Erik Almaraz
CAMP Student - Senior (MARC student from 2005-2007)

Research Group: Bakthan Singaram
Major: Chemistry

Research: Enantioselective reduction of ketones is a major class of reactions used in medicinal and synthetic chemistry to produce optically pure secondary alcohols. These alcohols are found to be exceedingly important chiral building blocks. Several methodologies are known so far using chiral ligands such as diphosphines, diamines, and their derivatives to achieve asymmetric induction in the synthesis of secondary alcohols. Optically pure beta-amino alcohols are an emerging class of synthetic ligands, which are promising in promoting asymmetric inductions. Professor Singarams’ lab has already developed several chiral beta-amino alcohols derived from natural terpenes. The focus of my current research project will be to use these beta-amino alcohols in promoting asymmetric reductions of aromatic and aliphatic ketones using borane reagents. This will help us develop an environmentally benign methodology for asymmetric reductions using ligands derived from natural sources. We will also be studying the mechanism of these reactions to fundamentally understand the reduction process in order to design better catalysts.

After graduating from UCSC with a B.S in Chemistry I plan to attend graduate school and attain my PhD in further studies of Chemistry.

Internships & Presentations:

Erik P. Almaraz, Caitlin Binder, and Bakthan Singaram. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz. DEVELOPMENT OF A PRE-CATALYST SYSTEM FROM VARIOUS AMINO ALCOHOLS AND 9-BORABICYCLO[3.3.1]NONANE FOR ASYMMETRIC REDUCTION. Undergraduate Research Symposium UCSC June , 2007. Poster Presentation. Abstract

Erik P. Almaraz, Joseph Roan, Bakthan Singaram. Development of a Pre-catalyst System from Various Amino Alcohols and 9-Borabycyclo [3.3.1]nonane for Asymetric Reduction. SACNAS National Conference. Tampa, FL, October 26-29, 2006. Poster Presentation.

MARC/MBRS Summer Institute. University of California, Santa Cruz. June 27-August 19, 2005.

Ken Dixon
CAMP Student -Junior

Research Group: Charles McDowell
Major: Informational Systems Management

CfAO Engineering and Optics Short Course, UC Santa Cruz. June 24 - July 3, 2007.

Yonathan Essaw
CAMP Student - Senior

Research Group: Bill Sullivan
Major: Neuroscience

Research: I am currently doing research in Dr. Sullivan’s Lab. I am participating in collecting flies from the Big Creek reserve and analyze them for Walbachia infection. I analyze infected flies through cytological as well as PCR methods. I examine the wild-type strains for characteristics that differ form the laboratory wolbachia Strain. This will aid in the overall analysis of wolbachia infection pathology.

Internships & Presentations:

Yonathan Essaw and Bill Sulllivan. Wolbachia Transmission in Wild Drosophila. University of California, Santa Cruz. SACNAS National Conference, Kansas City, Missouri. October, 2007. Poster Presentation. Abstract

Yonathan Essaw and Bill Sulllivan. Wolbachia Transmission in Wild Drosophila. University of California, Santa Cruz. Undergraduate Research Symposium UCSC June, 2007. Poster Presentation. Abstract

Summer 2006. University of California, Santa Cruz, MBRS Research Training Program, June-August 2006.

Norman Forsberg
CAMP Student -Senior

Research Group: Russ Flegal
Major: Chemistry

Research: I am currently working on a project where we will be researching the correlation between the frequency of inundation and the production of monomethylmercury in a tidal salt marsh microcosm. The overall goal of this research is to see if the frequency of tidal flooding can be used to regulate the production of monomethylmercury in the marine environment. In addition, I will be going on a cruise and assisting researchers in collecting water samples from the San Francisco Bay. The samples will then be used to determine the speciation and relative abundances of various metals in the water column.

Kelly Kitagawa
CAMP Student - Senior

Lab Group: Roberto Manduchi
Major: Computer Engineering

Research: My research is focused on making computerized maps for blind and visually impaired users. With unique tactile effects from the Logitech Wingman Force Feedback mouse and specialized sounds the user would essentially be able to feel what is on the screen as opposed to seeing it. In this study, participants are blindfolded while polygons are being generated onto the screen. After using the program they are instructed to draw what they felt on the screen and pick out the shape they think it was from a list of shapes.

Internships & Presentations:

CfAO Engineering and Optics Short Course, UC Santa Cruz. June 24 - July 3, 2007.

Paul Levine
CAMP Student - Junior

Lab Group: Bakthan Singaram
Major: Chemistry

Research: My research is on the development of a viable implantable glucose sensor to assist in the management of Diabetes Mellitus. An implant would allow continuous monitoring of glucose levels. Every conceivable method of detection has been explored with very limited success, even after years of intensive R&D. Our laboratory has prepared a boronic acid-based optical glucose sensor utilizing fluorescence as a detection method. The sensor operates under physiological conditions and gives a reproducible signal in vitro. Current research is directed towards the synthesis of thin film polymers that contain the sensing components. Our goal is to prepare an implantable chemical sensor that is selective for glucose.

Internships, Presentations and Publications:

Paul Levine, Dr. Bakthan Singaram, Zachary Sharrett, Soya Gamsey, Dan Cunningham-Bryant, Boaz Vilozny, Alexander Schiller, and Rithchie A. Wessling. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Santa Cruz.TITLE- BORONIC ACID-APPENDED BIS-VIOLOGENS AS A NEW FAMILY OF VIOLOGEN QUENCHERS FOR GLUCOSE SENSING. Poster Presentation. California Alliance for Minority Participation Conference. February 22-24, 2007. University of California, Irvine. Poster Presentation.

Zachary Sharrett, Soya Gamsey, Paul Levine, Dan Cunningham-Bryant, Boaz Vilozny, Alexander Schiller, Rithchie A. Wessling and Bakthan Singaram. Boronic Acid-appended Bis-viologens as a New Family of Viologen Quenchers for Glucose Sensing. Tetrahedrom Letters, November 19, 2007. Science Direct. TETL 33199.

Marisela Marinez
CAMP Student -Senior

Summer Institute Attendee
Major: Health Sciences

MARC/MBRS/CAMP Summer Research Institute. University of California, Santa Cruz. June 25 - August 17, 2007.

Ashley Sanders
CAMP - Senior

Research Group: Melissa Jurica
Major: Molecular Cell & Developmental Biology

Research: I am currently working in professor Melissa Jurica's lab. Our lab focuses on the spliceosome which is a large protein/RNA complex that splices out (introns) non-coding regions from pre-messenger RNA. Not much is know about the structural dynamics of the spiceosome, our lab uses different techniques such as x-ray crystallography to help give insight into the overall shape of the spliceosome. My current project involves coming up with a system to make SF3b proteins, which are an integral part of understanding the machinery of the spliceosome in relation to RNA processing.

Internships & Presentations:

Ashley Sanders, John Little, Melissa Jurica. Creating Co-Expression Vectors for Structural Studies of Spliceosome Proteins.California Alliance for Minority Participation Conference. February 22-24, 2007. University of California, Irvine. Poster Presentation.

Ashley Sanders, John Little, Melissa Jurica. "Creating Co-Expression Vectors for Structural Studies of Spliceosome Proteins." SACNAS National Conference. October, 2007. Abstract Travel Award Recipient.

Ashley Sanders, John Little, Melissa Jurica. "Creating Co-Expression Vectors for Structural Studies of Spliceosome Proteins." Undergraduate Research Symposium UCSC June, 2007. Abstract

MARC/MBRS Summer Institute. University of California, Santa Cruz. June 26 - August 18, 2006.

Michael Sebastian
CAMP Student - Junior

Research Group: Gregory Laughlin
Major: Physics

Research: There are currently about 250 known extrasolar planets, and out of all of them, HD80606b has the highest eccentricity of 0.9321. This means that it has a highly elliptical orbit and comes very close to it's host star.
One theory as to why it is so eccentric is presented by Wu and Murray, and that is that the planet originally formed at very high inclination to the binary plane. Then through Kozai migration, the planet will trade orbital inclination for eccentricity. However, this is kind strange that the planet need so start at such a high inclination, approximately 84.8 degrees. Our project is geared towards creating an alternative explanation for the high eccentricity.

Internships & Presentations:

CfAO Engineering and Optics Short Course, UC Santa Cruz. June 24 - July 3, 2007.

Jordan Ruybal
MBRS Student-Senior

Lab Group: Bill Sullivan
Major:Marine Biology

Research: My area of research is on host-pathogen interactions. Specifically, I am interested in understanding how Wolbachia interact with host-cell machinery. The pathogen that I am working with is Wolbachia. Wolbachia are gram negative, obligate intercellular bacteria and are known to infect many nematode and insect species. The nematode Onchocerca volvulus has a symbiotic relationship with Wolbachia and this relationship lead to the disease river blindness. Therefore, understanding how Wolbachia interact with host-cell machinery is an important step in identifying good drug targets.

Data collected by Uyen Tram on dividing embryo nuclei indicates that Wolbachia move along microtubules. It is known that other cellular components move along microtubules as the cargo of motor proteins, therefore, it is possible that motor proteins aid in Wolbachia movement. As part of my current research I stain cultured cells with a DNA dye, syto11. Syto11 specifically binds to Wolbachia DNA which allows us to image the cells under the microscope and record the movement of Wolbachia. So far the data that we have collected is consistent with the hypothesis that Wolbachia move along microtubules. Eventually we would like to identify the exact motor proteins that are responsible for Wolbachia intracellular movement.

Internships & Presentations:

MARC/MBRS/CAMP Summer Research Institute. University of California, Santa Cruz. June 25 - August 17, 2007.