Grace Curtis wins runner-up in NASCE competition
jennifer.madiganGrace Curtis won runner-up for Best Lightning Round student presentation at NASCE in May for “Leptin Signaling Stimulates Peripheral Angiogenesis During Xenopus Larval Development.”
Grace Curtis won runner-up for Best Lightning Round student presentation at NASCE in May for “Leptin Signaling Stimulates Peripheral Angiogenesis During Xenopus Larval Development.”
Grace Curtis, along with collaborators, had their paper titled “Trans-ovo permethrin exposure affects growth, brain morphology and cardiac development in quail” published in Environmental Toxicology.
Abstract
Permethrin is a commonly used, highly effective pesticide in poultry agriculture, and has recently been trialed in conservation efforts to protect Galápagos finch hatchlings from an invasive ectoparasite. Although permethrin is considered safe for adults, pesticides can have health consequences when animals are exposed during early life stages. The few studies that have examined permethrin’s effects in embryonic chicks and rats have shown hydrocephaly, anencephaly, reduced cellular energy conversion, and disruption of developing heart muscle. To test whether trans-ovo exposure of permethrin affects early development in birds, we exposed Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) eggs to cotton treated with 1% permethrin that was incorporated into nests in two amounts (0.2, 0.8 g), each with a paired untreated cotton control group. When measured on incubation Day 15, we found permethrin-treated developing birds were smaller and showed signs of microcephaly, although mortality rates were the same. Despite no difference in heart mass, ventricular tissue was less compact, cardiac arteries were reduced and heart rates were slower in permethrin-treated birds. Differences in heart development were also observed at 5 days of incubation, indicating that abnormalities are present from early in cardiac development. Future studies are needed to examine permethrin’s effects on developmental pathways and to determine if these effects persist after hatching to affect offspring health. This study provides evidence that permethrin can cross the eggshell to cause non-lethal but adverse effects on embryonic development, and studies should look beyond hatching when monitoring the efficacy of permethrin on wild bird populations.
Grace Curtis received $1,000 from Sigma Xi for her project titled “Leptin’s Functional Role in Angiogenesis during Regeneration and Development”.
This project will determine whether the nutritional hormone leptin promotes blood vessel formation during appendage regeneration in Xenopus tadpoles. Studying blood vessel formation during regeneration could yield insight into future human wound healing therapies.
Congratulations, Grace!
Kourtnie received a $1,000 grant from the American Microscopical Society for her research project titled “Testing leptin regulation of mucus secretion in X. tropicalis embryonic mucociliary epidermis: A model for respiratory epithelium”
She will be testing the hypothesis that leptin signaling promotes mucus secretion/production in mucociliary epithelia, such as the lining of mammalian respiratory tract, by using the Xenopus epidermis as a model for mucociliary epithelia. To do this, she will be upregulating and downregulating leptin in Xenopus and examining changes in mucus secretion/production and changes in numbers of mucus secreting cells. She will also determine expression patterns of leptin and leptin receptor mRNA to determine cell-specific leptin signaling.
Congratulations, Kourtnie!
This past April, Jennifer Madigan was invited to present her research on assessing psychological and physiological stress across the perinatal period in Navy spouses and the potential implications for military nursing practices to the Triservice Nursing Research Program’s Military Women’s Health Research Interest Group (TSNRP MWHRIG).
“With this new National Science Foundation grant, Washington State University will prepare graduate students to tackle a difficult problem that is more than 1,200 miles long: the Columbia River.
The five-year, $3 million award will fund a research training program focused on the relationships among rivers, watersheds, and communities. The program is intended to transform graduate science education, creating a diverse workforce that will not just conduct research but also first engage with the many communities that depend on the Columbia for clean water and food.”
WSU receives $3 million for graduate research to improve Columbia River
A culmination of hard work and collaboration with the Oregon Zoo and the Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, resulted in hundreds of endangered northern leopard frogs being hatched, raised, and released back into the wild of the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge.
The Washington state population of northern leopard frogs has a unique genetic variation relative to the rest of the species range, and they are part of the natural diversity of amphibians of the region. Projects and collaborations like this between our lab and wildlife parks/zoos are important to boost the state’s northern leopard frog population.
Our new Ph.D. graduate student, Lex Dulmage, hit the ground running by partnering up with Dr. Crespi to work diligently and facilitate this northern leopard frog release.
Endangered northern leopard frogs hatched, raised and released back into the wild
Endangered frog species released into Columbia National Wildlife Refuge
Hopping into the wild: Endangered frog release could help boost only known population in Washington
Jennifer Madigan placed third in the Medical Laboratory Sciences category at the 2021 Washington State University Graduate Professional Student Association Research Exposition. Her project investigated how perinatal hair cortisol concentration is linked to psychological well-being over time in women who experience birth complications.
Six CAS women were honored for their accomplishments, service, and commitment to student success at the 15th annual WSU Women of Distinction awards ceremonies this spring. Our own Dr. Erica Crespi is among these amazing women.
Erica Crespi
Woman of the Year
As an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences (SBS), 2021 Woman of the Year Erica Crespi is committed to excellence in research and teaching, but it’s her “commitment to promoting the success of diverse students,” her nomination letter said, that makes her truly exceptional. She is a tireless advocate for under-represented groups in the sciences – particularly women. She mentors and advises female students, co-advises the Scientista group, serves on the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, regularly speaks on panels about women in science, and recently secured a grant to support a maternal-child health collaborative that will bring together female researchers from across WSU.
In addition to her advocacy work, Crespi is an engaging teacher who received the Smith Teaching and Learning Award in 2017 and was inducted into the WSU Teaching Academy in 2020. She has had several projects funded by the National Science Foundation and recently received a $900K Murdock Trust grant to build an Aquatics Phenomics Research Center at WSU. “While there are many important women leaders at WSU,” her nomination letter read, “Erica is unique in that her leadership is changing the landscape of research at WSU for so many faculty while also innovating graduate and undergraduate training and education.”
Click here for the Full Published Article
See the latest work from former graduate student Emily Hall, undergraduate researcher Brandon Hutzenbiler and collaborator Jesse Brunner (WSU) that connects how the non-lethal effects of elevated salinity due to de-icing road salt run-off can increase the likelihood of mass mortality events in wood frog tadpoles, providing rare empirical evidence supporting the stress-induced susceptibility hypothesis:
Press coverage for this research article includes: