Students who have been participating in a summer research program sponsored by the Texas Bioscience Institute (TBI) will present their research on Tuesday, Aug. 9, from 10:30 a.m. to noon in the TBI Commons, which is located on the Baylor Scott & White West Campus, 5701 Airport Rd. in Temple. The event is open to the public.

Sixteen students have been conducting research this summer with faculty mentors from Baylor Scott & White, Texas A&M College of Medicine, Texas A&M University-Central Texas, Texas A&M Agrilife Research, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and the City of Killeen. Their projects have focused on a wide variety of timely topics, including ovarian cancer, traumatic brain injury and water quality in the City of Killeen.

Participating students and their projects are:

Maria Atanasiu of Killeen has been working with Dr. Shenyuan Zhang from the Texas A&M College of Medicine on a study involving rat lymphatic muscle cells.

Chantel Blakes of Killeen and Cathleen Fuertes of Harker Heights have been working with Dr. Lee Shapiro from the Texas A&M College of Medicine on different projects related to traumatic brain injury.

William Bradley of Troy has been working with Dr. Christine Jones from Texas A&M University-Central Texas to create 3-D models of petroglyphs found on Fort Hood.

Brittany Embrick of Harker Heights has been working with Dr. June Wolfe from Texas A&M Agrilife Research to study the impact of tanks on the soil and water at Fort Hood. Rachel Engelbrecht of Killeen has been working with Dr. Piyalo Chatterjee from Baylor Scott & White on a study of how the overexpression of a particular MicroRNA (mRNA) can lead to pre-eclampsia symptoms.

Loveless Gatewood of Killeen has been working with Dr. Anitha Chennamaneni from Texas A&M University-Central Texas on the possible redesign of some TAMU-CT web pages.

Karenina Pelias of Harker Heights has been working with Drs. Laurel Copeland and John Zeber at the Baylor Scott & White Center for Applied Health Research on a study of how excessive stress impacts mental development in teenagers.

Talyjah Plummer of Killeen has been working with Dr. Allyson Martinez from Texas A&M University-Central Texas on a study of antioxidant levels in local vs. non-local honey.

Michelle Robbins of Killeen has been working with Dr. Ruth Ann Murphy from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor to study what type of milk is best suited for people who have diabetes.

Tatyanna Suggs of Harker Heights has been working with Dr. Laura Weiser Erlandson from Texas A&M University-Central Texas to study the impact of global warming on pea aphids, a bug that can destroy agricultural crops.

Allyson Talbott of Rogers has been conducting research with Dr. Thomas Kuehl in the Embryology Department Baylor Scott & White. The two tested the hypothesis that embryos cryopreserved using two different freezing methods would result in the same outcome as embryos not frozen at all and instead cultured in an incubator.

Jonathan Teston of Belton has been working in the lab of Dr. Ekokobe Fonkem at Baylor Scott & White to study the effects of an experimental compound on glioblastoma cells.

Gwyneth Udy of Nolanville has been working with Kristina Ramirez, director of environmental services for the City of Killeen, to test water samples for evidence of illicit discharges.

Brittany Vrooman of Belton has been working with Dr. Nasir Uddin from the Texas A&M College of Medicine to study the ability of a certain compound to inhibit ovarian cancer.

Christian Wintz from Killeen has been working with Dr. Binu Tharakan from Baylor Scott & White to study the impact of pressure on the development of brain endothelial cells.

The students are all participants in the TBI Middle College Program, which offers high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to earn up to 60 college credit hours in STEM–focused classes through Temple College.