This is a picture that I took of myself to send to my mom after going into the lab for the first time.

Author: Kenlee Claborn | Major: Biochemistry

Hi, my name is Kenlee Claborn. I am a member of the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences where my major is honors biochemistry, and my minor is anthropology. During the second semester of my sophomore year, I began my search for a lab to join to begin work for my honors thesis. From there, I joined the Kumar research group, applied for and received an Honor College Research Grant the following summer, and began work in the lab the following fall of my junior year. As for the specifics of my lab, my mentor is Dr. Suresh Kumar Thallapuranam, and he is a professor in the biochemistry department.

Because I sought out to find a research mentor during the pandemic and online learning, I had to email around to professors to inquire about the research they were conducting. I learned about their specific focus from a Fulbright faculty website, and from there I began reaching out to professors. Some were too busy to respond, and others did not have available room in their lab at that time. However, Dr. Kumar, who runs the largest undergraduate lab at the university, assured me that there could be a place for me in his lab. Once I had officially joined the lab, Dr. Kumar began to brainstorm projects that I might like to take on for research. He presented me with a project that had been previously attempted and had been left unfinished, allowing me the opportunity to give the project another go. I accepted the project and then started to apply for the Honors College Research Grant.

Since I am a pre-med undergraduate student, Dr. Kumar gave me a project that was somewhat related to the medical field, which is something I love about this lab. It has been super cool and beneficial for me to be working on a medical project, since it is an industry that I would like to work in, in the future. As the project was explained to me, before I understood the complexities of biochemistry research lab jargon, was that I was going to be trying to find a new way to synthesize heparin from chicken intestines. Heparin is a drug that is given to patients as an anticoagulant, which is a medication that thins the blood to relieve clots. It is commonly used to treat stroke victims to absolve blood clots. However, the majority of heparin used in the US is synthesized from pig intestines in China, where pork production is the largest. Recently, some of the heparin from China has been sulfated at a few different locations in the protein, which had led to death when administered to patients. This contaminated heparin has caused the FDA to look for a different heparin source. This led Dr. Kumar to investigate the heparin quality found in chicken, which has been proven to be an acceptable substitute for porcine heparin. The Kumar lab established a patented heparin-binding affinity tag that binds only to heparin, providing a necessary tool for my research. I am very lucky to be part of a lab with such impressive accomplishments that allow for even larger projects to be dreamt up.

The hardest part of my research has definitely been the unfamiliarity of the project. I have had incredible support from both Dr. Kumar and one of his graduate students, Shivakumar Sonnaila, throughout the process of devising a plan to execute the goals with such a unique project. As for now, I will continue working on the project during my next semester! I am very grateful for the opportunity that receiving this grant has given me by allowing me to be back in the lab after the pandemic switched the university to online learning. This has truly been a priceless opportunity!