Student Honored for Biology Presentation(CMT)

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Student Honored for Biology Presentation

http://iberkshires.com/story/25143/-Student-Honored-for-

Biology-Presentation.html

WILLIAMSTOWN - Elicker, member of the College

class of 2009, was awarded the prestigious undergraduate student

poster presentation award by the American Association of Anatomists

in recognition of her work on the " Characterization of the Zebrafish

Small Heat Shock Protein Family. "

She was awarded the distinction during the annual meeting of the

Society of Experimental Biologists. Her research with Lara D.

, assistant professor of biology, was published in the

November journal Gene.

Elicker's research focuses on the small heat shock family of

proteins that are produced by cells in response to environmental

stressors such as sudden temperature elevation, infection, heavy

metal or alcohol exposure, or excess UV light. Humans have 10 known

heat shock proteins, but many of the exact functions of these genes

remain unknown. Although her research aims to address human

diseases, Elicker and her research partners, Tomoki Kurihara, class

of 2007, and assistant professor of biology Lara , have used

the zebrafish in order to closely examine these genes.

Elicker said, " we use zebrafish because their embryos are

transparent, so we can stain them and analyze them in real time

without the need to fix or section. " She presented the results of

her research at the experimental biology meeting on April 31, 2007,

where she received the

poster presentation award.

For Kim Elicker, exploring the heat shock proteins of one species of

fluorescent fish is more than an academic interest. Elicker

said, " my uncle was recently diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth

disease, " a human neurodegenerative disease linked to one of the

human body's heat shock proteins.

For Elicker, this family connection inspires her " to delve deeper

into the mystery of these genes, their function, and their mechanism

of causing human disease. "

Because of this drive, Elicker has decided to continue her research

this academic year in Professor 's lab as a College

Undergraduate Research Fellow.

When she's not in a classroom or biology laboratory,

Elicker spends her time leading a new student group known as the

Organization for Cancer Awareness and Prevention (WOCAP),

which hosted ' first Relay for Life on Oct. 12. She also

plays the French horn in the symphonic winds and the mellophone in

the marching band. Elicker finds time to promote environmental

activism as an active member of the Thursday Night Group as well.

Elicker was born and raised in York County, Pa. She attended South

Western High School before joining the student body in fall

2005. She was drawn to for its integrated science program

but has come to most appreciate the college's emphasis on

undergraduate education.

" I've attended conferences where [me and my fellow

students] were the only undergraduate students present. The graduate

students that we talked to were amazed that we were only

undergraduate freshman, " said Elicker. " It's then when realized

just how lucky [i was] to be an undergraduate at ... the

opportunities are just wonderful. "

Elicker is a junior biology and mathematics double major.