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5th Annual Drake University Conference on Undergraduate Research in the Sciences (DUCURS)

The 5th Annual Drake University Conference on Undergraduate Research in the Sciences (DUCURS) at Drake University was held on Thursday April 17, 2008 at Parents Hall in the Olmsted Center.  This event is organized by DUSCI to celebrate and showcase the excellent faculty-mentored undergraduate research conducted in the math and sciences departments at Drake University.

DUCURS is a reminder of the constant collaboration between students and faculty on research projects pursuing new scientific discoveries.  DUSCI immerses students in the sciences through one-on-one research with faculty; networking and mentorship opportunities with successful alumni; and planning, DUCURS, the annual conference dedicated to showcasing faculty/student research.  In the summer 2007 it inaugurated the first Drake Summer Undergraduate Research Program, providing support to students so that they could work full-time on research projects with Drake faculty.  DUSCI's interdisciplinary, experiential learning sharpens communication and critical thinking skills and inspires students to succeed as students at Drake, in graduate school, as working professionals, and as conscientious citizens.

Participating in the DUSCI poster abstracts were several College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences Faculty & Students:

  • Evaluating psychotropic drug effects on progressive ratio responding in FMR-1 knockout mice - Craige Wrenn (CPHS Faculty)
  • Effects of sub-chronic, pharmacological administration of genistein on visual spatial memory in male Long Evans rats - Evan Ball (CPHS Student) and Craige Wrenn (CPHS Faculty)
  • Modeling Alzheimer's Disease in mice by selectively lesioning the cholinergic basal forebrain - Craige Wrenn
  • Immunostimulatory properties of echinacea laevigata extracts may vary by plant organ - Brad Laflen & Nemish Shah (both CPHS Students)
  • Selective snockdown of cardiomyocyte gapdh gene expression using small interfering rna - Andrew Davis, Sarah Tischer, Jennifer Barker, Eujin Chung, (all CPHS Students), and Ronald Torry (CPHS Faculty)
  • A project to dye - Mai Tu (CPHS Student)

 

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