A Fish Eye View » lab news

Lab member presents at undergraduate research symposium

Mason Posner — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:22:24 +0000

Zach Haley, a junior biology major working in my lab on the regulation of alpha crystallin expression, gave his first research poster presentation on Tuesday at Ashland University’s Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Symposium. This event gives students from all disciplines in the College of Arts and Sciences the opportunity to present their independent work in oral and poster sessions.

Zach is developing methods for using the zebrafish as a model to analyze the function of mammalian alpha crystallin promoters, the regions of the gene that determines when and where its protein is produced. Understanding promoter function can provide clues to how alpha crystallins are used in healthy cells, and why their levels are often increased or reduced during disease.

Why test mammalian genes in a zebrafish? The ability to produce large numbers of transparent zebrafish embryos in a relatively small facility makes this model species less expensive and faster to use than mice. Zach’s work will help to determine whether this approach is feasible.

Zach Haley presents his work on alpha crystallin gene regulation

Meet the new lab

Mason Posner — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:49:20 +0000

I thought it would be appropriate to break my long hiatus from this blog with an introduction of our latest lab members. Last time I posted we were seeing off three lab alumni to a job, graduate and professional schools. But the lab is full again.

From left to right in the photo (with a short description of their current projects) are Mary Brown (roles of alpha crystallins in the zebrafish lens), Lynette Vana (pesticide toxicity), Josh Allman (cloning of zebrafish genes involved in neural development) and Zach Haley (regulation of alpha crystallin expression). That is me in the back. The photo is taken in the scenic Rybolt greenhouse at Ashland University.

Check back for some exciting lab news later this week and future updates on our latest research.

Lab graduates move on

Mason Posner — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 02:58:54 +0000

Former lab members Jackie Skiba, Phillip Wages and Amy Drossman at a 2009 vision conference in Columbus, Ohio

Three students that made significant contributions to the lab have graduated in the past two years and are starting exciting careers. Jackie Skiba graduated from Ashland University in 201o not certain on what direction she wanted to take, but recently landed a great job as a quality control technician in the coffee division of Smuckers where she will be able to combine her love of coffee and science. Besides tasting lots of coffee, she will be using analytical chemistry to quantify the quality of different brews.

Amy Drossman has moved to Chicago to start the Doctor of Optometry program at the Illinois College of Optometry. After three years of working with larval zebrafish eyes she will need to adjust to a different scale.

And Phillip Wages will be starting his PhD studies this week in the Biomedical and Biological Sciences Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also took part in a summer research internship in 2009.

All three of these students contributed to projects that will likely be published in the next year or so. Check back for updates, and for introduction of new lab members.

Lab member wins national Pfizer travel award

Mason Posner — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 16:31:26 +0000

Phillip Wages, an undergraduate research student in my lab, was recently awarded one of only five national awards from Pfizer to present his research at this year’s annual Society of Toxicology meeting in Washington D.C.. Phillip went to the SOT meeting last year as part of a competitive undergraduate program, but this year Pfizer will be covering his travel and registration costs to present a poster on his honors thesis research.

Phillip has been using zebrafish to study the toxicity of two common pesticides, permethrin and atrozine. These chemicals commonly wash off of agricultural crops into neighboring aquatic habitats. His is the first study to examine the mixture toxicity of these two chemicals – the way they interact with each other to produce toxic effects that are not merely the addition of each chemicals individual toxicity. And it is the first study to examine their toxicity using zebrafish embryos as a relatively new model for aquatic toxicity testing.

In addition to his honors thesis toxicology research, Phillip took part in a summer research internship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and last summer began a project in my lab to characterize developmental changes in zebrafish lens protein expression. He is currently applying to graduate programs.

A new cryostat added to the lab

Mason Posner — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:39:07 +0000

Over the last three years my lab has been using the zebrafish as a model for studying the effects of a diverse group of lens proteins called crystallins on lens development. You can read more about the evolution of these lens proteins in a previous post. We just added a new tool to the lab for these studies – a Leica CM1850 Cryostat. This machine allows us to take thin sections through zebrafish larvae to identify any abnormal eye and lens development.

Jackie Skiba, an undergraduate research student in our lab, has been taking the new cryostat out for its shakedown run this summer:

Jackie Skiba preparing thin sections of zebrafish larvae

Stained section through a 3-day old zebrafish eye

The lab heads to ARVO 2010

Mason Posner — Fri, 14 May 2010 03:09:07 +0000

My lab topped off a great academic year with a trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for the ARVO vision research meeting. This was actually my first time bringing undergraduate students to this meeting. Jackie Skiba and Amy Drossman did a fantastic job presenting their research on thermal adaptation in fish lens alpha crystallins. I heard several people comment that they were impressed at the level of research being done by undergraduates at our University. Jackie and Amy really helped promote the value of undergrad research at a meeting that puts its focus on PI’s, postdocs and grad students.

This was also the second year of ARVO’s meeting blog, and my second year of contributing. This turned out to be a good way to share information from meeting veterans, and learn some new faces and names.