock Holmes or volunteering as an EMT, Christine Wisell is researching the evolution of Tetrodotoxin (TTX) resistance in salamanders. Wisell is an undergraduate biology student at Utah State University-Uintah Basin (USU-UB) who was awarded the Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunity (URCO) grant.
The URCO grant gives USU undergraduates the opportunity to receive funding for doing research. It’s available to all students, no matter what subject matter they are studying or planning on researching. Each year there are 75 URCOs awarded, increasing the students’ chances of being selected.
“Submitting my proposal was a little hectic,” said Wisell. “On the day of submission, I locked myself away on the second floor of the USU-UB campus and revised my proposal over and over again while receiving feedback from Dr. Charles Hanifin and Dr. Shana Geffeney throughout the process.”
Both Hanifin and Geffeney are professors at USU-UB and worked as mentors to help Wisell receive the grant. “I never would have received this grant if it wasn’t for their help,” said Wisell. “The money is now allowing us to continue important research that we hope can help combat some diseases.”
The TTX found in salamanders is a potent neurotoxin that causes nerves and muscles to enter a paralytic state. TTX binds to voltage-gated sodium channels, resulting in paralysis. “Certain diseases in humans are directly related to changes in these sodium channels,” said Wisell. “Someone will be running, for instance, and soon after their muscles lock up and they fall. It may take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes for the paralytic state to wear off.”
Students applying for the URCO grant can choose what they would like to research, like salamanders in Wisell’s case, and they need professors who will work with them as mentors. In the submission proposal, students defend why they deserve the grant for their research.
A portion of the $1,000 of the grant is awarded to the students as a scholarship while the remaining funds go toward equipment, supplies, and research-related travel – all necessary components of most research. The URCO also gives undergraduate students the opportunity for hands-on research experience. “If you apply for the grant, do it as soon as possible,” said Wisell. “I waited until the deadline to submit, and as Murphy’s law states, anything that can happen will happen.”
Wisell is currently a junior in the biology program at USU-UB. The convenience of a local campus, along with the support of her family and professors, has helped her to pursue her goal to eventually earn her doctorate and continue working as a professional researcher.
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