Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Development Of Novel Zika And Anthrax Viral Nanoparticle Vaccines, Elizabeth Henderson

KGI Theses and Dissertations

Vaccines protect against numerous infectious diseases and prevent millions of deaths annually, but there are still many infectious diseases for which no licensed vaccine exists. Developing a new vaccine requires balancing safety and efficacy, and viral nanoparticle (VNP) vaccines possess both of these characteristics. The work herein demonstrates how tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) nanoparticles can serve as a platform to create candidate vaccines for Zika virus (ZIKV) and anthrax. In the first study, a ZIKV-specific epitope was genetically fused to TMV to create a safe and inexpensive vaccine that proved highly immunogenic in mice and led to the discovery of …

Mathematical Modeling Of Type 1 Diabetes, Gianna Wu

HMC Senior Theses

Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease where the pancreas produces little to no insulin, which is a hormone that regulates blood glucose levels. This happens because the immune system attacks (and kills) the beta cells of the pancreas, which are responsible for insulin production. Higher levels of glucose in the blood could have very negative, long term effects such as organ damage and blindness.

To date, T1D does not have a defined cause nor cure, and research for this disease is slow and difficult due to the invasive nature of T1D experimentation. Mathematical modeling provides an alternative approach …

Racial Disparities In The Diagnosis And Treatment Of Type 1 Diabetes In Black American Youth, Kierra Mitchell

Scripps Senior Theses

Introduction: Rates of childhood-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D) are steadily increasing among American youth, yet Black Americans are more likely to suffer from serious T1D-related complications caused by poor glycemic control. The aim of this thesis is to determine the external factors that are causing discrepancies in the development, diagnosis, treatment, and long-term management of T1D in Black youth.

Methods: Epidemiological studies were compiled from the American Diabetes Association, Center for Disease Control (CDC), International Diabetes Foundation (IDF), Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), and the Claremont Colleges Library network to identify the sociocultural aspects that negatively affect long-term glycemic control in …

Giardia Lamblia Growth In Viscoelastic Fluids, Kelly Watanabe

CMC Senior Theses

Giardia lamblia is a single-celled protozoan parasite that when ingested, causes diarrheal disease and infects 33% of people in developing countries. Previous studies observe Giardia in water-like fluids, but Giardia's infectious environment consists of viscoelastic mucus in the small intestine. Therefore, Giardia was cultured in viscoelastic fluids, and its population growth was observed in vitro. To create shear-thinning viscoelastic fluids, 0.2% and 0.4% long-chain polyacrylamide (LCPAM) was added to cell culture media. Giardia was cultured in control media, 0.2% LCPAM, and 0.4% LCPAM, and population growth was quantitatively determined over time. Increasing LCPAM concentration resulted in a solution with …