Author: Madeline Richards     Major: Biology

Using a micropipette to work on my research project in Dr. Lehmann’s Development Genetics lab

Hello everyone! My name is Madeline (Madie) Richards and I’m a Biology major with a minor in Spanish. I am in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. My mentor is Dr. Michael Lehmann and he is in the Biological Sciences department. I received the honors college research grant for Spring 2021, but I have been conducting research in Dr. Lehmann’s lab since Fall 2019. I defended and passed my thesis in April and I just graduated last Friday with Summa Cum Laude distinction. I am going to begin medical school at UAMS in Little Rock this coming August.

My research project is titled Functional Control of the Drosophila Lipin Protein by Phosphorylation. I aimed to explore the effects of phosphorylation at specific sites within the Drosophila lipin protein using CRISPR/Cas 9 methodology and phenotypic characterization. Lipin plays a role in fat storage so my research is investigating how manipulation of this protein affects the fruit flies’ ability to store fat properly. I am especially proud of this project due to the potential for human application as the outcomes could be used to better understand specific phosphorylation sites in human lipid and therefore human fat storage. In November 2020, I had the opportunity to present my research at the virtual INBRE conference.

I chose to do research in developmental genetics because I have always found genetics to be so interesting and I know that it has a very direct application in the field of medicine. During my sophomore year, my roommate at the time was working on her honors research project in Dr. Lehmann’s lab and told me he was looking to add another undergraduate student and how much she enjoyed her project. After completing an interview with Dr. Lehmann and accepting a position as an undergraduate research student, we worked together to develop my research topic, building from a project recently completed by his research assistant.

This project challenged me intellectually and expanded my knowledge of developmental genetics, providing me with a deeper understanding of the subject through application and hands-on learning. The research experience I have gained through this project has allowed me an improved understanding of the scientific process and laboratory skills. I know this foundation will certainly be beneficial as I pursue the opportunity to conduct research in medical school and as a physician. This project has also greatly increased my appreciation for research and its role within medicine and I am excited to get involved with research at UAMS.

Over the last year, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a huge challenge for me to overcome, as I know is true for many other students as well. Specifically, COVID-19 negatively impacted my research project because I had to pause laboratory work from March through August 2020. This forced me to abandon one of my project goals, the creation and phenotypic characterization of a Lipin S748A/S751A mutant. After the lab lockdown had been lifted, I resumed the experimental work for my project. However, coordination of lab work was complicated by the fact that Dr. Lehmann worked from home and was not continuously present on campus. In addition, the research assistant that had assisted me during the first year of my project left the lab in March 2020 and she could not be replaced during the pandemic. Despite these difficulties, I managed to make progress with my project and completed important parts of the characterization of the S820E mutant that I had generated before the start of the pandemic.

Dr. Lehmann played a huge role in my research project. He helped develop my research topic based on previous projects that had been completed in his lab and provided me a detailed project description with many resources. He also completed procedures in the lab with me, helped me with statistical analysis, always answered my questions, and provided feedback on rough drafts of my honors thesis. Prior to the pandemic, Dr. Lehmann had a research assistant, Stephanie Hood, who helped me with daily tasks in the lab and taught me a lot of laboratory skills. I am so appreciative for both of their help and guidance throughout this project and of course for the financial support from the honors college grant!