The Beckman Research Scholars Awards are made possible by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation in support of truly exceptional undergraduate students who are committed to a research-based career in Biology or Chemistry. The Beckman Scholars will complete an Honors Thesis on their research.

 

2005-2006 Scholar

Mr. Ryan Young
Mentor: Dr. Benjamin J. Schwartz
Title: Solvation Dynamics of Alkali Metal Anions in Various Solvents and Their Effects of Charge-Transfer Reactions

Left to right: Dr. Benjamin Schwartz, Ryan Young

Ryan Young is a fourth year studying Physical Chemistry under the guidance of Dr. Benjamin J. Schwartz in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Ryan's research examines how the motions of solvent molecules influence the rates of electron transfer reactions, which are fundamental to chemistry and biology. When a solvated alkali metal anion is excited with a laser pulse the surrounding solvent molecules interact with the excited-state wave function, forcing the ejection of the excess electron into the solvent. This can then be detected by a different laser pulse at a different wavelength. Due to the simplicity of the atomic solutes, any change in signal is directly related to the motions and interactions of the solvent molecules with the solute. Different solvents will of course yield different dynamics, as will changes to the local environment, such as variations in the temperature. The focus of Ryan's research is the comparison of the different dynamics induced by photoexcitation of anions of different alkali metals using ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy. From these comparisons a better understanding of the degree of control solvation dynamics can have on chemical kinetics can be made, and a major theoretical device of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics can be tested. He plans on pursuing the study of chemical dynamics with the ultimate goal of becoming a professor at a research university.

 

2004-2005 Scholar

Ms. Jenny Yawei Yang
Mentor: Dr. Stephen Cederbaum
Title: Small Interference RNA for the arginine and polyamine metabolism with the use of a tetracycline-inducible vector based siRNA system

Jenny is a third year Honors Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology major and a Neuroscience minor conducting research under the mentorship of Dr. Stephen Cederbaum in NPI at the David Geffen School of Medicine. Jenny is currently making Short Interfering RNAs (siRNAs) which allow for the specific silencing of a target gene by inhibiting translation and inducing targeted RNA degradation within a cell. Preliminary comparative studies done last year on primary neuronal stem cells isolated from both wildtype and arginase I knockout mice have suggested that (1) a loss of arginase I expression affects both proliferation and differentiation of neuronal stem cells in culture and (2) that these arginase I null stem cells actually exhibit an increase in proliferation and differentiation when cultured under appropriate conditions. siRNA constructs for several genes that play a role in arginine metabolism, including Arginase I (AI), Ornithine Aminotransferase (OAT), Agmatinase (AGM), and Ornithine Decarboxylase (ODC) are currently being made and verification of the ability of each siRNA to abrogate the targeted genes have been done with both RT-PCR and fluorescent microscopy to reveal a decrease in gene expression. siRNAs for each gene will be cloned into a vector containing a tetracycline-responsive derivative of the human U6 promoter, pU6tet01.6, to allow for the conditional expression of these siRNAs. The effects that siRNA perturbation of the various genes has on proliferation and differentiation can then be studied in two cell lines that are suitable models for neuronal stem cells, specifically SH-SY5Y, a human neuroblastoma cell line, and NTera2/D1, a human embryonal carcinoma cell line. Upon graduation, Jenny plans on pursuing a joint MD/PhD in order to become a research physician specializing in the field of neurobiology, and she hopes to make strides in the fight against neurodegenerative diseases. Aside from research, Jenny also loves art, photography, and tap dances during her free time.