Summer Research Spotlight 2026

Every summer, top-tier Bioengineering students receive departmental scholarship support to pursue cutting-edge bioengineering research on campus under the mentorship of a faculty member. This year’s students advanced their projects through the Abraham Noordergraaf Fellowship and Blair Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

Blair Research Fellow

Student Name: Hailey Van

Current Year and Major Program: Bioengineering, Class of 2029

Project Title: Engineering Neutrophil Pore-forming Proteins as Therapeutic Target for Arrhythmia Post-Myocardial Infarction

Lab Affiliation: Momin Lab

Abstract:
Myocardial infarction (MI) increases the risk of ventricular tachycardia (VT), which can lead to sudden cardiac death. Post-MI neutrophils involved in infarct remodeling secrete granules containing cytotoxic pore-forming proteins (PFPs). Resistin-like molecule gamma (RELMγ) has previously been established as a PFP, yet identifying additional PFPs requires time-intensive experiments. This study aimed to identify and validate a protein with membrane affinity similar to RELMγ but a shorter binding time, potentially limiting pore formation. Molecular dynamics simulations identified S100 calcium-binding protein A8 (S100A8) as a candidate. After protein expression and purification, a dye-release liposome assay was used to assess pore-forming activity, while a cardiomyocyte viability assay evaluated cytotoxicity. Comparable levels of dye release and cardiomyocyte death were observed following treatment with RELMγ or S100A8. These findings suggest that S100A8 may contribute to cardiomyocyte cytotoxicity, although it remains unclear whether this occurs through pore formation or a proposed catch-and-release mechanism. Future studies incorporating a broader range of protein concentrations and microscopy may help clarify the role of granule-secreting proteins in the dynamic post-MI environment.

Noordergraaf Summer Fellow

Student Name: Adarsh Ramamurthy

Current Year and Major Program: Bioengineering, Class of 2029

Project Title: Hybrid Boolean-ODE modeling of Patient-Specific Chemotherapy Response in Pediatric Wilms Tumor

Lab Affiliation: Radhakrishnan Lab

Abstract:
Nephroblastoma (Wilms Tumor) is the most common pediatric kidney cancer, and patients often experience heterogeneous responses to standard chemotherapy. In this study, we developed a hybrid computational model that couples continuous Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) simulations of EGFR-driven signaling (PI3K/AKT and Ras/MAPK signaling pathways) with a discrete Boolean network of the p53-mediated cellular DNA damage response, allowing the systems to inform each other at each simulation step. Patient-specific microRNA expression levels were used to personalize each simulated Boolean network and capture individual responses to drug exposure. Under this framework, cell fate outcomes (growth, death, or senescence) were simulated for 7 patients across a panel of chemotherapy regimens (Actinomycin, Doxyrubicin, Vincristine, alone and in combination), and compared against their real pre- and post-drug tumor volume data. Predicted outcomes correlated significantly with observed clinical response within the high-risk blastemal subtype. Gene-level sensitivity analysis identified the TP53-target genes CCNG1 and WIP1 as the primary drivers of patient-to-patient heterogeneity, indicating that differences in each patient’s simulated TP53 signaling dynamics, which is determined by their individual microRNA profile, largely account for the heterogeneity the model captures across the cohort. This work represents progress toward a computational tool that could eventually predict how an individual patient’s tumor will respond to a given regimen prior to treatment, supporting more personalized therapeutic selection in pediatric oncology.

 

Cover Image: (from left to right) Hailey Van (BE’29), this year’s Blair Research Fellow and Adarsh Ramamurthy (BE’29), this year’s Noordergraaf Summer Fellow.