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This summer, Alex Jones ’16 is conducting an important research project to better understand how vitamin C affects growth and development. He is working with Professor of Biology Herm Lehman to study what role vitamin C plays in the metabolism of Manduca sexta, a kind of hornworm that is frequently used in scientific experiments. Jones and Lehman’s research this summer is one part of an ongoing project to determine how exactly vitamin C is necessary for growth and development.

When most of us think about oral health, we might not think far beyond brushing our teeth and our next trip to the dentist’s office. James Robbins ’16, however, knows that there’s much more to it than that. This summer as a Levitt Summer Research Fellow he is researching water fluoridation for improved public health. Working closely with Professor of Biology Herm Lehman, Robbins has been researching the public health debate about water fluoridation.

As a Hamilton College neuroscience major, Marina Palumbo ’17 has had to learn, retain, and access plenty of tough material. Befittingly, this summer Palumbo is working alongside Douglas Weldon, the Stone Professor of Psychology and director of the Neuroscience Program, to investigate long-term potentiation: the biological underpinning of learning and memory in the brain

Bellevue Hospital Center, which was founded on March 31, 1736, is the oldest public hospital in the United States, and has always been focused on individualized care for the patient. Charlotte Beers ’16, a neuroscience major, is experiencing this quality care first-hand as a research associate at the Manhattan-based care facility.

Scrutinizing the pages of Where’s Waldo?, searching for that pesky beanie and striped shirt, your brain is working hard to spot the elusive traveler. This summer, four students are examining various components of visual attention with Assistant Professor of Psychology Alexandra List. Katie Callahan ’15, Christi Westlin ’15 and Alex Mitko ’16 are each working on one of the three elements of the study, “Visual Attention: Failures, Dynamics and Interaction with Auditory Attention,” and Hannah Zucker ’15 is doing an interdisciplinary project.

According to the American Heart Association’s 2014 heart disease and stroke statistics, stroke is responsible for one out of every 19 deaths in the United States.1 Although stroke is a leading cause of serious long-term disability, Amy Wright ’15 has learned “that strokes can be preventable and manageable, to an extent.”

For her Levitt Summer Research Fellowship Grant, Sarah Izzo ’15 is working on a project with Professor of Philosophy Rick Werner titled “Brains on the Stand: The Implications of Emerging Neuroscience Research on our Judicial System.” Izzo is examining new neuroscience research on topics like decision-making and free will as well as associated technological advances (such as improved precision in lie detection). 

Nine Hamilton seniors have been selected to receive the Class of 1979 Student Travel Award. The award, established by the alumni of Hamilton's Class of 1979, offers financial assistance to Hamilton students who wish to pursue extensive research projects in different parts of the world.

“Got milk?” For a group of Hamilton student researchers, the well-known slogan might be modified to “Got calcium?” The most abundant metal in our bodies and a valuable component of milk, calcium serves functions well beyond building strong teeth and bones. Hamilton research students, working with Douglas Weldon, the Stone Professor of Psychology, are examining how our mental processes depend on calcium.  The compound performs lesser known, but essential, roles in blood clotting, chemical signaling and action potential firing.

Everyone uses language on a daily basis, but few question exactly how we understand what another person is saying.  Interpreting gestures and sounds seems natural to us, yet there is a much deeper and more scientific explanation to it all.