8th Annual Broward Student Research Symposium
FAU Broward students Saheed Oluwasina Oseni, Tasso Cocoves, and Tolbey Bain emerged as winners of the Eighth Annual Broward Student Research Symposium held Friday, March 16, 2018 at the FAU Davie campus. 一年一度的学生研究研讨会提供博士类别的研究人员, 硕士和本科生有机会展示他们的项目，并由教师和工作人员组成的评审小组选出班上最好的项目. Students representing five different Colleges, guided by their faculty mentors, participated in this year’s event.
“2018年布劳沃德学生研究研讨会再次强调了FAU学生在FAU杰出教师的指导下所做的杰出工作. 展示项目的多样性反映了FAU正在进行的一些前沿工作。 Dr. Donald Torok, Associate Dean, College of Education, Broward Campuses, who also served as the emcee and host of the event. “这次活动为学生们提供了一个机会来解释他们的工作，涉及以下一些主题：前列腺癌研究药物的鉴定, 教自闭症儿童，并为STEM教师提供专业发展的见解, comparison of language development in monolingual and bilingual children, the use of augmented reality in architectural design, 以及不断变化的环境因素对沼泽地鸟类种群的影响. 参加这次活动的所有学生都能够以一种非常易懂的方式向公众传达他们对复杂话题的理解. They are building their skills to be our next generation of future leaders."
In the doctoral category, Saheed Oluwasina Oseni, a doctoral student in the Department of Biological Sciences, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science won for his project: 病原体诱导的炎症在前列腺癌发生和复发中的作用：生物信息学方法. His faculty mentor is Dr. James Kumi-Diaka.
“癌症复发正在成为全世界肿瘤学家和高危癌症患者或幸存者的噩梦. 癌症复发的侵袭性和缺乏适当的治疗方法进一步导致了抑郁症的指数增长, constant fear of relapse, and deaths among cancer survivors,” said Oseni. “My research is focused on developing ways to target and prevent cancer recurrence, 并找出可加重或抑制这一现象的临床显著因素. In the current research, 我对利用生物信息学和实验方法建模和确定病原体诱导的炎症与前列腺癌干细胞或前列腺癌患者复发之间的相互作用感兴趣. 我的初步数据表明，从普通尿路感染（uti）和性传播疾病（STDs）引起的微生物中预先暴露于一些病原体相关的分子配体能够调节抗癌治疗结果, 同时具有激活或抑制前列腺癌茎样特性或复发的潜力以一种时间和剂量依赖的方式. In future research, 我将寻求进一步了解这种关联背后的分子机制，并在体外和体内探索未确诊或无症状的尿路感染和性传播疾病对前列腺癌发生和复发的影响, 希望开发新的治疗和预防技术来治疗或预防前列腺癌复发, respectively."
In the master’s category, Tasso Cocoves, a graduate student in the Department of Environmental Science, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, won for his project: Nesting White Ibis Prey Composition of Coastal Colonies in Everglades National Park . His faculty mentor is Dr. Nathan Dorn.
“白朱鹭是用来表明大沼泽地生态系统成功恢复的几种涉禽之一,” Cocoves said. “虽然在生态系统的北部和中部地区，筑巢的白鹮的猎物组成已经被量化, 在南部地区（大沼泽地国家公园），白鹮用什么猎物来喂养雏鸟在很大程度上是未知的。. 我的研究旨在填补白朱鹭和它们的猎物之间的知识差距，在一个以前的生态系统的生产区域. By identifying prey types important to ibis during the breeding period, 我们希望为正在进行的生态系统恢复工作提供这些营养关系的信息. 我的研究轨迹是最终确定和探索朱鹮在大沼泽地成功筑巢所需的猎物类型."
In the undergraduate category, Tolbey Bain, an undergraduate student in the Department of Biological Sciences, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, won for her project: 二甲双胍与染料木素异黄酮联合治疗糖尿病与前列腺癌的交叉通路 . Her faculty mentor is Dr. James Kumi-Diaka.
"Diabetes and cancer are among the top ten causes of deaths in the United States. 因为最近的报告显示癌症患者或幸存者的两种疾病之间存在联系, 确定这两种疾病之间的联系对于预防每一种疾病引起的痛苦是必要的,” said Bain. “In our research, 我们感兴趣的是开发联合治疗方案，这可能对治疗患糖尿病的高风险癌症患者很重要，反之亦然. Currently, 我们正在探索两种众所周知的抗糖尿病和抗癌药物之间的协同作用, 并希望为癌症复发和/或糖尿病高危人群开发一种新的预防性治疗方法. 最后，我要感谢我的同伴导师（Saheed Oluwasina Oseni）和教师导师(Dr. James Kumi-Diaka) for their moral and technical supports, and the opportunity to work with them on this project."
FAU Broward Associate Provost Anthony Abbate 赞扬了所有的参与者，并说：“高质量的博士再一次证明了FAU作为一个主要的公立研究型大学的措施, graduate and undergraduate research projects that were presented today."
For more information about the event, listen to this segment by National Public Radio affiliate station WLRN-FM/91.3.
Note: For more information about the event, please contact Roberto Santiago, Community Engagement & Communications Officer.