Sep17
Posted on Sep 17 by
Kassidy has moved out of summer vacation mode and jumped back into the lab to continue research with collagen. She decided to do a quick experiment on the difference between using a PBS solution versus a collagen neutralization solution when preparing the hydrogels. After careful observation, it was found that the gels appeared the same with both solutions, based on thickness, color, and texture. Thus, Kassidy decided to continue her research using the PBS solution because all the previous data is from gels created using a PBS solution. Kassidy was also able to reduce her reaction incubation time from 7 days to 2 hours! This mini experiment was an easy transition from vacation back to research and really got Kassidy excited to be back in the...
Sep05
Posted on Sep 5 by
The GRAB Lab members would like to extend a warm welcome to all students back on campus for the start of the fall semester. We’ve been here all summer and we’ve missed you! We’d especially like to welcome all the future research students! If you’re coming back as a sophomore or junior or just getting here as a first year student, you might want to think about getting involved with campus research. Ask a professor or ask a student who’s already involved in research. See you in the lab...
Aug16
Posted on Aug 16 by
Dr. Aren Gerdon has recently been awarded a National Science Foundation grant to support research with undergraduate students at Emmanuel College. The NSF will provide over $350,000 over a three year period to Dr. Gerdon and research students to enable the proposed work on “DNA and nanoparticle assemblies as biomimetic templates for calcium phosphate mineralization”. The grant is part of the Research at Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) program and comes from the Division of Materials Research, Biomaterials (DMR, BMAT). This is the second time that Dr. Gerdon and his students have been funded by the NSF and Dr. Gerdon commented that, “The wonderful thing about this support from the NSF is that you only get funded a second time if you were successful the first time. The undergraduate research students who dedicated themselves to these projects over the past five to ten years produced the results, publications, and conference presentations that demonstrated the high level of research done at Emmanuel College. Our past students, now alumni, made this funding possible. In doing so, they opened the door for current and...
Aug02
Posted on Aug 2 by
Summer research for 2019 is coming to a close and student State of the Project Reports are on the immediate horizon. These reports and presentations are a great opportunity for student researchers, Alex, Stephanie, and Easwer, to dive into data analysis and to do their best to explain their results from the summer. This is not always an easy task, but some time for reflection on the Charles River always helps. The group encountered a significant obstacle this year known as cyanobacteria…. In hopes of avoiding a rash, we made the trek up-river to the Harvard neighborhood where the waters were cleaner. It was a beautiful day on the river. Now on to those...
Aug02
Posted on Aug 2 by
Congrats to Jake for making “front page” news on the Emmanuel College website for the recent publication by Jake, Dr. Gerdon, and researchers Alex Paige, Krista Meserve, and Jason Miech. Great work and great...
Aug02
Posted on Aug 2 by
A proposal to the National Science Foundation titled ” MRI: Acquisition of a High Resolution Scanning Electron Microscope to Enhance Research Collaborations and Educational Needs among Colleges and Universities in the New England Area” has been approved for funding! This grant brings over $425,000 to Colleges and Universities in the New England area for the purchase of a top of the line Scanning Electron Microscopy instrument. Chemists at Emmanuel College contributed to this proposal and Emmanuel College is listed as a major user of the new instrument. This means that undergraduate students at Emmanuel will have new access to amazing materials characterization tools useful in chemistry, biology, neuroscience, and more. The instrument will be hosted at UMass Boston. Congrats to the Primary Investigators and to all student researchers. See the award post here....
