High Point, NC - High Point University’s campus is buzzing with students and faculty collaborating on innovative summer research through three unique programs.

Students representing all academic schools are on campus participating in these programs, which they applied for during the spring semester. The programs are SuRI (Summer Research Institute), SuRPS (Summer Research Programs in the Sciences) and SuRF (Summer Research Fellowship). Each program pairs students with professors who guide them through projects in a variety of fields. This provides students with a range of opportunities, from learning new lab technology to working together as a team.

SuRI Creates Virtual Reality

Brian Heagney, assistant professor of game design, is leading game design and media production students who are using a virtual production studio in the Nido R. Qubein School of Communication to produce a fire safety Public Service Announcement (PSA) that could be used for film and television. Heagney and the students use a green screen, virtual reality set and a desktop computer to create a high-resolution virtual environment as a backdrop.

Shane Cooper, a senior game design major from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said the virtual reality summer research project is a good mix of both majors.

“I’m learning a lot about film while also expanding my knowledge about game design,” said Cooper. “I’m also recording all the steps that we take, the equipment we use and flavoring it to explain all the problems we come across. When we publish our work, we can say this is what we did and here are the steps you can take so you can do it yourself at home. We also say here are some problems you might run into and how to fix them.”

Creating an online tutorial provides an opportunity for HPU communication students to help others establish their own virtual production studio and allows them to be at the front of what could be the future of film and television production, said Jacob Drew, a junior media production major from High Point, North Carolina, with minors in game design and legal studies.

“I think one of the great things about this research is a cross connection between the majors of game design and media production,” said Drew. “It’s bringing both majors together to make a brand-new medium. This whole field is at the front of technology and is the future of where things are going.”

SuRI Project Focuses on Fighting Cancer

Dr. Robert Coover, assistant professor of basic pharmaceutical sciences, is one of a group of professors and students in the Fred Wilson School of Pharmacy researching treatments for a deadly inherited cancer. When neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) patients are 8 to 14 years old, they often start developing tumors in their nervous system, which can affect their ability to walk and move their arms or compress internal organs. Coover is passionate about the research because NF1 claimed the lives of his father and younger brother.

“We use a combination of techniques in our lab, from growing tumor cells and healthy cells, and testing compounds we make in-house to kill the tumor cells before we kill healthy cells,” said Coover. “That is the goal of the entire cancer field. We’re making some good progress. Hopefully, we’ll move the needle with what we’re doing.”

The research also has a personal connection for Priya Thornton, a sophomore biology major from Chesterfield, Virginia. Thornton is analyzing new compounds’ effects on NF1 cells and says this lab experience inspired her to pursue pediatric medicine as a career.

“This particular project is important to me because my mom had breast cancer when I was in high school,” said Thornton. “Although it was not the same type of cancer I am researching, it sparked my interest in creating a drug that can fight cancer. The outcomes of these experiments are critical early characterizations of new compounds that could potentially be a treatment for a disease with no known cure.”

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center recently funded the research to develop new treatment therapies for NF1 tumors. Part of the research focuses on related cognitive aspects, which can range from depression, attention deficit and social skills struggles in pediatric patients.   

“The question we’re asking is relatively simple but the tools we’re using are pretty advanced,” said Coover. “We are taking a whole disease approach to our research, not just the tumor growth but the cognitive aspects as well.”

SuRPS Students Study MRSA Treatments

Dr. Heather Miller, associate professor of biochemistry, is working with three students in support of the nearly $440,000 National Institutes of Health grant on antibiotic resistant bacteria she received last year. The grant enables Miller to continue her research for three years and was the second of its kind awarded to HPU. Drs. Miller and Meghan Blackledge, associate professor of chemistry, were awarded this grant in 2019, too.   

“Our team is studying drugs we can use to make existing antibiotics work again,” said Miller. “We’re trying to eventually create some clinically relevant molecules that could be used to treat MRSA infections because we know that antibiotic resistance is such a big problem. We’ve already discovered some molecules that are effective. Our lab wants to uncover how they work because that knowledge will help us decipher how to improve the drugs even more. And we can learn about how one drug may work better against some strains of MRSA compared to other strains of MRSA.”

Tori Federico, ’23, a Communication and Business Leadership master’s student from Howell, New Jersey, has been working with Miller in the SuRPS program since 2021. Undergraduate research programs were the main reason she came to HPU, she said.

“All of the state-of-the-art lab equipment we get to use and the great mentorship from Dr. Miller has been instrumental and inspired me to want to keep going with this, which is why even as a master’s student I am here this summer in the lab,” said Federico. “I intend to be here for the next two semesters because there is so much you learn about science research in general. MRSA research, particularly in respect to its antibiotic resistance, is so interesting because of the clinical relevance. It's great to think that anything we’re working on in this lab could one day be used in clinical settings.”              

Gabe Valenzano, a sophomore biochemistry major from St. Charles, Illinois, agreed the lab skills and experiential learning confirmed his career choices.

“It helps me understand that this is what I want to do, this is where my passion is,” said Valenzano. “I jumped at the opportunity my first semester when Professor Miller came into our chemistry class and did a presentation about her work. I thought that’s exactly what I want to do. I emailed her right then in class to make sure I could get involved. I’m so glad I did. This is amazing. I love it.”    

SuRPS Studies Protein Survival

Dr. Kelsey Kean, assistant professor of biochemistry and co-director of SuRPS, is researching proteins from organisms that have evolved to survive in extreme conditions such as temperature, radiation and salt.

“Proteins are basically tiny machines inside every living organism that help us do everything,” said Kean. “They help us to see, breathe and digest our food. We’re interested in understanding how these tiny biological molecules can do so much impressive chemistry.”

Getting research experience early in his college track was part of what attracted Parker Nyboer, a sophomore biochemistry major and Natural Sciences Fellow from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to attend HPU.

“It’s going to help me a lot in the future because I’m planning on doing research as a career, whether that be private industry or academia,” said Nyboer. “To get as much hands-on experience as possible is going to help me later. SuRPS has enabled me to start doing that early, which I am very thankful for. The research accessibility here is very good.”     

Nadia Khan, a junior biology major and Natural Sciences Fellow from Summerfield, North Carolina, also finds the summer research useful. In addition, she organized the Mobile Community Laboratory to do outreach with other SuRPS students this summer.

“I think there are a lot of good skills in the biochemistry lab that I can use in my future labs, in the rest of my undergrad classes, for graduate school and even a master’s program,” said Khan.

SuRPS Aims to Protect Brain Cells

Protecting brain cells after an injury is the research focus for Dr. Mike Grider, assistant professor of biology and interim director of the neuroscience program. He works with two  students who cause an injury in cell cultures and use different treatments to lessen the damage.

Participating for her first time in summer research is a highlight for Sheridan Johnson, a senior biology major with a psychology minor from Raleigh, North Carolina. Johnson feels grateful to be able to spend her summer in the lab and thinks the experience will help her reach her graduate school goal.

“I’ve learned a lot about working as a team and taking constructive criticism, because I’m a perfectionist,” said Johnson. “It’s helped me become a better worker because I’m more willing to try new things and I am more self-confident. Some of my friends at other schools don’t have opportunities like this, which will help in my future job.”    

Anaiya Whitaker, a sophomore neuroscience major from Raleigh in the pre-Physician Assistant program, agreed the hands-on research helped develop her laboratory skills and ability to work as a team immersed in a new environment.  

“I’ve learned a lot about brainstorming,” said Whitaker. “We talk about a wide variety of things. It’s not just learning about neurons and the rest of the human body.”

SuRF Tests Diabetes Treatments

Exercise science students and faculty are testing the effects of dietary metabolites and pharmaceuticals on muscle cells to study the effect of each using a cell model of diabetes. Dr. Roger Vaughan, associate professor in the Department of Exercise Science, is working with students to give muscle cells insulin resistance, which mimics type 2 diabetes.

“We are studying the effects of various metabolites or drugs on a skeletal muscle model of diabetes,” said Vaughan. “The collective goal for all the experiments is to identify metabolites and/or drugs that either improve or worsen insulin resistance.”

Lindsey VanDerStad, a senior exercise science major from Waxhaw, North Carolina, said she learned new lab techniques and ways to analyze data by participating in this research.

“This project is interesting because it’s a very complex topic and there isn’t a lot known about it,” said VanDerStad. “This experience is helping to prepare me for my career by giving me hands-on experience in research. Evidence-based practice is important and being involved in this research has helped give me background to where the evidence comes from.”