Students Can Collaborate With Faculty, Industry Partners On Research Projects

If you are interested in biomedical school, or in a career focused on innovative technologies in the life sciences, two new UNC Charlotte graduate certificates can help you meet your goals.

The Department of Biological Sciences has developed graduate certificates in biomedical sciences and in biotechnology, in response to growing student and societal needs.

“The world’s critical need for biomedical professionals is driving a demand for biotechnology and biomedical professionals,” said Christine Richardson, chair of the Department of Biological Sciences and graduate program director for the certificates. “With these graduate programs, students will gain the academic and research experience they need to prepare them to make an impact in related fields. In addition to classroom experiences with engaged faculty, students will conduct timely research with engaged faculty and with industry representatives in some cases.”

The deadline for applying for the Fall 2020 semester for these certificates has been extended to Aug. 15, due to a change in the UNC Charlotte academic calendar in response to COVID-19.

Biomedical Sciences Certificate

The Biomedical Sciences Certificate will provide students with core competencies or exposure to biomedical sciences to prepare them for professional biomedical schools, such as medical, veterinary or dental schools. Students also have the opportunity to work one-on-one work with a faculty member in an area of interest. They will choose from course offerings in the areas of:

• anatomy and physiology
• biochemical principles and metabolic pathways
• microbiology, immunology, and infection
• embryology, cell biology, and development

Biotechnology Certificate

The Biotechnology Certificate will offer a multi-disciplinary program designed to combine advanced biotechnology course work with activities that develop communication and technical skills that are highly valued by employers in the biotechnology industry. Students will gain practical experience through internships in laboratories on campus or in local industry. A seminar series will cultivate an awareness of ethical, policy, and management issues related to the biotechnology industry.

In addition, certificate students will be able to transfer credits into the UNC Charlotte master of science and doctoral degrees in biology, if their career goals change.

“The certificate programs are designed in a flexible way to help students with a variety of goals, even as those goals may evolve,” Richardson said. “They can broaden students’ competitiveness for jobs, or prepare them for professional admissions exams such as the MCAT and entrance into  programs. Students also will benefit from networking with professionals in biomedical and biotechnology fields to build relationships and find opportunities.”

Given that certificates are not degree programs and are intended to provide streamlined educational opportunities, standardized test scores, such as the GRE, GMAT, or MAT, are not required for admission. The UNC Charlotte Graduate School has more information on the application process, while the Biological Sciences Department has more information on the two certificates.

Words: Lynn Roberson, College Communications Director

Image: Christine Richardson, chair of the Biological Sciences Department, is eager to welcome new graduate certificate students to the department. (Image shows Richardson and previous lab team members.)

In recognition of their exceptional teaching and abilities to connect with students, Didier Dréau, Andrew Goff and Angela Jakeway have received the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Excellence in Teaching Awards for the 2019-2020 academic year.

Dréau, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, received the Integration of Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award. Goff, an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Biological Sciences, received the Outstanding Teaching by a Part-Time Faculty Member Award. Jakeway, a lecturer of German in the Department of Languages and Culture Studies, received the Outstanding Teaching by a Full-Time Lecturer Award.

They received their awards earlier in May during a virtual celebration designed to comply with social distancing measures in response to COVID-19. Over 100 guests attended the online ceremony to celebrate the nine finalists.

Creating connections makes the difference in student learning, said College Dean Nancy A. Gutierrez.

“This intellectual and sometimes emotional connection that takes place is the space in which learning occurs,” Gutierrez said. “It is clear when you hear about the teaching accomplishments of our finalists today that they excel exactly because they have successfully identified strategies that allow meaningful connections whether virtually or otherwise.”

Integration of Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award

The recipient of the Integration of Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award, Dréau has effectively coupled his extensive research on the tumor microenvironment with his teaching. The awards committee was especially impressed by his long history of working directly with undergraduate and graduate students on a wide range of research experiences, inside and outside of the classroom. He has mentored over 70 undergraduate students, 20 Honors students, and 13 graduate students, and has been a member of over 50 Honors thesis committees and over 60 graduate thesis committees.

Alumnus Seth Flynn said Dréau helped him see research as more than a means to an end, but, rather, as an opportunity for interest-guided exploration and scientific advancement.

“I am so thankful for his encouraging nudges in that direction – his hands-on mentorship and the skills I learned both in his laboratory and classroom greatly influenced my decision to choose Duke School of Medicine, where I will have the unique ability to complete an entire year of basic science research,” Flynn said.

With $1.7 million in extramural funding, Dréau has engaged students in a variety of his projects. He also has collaborated with fellow faculty, and graduate and undergraduate students to present at 95 international, national, and local research conferences.

The National Science Foundation funded his Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation project that aimed to generate three-dimensional models of breast tissue in vitro. With this project, underrepresented and first-generation undergraduate students gained an introduction to hands-on research, most of whom went on to further training and successful careers as graduate students, medical school students, or professional scientists. These efforts earned him the UNC Charlotte Outstanding Faculty Award from the Office of  Multicultural Academic Services (now the Office of Academic Diversity and Inclusion) in 2014.

Integration of Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award Finalists

Finalists for the award were Kirill Afonin, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry, and Alan Rauch, a professor in the Department of English.

Afonin is emerging as an internationally-known investigator in the field of RNA nanotechnology, and has attracted major external grant funding to support research, including a $1.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), plus numerous other grants as principal investigator or co-PI. Many of his over 20 academic papers have included undergraduate students as coauthors. Afonin has developed and taught courses with research experiences, including an undergraduate independent research course, “NanoBioChemistry.” Afonin has also developed “ouRNAno”, a YouTube channel that provides tutorials on lab standard protocols and procedures.

Rauch integrates his training as a scientist with his literary scholarship, with a bachelor’s degree in biology, master’s degrees in zoology and English literature, and a doctoral degree in English literature. Rauch has developed a number of courses that integrate the sciences and the humanities. As one example, he developed a course, The History of the Book: From Print to Pixel, that combines challenging readings with practical introductions to paper making, printing, binding, bookselling, reading practices, and digital media. A laboratory component provides the opportunity to learn printing techniques and create letterpress materials, combining literature, art and chemistry.

Outstanding Teaching by a Part-Time Faculty Member Award

The recipient of the Outstanding Teaching by a Part-Time Faculty Member Award, Goff is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Biological Sciences who sees one of the most important ways to help students is by being accessible.

“As an educator, I strive to be the person that my students will approach with questions when seeking guidance during their academic careers,” Goff said. “By making myself approachable to my students, I can have an honest dialogue with them regarding their study habits and preparation for lectures and exams. Through these seemingly simple interactions, I hope to impact each of my students in a way that fosters a lasting approach to understanding, appreciating and respecting the biology and science in the world around them.”

Students commend Goff for his enthusiasm and innovative teaching. “I greatly enjoyed this class,” one student wrote. “Professor Goff had great energy and passion towards biology that he brought with him to every class. This enthusiasm definitely helped to bring the material alive and made the overall class more interesting.”

Goff uses classroom polling and response-type activities to gauge students’ understanding and retention of the material, and uses nature documentaries in his lectures to demonstrate scientific concepts. He hosts creek clean-ups each semester with students and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Storm Water Services. The work of a volunteer student group he founded, UNCC Trashtaggers, has been recognized in the community, including a nomination for the 2020 Governor’s Volunteer Service Award.

He earned a master’s degree in Marine Biology at UNC Wilmington and worked as an environmental toxicology researcher for a year, before joining the department in 2017. Past work with the Nature Conservancy and the National Oceanographic Centre, and his research experiences help him guide students in collaborative research projects.

Part-Time Faculty Award Finalists

Finalists for the award were Henry Doss, a part-time instructor in the Department of English, and Evan Nooe, a part-time instructor in the American Studies Program.

Doss brings a lifetime of professional achievements to the classroom, with over 35 years in banking, venture capital, and consulting. Doss earned a master’s degree in liberal arts and a bachelor’s degree in English from UNC Charlotte. He is noted for encouraging students to gain practical and philosophical insights into the value of their college education, especially among students earning humanities degrees. His teaching philosophy is centered around the two key principles of respect and self-learning. Colleagues commend him for bringing to the classroom compassion, enthusiasm for the humanities, generosity, good humor, and commitment to students.

Nooe has developed courses for the American Studies Program that give students an in-depth look at the history and culture of the American South. Class assignments incorporate experiential learning opportunities ranging from face-to-face exhibit tours and discussions at the Levine Museum of the New South, to analyses of digital content of popular plantation tourist destinations, to a study of Charlotte-area restaurants to connect them with Charlotte’s history and foodscapes. To make topics accessible to students, he uses technology, varied media including podcasts and films, collaborative work groups, writing workshops, and peer-editing roundtables.

Outstanding Teaching by a Full-Time Lecturer Award

The recipient of the Outstanding Teaching by a Full-Time Lecturer Award, Jakeway has played a key role in developing the German curriculum and building relationships with German majors and minors. Drawing from her undergraduate degree in finance and several years of work in banking, she initiated the German business certificate program, creating five advanced level courses.

She currently directs the program and exposes students to a variety of opportunities, including paid internship placements in Germany. She invites German business professionals to her classes as guest speakers and organizes visits to regional German companies. She is faculty advisor for all German majors and minors.

The judges noted that she seeks to create a positive, welcoming relationship between her students and the German language by encouraging them to experiment with the language, talk about themselves in German, and she uses hands-on problem-solving activities to reinforce their learning.

Jakeway recalls one teacher from her childhood who told her she would never learn English. That teacher inspired her to teach in an engaged, supportive way.  “I love teaching,” she said. “Unlike the teacher I had as a child, I am dedicated to providing a positive learning experience for all students no matter where they are in their educational journey.”

Students often recognize her in the UNC Charlotte Senior Survey as the person at UNC Charlotte who has made the most significant, positive contribution to their education. “The German department and Professor Jakeway have my most sincere thanks and utmost gratitude for properly equipping me to begin my international career at Daimler,” one student wrote in a letter to Chancellor Philip Dubois. “Professor Jakeway is one of the most genuine, caring, and hands-on professors I’ve had, along with the entire German department. Thanks to many professors like Frau Jakeway, our school is and will continue to be a top destination around the country.”

Full-Time Lecturer Awards Finalists

Finalists for the award were Rebecca Agosta, a lecturer in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric and Digital Studies and director of the Writing Resources Center, and Sarah Wells, a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry.

Agosta teaches first-year writing courses and tutors and mentors undergraduate and graduate student writing tutor. She supervises work with faculty writers, and she assists in delivering the course “Topics in Writing and Reading: Writing Partnerships: Texts, Contexts, and Collaboration,” which determines how future graduate and undergraduate tutors will teach other students. She uses peer workshops in the classroom where students become each other’s sounding boards and questioners. Students in the writing center course find themselves in a constant space of collaboration. Agosta designs her curriculum on the philosophy that writing is social and rhetorical.

Wells teaches chemistry courses that students may find intimidating or not related directly to their career plans, leading her to redesign portions of her courses to foster student success. She encourages peer-to-peer instruction and interactions through in- and out-of-class group work and discussion boards. She engages students in problem solving through polling technologies and exercises in which students are immediately asked to apply what was just discussed. She encourages students to participate in priming exercises where they answer a few pre-class questions based on their reading so they are ready to engage in the active problem solving activities during class.

Scientists and citizens are thinking about how slowdowns and shutdowns from COVID-19 might be helping the environment.

Among those exploring this issue is UNC Charlotte atmospheric scientist Brian Magi, who is part of a local and global network of researchers who consider air quality and climate.

“Every incremental reduction in air pollution has the potential to save lives because air pollution is directly connected to increased health risks at the population scale,” says Magi, a professor in the Department of Geography & Earth Sciences.

“How many lives are saved is still to be determined because we haven’t figured out how much of a reduction in air pollution there is and will be from COVID-19,” he says. “We also have to be careful not to confound the very real and often rapid decline to death associated with COVID-19 with the often slow, long-term increased risk in factors that lead to death from increased air pollution.”

Locally, observers are seeing hints of changes in air quality that may be a result of less activity, but it’s still too soon to say definitively, he says. “Air pollution arises from many sources, and vehicle miles travelled is a big one,” he says. “With people driving less, this could be a reasonable hypothesis to explore, but then you have to remember that we still have commerce and transport happening even though there is a stay-at-home mandate.”

Large trucks are moving to keep grocery stores and distribution centers stocked, and power plants and many businesses are still operating. Furthermore, the biggest controlling factor on air quality is often the weather.

“A rainy month can create great air quality,” Magi says. “Windy days can also clear out pollution from local sources.  Our county has had a good month in March for air quality, but we still need to put that next to past time periods and next to the weather we experienced in Mecklenburg.”

Charlotte-based Clean Air Carolina has placed a network of air pollution sensors around North Carolina, working with air quality scientists like Magi. “I certainly will be studying the data that emerges from our air pollution sensors,” he says.

Because Mecklenburg County air quality is quite good, measurable and sustained changes might be challenging to document, he says. “I think there is a better chance of detecting a change in air quality in more polluted parts of the world that are responding similarly to COVID-19, such as megacities in China and India,” he says.  

While data collection and analysis still are emerging, other lessons already are clear. One important lesson is that communities can mobilize quickly when faced with a crisis, Magi says.

“Another big lesson is that scientific expertise matters when we face a crisis,” he says. “Americans respect expert opinion, and we are the country we are because of how much time and effort we have invested in all levels of education from kindergarten through college, and in supporting wfundamental research.”

Words: Lynn Roberson

Two graduate students in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences – Nitika, who is pursuing her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, and Caroline Brinegar, who is pursuing her master’s degree in Geography – were recently designated UNC Charlotte’s most Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistants.

The pair were recognized remotely as part of the University’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic.  Each received the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, which includes $1,000 and a plaque.

The Graduate School presents the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award annually to honor top teaching assistants who are nominated by faculty supervisors for their work.  The awards, presented at the doctoral and master’s degrees levels, recognize outstanding and innovative teaching techniques,

Nitika is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Biological Sciences program.  In addition to teaching classes on topics including genetics, she has published nine high-impact peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals. Her research involves understanding the regulation of a key protein in cancer.

“She was the first student at UNC Charlotte to master CRISPR technology and now trains graduate students and PIs from other labs in cancer genomes,” said Andrew Truman, Biological Sciences assistant professor. CRISPR technology is a tool for editing genomes that allows researchers to alter DNA sequences and modify gene function. PIs are principal investigators — people who are leading research projects.

Caroline Brinegar is a first generation, non-traditional master’s student in the geography program.  She has worked as a teaching assistant as both an undergraduate and graduate student.

“The comments provided by students paint a picture of someone who cares about teaching and her students, provides a supportive and helpful classroom environment, is conscientious and respectful in her interactions with students, and is an excellent instructor,” said William Garcia, senior lecturer in the Geography and Earth Sciences Department. Brinegar repeatedly receives the highest evaluations among the teaching assistants, and has some of the highest evaluations of any teaching assistant he has supervised, Garcia said.

Graduate Teaching Assistants play an important role, assisting department chairpersons, faculty members, and professional staff by performing teaching or teaching-related duties, including teaching lower level courses, developing teaching materials, preparing and giving examinations, and grading examinations or papers.

Graduate students interested in obtaining a graduate research or teaching assistantship should contact their academic department directly. The Graduate School’s Funding for Graduate Education webpages have information about administrative assistantship opportunities.

Corals depend on their symbiotic relationships with the algae that they host. But how do they keep algal population growth in check? The answer to this fundamental question could help reefs survive in a changing climate.

New work published in Nature Communications by a team including UNC Charlotte researcher and lead author Tingting Xiang and Carnegie’s Sophie Clowez, Rick Kim, and Arthur Grossman indicates how sea anemones, which are closely related to coral, control the size of their algal populations that reside within their tissue. Before joining UNC Charlotte as an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences this academic year, Xiang was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Plant Biology with the Carnegie Institution for Science.

Like corals, anemones host photosynthetic algae, which can convert the sun’s energy into chemical energy. An alga shares some of the sugars that it produces with its anemone or coral hosts, which in turn provide the alga with other necessary nutrients such as carbon dioxide, phosphorus, sulfur, and nitrogen.

The molecular mechanisms underlying this relationship have remained mysterious.

“We are eager to understand the precise interactions between the alga and its host because if algal populations within the host disappear—as happens during bleaching events caused by ocean warming or pollution—the corals and anemones lose access to vital sustenance and may not be able to survive,” Grossman said. “On the flip side, rampant population growth of symbiotic algae could overtax the hosts’ metabolism and make them susceptible to disease. We want to understand how corals and anemones maintain a balance, which may enable us to assist threatened reef communities.”

The researchers—including Stanford University’s Erik Lehnert, Jan DeNofrio, and John Pringle, as well as UC Riverside’s Robert Jinkerson—revealed that limiting the supply of shared nitrogen is key to an anemone’s ability to control the size of its symbiotic algal population.

The team demonstrated that as the populations of the symbiotic alga Breviolum minutum, hosted by the anemone Exaiptasia pallida, reached high densities, they expressed elevated levels of cellular products specifically associated with nitrogen limitation. This is the same behavior that is observed in free-living algae that are growing outside of the host when available nitrogen in their environment becomes scarce. 

Crucially, as the population of algae within the host tissue increases, they deliver more and more photosynthetically produced sugars to the anemone. The anemones can then use the carbon backbones of these molecules to retain and recycle its nitrogen-containing ammonium waste. This arrangement both results in more robust anemone growth and limits the amount of nitrogen available to the algae. So, the team demonstrated that the dynamics of nutrient exchange between the algae and the anemone change as the algal population increases, which is the key to understanding algal population control within the host.

“Our work elucidates how the association between anemones and algae, or coral and algae, ensures that this symbiotic relationship remains stable and beneficial to both partner organisms,” Xiang said. “With ongoing research, we hope to even better understand the various mechanisms and specific regulators that are crucial for integrating the metabolisms of these two organisms, which could eventually allow for the transplantation of hardier algae into bleached coral and also for manipulating both corals and algae to have greater tolerance to adverse conditions.”

Xiang brings her research findings into her lab and her classrooms at UNC Charlotte, working closely with students. “The students in my lab will carry on the research published here, and we anticipate that we will continue to make scientific discoveries,” she said. “I also am sharing this research in coral-algal symbiosis with the students in my classes, in an effort to pass along the enthusiasm we feel for the research, along with our knowledge and expertise.”

In addition to her postdoctoral research position with Carnegie, Xiang also was a postdoctoral researcher with Stanford University. She earned her doctoral degree in plant biology from China Agricultural University. This work was supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. High-throughput sequencing was performed by the Stanford Genome Sequencing Service Center of the Stanford Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine, which is supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The Carnegie Institution for Science (carnegiescience.edu) is a private, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with six research departments throughout the U.S.

Words: Courtesy of Carnegie Institution for Science | Images: Courtesy of Tingting Xiang | Top Image: Tingting Xiang conducts research in her lab in the Department of Biological Sciences at UNC Charlotte.

Biology doctoral student Farida Yasmin is advancing her research into the wild soybean and its potential to address worldwide food scarcity, growing her impact and her knowledge.

Yasmin has received a third round of support from the Schlumberger Foundation, through its prestigious Faculty for the Future Fellows program. The funding came through a competitive process and supports her research in UNC Charlotte researcher Bao Hua Song’s lab into novel biotic stress resistance mechanisms of the wild soybean. Her third round of funding started in August 2020.

Broadly, Song’s research team focuses on understanding molecular mechanisms and the evolution of plant biotic and abiotic stress response, using crop wild relatives as study systems. They apply their research to real-world problems, such as crop improvement and human health.

Keeping her native land of Bangladesh close to her heart, Yasmin has come to UNC Charlotte to research the wild soybean, which, as a critical global resource, provides more than half of the world’s vegetable oils and proteins.

Yasmin is seeking ways to improve the plant’s resistance to the most devastating pest affecting the soybean worldwide – the soybean cyst nematode, a small plant-parasitic roundworm – through cutting-edge omics technology.

In a second important success for Yasmin, she was one of just 16 young plant scientists from around the globe chosen to attend the highly competitive “Frontiers and Techniques in Plant Science” short course at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a leading international center for research and education. She received support from the National Science Foundation for her attendance at the course.

Since 1981, the course has trained 562 researchers in the latest techniques and approaches in plant science, with a view to preparing the next generation of plant biologists to work at the interface of biological, computational, and physical sciences.

“This course was a window opening onto a whole new, much bigger view of the plant biology world,” Yasmin said. “This intensive course included an international cohort of four instructors and 24 guest speakers who are the pioneers of plant science. Many of them are members of the National Academy of Sciences and Fellows of The Royal Society.”

Yasmin describes the connections she made with fellow students and instructors as an opportunity for future collaboration and advice. “This was the experience of a lifetime,” she said. “The interactions boosted my confidence and helped me in building an analytical and creative research mindset.”

In a third accomplishment, Yasmin is a co-author on a review paper that was published in the journal Current Opinion in Plant Biology with Song and Hengyou Zhang, who was a research associate in Song’s plant biology lab.

The paper, “Neglected treasures in the wild – legume wild relatives in food security and human health,” considers the opportunity that wild legumes can offer in global crop productivity, particularly with their genetic diversity.

“Wild legumes represent a large group of wild species adaptive to diverse habitats and harbor rich genetic diversity for the improvement of the agronomic, nutritional, and medicinal values of the domesticated legumes,” the authors wrote.

“Accumulating evidence suggests that the genetic variation retained in these under-exploited leguminous wild relatives can be used to improve crop yield, nutrient contents, and resistance/tolerance to environmental stresses via the integration of omics, genetics, and genome-editing technologies,” they said.

This work was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the North Carolina Soybean Producers Association, North Carolina Biotechnology Center, North Carolina State University Plant Pathways Elucidation Project Consortium, and University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Song describes how Yasmin’s accomplishments and her leadership can produce a ripple effect. “I believe such success stories help to encourage fellow students here at UNC Charlotte,” she said. “This will help to create social value and impact through other student scholars’ efforts.”

Words: Lynn Roberson | Images: Courtesy of the Song lab | Learn more about Yasmin’s work in a previous story about her.

For decades, the color blue has been a significant focus of research into improvements in digital display technology. The images seen on laptops, phones and flat-screen TVs come from light-emitting materials comprising three colors: red, green and blue. 

“The colors red and green are very easy to obtain, but the color blue has been the bane of display technology. My research is focused on creating a new class of blue-emitting materials to make these displays more energy efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly,” said Abhishek Shibu, a Ph.D. candidate in Nanoscale Science. He won first place and the People’s Choice Award for the presentation “Let There Be ‘BLUE’ Light” at UNC Charlotte’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition.

He and the second- and third-place winners are doctoral students in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

The Walter Research Group in the Department of Chemistry has created a library of crystals in the quest to improve the blue, which, Shibu says, “will be paradigm-shifting candidates in the world of display technology.”

The Three Minute Thesis competition helps prepare graduate students to communicate for success in their chosen careers. Students who participate in the 3MT have an opportunity to receive personal coaching and instruction on public presentations through the Center for Graduate Life. The center’s course, Communicating Your Research to a Non-Expert Audience, is tailored to help students communicate about their research with varied audiences.

Nicole Stott, a Ph.D. student in Biological Sciences with a concentration in Cellular and Molecular Biology, placed second for “Lung Cancer Progression.”

Stott’s research assesses how the drug Metformin, commonly used to treat diabetes, also can reduce lung cancer tumor burden while maintaining skeletal muscle health. Stott’s work holds promise for improving the welfare and recovery time for lung cancer patients.

Mukulika Bose, also a Ph.D. student in Biological Sciences, received the third place award for “Targeting Pancreatic Cancer with a Specific Antibody.”

Current treatment for pancreatic cancer often kills normal cells as well as the tumor. Bose’s research focuses on identifying biomarkers of cancerous cells to better target treatment. 

Learn more about the origins of the 3MT Competitions here. In the image, Abhishek Shibu presents his research.

It is generally known that viruses, with their cell-invading capabilities, can be responsible for a number of different cancers. What is less broadly discussed are the cancer-causing capabilities of bacteria, or the processes by which they may cause malignancy.

In a review article appearing in the November 18, 2019 issue of Trends in Molecular Medicine, University of North Carolina at Charlotte cancer biologists Pinku Mukherjee and Mukulika Bose discuss a mechanism that, they suggest, may implicate bacterial infections in a wide variety of cancers. This is a cause that science has yet to fully understand.

The article, “Microbe – MUC1 Crosstalk in Cancer-Associated Infections,” makes the case for the likely implication of microbial — especially bacterial — interactions with the glycoprotein known as MUC1 in cancers involving epithelial cells, including cancers of the colon, lungs, stomach, liver and pancreas.

Epithelial cells are cells that are frequently specialized for absorption or secretion purposes, and to form linings or barriers in organs, including the intestines, lungs, stomach, liver and reproductive organs.

MUC1 is a “transmembrane” protein – extending outside, through and inside the cell membrane to the cytoplasm – and is present in nearly all glandular epithelial cells. It is one of a group of proteins known as “mucins” for their involvement in protective mucous layers, whose gel-forming features are caused by sugar molecules coating part of the protein’s length (“glycosolation”). The sugars, essentially, interact with water molecules, creating a slippery, slimy barrier, protecting cell layers against pathogens and environmental damage.

Mukherjee, Irwin Belk Distinguished Professor of Cancer Research and chair of UNC Charlotte’s Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, has done considerable past research on the surprisingly negative roles MUC1 can play in a variety of cancers. The association of the protein with cancer is very strong. As the article notes, “the National Cancer Institute ranked MUC1 as the second best target antigen for the development of cancer vaccines.”

Mukherjee also does work on the interaction of cancer and pathogen infections. “Now it is known that about 20% of all malignancies, especially epithelial malignancies, are associated with some sort of infection, viral or bacterial, persistent inflammation being the root cause” she noted.

Mukherjee explained that a lot is now known about viruses and the biological mechanisms involved, such as the association of HPV with cervical cancer, for example.

“But there is very little known about what causes cancers associated with bacterial infections… not much is known about this. But when there are bacterial infections that have definitely been linked to cancer — like H. pylori with stomach cancer and ulcers — that appears to have to do with the basic persistence of the bacteria,” she said.

Persistent infections may be different because of the effects of their long-term attacks on cellular defense mechanisms.

“But if these persistent bacterial infections cause aberrations on the epithelial layers, mucins must be involved because every glandular epithelial cell has mucins and we know that mucins are the first protective layer in any bacterial infection,” she said.

Imbedded in the epithelial cell membrane, with its outside end coated with attached sugars and its inside end floating largely naked in the cell’s cytoplasm, MUC1 serves a largely protective role, Mukherjee said. Molecules on the surface of bacterial cells bind to the mucosal layer or to the glycosolated end of MUC1, but the cell is ready for the attack and responds.

“Attachment by the bacteria triggers MUC1 to shed its extracellular domain (the glycosolated section) with the bacteria attached, and the whole thing goes to the mucous layer, where the bacteria is removed,” she said. “It thus works as an anti-inflammatory by pushing the attacking bacteria out and engulfing it into the sugary molecule.”

However, the process can have side-effect, she said. “That’s mainly how MUC1 works, but what happens sometimes when MUC1 sheds, its remaining outside and cytoplasmic tail (the protein’s inner segment) gets activated. A persistent bacterial barrage on a cell activates some cytoplasmic tail and we know that when the cytoplasmic tail is activated it can trigger signaling pathways that cause cancer.”

MUC1 can thus play a dual role during infection, either being anti-inflammatory by staving off bacterial attack, or pro-inflammatory, triggering inflammation processes, which, in turn, can cause malignancy.

“The dual role of MUC1 as protective and oncogenic in the presence of microbial infection is, in a nutshell, what this article is about,” she said. “There are pieces of research out there that point to this, but we are trying to pull them together.”

The article surveys studies on a dozen common infections by bacteria and viruses that are known to involve MUC1 and notes a limited number of examples where the protein is known to play a pro-inflammatory role.

“The field has only looked at these mechanisms in small number of infection-associated cancers, and even fewer where bacteria are involved,” Mukherjee noted. “We hope our hypothesis leads to people looking at this in a more scientific manner.”

Mukherjee’s hypothesis stresses the central role of MUC1 and mucins in targeting future research. Because of strong connections between the protein and cancer processes in epithelial cells and the protein’s strong involvement in combating microbial infections, it is an obvious, yet understudied connection between infection and cancer.

“The idea is that at some point we are going to have to start studying mucins more seriously,” she said. “Rather than only studying mucins in already transformed cancer cells, we need to be studying them before the cells transform and see what is going on. The work being done on the cancer side needs to be connected with the work on the bacterial side, and the role of infection in triggering inflammation.

Mukherjee’s research is supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute, Department of Defense, Susan G. Komen Foundation, and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network/American Association of Cancer Research. Her co-author, Bose, is a doctoral student who does research in Mukherjee’s lab.

Words: James Hathaway | Images: Courtesy of Mukherjee (shown on the left) and Bose.

Jennifer Webb of the Department of Psychological Science is the 2019 recipient of the Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence. Each fall, through the University Teaching Excellence Awards, UNC Charlotte recognizes faculty members who are exemplary educators.

“Dr. Webb has demonstrated a strong commitment to teaching and has proven to be an outstanding classroom instructor,” said Eric Heggestad, associate professor and chair of the Department of Psychological Science. “She is widely regarded as a passionate, caring and knowledgeable instructor who is exceedingly skilled at sharing her knowledge with students in a way that they can fully grasp and, in fact, get excited about.”

Thomas Marshall, a lecturer in Risk Management and Insurance, received the inaugural UNC Charlotte Award for Teaching Excellence.

From the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, three other faculty also were honored as finalists for the University’s two teaching awards during the university’s celebration ceremony on Friday, Sept. 6, at the Hilton Center City.

For the Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence award, finalists are Jordan Poler, professor, Chemistry; and James Franki, associate professor, Art and Art History. For the new UNC Charlotte Teaching Excellence Award, the two finalists both come from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. They are Oscar Lansen, teaching professor, History; and Terry Shirley Jr., senior lecturer, Geography and Earth Sciences.

Webb, an associate professor in the Department of Psychological Science, joined UNC Charlotte in 2007. She has taught eight courses in the psychology undergraduate program and four courses for the health psychology doctoral program. Additionally, she developed two new courses for the undergraduate major.

When engaging with students, Webb strives for respect, fairness, transparency and authenticity. She considers her classroom a space where students are co-creators in the process of learning with the goal of enhancing student motivation and learning.

She also uses group projects and assignments around community engagement and advocacy themes to “advance students’ ability to synergize their collective personal strengths in a meaningful way to help strengthen campus or community resources.”

The Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence, first presented in 1968, is given to a full-time, tenured faculty member with at least seven years of service to UNC Charlotte.

Finalists Share Teaching Philosophies

Poler said even after 24 years teaching chemistry, “I love watching all the furrowed brows become raised, with widened eyes.”

Connecting with his students is important to Poler. He developed a “Pledge of Allegiance” method to check in with students, by asking multiple choice queries that students can answer by holding that number of fingers to their chest.

“It is private, but not anonymous, since I can connect with them directly, even in the back row,” he said.

Recognizing that inexperienced students need more resources to be successful, for the past eight years Poler has offered a weeklong boot camp for rising first-year students called, “Summer Intensive Chemistry Orientation.” This camp helps improve student success, increase retention, lower withdrawal rates and improve overall GPAs.

Lansen has witnessed how societal and structural changes present challenges for today’s undergraduates, and he seeks to countermand that by employing classroom innovations such as experiential didactics, visuals-spatial modeling, collaborative teaching and specialized course design, in order to develop students’ analytical and expressive skills. As a testament to his professional excellence, Lansen has received eight teaching awards during his time at UNC Charlotte.

“I love to teach: to awaken critical inquiry and equip young minds with the essential skills for meaningful action in life and work,” said Lansen. He seeks to engage students in learning by developing course themes and foci that are inclusive of and relevant to the diverse backgrounds of his students. In some courses, he has students view the content through the eyes and action of their historical peers.

Shirley is widely known for his enthusiasm for meteorology, and he wants to share that passion with others.

“Getting someone excited to learn, to grow as a person, to embrace diversity, to problem solve, to ask ‘Why?’, and to effectively communicate is what I center my career around,” said Shirley.

During his 13 years at UNC Charlotte, Shirley has developed two general education electives and several upper division bachelor’s courses. He also developed and delivered one of the department’s first online courses. In addition, Terry is the department’s faculty fellow for LEADS, a transdisciplinary career preparation program, and was elected to the University’s Faculty Integrity Board. He also serves on the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.

The new UNC Charlotte Award for Teaching Excellence is open to full- or part-time non-tenure track faculty members who have at least five years of teaching service at UNC Charlotte (lecturers and adjunct faculty). Eligibility for the Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence, first presented in 1968, continues to be for full-time, tenured faculty members with at least seven years of service to UNC Charlotte.

Community members have sought solace in the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens after the tragic events of April 30, when an individual opened fire in a UNC Charlotte classroom, killing two students and injuring four others. The visitors found a humble table at the entrance to the Susie Harwood Gardens. There, stacked, were smooth gray, white and brown stones and black markers for people to leave messages, artwork, memories, and prayers.

Over the following weeks, the stones were tucked along the Botanical Gardens’ paths, sending their messages forward in a collective way. The Botanical Gardens staff have now gathered and stored the stones, which will be used in a more permanent commemoration in the future.

“Like the rest of campus, we are all deeply troubled by what happened and wanted to do something besides just being here,” Botanical Gardens Director Jeff Gillman says. “The remembrance stones were our answer, and we are happy that we can be a part of the healing process.”

Individuals and groups came to the Botanical Gardens to find refuge and to connect. Deborah Thomas, chair of the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, emailed and invited class members to join together in the Botanical Gardens for an informal and optional meeting, she says. 

“The Botanical Gardens were an important part of the healing process for me, for my class, and I am sure others,” Thomas says. “My class was in lockdown together the evening of the tragedy. Afterwards, although finals were optional and they had submitted much of their work, I thought it would be nice to offer an opportunity to get together on our finals night. Many of us met at the gazebo, had a casual dialog about class, and chatted about the upcoming summer.” Several students also left stones along the path and told her the activity was calming and touching.

Assistant Director Amy Tipton provides more insights into how the concept came about and how the community reacted.

What led to this idea?

We had originally planned a spring concert and festivities to celebrate May Day, to occur the day after the shootings. Given the circumstance and the joyous nature of the concert planned, we decided to cancel the concert. As a result, the staff had conversations about the different aspects of the Gardens. The Gardens offers a place of joy and beauty as well as a place of refuge and contemplation. We recognized that the Gardens have great potential for healing and wanted to organize a project to welcome the UNC Charlotte community to use the Gardens as a resource to assist with healing. 

How did you decide to offer the stones as a remembrance concept?

We chose to use river stones as the medium for the interactive project, as many cultures around the world use stone(s) to memorialize people, mark events, and exhibit faith – such as tombstones, cairns, and inuksuk. In addition, we felt that the stones would provide a very personal and tactile experience – selecting “your” stone, feeling its weight and texture, contemplating text or an image, embellishing the stone, and placing it along a path. We worked out the details of the project over the course of the next few days, and started it on the Monday following the tragedy.

What are your hopes for the role of the Botanical Gardens as the UNC Charlotte community continues to process and grieve?

Envisioned as a very private, personal act, we found that the embellishment and placement of the stones unexpectedly created a larger experience of knowing that we are all part of a caring, united UNC Charlotte community. I personally found that in addition to the process of embellishing the stone, the act of walking through the Gardens to select a location to place it added to the healing experience. Finding so many others’ stones along the paths gave me a sense of how many individuals were affected by the tragedy. We hope that the Gardens can continue to contribute to the healing process.

Words: Amy Tipton, with Lynn Roberson | Images: Lynn Roberson