91B0FBB4-04A9-D5D7-16F0F3976AA697ED
C9A22247-E776-B892-2D807E7555171534
  Julianna Allport '05 and Christopher Butts '04 are working with Assistant Professor of Chemistry Ram Subramaniam on a project that is seeking new means of treating diabetes.  The students are exploring how sugars in the blood modify proteins and looking for possible drugs that could medicate diabetes in new, more effective ways.

Allport is researching how sugars change the structure of H S A when they bind with the protein to better understand how they modify its function in the body. Subramaniam was All0ort's lab instructor and he approached her after learning of her interest in Hamilton's Summer Research Program.  Allport believes the research she and Butts have completed this summer will inspire a similar research project in the future.  She hopes to continue the project until such time as she can help to develop a drug to break apart the bond she has seen sugar create with H S A.  She hopes to help in building new medication as part of her senior thesis.

Butts is also looking at H S A and how sugar modifies its function, but has concentrated on how its copper transporting abilities are altered.  Having had some success with his research, Butts plans to continue his summer project as his senior thesis and looks forward to another summer with Allport and Subramaniam. He comments that the experience exposed him to lab research and experience that he would otherwise have failed to receive at such an early point in his education.  

Help us provide an accessible education, offer innovative resources and programs, and foster intellectual exploration.

Site Search