Christopher Phaneuf - Advisor, Craig Forest, PhD




"An Instrument for Multi-temperature, Multi-chamber, Micro-liter Amplification of Viral DNA/RNA"

The inability of current diagnostic tools to rapidly and efficiently identify viral pathogens results in significant medical expenditures including empiric antibiotic administration and hospital admissions. We are developing an instrument that will facilitate timely, low-cost identification of viral DNA/RNA with fast thermocycling of 1 µL sample volumes within a microfluidic chip with independent thermal control of the reaction chambers.

Adam Prasanphanich - Advisor, Melissa Kemp, PhD

"Antioxidant Attenuation of TGFβ-Induced Smad Transcriptional Activity"

Elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) and aberrant transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) signaling are potent drivers of carcinogenesis and fibrogenesis. Antioxidants have been shown to reduce TGFβ-mediated gene expression. Our investigation has identified phosphorylation of Smad transcription factors as a redox regulated processes that may sensitize TGFβ signaling pathways in the presence of elevated ROS.