Student research opportunities

CREAM is committed to inspiring the next generation of scientists through hands-on research experiences. High school and undergraduate students work alongside UofL faculty mentors on metabolomics projects, developing analytical methods and presenting their findings at regional science fairs and academic conferences.

Outreach programs

From student research to facility tours and community presentations, explore the many ways CREAM engages with learners and researchers.

High school and junior high school students sponsored and mentored by University of Louisville faculty listed to work on the projects of the Metabolomics Initiative. All authored and presented posters at various regional events like the Regional Science Fair, Dupont Manual High School.

Past students

StudentTitle of Poster/AwardDate PresentedMentor
Camille R. 2012Hunter Moseley
Alison D.The Lengths of the Proteins in the Collagen Family compared to the Number of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms2011Hunter Moseley
Rodney F."Developing Computational Tools for Molecular Comparison and Metabolic Placement of Detectable Uncharacterized Metabolites" James Graham Brown Cancer Center 10th Annual Retreat2010Hunter Moseley
A. D.Urine microvesicles from cancer patients as biomarkers2010Andrew Lane
Monali H."The Effect of the Metabolic Inhibitors 2‐deoxyglucose and Dehydroepiandrosterone on Glucose Uptake and Lactate Secretion in A549 Human Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells" Regional and State Science Fair winner2008Andrew Lane
A. D."The Effect of the Metabolic Inhibitors 2‐deoxyglucose and Dehydroepiandrosterone on Glucose Uptake and Lactate Secretion in A549 Human Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells" Regional and State Science Fair winner2008Andrew Lane
Rosslyn S.Effect of Potassium on the Level of Unsaturation of Soybean Lipids2007Cecilia Yappert
Nambi A.The Effect of Cadmium on Lung Cancer Cells (A549)2007Teresa Fan
Li Z.The Effect of Zinc on Rate of Fermentation2006Teresa Fan
Nambi A.Effect of Selenium on Breast Cancer Cells (HTB29)2006Teresa Fan
Doug L.Electrophoretic separation of proteins2005Teresa Fan
Patrick O.Cancer Cell Response to Selenium2005Teresa Fan

Many University of Louisville undergraduate students, and some from other institutions within Kentuckiana, receive hands-on instruction at CREAM. Undergraduate students participate in all aspects of research including conducting their own projects, developing analytical methods, and preparing platform and poster presentations.

Past students

StudentProjectDatesMentor
Connor Smith 2014Xiang Zhang
Brent HukillStable isotope labeling resolved sample complexing for high throughput metabolomics2013Xiang Zhang
Craig Clemons 2010–2013Hunter Moseley
Andrew McCollam 2011–2013Hunter Moseley
Eugene Hinderer 2011–2013Hunter Moseley
John Taylor Hans 2011–2013Hunter Moseley
Annabelle Carrell 2011–2013Hunter Moseley
Arren Carter 2011–2013Hunter Moseley
Indraneel Reddy 2011–2013Hunter Moseley
Patrick Mullaney 2008–2012Hunter Moseley
Abigail Hoskins 2008–2012Hunter Moseley
Sabrina Shatzman 2009–2012Teresa Fan
Joshua MitchellDeveloping Computational Tools for Molecular Comparison and Metabolic Placement of Detectable Uncharacterized Metabolites2010–2012Hunter Moseley
Elizabeth Lorch 2011–2012Hunter Moseley
Zelalem Mekonnen 2011Teresa Fan
Austin McCuistonLipidomics of Microvesicles in Human Lung Cancer Cells for Cancer Detection2011Andrew Lane
Joshua Mabrey 2011Hunter Moseley
Timothy Cook 2008–2011Hunter Moseley
Rima Patel 2010–2011Hunter Moseley
G. Bousamra31P NMR based energy metabolism in rat tissue2010Teresa Fan
Alex BelshoffArsenic Detoxification: Inhibition of Glutathione Production Results in Increased Arsenic Accumulation2007– 2008Teresa Fan
Kathleen Marshall 2007–2008Teresa Fan
Mark Capece 2008Teresa Fan
Ben King 2008Teresa Fan
M. HabibEnergy metabolism in rat skeletal muscle2008Andrew Lane
Martin McKinneyStable Isotope Resolved Metabolomics Analysis of Ribonucleotide and RNA Metabolism2008Andrew Lane
Sabine Dhakal 2007Teresa Fan
Josh CampbellEffect of Phosphorus on the Level of Unsaturation of Soybean Lipids Cecilia Yappert
Marchello CavittAnalysis of Soybean Lipids by TLC and in situ MALDI MS Cecilia Yappert
Nichole SondermanEffect of Thermal Oxidation of Soybean Triacylglycerides Cecilia Yappert
Maresha Williams  Cecilia Yappert

Introducing metabolomics to a diverse community

CREAM faculty and staff have also participated in many local conferences with audiences ranging from secondary school teachers to medical doctors. These presentations serve to educate the community about the discipline of metabolomics and offer the instructional services of the center to the community it serves.

  • October 2014 – Department of Oral Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Dental School, University of Louisville: Xiang Zhang presenting "Metabolomics Program at CREAM"
  • January 2012 – Birth Defects Center, University of Louisville School of Medicine: Xiang Zhang presenting " Metabolomics Analysis Reveals Reverse Fatty Acid Transport in Alcohol Induced Fatty Liver"
  • August 2011 – Summer Student Program, JG Brown Cancer Center: “Clinical Applications of Stable Isotope-Resolved Metabolomics (SIRM) in Non Small Cell Lung Cancer”
  • March 2011 – IMD3 Symposium 2011, Xiang Zhang presenting "Metabolomics as a key to deciphering molecular regulation in liver injury"
  • Fall 2010 – Berea College: Teresa Fan presenting "Metabolism: Old or Gold?"
  • Fall 2010 – Huntingdon College: Hunter Moseley presenting "Metabolic Modeling of Converging Metabolic Pathways. Analysis of Non-Steady State Stable Isotope-Resolved Metabolomics of UDP-GlcNAc and UDP-GalNAc"
  • Nov. 21, 2009 – JG Brown Cancer Center and Marky Cancer Center Colloquium, CTRB Louisville: Teresa Fan presenting "Translating Metabolomics into Novel Cancer Therapeutics"
  • Sept. 15, 2007 – Kentucky Association for Environmental Education: Teresa Cassel presenting "Metabolomics in bioavailability, mechanism, and biomarker discovery"
  • Nov. 2, 2007 – Kentucky Science Teachers Association: Teresa Cassel presenting "Metabolomics and Isotopomer analysis".

Visiting researchers

Developing research scientists of all levels are welcome to work side-by-side with CREAM core faculty and staff learning metabolomics techniques and applying them to their particular research interests. Students and junior faculty from laboratories across campus, around the state, throughout the nation and from around the world contribute to the interdisciplinary cross-pollination of ideas that is a very important CREAM objective. 

  • Sandra Gomes – Sao Paulo. Sample preparation for SIRM studies of glutaminase C in cancer cells.
  • Scott Jones – Medicine at University of Louisville. Natural products involved in pre-Parkinson’s disease symptoms.
  • Anne Le – Johns Hopkins University. SIRM analysis of MYC expression in cancer cells.
  • Santigo Moralli – University of Barcelona. High-throughput metabolite analysis, specifically the study of the lipidome and its changes during cell cycle progression and tumor transformation.
  • Jason Podrabsky – Oregon State. GC-MS analysis of killifish embryos.
  • Miriam Porquet – University of Barcelona. Study of metabolic and lipid profiles of mouse embryogenic fibroblast cell lines using LTQ FT MS and GCMS techniques and software to describe the metabolic importance of the lack of two key enzymes (CDK4 and CDK6) in the cell cycle.
  • Chris Ricketts and Youfeng Yang – NCI SIRM studies of metabolic reprogramming in fumarate hydrate null cells.
  • Pankaj Seth – Beth Israel Deaconess, Boston. SIRM analysis of LDH-A knockdowns in cancer cells.
  • Mariia Yuneva – University of California, San Francisco. Molecular regulatory mechanisms of Myc oncogene in mammalian cells.

Professional symposia

Bringing the most current and innovative work in the metabolomics discipline to students and scientists in the Louisville area is an important mission of the center. Three metabolomics symposia have been hosted by the center:

  1. Nov. 5-6, 2005 – First Louisville Symposium on Metabolomics: Program, sponsors
  2. March 24-25, 2007 – Second International Metabolomics Symposium: Program (with abstracts),sponsors
  3. March 8-9, 2009 – Mini Symposium on Informatics for Metabolomics, Louisville: Program