From synthesizing tetrahydroxylated pyrrolizidines to exploring ancestry testing, students and faculty from across the disciplines spent the summer conducting research.
Professor Louis Liotta has always learned best by doing. When he was an undergraduate chemistry major at Penn State, he participated in research that, in turn, informed his education and career path. “Just taking courses in a subject area is like only having practices for a sport but never getting to play the game,” says Liotta, when describing the significance of research at the undergraduate level. “Research in the field is getting to play the game.”
This is what inspired Liotta to establish the Stonehill Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) in 1996. Now in its 25th year, the program has paired more than 700 student researchers with faculty mentors for eight to 10 weeks each summer, across a variety of disciplines, to conduct publishable research.
While the research often results in conference presentations, scholarly articles and book chapters, Liotta cites another benefit of the program: “SURE helps students build confidence in themselves to do things they never thought they could do.”
We hear from some of the SURE teams, who spent this past summer researching iminosugars, mental health treatment, darkling beetles and genetic ancestry testing.
From left to right:
JOHN MEAWAD ’23
BIOCHEMISTRY MAJOR
Timely research: Studied the organic synthesis of a compound inhibits the function of enzymes crucial to viral replication processes. “Galidesivir’s antiviral strategy could replace numerous pathogen-specific drugs. This research has become more prevalent, especially during COVID-19, drawing attention to the problems within the field of antiviral drug discovery.”
LEGO master: “As a kid, I was obsessed with building LEGOs. This passion of working to create something—no matter how much time was required—sparked my interest in organic synthesis.”
MADISON MAIORANO ’23
BIOCHEMISTRY MAJOR
Natural sugar: Focused on synthesizing eight stereoisomers of an iminosugar, Casuarine. “Casuarine is found naturally in various plants and has been used in traditional medicine to treat various diseases.”
Summer focus: “Summer research allowed me to solely focus on the chemistry without having to deal with the stress of classes and schoolwork, which gave me the opportunity to fully delve into the science.”
LOUIS LIOTTA
CHEMISTRY PROFESSOR AND SURE FOUNDER
"Research in the field is like getting to play in the game.”
CLAIRE THOMAS ’22
BIOCHEMISTRY MAJOR
Figuring out: How to synthesize two tetrahydroxylated pyrrolizidines—these molecules have potential pharmaceutical uses to treat diseases such as diabetes, cancer and HIV. “I hope my research helps in the development of drugs that can ease people’s suffering.”
Lab connection: “I loved going to the lab each day and being with my labmates. Even when the chemistry wasn’t going well, they were always there for support.”
LUDIMIRA RIBEIRO SILVEIRA ’22
BIOCHEMISTRY MAJOR
Potential treatment: Synthesized four isomers of polyhydroxylated indolizidine from available sugar, L-Glucose. Indolizidine is a type of iminosugar with the potential to be used as a treatment against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. “This research allows me to practice what I have learned in class.”
One-a-day: “My goal was to complete one experiment per day, but that didn’t always happen. Sometimes an experiment takes longer than expected, or you end up losing part or all of your product, so I had to be patient when a reaction went wrong. I learned more from the mistakes than from the successful experiments.”
From left to right:
EDWARD MCGUSHIN
PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Critical history: Past SURE projects in the field of contemporary French and European philosophy have focused on topics such as the relation between power and knowledge, the role of history and language in the way people think, and the means by which people discover or invent spaces of freedom and truth. “For this project, we used the book of 20th century French philosopher, Michel Foucault, The History of Madness, as a guide for a critical history of the asylums and the mental hospitals in New England.”
Field knowledge: ”The process of genuine inquiry and discovery is one of the most exciting intellectual experiences someone can have—especially when you are working to contribute new knowledge to your field.”
MATTHEW KEEFE ’22
PSYCHOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY MAJOR
Exploring ruins: Researched local abandoned or demolished mental institutions, their history and the overall history of how Massachusetts “has dealt with mental illness, conceptualized it, confined it and treated it. I have spent many hours exploring and photographing the ruins of these places.”
Glossed over: “Most people are aware that the history of ‘treatment’ of people with mental illness—and the history of asylums, in general—is terribly dark. Yet, I feel like it is glossed over, and concrete details are widely unknown.”
From left to right:
QUENTIN ODOM-LEWIS ’23
BIOLOGY MAJOR
Beetle-mania: Darkling beetles, or Zophobas morio, are referred to as “super worms” in their larval stage. They are native to Central and South America and domesticated as a food source for reptiles, so little is known about their natural biology. “My research focused on how light pollution affects their immune function to gain a better understanding of an organism that is largely unexplored.”
Sciencing: “In the lab, there was always a lot going on. Dr. Bleakley referred to it as a ‘science bomb that went off’—and that was exactly what it was. It was evident that all the researchers were, in fact, ‘sciencing.’”
BRONWYN HEATHER BLEAKLEY
PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY
Lights out: Light pollution—streetlights, porch lights, billboards—has a wide-range of documented effects on wildlife behavior, from causing physiological stress and interfering with foraging and reproduction to disturbing migration. “We investigated whether the exposure to environmental light pollution affects the ability of a large nocturnal beetle to find a suitable habitat and if its immune function, as an adult, is decreased as a result of having experienced light pollution while developing.”
Beyond the summer: “SURE allows students and faculty to build close, supportive relationships that last well beyond the students’ time here at Stonehill.”
From left to right:
CHEYENNE ZINNKOSKO ’22
SOCIOLOGY MAJOR
Family tree: Examined the reasons and motivations as to why individuals choose to participate in genetic ancestry testing and how they reflected upon their experiences with it. “I interviewed a number of people and heard so many intriguing stories. I also challenged myself to work as an actual sociologist or anthropologist by conducting the type of work they do in the field.”
Surprise, surprise: “Coming out of my shell to conduct interviews really surprised me—it built my confidence, and I’m grateful for it.”
ERICA TUCKER
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY
An idea: “While I was on sabbatical in the spring of 2020, I began doing research on genealogy as a hobby—what motivates people, how do they conduct research, what do they do with what they learn? When Cheyenne approached me about doing a SURE project, we discussed ancestry testing and how we could explore it, and that’s how the project came to be.”
Exploring identity: “I tend to mentor students in projects that they design. Many of my SURE students in the past designed and implemented projects that allowed them to explore and find meaning in aspects of their own identities and experiences.”
Summer | Fall 2021
