October 16, 2024
Mayville State University student researchers and their faculty mentors attended the 2024 North Dakota IDeA Networks for Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) Annual Symposium held at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. The symposium gives researchers working on projects funded by INBRE to share their research findings with other researchers and INBRE officials.
INBRE programs are National Institutes of Health-based projects that promote the development, coordination, and sharing of research resources and expertise between institutions to expand research opportunities for undergraduate students in particular, and to increase the number of competitive investigators at INBRE institutions. Coordinated at the University of North Dakota by School of Medicine and Health Sciences by professor of pathology Don Sens, Ph.D., principal investigator for ND-INBRE, the program not only promotes biomedical research across the state, but it also helps maintain the pipeline for the state’s healthcare workforce, training high school students and college undergraduates in biomedical research skills and knowledge creation.
Representing Dr. Thomas P. Gonnella’s lab, Mayville State senior Kaitlin Ensign from Buxton, N.D., gave an oral presentation titled “Using Simple Coumarin Fluorescent Lifetime Probes to Assess Human Serum Albumin Binding in the Presence of Medium and Long Chain Fatty Acids.” Their research group, which also includes students Gerrit Bjornstad, Thief River Falls, Minn., and Micaela Kocher, Crosby, N.D., has examined the effects of fatty acids on the binding of ten different coumarin fluorescent lifetime probes to human serum albumin (HSA). The students represented their project in poster sessions held later in the day. Dr. Gonnella is a professor of Chemistry and INBRE project director at Mayville State.
Dr. Joseph Mehus, Mayville State associate professor of biology and INBRE researcher, also made an oral presentation titled “North Dakota Mosquitoes: What’s All the Buzz About?” Mehus said prior mosquito research in North Dakota is minimal, given the massive numbers of mosquitoes found in North Dakota during the summer months. The mosquito research team at Mayville State has spent the last five years researching various aspects of mosquito biology and ecology. In his presentation, Mehus also discussed previous mosquito research, focus and aims of the mosquito research project, and an update of the progress made during the project. Current and future aims were presented.
Mayville State students who are currently involved in the university’s mosquito research, Jesse Halverson from Mayville and Mollie Robinson from LaMoure, N.D., represented the project in poster sessions where several researchers from around the state displayed highlights and explained their projects and research findings.
“We are incredibly proud of our student researchers for the important work they are doing,” said Mayville State President Dr. Van Horn. “I commend their faculty mentors and INBRE for making these extraordinary opportunities available to Mayville State students. Their exposure to further education and employment opportunities after they’ve earned their undergraduate degrees at Mayville State are invaluable.”
Photo Captions
Second: (Left to right) Dr. Tom Gonnella, Micaela Kocher, and Gerrit Bjornstad are pictured with their poster that explains their research related to use of human serum albumin binding. Kaitlin Ensign is also a member of this research team, but she was unavailable for the photo.
Last: Kaitlin Ensign, a member of Dr. Tom Gonnella’s research team at Mayville State, gave an oral presentation explaining the work of their research team.