Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology Majors Present Research at International Cell Biology Conference

Jan 8, 2016

Five University of Scranton biochemistry, cell and molecular biology majors presented their research at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) annual conference in San Diego, California. From left: George R. Gomez, Ph.D., associate professor of biology, and student presenters Alice Chen-Liaw, Christa Musto, Matthew Reynolds, Grace O’Neill and Nicole McAndrew.

Five University of Scranton students majoring in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology (BCBM) recently presented their research at the 2015 American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) annual conference, held in December in San Diego, California. The students are: Matthew Reynolds, a sophomore from Apalachin, New York; and seniors Grace O’Neill of Avoca, Christa Musto of Forty Fort, Nicole McAndrew of Archbald and Alice Chen-Liaw of Morris Plains, New Jersey.

Several of the students received competitive travel awards to attend the conference. Reynolds and McAndrew received support from the Worthington Biochemical Corp. Chen-Liaw, who presented at the ASCB conferences in 2014 and 2013, received support from ASCB. O’Neill, Musto and McAndrew also presented research at the ASCB conference in 2014.

Reynolds, who is a member of the University’s Honors Program, presented his research on the “differential effects of peroxynitrite exposure on membrane protein synthesis and traffic in cerebellar versus cerebral cultured embryonic chick brain neurons.”

O’Neill and Musto presented their research titled “Expression of Golf and OMP in chick olfactory neurons is influenced by exposure to exogenous compounds.”

Chen-Liaw, a member of the University’s Honors Program, presented her research titled “Exendin-4 reduces hepatic steatosis in cultured hepatocytes.”

McAndrew presented her research titled “Retinoic acid-induced Neuronal Differentiation in Neuroblastoma is mediated by the activation of the CRABPII signaling pathway.” McAndrew received a 2014 Presidential Summer Fellowship from The University of Scranton for her research.

The ASCB, an international professional society of more than 9,000 scientists, is dedicated to advancing scientific discovery and promoting professional development.

All five students participate in the research laboratory of George R. Gomez, Ph.D., associate professor of biology at the University.

Back to Top