Sam is a sophomore Biochemistry major and a transfer student from Howard Community College. He is currently working on two research projects.

Title of your research projects:

Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a Model for KRAS G12C Cancers (HCC research)

 Nicotine-Induced Associative Learning in Caenorhabditis elegans (Build a Bridge to STEM (BBS) internship research)

Describe your work:

Our project at Howard Community College uses a species of yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae to model a type of cancer in humans that occurs from mutations in one of our genes involved with growth, KRAS. Our model could visualize a live cell to see pathways and tumor growth in real-time, which relates our model to live human cells.

Our project at UMBC in the BBS internship uses a roundworm called Caenorhabditis elegans to model human nicotine addiction. We saw if the worm could make an association between their food and the presence of nicotine to see what effect food/hunger has on nicotine addiction.

Who are your mentors for your projects?

At Howard Community College (HCC), my mentor is Professor Joseph Sparenberg. I met Professor Sparenberg through the research program at HCC. Our initial talk was riveting, and I found a lot of qualities Professor Sparenberg had as a researcher relatable. His dedication to his research and students despite his very limited time is a quality that I will always respect about him.

At UMBC, my mentor is Dr. Maria Cambraia from the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences department. I met Dr. Cambraia through the Build a Bridge to STEM (BBS) internship program over the summer. Dr. Cambraia is a selfless and wonderful mentor. Her selfless behavior helped me to establish myself at UMBC and attend the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minortized Scientists (ABRCMS).

How did you become interested in these projects?

I had and still have an extremely positive outlook on the success of the project. Professor Sparenberg’s thoughts on the application of our model were very interesting to me, and I knew that his project would be something I would love to dive into. His ideas on how we literally use a live cell to visualize cancer are crazy to me because I knew that traditional research starts within cells that are dead or in a frozen state. Over time, the project has evolved to be a collaborative effort from Professor Sparenberg, myself, and my lab members to determine the future of the project.

At the BBS internship, we were given freedom over our entire project and were allowed to come up with our own research topic, but we had to center it around the C. elegans roundworm. My group, including a current UMBC student, Supriya Jones, were interested in psychology and how people/organisms learn. Our topic on associations between food and nicotine hadn’t been investigated extensively, so we thought it would be quite a novel idea to simulate the learning process in C. elegans.

What has been the hardest part about your research/what was the most unexpected thing about being a researcher? 

The hardest part about being a researcher is time commitment. You can only commit so much time to certain tasks and your brain can only take so many rigorous tasks before you either burn out or become tapped out from working for the day. There are definitely ways to circumvent this problem (mainly by finding a balance), but it is quite intimidating at first.

What has been the most rewarding part?

The most rewarding part of my research is the ability to talk about research. From conferences to regular scientific conversations, I have a platform to talk about my research and hear about other's research. I love feeling involved in a community where I can get to know a diverse collective of research projects to learn a variety of different information.

How will you disseminate your research?

My plan is to present my summer research at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS), present my HCC research at URCAD, the Maryland Collegiate STEM Conference, and possibly at the Frontiers at the Chemistry-Biology Interface Symposium conference (FCBIS), and publish my HCC research in the Journal of Research in Progress (JRIP) at HCC or possibly, the UMBC review. Other options for publication or presentation still remain up for discussion.

What is your advice to other students about getting involved in research?  

My advice to students trying to get involved in research (especially transfers) is to not feel afraid to reach out, gain information, and be willing to put yourself out there. However, do not overextend yourself and take on a lot of responsibilities in the pursuit of getting yourself established because it is quite possible that you will burn yourself out or lose sense of your priorities.

What are your career goals?

My current career goals are to work toward a Ph.D. in a molecular biology-related field like microbiology, virology, or cancer biology. After obtaining my Ph.D., I plan on doing my post-doc in either public health or academia and working toward becoming a principal investigator in public health or a professor in academia. My end goal is to become involved in administrative work (i.e. a director, a dean, etc.), or possibly pursue scientific entrepreneurship.

Please join us Nov 1, 2023, from 3-5 pm for the EHS Graduate Speaker Seminar Series via WebEx. The speaker's information and seminar topic can be found below. Please help us welcome this week’s speaker by attending the seminar, and please bring your questions and discussion points!

We hope to see everyone there!

Speaker Information:

Lauren Clay, PhD, MPH, Assoc Prof & Chair, UMBC Dept EHS

Lauren Clay is a disaster scientist and public health researcher. Her research focuses on individual, household, and community recovery from disasters. She has studied Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, Harvey, and Florence, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, the 2013 Moore, OK tornadoes, and the Camp Fire among other disasters and public health emergencies. Her expertise is in disaster disruption to the local food environment and food insecurity. Currently, she has several studies underway examining long-term recovery and public health impacts from Hurricane Katrina, food insecurity following Hurricane Florence and the Camp Fire, and several studies looking at food access and security during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Seminar Topic:

Research in Disasters and Food Insecurity

Location: 900 Walker Ave, Room 114, or online via WebEx

Join Webex meeting

ID: 26230589916
Password: 36350242

(US) +1 202-860-2110 (toll)

Access code: 363 502 42

If the underlined link above is not working, the Webex meeting # and password are below and are also on Blackboard in the Grad Student Hub:

Please note that the Dept of Emergency Health Services has temporarily moved (due to renovations of Sherman Hall) to the 900 Walker Building. Address is 900 Walker Ave. (building located behind the Walker Apartments, towards Wilkins Ave.) in the main EHS classroom Walker 114. Enter the front doors and follow the signs to the department area & classroom (Room 114). Link to map (see upper right corner on Walker Avenue, it is the building entitled Baltimore County Courthouse): https://mcac.umbc.edu/maps-and-directions/

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Members of the UMBC SSMVF greeted prospective students and future Retrievers at the Retriever Day event at the RAC. We talked with quite a few high school students interested in both UMBC and the role of SSMVF on campus. We also talked with several parents with military ties who are looking forward to their kids using GI Bill benefits to help pay for college, and we met two Veterans who plan to pursue their degrees now that they are separated from military service. I think at least one was motivated enough by our presence that UMBC was now a more likely selection among prospective colleges. Since UMBC has no significant outreach to the vast prospective military service member and Veteran population in the Mid-Atlantic region, we were happy to help out.