Presenting to Lawmakers
Author: Thomas Needy | Major: Biomedical Engineering | Semester: Spring 2025
Stem cell therapy has the potential to be a revolutionary medical treatment that could drastically increase the quality of life for aging individuals by rejuvenating aging tissue. In the future, people with osteoporosis, arthritis, or other degenerative conditions could receive stem cell injections to enhance tissue health and function while reducing pain. However, obtaining large quantities of cells remains a significant obstacle to making stem cell therapy viable and affordable. Accumulating large numbers of cells is difficult because when stem cells are extensively cultured in laboratory settings, they age. When stem cells age, they become diminished in their function, and they cannot replicate or differentiate into specialized cell lines (fat, bone, cartilage, etc.) at rates seen in younger cell lines. Additionally, cellular aging, or senescence, is marked by cells entering both an anti-apoptotic pathway and a secretory pathway that prevents them from undergoing cell death and causes them to secrete environmental factors that negatively impact non-senescent cells. This presents an issue as cells may only be expanded for a limited number of generations, driving up costs for manufacturers, providers, and patients.
My research is concerned with delaying this cellular aging process by using a drug called quercetin so that cells are functional and potent for longer periods. Ultimately, quercetin treatment did not have the effects we had hoped for and did not improve the phenotypes of aging cells. Though not the finding we had anticipated, this was nevertheless significant. It is important to inform others that quercetin was not shown to be a viable strategy to curb stem cell aging so valuable time and money may be spent investigating other potentially helpful strategies.
On January 30th, I had the opportunity to present these findings at the Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock to students and faculty from universities throughout the state, along with Arkansas lawmakers. This was a valuable experience for me as very few in the audience had any experience in cell culture, so I had to practice taking a highly technical subject and making it understandable. The objective of science is to advance human understanding in a way that benefits society. For new findings to benefit society, the public must understand the significance and implications of new research. Additionally, much of the funding for research comes from governmental sources and grants. To ensure that the state continues to fund and support research and innovation, lawmakers must see that their money is being well spent. This conference gave us the opportunity to show people in positions of power how we are using public funds for the common good.
Though nobody at the conference had an extensive background in cell culture, I was told that I was able to explain my research’s significance and findings in an easily digestible manner. People said that after my presentation, they better understood the obstacles to widely accessible stem cell therapies caused by cellular aging. I was also told that it was good that I was reporting on the failure of quercetin so that others did not waste time or money pursuing a dead end. I would advise future students presenting at this event or other events like this to deeply know the significance of their research from a broad level. Losing others in the details and jargon is easy, so presenters must stay broad and relatable to help others understand even the most technical topics.
As I am a senior, this will be my last conference as a University of Arkansas student. In the next few months, I will graduate and go on to attend the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock to study medicine. I plan to continue learning and hope to find new ways to improve people’s health.