Mr. Anthony Calabro,
St. John’s University College of Pharmacy, Queens, NY

Effects of Trace Metals on Tight Junction Proteins in Cultured Caco-2 and Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

This project is the work of graduate student Anthony Calabro and mentor Professor Frank Barile, Ph.D. at St. John’s University College of Pharmacy. The objective of this study is the development of a cellular model for toxicity testing which can replace, reduce, or refine traditional methods of animal toxicity testing. The Graduate and his mentor believe they can develop a cell culture model, using cancerous human intestinal cells and mouse embryonic stem cells, to determine how the intact membranes formed by these cells will react to chemical exposure.

Mr. Sean Kim, University of California, San Francisco Graduate Group in Bioengineering, San Francisco, CA

Development of Unified Multi-Scale Framework and Models for In Silico Experimentation of Mammalian Organ Systems

Graduate student Sean Kim, a Ph.D. candidate from the University of California, San Francisco Graduate Group in Bioengineering and his faculty sponsor C. Anthony Hunt, Ph.D. are working on the project which aims to develop in silico (computer-based) biometric models to represent aspects of the mammalian blood-brain barrier and the multi-nephron renal functional unit, along with a unified modeling and simulation framework. Together they are targeted to help accelerate progress toward a new paradigm of non-animal based research, education, and testing.