Haley Schluterman, Andrew Mielcuszny, and Austin Bryant receive grants to support their research. Haley (BS Neuroscience 2020) received $1500 from the JV Roach Honors College to support her senior thesis research which aims to uncover the impacts of trenbolone, an androgenic chemical associated with cattle production and detected in surface waters downstream of cattle feedlots, on immune function in fathead minnows. Andrew (BS Biology 2021) was awarded $1000 in College of Science and Engineering (CSE) SERC funds to support his work which seeks to examine sex-based differences in cellular immune function. Austin (MS Biology 2021) was awarded $1000 to support his thesis research which seeks to better understand the impacts of early-life-stage thyroid disruption on neurodevelopment and behavior. Congrats to Haley, Andrew, and Austin! (June 2020)
Julie Krzykwa (Biology MS 2017) successfully defends her PhD dissertation thesis and obtains position with Smithers Environmental Risk Science. Julie successfully defended her dissertation entitled "Development of cardiovascular and neurodevelopmental metrics as sublethal endpoints for the fish embryo toxicity test" via video conference. Her research aimed to enhance the fish embryo toxicity (FET) test by investigating the utility of several neurodevelopmental and cardiovascular metrics as potential FET test endpoints. Julie found that pericardial area, a measure of pericardial edema severity, is a strong predictor of mortality. Further, when used as an endpoint, pericardial area improves the predictive ability of the FET test making it more comparable to the toxicity tests currently utilized by regulatory agencies. Over the course of her graduate career, Julie delivered 12 presentations at regional, national and international meetings, received three presentation awards, obtained over $17,000 in research and travel funding, and published three papers. She currently has two manuscripts in review and two in preparation. Julie will begin her professional career in the Ecotoxicology Department at Smithers Environmental Risk Science LCC in Wareham, Massachusetts in June. Congrats to Julie! (April 2020)
Lynsey Malin (Biology BS 2018) successfully defends her Master's thesis. Lynsey Malin successfully defended her MS thesis entitled “Hormones and immunity: What is the role of estrogen in immune function?” via video conference. Her thesis research investigated the impacts of fadrozole, an estrogen-suppressing pharmaceutical, on various aspects of immune function in female fathead minnows. Her data suggest that estrogen suppression induced via fadrozole exposure had little impact on pathogen resistance, hematological parameters, or the expression of genes related to inflammation and complement activation. However, her results provided limited evidence suggesting that reductions in estrogen signaling may influence cellular immune functions, including phagocytosis and respiratory burst. Lynsey is currently drafting a manuscript detailing her research for journal submission over the summer. In the late summer, she will begin medical school at the University of Minnesota. Way to go, Lynsey! (April 2020)
Leah Thornton Hampton (Biology MS 2015) successfully defends her PhD dissertation and obtains a position with the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project. Leah, a PhD student in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of North Texas co-advised by Dr. Barney Venables (UNT) and Dr. Jeffries (TCU) successfully defended her dissertation titled “The Consequences of Early Life Stage Thyroid Suppression on Immune in the Fathead Minnow (Pimephales promelas)” via video conference. Her dissertation research developed and optimized methods for assessing cellular immune function in fathead minnows, characterized global gene expression changes experienced by fish infected with a bacterial pathogen in an effort to identify key immune process for further study in this species, and demonstrated the long-term outcomes of early life stage thyroid disruption on various aspects of immune function measured from the molecular to whole-organism levels. Her work has advanced the utility of the fathead minnow as a model system for the study of immunotoxicity and contributes to our understanding of the role that thyroid hormones play in development of the immune system. Over the entirety of her graduate career, Leah delivered 22 presentations at regional, national and international meetings, received 6 presentation awards, obtained over $7000 in research and travel funding, and published five papers. She currently has three manuscripts in review, two of which are related to her dissertation work, and an additional paper in preparation. Leah recently began her new position as a Scientist in the Toxicology Department at the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP). To learn more about Leah, see this profile that SCCWRP published in their Spring 2020 Director’s Report. Congrats to Leah! (March 2020)
Students from the Jeffries lab present their research at Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North America Meeting. Abbey Johnson (MS Biology 2019), Julie Kryzkwa (MS Biology 2017, PhD Biology 2020), and Leah Thornton Hampton (MS Biology 2015, PhD Biology 2020) each delivered platform presentations at the SETAC North America Meeting in Toronto, Canada. Abbey delivered a presentation describing the results of a transcriptomics study, co-authored Peter Bruns (MS Biology 2018) and Dr. Matt Hale, showing that early life stage thyroid disruption in fathead minnows alters the expression of key genes involved in ovarian development. Julie’s presentation, co-authored by Gabby Lamanteer (BS Biology 2020), focused on the development and validation of behavioral assays for assessing neurotoxicity in larval fathead minnows. Leah delivered a platform presentation, co-authored by Miranda Finch (BS Biology 2020), Dr. Barney Venables (University of North Texas) and Dr. Chris Martyniuk (University of Florida), detailing a portion of her dissertation work showing that early life stage thyroid disruption leads to long-term alterations in immune cell signaling and function. She also presented a poster describing her efforts to optimize cellular assays for the assessment of immune cell function in fathead minnows, an emerging model for immunotoxicity. While at the meeting, Dr. Jeffries co-chaired a full-day session on Immunotoxicity and gave a presentation during the closing ceremony encouraging meeting participants to attend the 2020 SETAC North American meeting, which will be co-chaired by Dr. Jeffries and held here in Fort Worth.
Dalton Allen receives a College of Science and Engineering Graduate Student SERC grant. Dalton (MS Biology 2022) was awarded a graduate student SERC grant to support his research aimed at developing alternative methods for marine effluent toxicity testing that enhance the welfare of fish used in such assessments. Specifically, his work will evaluate the potential for toxicity tests that utilize opossum shrimp, sheepshead minnow embryos, or inland silverside embryos to replace tests that feature larval fish. Great work, Dalton! (October 2019)
Several members of the Jeffries labs present their research at the South Central Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Meeting; April Tran and Miranda Finch receive presentation awards. Several members of the Jeffries lab attended the South Central Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. The meeting, which featured 23 student platform presentations and 29 student poster presentations, was held at Baylor University in Waco, TX. Leah Thornton Hampton (MS Biology 2015, PhD Biology 2020), Julie Kryzkwa (MS Biology 2017, PhD Biology 2020), Abbey Johnson (MS Biology 2019) and April Tran (BS Biology 2019) delivered platform presentations detailing their research, while Miranda Finch (BS Biology 2020), Hannah Nettelblad (BS Biology 2019) and Caroline Wade (BS Biology 2019) presented posters. April received 3rd Place Best Platform for her research demonstrating the impacts of thyroid disruption on immune cell development and function. Miranda received 2nd Place Best Poster for her work investigating sex-specific differences in the immune responses of fathead minnows, an emerging model for immunotoxicity studies. Great work all and congrats o April and Miranda! (May 2019)
Julie Krzykwa, PhD student in the Jeffries lab, publishes research aimed at identifying endpoints indicative of neurotoxicity in fish embryos. Julie Krzykwa (MS Biology 2017, PhD Biology 2020), Asal Saied (BS Biochemistry 2020) and Dr. Marlo Jeffries (Associate Professor of Biology) published an article in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety entitled “Identifying sublethal endpoints for evaluating neurotoxic compounds utilizing the fish embryo toxicity test” (Vol. 170, pg. 521-529). The article presents the results of experiments, conducted as part of Julie’s MS thesis project, aimed at advancing the fish embryo toxicity (FET) test, which is considered a more humane alternative to toxicity tests that utilize older fish. Julie’s research confirms that fish embryos are less sensitive to some neurotoxic compounds than older fish, but that the inclusion of sublethal endpoints (including eye size and pericardial edema) can enhance FET test performance in some cases. The article can be viewed here. (April 2019)
Students from the Jeffries lab present 6 posters at the TCU College of Science & Engineering Student Research Symposium; Miranda Finch wins the Best Undergraduate Biology Poster award. Graduate students, Julie Krzykwa (MS Biology 2017, PhD Biology 2020) and Abbey Johnson (MS Biology 2019), and undergraduate students Miranda Finch (BS Biology 2020), Hannah Nettelblad (BS Biology 2019), April Tran (BS Biology 2019) and Caroline Wade (BS Biology 2019) each presented posters on their research at the annual TCU Student Research Symposium. Miranda received the Best Undergraduate Poster presentation award for her work highlighting sex specific differences in the immune responses of fathead minnows. Way to go Julie, Abbey, Miranda, Hannah, April and Caroline! (April 2019)
Miranda Finch, Gabby Lamanteer and Lynsey Malin receive College of Science and Engineering SERC grants. Miranda (BS Biology 2020) was awarded a SERC grant to support her research aimed at uncovering the sex specific immune responses of fathead minnows, an emerging immunotoxicity model, while Gabby (BS Biology 2020) was awarded funds to support her research which will compare two methods for assessing swim performance in larval-juvenile fathead minnows. Graduate student Lynsey Malin (BS Biology 2019, MS Biology 2020) received funds to investigate the role that estrogens play in immunity. Excellent work, Miranda, Gabby and Lynsey! (April 2019)
Abbey Johnson defends her thesis and fulfills the requirements of the MS degree. Abbey Johnson, an MS student co-advised by Dr. Jeffries and Dr. Matt Hale, successfully defended her MS thesis and delivered a presentation outlining her project to the Biology Department. For her thesis research, Abbey utilized next-generation sequencing to investigate the impacts of early life stage thyroid disruption on global gene expression patterns in the brain to better understand the connection between developmental hypothyroidism, behavior and reproductive success. We are super proud of you, Abbey! (April 2019)
Three students from the Jeffries lab deliver their Honors Thesis Presentations. In fulfillment of the requirements for achieving Departmental Honors in Biology, Hannah Nettelblad (BS Biology 2019), April Tran (BS Biology 2019) and Caroline Wade (BS Biology 2019) delivered public presentations detailing their senior thesis projects at the TCU College of Science and Engineering Honors Research Symposium. Congrats to Hannah, April and Caroline for their completion of this milestone! (March 2019)
Jeffries lab publishes research demonstrating that gonadosomatic index is a confounding factor in fish-based endocrine disruption screening assays. Kyle Roush (BS Biology 2016, MS Biology 2018) and Dr. Jeffries published an article in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry entitled “Gonadosomatic index as a confounding variable in fish-based screening assays for the detection of anti-estrogens and nonaromatizable androgens” (Vol. 38, pg. 603-615). The article presents the results of experiments aimed at determining whether females with high and low gonadosomatic indices (GSI, an indicator of ovary size) differ in their responses to endocrine disrupting compounds. Overall, the work shows that ovary size influences the way in which females respond to both anti-estrogenic and androgenic compounds, highlighting the need to account for GSI in the design of endocrine disruption studies featuring female fish. The article can be viewed here. (February 2019)
Dr. Jeffries recognized as a top reviewer for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Dr. Marlo Jeffries was named as an Exceptional Reviewer of 2018 by Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (ET&C). This honor recognizes the top 15 reviewers, out of nearly 850, for the quality and quantity of the manuscript reviews that they complete. Her receipt of this recognition appears in the January volume of ET&C. (January 2019)
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Jeffries Lab presents research at the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North America Meeting. The Jeffries lab delivered three platform presentations and five poster presentations at the SETAC North America meeting in Sacramento, CA. Leah Thornton (MS Biology 2016, PhD Biology 2020) gave two poster presentations – one detailing a novel visual method for assessing thyroid hormone levels in fathead minnow larvae and one describing the impacts of early life stage thyroid disruption on immune function. Julie Krzykwa (MS Biology 2017, PhD Biology 2020) presented a poster on her work aimed at developing methods for measuring several behaviors indicative of neurotoxicity in larval fathead minnows, while Lynsey Malin (BS Biology 2018, MS Biology 2020) presented a poster, co-authored by Miranda Finch (BS Biology 2019), describing the impacts of estrogen exposure on male immunity. Kyle Roush (BS Biology 2016, MS Biology 2018) delivered platform and poster presentations describing that female sexual maturity status and male sexual ornamentation are confounding factors in endocrine disruption screening assays, respectively. Abbey Johnson’s (MS Biology 2019) platform presentation described her thesis project, which seeks to uncover the mechanisms underlying hypothyroidism-induced reductions in reproductive output in fathead minnows. Dr. Jeffries gave a platform presentation showing the influence of sex and sexual maturity status on basic aspects of immune function in fathead minnows. In addition, Kyle and Abbey received travel awards from SETAC to support their attendance at the meeting. (November 2018)
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