Posted on Thursday, September 6, 2007
Cory Mathias, a Westminster College junior biology major, recently completed a 12-week summer research training program at the University of Pittsburgh. Funding was provided by the National Institutes of Health.
Mathias worked with Dr. Kelly Brant and Dr. James Fabisiak in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health. His research, "Hypoxia Mimetics and Microbial Stimulations via Toll-Like Receptor-2 (TLR-2) Interact to Amplify a Pro-angiogenic Phenotype in Human Lung Fibroblast," was presented at the 2007 Summer Research Symposium July 27 at Duquesne University.
Mathias worked with the Fabisiak lab to study capillary growth in lung tissues. Capillary growth (angiogenesis) is a critical and complicated process. Different chemical factors can be released by cells to produce a local environment that allows capillaries to form. If this process is not regulated properly in the lung, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and other pulmonary diseases can occur.
Mathias and co-workers in the Fabisiak lab put two different chemicals, desferroxamine and cobalt chloride, along with extract from bacteria, onto cultured lung tissue cells. They then evaluated how these treatments influenced the release of pro-angiogenic factors by the cells. Results indicated that they were able to successfully provoke the lung tissue cells into releasing chemical factors that have been observed to help produce capillary growth.
"Medical school has always been my ultimate goal," Mathias said. "However, working with the Fabisiak lab has opened my eyes to other options, including the possibility of entering an M.D./Ph.D. program. Research is a long and tedious process, but the rewards are astounding. I plan on continuing my research with the Fabisiak lab, and I hope to make contributions to medicine and science through this work."
Mathias, a son of Duane Mathias and Sheri Mathias and Patricia Purcell and Kevin
Purcell of Middleburg Heights, Ohio, is a graduate of Midpark High School.
Contact Dr. John Robertson, associate professor of biology, at (724) 946-7044 (e-mail robertjc@westminster.edu) or Mathias (e-mail mathiacm@westminster.edu) for additional information.
