DALLAS — The names John Gage and Roy Desoto do not resonate with most people nowadays as their fame has faded slowly into television history. To Michelle Ash ’19 and her father, John R. Ash, M.H.A., Ph.D., F.A.C.H.E., though, the character actors’ exploits from the long-running television series, “Emergency!” are the gateway into biomedical research for the senior biology major at Misericordia University.
Before reaching her teenage years, Ash had mastered the fine art of suturing, albeit on an orange, and heard her father’s stories about intentionally jump-starting a frog’s heart with a 9-volt battery, while also partaking in reruns of Fire Station 51 and its two most famous paramedics.
Those foundational experiences developed a naturally inquisitive quality that has fueled Ash’s undergraduate studies and career aspirations in the sciences.
“I love that you are trying to find the answer to a question that nobody has found yet,’’ the Sweet Valley, native says about her love for scientific research. “The way you can use knowledge that is already established to find the answers to your questions is fascinating to me.’’
One year after participating in the Misericordia University Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program with Jeff Stephens, Ph.D., assistant professor of physics, Lehigh University named the 22-year-old an Iacocca International Scholar to conduct biophysics research in Bordeaux, France. Funded by the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program, Ash was overseas from June 3 to July 25 for the research experience.
In France, Ash worked alongside Dr. Jean-Pierre Delville in the LOMA Laboratory (a French acronym that stands for Laboratoire Ondes et Matière d’Aquitaine or Laboratory of Waves and Matter of Aquitaine) at the University of Bordeaux using lasers to study the microrheology of natural gels. By using lasers, the Misericordia researcher was able to acquire the measurements on a micro-scale of surface tension, viscosity, and storage, and loss moduli of gels used to culture cells without introducing it to another particle.
The technique enables scientists to determine the properties of the gels that cells grown on, so researchers can measure different biophysical aspects of cells without harming it, and thereby enabling them to collect data from a nearly uninterrupted biological system.
“This research gives me experience in an experimental setup that is not typically used in a biophysics lab, as it requires a wide range of knowledge in terms of optics and interference’’ Ash, a Lake-Lehman High School graduate, said about her summer research. “The techniques I learned in the lab are highly valuable skills that will hopefully give me an edge when graduate school applications roll around.’’
Part of the application process for the Iacocca International Scholar Program involved securing two letters of reference from collegiate professors. John Morgan, Ph.D., assistant professor, and Dr. Stephens did not hesitate to fulfill the requirement.
“She has the three pillars (book, laboratory and people skills) that are needed in an academic environment – and that is rare,’’ Stephens says about his mentee. “I feel very lucky to come across her path during her journey.’’
Stephens has collaborated with Ash on numerous projects in the science laboratories on campus, from building and setting up equipment to researching Candida albicans, the scientific name for a common yeast strain and one of the leading causes of death for blood-borne yeast infections.
Yeast, is a “fantastically rich field” to study, Stephens says about the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship study he initiated with Ash in July 2017 and continues to this day to combat Candida albicans’ pathogenicity.
Utilizing an atomic force microscope and magnetic tweezers, the Misericordia student-faculty research team studied the three distinct morphologies of yeast and the differences in cell stiffness.
“Understanding that morphology allows us to look at the mechanisms of it and gain insights into the disease,’’ Stephens says.
The atomic force microscopy enables them to study cell stiffness as Candida albicans has three distinct morphologies or ways it can appear in nature: wild type, pseudohyphal and hyphal – the yeast form responsible for blood borne yeast infections. Stephens and Ash are trying to determine whether the cell membrane is compromised or not when it transforms from its natural form into the pathogenic state in order to gain insights into how to better treat Candidiasis-yeast infections.
“Understanding that morphology allows us to look at the mechanisms of it and gain insights into the disease,’’ Stephens explains. “The structure and mechanisms of the cell plays the role of the pathogen.’’
In addition, the scientists also are working to determine the stiffness or strength of yeast cells by utilizing magnetic tweezers. The scientific instrument attaches paramagnetic microbeads to cells and manipulates the beads, using magnetic fields to try to understand cell stiffness and structure. The pliability of the cell is important because “the stiffer cell means there is less membrane fluidity and is less stable overall,’’ Ash says.
“We want to determine if the hyphal morphology of the yeast is a less stable form of the cell membrane,’’ says Ash. “(If it is unstable it) means there is data to target certain aspects of the membrane to stop the infection.’’
The work to understand Candida albicans better will continue through the 2018-19 academic year. “We collaborate a lot with the students in all of the sciences here,’’ Stephens acknowledges. “Students like Michelle are rare. We know they are engaged and thinking about (their work) because they come to us with ideas and plans for where to take the project next.”
Ash quickly admits how she was “overjoyed’’ and “could hardly speak’’ upon learning about her summer research adventure in France. That opportunity and her own academic success have been fueled by Misericordia because “they let you find yourself,’’ she says.
“(At MU) I can just waltz into one of my professor’s offices and talk to them. It makes me feel good that I have a network of people to fall back on, and the collaboration between the professors is what really strikes me because it blurs the lines we once had in science,’’ says Ash, who envisions herself entering an M.D.-Ph.D. program after graduating from Misericordia in May 2019. “The professors really push you in the right direction here with that personal interaction because they’ve known you and developed a relationship with you over the course of semesters and classes.’’
