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>>Theresa Bierer: Another undergraduate who will soon be pursuing her PhD, is Lana Christensen.
In addition to spending many hours in the lab here in the Wettaw Building, she is also
a student athlete who trains year round with NAU's Swimming and diving team. Inside NAU's
Ananda Robie has more. >>Ananda Robie: This is Dr. Jeff Leid's lab
where the focus is on infectious disease and microbial communities. undergraduate, Lana
Christensen is working in a relatively new area of study.
>>Lana Christensen: I work with co-cultures of bacteria that are found in chronic infections
specifically in chronic rhino sinusitis which is an inflammatory infection of the sinus
tissue. >>Robie: She worked with MRSA, Methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus and H. Flu or Haemophilus Influenzae.
>>Christensen: What I'm doing with them is studying the behavior they have when they're
grown together. Right now I'm look at their proteomic, so their protein profiles basically.
>>Robie: Identifying these proteins could lead to cures in more than chronic rhino sinusitis.
Scientists here are studying the bacteria responsible for widespread illness like MRSA
which kills more people in the U.S. each yeah than ***. The research could lead to medical
breakthroughs by better targeting specific communities of bacteria.
>>Jeff Leid : That would have global impact not just in the United States but across the
world for chronic diseases, chronic wounds, even dental wounds, chronic rhino sinusitis
which is this main project we have in the lab. All of these new diseases which are not
very easy to treat with antibiotics, you have to understand the microbial communities, the
microbial ecology and this is part of what we're doing.
>>Robie: Last year, Christensen was awarded the prestigious Beckman Scholarship for undergraduate
biomedical research allowing her to start her own project.
>>Christensen: Not a lot of people get the opportunity to do their own work as an undergraduate
and I really think it's given me a leg up for my future in research.
>>Robie: And while Lana Christensen spends many a Saturday night here in the lab, she
has also been on the Dean's List every semester and done well in the Western Athletic Conference
for diving. >>Nikki Huffman : I think Lana is actually
one of those student athletes that everybody would like to have on their team regardless
of what sport it is because she does work so hard in the classroom and on the diving
boards and even in community service. It's been very impressive and anyone would be lucky
to have her. >>Robie: Texas A and M will be lucky to have
her. This fall she will begin the PhD program at the graduate School of Biological Sciences.
After completing her Beckman research this summer.
>> Bierer: Christensen says her undergraduate research experiences here at Northern Arizona
University gave her a competitive advantage when applying to graduate schools.