HPH NOW, August 4, 2006, DBS Intern Helping to Investigate Genetic Underpinnings of Lung Infections

Shaunte Henry

Shaunte Henry was born into a career in science. With an engineer father, a mother who works as an RN, and an older brother in medical school, it was no surprise to anyone that she would prepare for medical school once she got to Duke University in 2003. Now, that preparation has taken the biology major to Harvard School of Public Health, where she works as an intern in the laboratory of Jay Mizgerd, associate professor of physiology and cell biology, Department of Environmental Health.

Henry is one of 16 students this summer participating in a nine-week Division of Biological Sciences Undergraduate Summer Internship Program for Minority Students, aimed at undergraduates interested in laboratory-based biological research. (http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/sip/). The program is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

Interns work on research projects, under the direction of a Harvard faculty member. Projects must be related to disease prevention through the regulation of cell growth and gene regulation, cellular metabolism, DNA modification, cellular signaling, or structure-function analyses.

Last summer Henry observed the clinical side of public health, when she shadowed an administrator in an Atlanta TB clinic affiliated with an HIV/AIDS clinic and a refugee agency. She was there to observe the physician/administrator examine patients, administer medicine, and develop ways to educate people on ways to prevent tubercular infection.

This year, Henry applied to the DBS internship program in hopes it would help her advance to the next step in her career. She plans to attend medical school but is not sure if she wants to pursue a career in research or in clinical work. The HSPH/DBS program has helped her decide to work with people directly as a clinician possibly in a public health setting.

"I really enjoy studying human biology, and I want to help people use knowledge to protect their health," she said.

Under the direction of Mizgerd, Henry is working on a project that involves expressing an enzyme called Cre in living mouse tissue that results in excising a gene called Rel A. The gene is responsible for recruiting neutrophils, which fight bacterial infection. The goal is to see how removing the gene affects the mice's ability to fight infection.

Henry is investigating which of two methods is the best way to deliver the Cre enzyme-by using a virus or a molecule called a plasmid.

Henry said that the DBS internship has been a positive experience because it has allowed her to contribute to research related to infectious disease and to learn more about careers in biological research and public health.

—PHC