Chemistry researchers lend information to bigger study about medication and diet
The work going on in one Cornell College science lab takes a steady hand.
Patience is practiced every day.
“This kind of research is very atypical for undergraduates,” Professor Jai Shanata said. “It is very much more-so the kind of research that’s done by graduate students or post-docs who do it for months or years, non-stop.”
Will Eastham ’18, Jennifer Aguayo ’18, and Aidan Litt ’19 are taking on the challenge. They’re working with Professor Shanata for the Cornell Summer Research Institute. Professor Shanata pushed for these early chemistry research opportunities, designing guidelines for the students to ensure their success and to prepare them for the future.
This summer, each of their research topics are different, but connected.
“The connection is thinking about how all kinds of molecules move–not just in the body–but through the environment and in the body,” Professor Shanata said.
Eastham is studying data and modeling molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are known to be carcinogenic.
“They are commonly found in things like oils, they are also found in things like smoke from car exhaust, or cigarette smoke. The concern is that in the case of an oil spill, how do they disperse into the water and do they disperse into the water?” Eastham said. “Then, how would oil dispersants affect whether or not the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons will move from the oil to the water.”
Aguayo is studying a disease called Essential Tremors, which causes tremors in different parts of the body.
“The goal is to figure out if there is an indirect mechanism by which the drugs are actually affecting the body,” Aguayo said. “If we can provide evidence for–the fact that drugs are actually going and integrating themselves into the cell membrane instead of acting by a way of a receptor or something like that, then we can provide a place for future research.”
Litt is examining resveratrol, a compound found in red wine. Studies have shown resveratrol has a number of health properties. His research looks at how it impacts proteins, which he describes as channels that bridge the outside and inside of the cell.
“I’m seeing whether or not if you add this resveratrol or its metabolites–the things it’s turned into and digested into by the body–then if it has any significant impact on how these channels function,” Litt said.
In the long run, pieces of these summer research projects will contribute to a bigger research effort that aims to discover the connection between our cells, the drugs we take, and our diet.
“Many people take multiple drugs, and there’s a lot of effort going into how those drugs interact with one another, either directly–or the fact that when I take one drug, if I take another one, what’s going to happen?” Professor Shanata said. “Doctors have to be very careful about that sort of thing. There’s a little bit less thought going into drug-food interactions–how what we eat impacts how drugs work and the other side of that,” Professor Shanta said. Almost all of that research is focused on the down sides. ‘Take this drug, when you take it, don’t eat this.’ We are interested in seeing to what extent we can exploit that relationship. Are there ways in which we can change how patients eat when they start taking a certain drug to either increase the desired effect or decrease side effects?”
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