Title of Project: Characterization of the cellular phenotypes in MDR-M. tuberculosis exposed guinea pig granulomas
1. Project Description: Infections due to MDR-TB and very recently, extremely drug-resistant (XDR-TB) are an emerging and serious public health problem worldwide. At present, the only available Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine against TB and highly effective drugs for treating TB do not stop the continual increase in deaths resulting from MDR-TB disease.
The guinea pig model is an excellent model to study MDR-TB infection as it has important pulmonary and extra-pulmonary morphologic features that are commonly seen in humans. To date, the cellular phenotypes present in fixed (non-infectious) lung tissues from MDR-TB infection has never been characterized in the guinea pig model. Due to several major technical difficulties, it has been difficult to monitor the T cell response directly in the guinea pig lungs. However, this can now be accomplished as I have established a validated protocol for immunohistochemical evaluation of cellular phenotypes in the guinea pig model.
2. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Diane Ordway (D.Ordway-Rodriguez@Colostate.edu).
3. Number of Student Positions: 2
4. Location of research: Research will be conducted in the Microbiology Facility, Room B312
5. Expectations of the Student:
6. Pre-requisites:
Required: Student must be a microbiology major.
7. To Apply:
Student candidates for the project need to provide a resume and a one page letter (electronically to Dr. Ordway at D.Ordway-Rodriguez@Colostate.edu) describing why they want to take the project, what skills qualify them for the proposed work, and what their future goals are. Applications will be reviewed on a first-come first serve basis.
