Jamica White, a rising junior from LeMoyne-Owen College, and Oluwabanke Otunba-Payen, a rising sophomore from Rust College, conducted eight weeks of summer research at Rhodes College under the supervision of Dr. Qian Shen, associate professor of biology. This work was supported by an award from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Building Research Capacity of New Faculty in Biology (BRC-BIO) program (Grant #2334708). These awards provide the means for faculty to initiate and build independent research programs that might also include biology-focused research collaborations across peer- or research-intensive institutions.
This research, involving Rhodes students and students from nearby colleges in the Greater Memphis area, seeks to understand how the dimorphic fungal pathogen Histoplasma capsulatum senses and responds to the shift of carbon dioxide concentration in the environment. The results from this project have the potential to lead in the development of novel antifungal drugs to combat life-threatening fungal infections by interfering with the carbon dioxide sensing and response mechanisms in fungal pathogens.
White and Otunba-Payen presented their work at the Mississippi IDeA/EPSCoR Conference held in Oxford, MS, on July 24.
“I got real experience in microbiology, molecular biology, and data analysis,” said White. “Presenting my research at the Mississippi IDeA/EPSCoR Conference was the best part because I gained confidence and learned how to explain hard ideas simply. It felt great to share my work with others. This project really helped me grow as a student, researcher, and communicator. I’m very grateful for the opportunity and everything I learned along the way.”
“It was exciting doing research at Rhodes during the summer. I learned a lot of new things and took part in research that would be a benefit to the medical field; being able to bring what we learned to the Mississippi IDeA/EPSCoR Conference was a wonderful opportunity. It gave me the avenue to reflect more on our research and ways to get it to the next step; it allowed me to network with great minds and connect with great people. I am utterly grateful to Dr. Qian Shen for this opportunity,” said Otunba-Payne.
Shen joined Rhodes’ biology department in 2020, and also serves on the organizing committee for the college’s biochemistry and molecular biology interdisciplinary program.
“I would like to thank Dr. Mary Miller from the biology department for sharing her microscope to capture high-resolution images of Histoplasma yeasts, and Dr. Larryn Peterson from the chemistry department for providing my students with opportunities to practice their poster presentation,” said Shen.