Thirteen undergraduate students participated in the 2017 SURF program. They worked in eight different research laboratories in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Over a period of three summer months, all students got an excellent inside look into the ongoing scientific research and expectations of UWM graduate students. At the end of the program, all students presented their work in form of a poster and summarized their work in a written report. Many of these results will be part of future publications. The best poster was presented by William May and Anamarie Tomaich.
Award ceremony (William May and Prof. Arnold)
As a group, they visited the Accelerated Analytical Laboratories. The company is a full-service cGMP-testing laboratory situated in the greater Milwaukee area. The CEO David Metzger gave a full tour of the facility in addition to demonstrations and in-depth information. The group was very thankful for this opportunity.
Group visit at Accelerated Analytical Laboratories
The best poster was presented by William May and Anamarie Tomaich, who worked in the Group of Prof. Silvaggi. The title of their poster was: Assigning functions for two “hypothetical proteins from Pseudononas sp. RIT-PI-q”.
“Entering this summer in Dr. Silvaggi’s lab, we both came with only a rudimentary understanding of biochemistry. Thanks to our PhD mentor, Nemanja Vuksanovic, we were not only able to develop basic laboratory techniques, but also extend, conceptualize, and apply our existing knowledge.” – William May
William May
Alessandra Ebben worked in the group of Prof. Arnold. The title of her presented poster was: Calcitroic Acid as a Potential Key Element in Colon Cancer Prevention.
“I truly feel honored to have had the opportunity to work alongside Dr. Arnold and my mentor, Olivia Yu, and that would not have happened if it wasn’t for the SURF program. I have been doing Organic Chemistry research since January, and I am looking forward to taking the hands-on experience that I have gained as I move forward with my degree and career.” – Alessandra Ebben
Alessandra Ebben
Eric Edwards worked in the group of Prof. Woehl. The title of his presented poster was: Chemically Binding Fluorescein Compounds to Optical Fibers.
“I enjoyed the research that we did over this summer. I enjoyed using the solutions to clean the glass and operating the laser in our lab in the basement to obtain images of the optical fibers. If we had more time, we could have gotten more done.” – Eric Edwards
Eric Edwards
Jonathon Gould worked in the group of Prof. Arnold. The title of his presented poster was: Identification of Novel Pepsin Inhibitors for Target Drugs to Treat Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Disease. This research is a collaboration with Prof. Nikki Johnston from MCW.
“Chemistry research has been a profound and informative experience, on top of being fun and challenging. I have never had the opportunity to first-hand experience drug research before, and UWM’s summer SURF program provided me exactly that. Being an Army Combat Medic and EMT in Milwaukee, I am limited to seeing only the final product of drug research. Now, I have witnessed it almost every step of the way. I plan to bring my newly acquired knowledge and experience with me as I continue with research, and move on to medical school.” – Jon Gould
Jonathon Gould
Alec Huber worked in the group of Prof. Arnold. The title of his presented poster was: An Immunotoxicity Safety Study of GL-II-93.
Alec Huber
Kaleb Keefe worked in the group of Prof. Pacheco. The title of his presented poster was: Analysis of the Kinetics for the Reduction of Nitrite Using Cytochrome c Nitrite Reductase (ccNiR).
“The 2017 summer SURF program was a very satisfying and valuable experience to me. It allowed me to gain a great amount of in-lab experience that will be incredibly useful to me once I start my career in the field. The SURF program allowed me to minimize the hours I worked in food service while not being financially squeezed during the summer. I believe that the SURF program should be pursued by anyone looking to gain practical experience in their field before graduating.” – Kaleb Keefe
Kaleb Keefe
Kwin Larson worked in the group of Prof. Schwabacher. The title of his presented poster was: Development of Methods for selective Reduction.
Kwin Larson
Victoria Mandella worked in the group of Prof. Dietz. The title of her presented poster was: Physicochemical Trends of Hydrophobic Deep Melting Eutectics.
Victoria Mandella
Brandon Patterson worked in the group of Prof. Silvaggi. The title of his presented poster was: Engineering Glyoxylate Reductase’s Active Site. Brandon won the second best poster award.
Brandon Patterson
Frank Pellegrini worked in the group of Prof. Pacheco. The title of his presented poster was: Protein Purification and Cation Exchange Protein Chromatography for Cytochrome C554.
“I would like to thank Dr. Pacheco and my mentor David Koltermann for all the opportunity, support, and assistance they gave me during the summer of 2017. I have truly grown and learned a lot during my time in the Pacheco lab. I will be continuing in the Pacheco lab after summer and for the foreseeable future.” – Frank Pellegrini
Frank Pellegrini
Labina Petrovska worked in the group of Prof. Arnold. The title of her presented poster was: Identification of ExoU Inhibitors for the Suppression of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Labina won the fourth best poster award. This research is a collaboration with Prof. Dara Frank from MCW. Labina works in Prof Arnold’s lab on finding an ExoU Inhibitor for the suppression of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Outside of her studies, Labina is a Milwaukee EMT and captain of Women’s Tennis Team. Labina hopes to graduate in 2019 with a Bachelors in Biochemistry and apply for medical school. Labina is excited to continue research throughout her educational and professional experiences.
Labina Petrovska
David Schreurs worked in the group of Prof. Murphy. The title of his presented poster was: Image use by sighted students to aid in the development of articulations for blind and visually impaired students: Developing a method for scan path map aggregation. David won the third best poster award.
David Schreurs
Tye Seideman worked in the group of Prof. Schwabacher. The title of his presented poster was: Progress on Synthesis of bis-Quinolone β-Sheet Inducer.
“Receiving funding through SURF has provided me with the opportunity to perform research over the summer. The time that I spent in the lab has been an amazing opportunity that has encouraged me to continue studying chemistry. I have gained a tremendous amount of experience that I will carry with me as I begin a long career in chemistry. Mistakes were made and lessons were learned. Essentially, I experienced science first hand in a way that would not have been possible were it not for SURF. I loved it and I am grateful for this opportunity.” – Tye Seideman
Tye Seideman