Three East Carolina University Honors College scholars presented the results of summer research projects Friday, July 28, at both Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and the Brody School of Medicine.

Rising senior EC Scholar Margaret Marshall presented her findings on a field measure to estimate vertical and leg stiffness inside the Dowdy-Ficklen Club Level as part of the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Biomedical Engineering in Simulations, Imaging and Modeling (BME-SIM) poster session Friday morning.

An exercise physiology major, Marshall worked with Dr. Richard Willy in the Department of Physical Therapy to examine how high-speed video and open source software could be used to accurately predict if an individual would be prone to vertical and leg stiffness—a common condition in male athletes that can lead to Achilles tendon injuries.

The BME-SIM program, funded by the National Science Foundation, is an intensive 10-week research program for undergraduates from across the country. Research projects are mentored by faculty members in the Departments of Engineering, Kinesiology and Physical Therapy with a common theme of simulations, imaging and modeling.

Across town at the Brody School of Medicine, Honors College scholars Caitlin Palmer and Brinda Sarathy presented the results of their summer biomedical research during the Summer Biomedical Research Program (SBRP) for Undergraduates Poster Session.

The SBRP is an intensive two-month research program that allows undergraduate students to conduct basic or clinical research in various laboratory at the Brody School of Medicine or the main campus. The culmination of this program is this poster session where the students present the result of the research they conducted under the supervision of their very dedicated mentors.

A rising junior chemistry major in the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences, Caitlin Palmer worked with her mentor, Dr. Brett Keiper, an associate professor in the Brody School of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Palmer focused her research on targeting the factor that causes germ cells in roundworms (Caenorhabitis elegans) — which are mostly hermaphroditic — to switch from spermatogenesis (male) to oogenesis (female).

Rising sophomore EC Scholar Brinda Sarathy, a public health major, worked with her mentor, Dr. Jitka Virag, an associate professor in the Brody School of Medicine Department of Physiology, to study how high fat diet-induced insulin resistance negatively impacts cardiac structure and functions in mice.

The goal of the SBRP program is to prepare the students to be competitive in a global multicultural world whether their aspiration is to join basic research or clinical fields. Therefore, in addition to performing cutting-edge research, the students participate in various career development workshops.

This year a total of ten students from East Carolina University, Fayetteville State University, North Carolina Central University and The University of North Carolina at Wilmington were selected to be part of the program.

By Cole Dittmer

ECU University Communications