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Undergraduates Jessica Thrush, left, and Chandra Wiley, right, preparing a western blot analysis.

Author: Jessica Thrush Major: Biological Sciences

The summer between my sophomore and junior year I was given the wonderful opportunity of becoming a research assistant in Dr. Tameka Arnett Bailey’s research lab within the Biological Sciences department. I began with transitioning into research techniques and applications and by learning as much as I could about her research which focuses on basic science research to improve treatments for breast cancer. By the end of the summer Dr. Bailey proposed that I stay on the research team and complete my honors thesis with her as my mentor, I happily accepted.

Breast cancer is a terrible disease that takes the lives of so many each year and there are varying levels of treatment for the different subtypes. For the subtype typically called ‘Triple Negative Breast Cancer’ there are no targeted hormonal therapies. This is also a subtype of cancer that can be characteristically aggressive and is seen colonizing other tissues of the body such as the brain and liver. Once the cancer reaches these tissues, quality of life drastically decreases. Triple negative breast cancer has also been shown to disproportionately affect African American women. Dr Bailey is dedicated to finding a therapy target for possible triple negative breast cancer treatment. My honor thesis pertains to identifying links between the genome of triple negative breast cancer cells that are genetically engineered to over produce a certain protein and the other proteins those cells produce. Due to the pandemic obtaining results has been difficult. However, when the cell lines are mature and the correct reagents navigate the postal system I will run chIP assays to determine if certain enzymes are being upregulated in response to the upregulation of other proteins.

Together with doctoral student Jodi Simeon and undergraduate student Chandra Wiley,  we have completed background research that led to the culmination of my honors thesis topic. Both Jodi and Chandra helped me learn new laboratory techniques, the best way to understand academic research publications, and as an added bonus, even the most efficient way to swipe my student ID to get into Ferritor hall. This semester Dr Bailey introduced me to the process of submitting a publication to research journals. This publication pertained to previous background research that I was given the opportunity to participate in creating. She allowed me to view a side of academic research that many undergraduate students do not have access to through including me as an author and in the writing and editing process. During this semester, I took a Medical Sociology course, taught by Dr. Michael Nino, which opened my eyes to the underlying mechanisms behind why African American women could be disproportionately affected by Triple Negative Breast Cancer. I was incredibly inspired by this coursework and even asked Dr. Nino to be a part of my thesis committee. I hope that my research will illuminate a path to finding a potential targeted therapy.

I am extremely proud of the work I have done and grateful to the University of Arkansas  Honors College for presenting me with an Honor College Research grant which has given me hands on experience with research that will be applicable in my future studies in a medically concentrated setting. Eventually, I want to attend medical school and this type of experience has helped allow me to see how medical innovations are created. Once I began solidifying what my honors thesis content would pertain to it sparked my grandmother, who had breast cancer several years ago, to look at her old paper work. Coincidently, years prior she had been diagnosed with the same subtype of breast cancer that I had begun research on. This sparked my interest into this  research even more because it helped highlight for me the applicability of populations who stand to benefit from such research.