Several Delaware State University students recently excelled in a statewide neuroscience competition.
The Delaware Neuroscience Symposium invited Delaware neuroscience researchers to present their work.
Deidre Carter is a graduate student studying biology. She earned first place for her presentation on “Alexander’s Disease.”
“To be able to articulate myself and answer questions appropriately for the judges - that was really awesome,” Carter said.
Carter and her lab took a protein found in mice and moved it from the cytoplasm of the neurons to the cytoplasm in the astrocyte - a clump of cells protecting neurons. They wanted to see if protein moving to the astrocyte cytoplasm causes Alexander’s Disease - a genetic disorder in the nervous system.
It was a challenging experience, she said, especially when she didn’t have all the answers to the judges’ questions.
“It’s okay to not know [the answers], but you also want to let people know you do know some things and just kind of encourage the ideas that you do know,” Carter said.
Carter said she’s relatively new to neuroscience, but felt the skills she developed in the competition will help as she pursues her studies.
“Taking something new and understanding it will just make me a well-rounded student, so I’m hoping that if I don’t want to continue in the direction of neuroscience, it will at least build up my reputation that I can take knowledge that’s foreign to me and apply it and be knowledgeable about it,” Carter said.
DSU post-doctorate student Dr. Sridhar Boppana took home a first place while undergraduates Krushali Patel and Justin Sherar tied for second place in their division.
