On Monday April 24th, IU South Bend students visited the University of Notre Dame to present their research. The students included members of the Rizk research group and students from the research-based biochemistry laboratory course CHEM-C 486. The students' research is part of an NSF-funded collaboration with professors Dr. Holly Goodson (UND) and Dr. Brandy Fox (St. Martin's University). The work investigates the basis of protein polymerization in living systems with a focus on a viral protein known as PhuZ as a model to better understand how individual proteins come together to form long chains. This behavior is important for many biological processes such as cell division, muscle movement, and cellular transport that occur in higher organisms. The students will continue the collaboration over the summer of 2023 with funding from the Garber Fellowship and the LSAMP program. Our biochemistry majors gave an excellent presentation highlighting their contribution to the project. Pictured above (left to right) are Zahra Aljuboori, Rachel Hall, Dr. Rizk, Paige Engdahl, and Steven Frye. Biochemistry majors Shaun Calhoun and Ashlei Sonnenberg also contributed to the project but did not present that day.
