Three years ago, UCF undergraduate Ethan Smith watched his aunt deteriorate from a rare neurological disease \u2013 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) also called Lou Gehrig\u2019s disease. That experience inspired him to do lifesaving medical research.\u00a0 A recently awarded research fellowship from the Huntington\u2019s Disease Society of America is helping him to realize his dream.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I found the most difficult to cope with wasn\u2019t the fact she was dying, it was the fact that I could do nothing about it,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, when I was given the opportunity to conduct research on Huntington\u2019s disease, for the first time in two years, I felt like I could be part of a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith, a sophomore getting his bachelor\u2019s in biomedical sciences, is one of two UCF College of Medicine students who were recently awarded the 2018 Donald A. King Summer Research Fellowship by the Huntington\u2019s disease organization.\u00a0 The other is first-year medical student Jake Friedman. The UCF students are two of only four nationally to receive the fellowship that aims to support young scientists in doing meaningful research on Huntington\u2019s disease \u2013 a rare, hereditary neurodegenerative disorder affecting approximately 30,000 Americans. Huntington\u2019s is fatal and causes the progressive breakdown of nerve cells in the brain. It deteriorates a person\u2019s physical and mental abilities during their prime working years and has no cure. Every child of a parent with HD has a 50\/50 chance of inheriting the faulty gene that causes the disease. The symptoms of HD have been described as having ALS, Parkinson\u2019s and Alzheimer\u2019s diseases \u2013 simultaneously.<\/p>\n
The two will work under the guidance of Dr. Amber Southwell, assistant professor and neurosciences researcher at the College of Medicine\u2019s Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences.<\/p>\n
Smith will investigate the mechanism in which the huntingtin gene \u2013 a protein associated with Huntington\u2019s disease \u2013 enters the cerebral spinal fluid in mouse models.\u00a0 \u201cBy understanding how the huntingtin gene makes its way to the cerebral spinal fluid, we will be able to better understand data from clinical trials on Huntington\u2019s disease and develop more efficient therapeutic targets,\u201d Smith explained.<\/p>\n
Smith, a participant in UCF\u2019s EXCEL\/COMPASS program which provides research experience for undergraduates, says the fellowship is a major bolster toward his ultimate goal of developing new and effective solutions for neurodegenerative diseases.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t only awarded a fellowship, I was awarded the platform to directly impact the lives of patients and families affected by this unforgiving disease, something I couldn\u2019t be more thrilled to be a part of,\u201d Smith said, who wants to enroll in a joint M.D.\/Ph.D. program after completing his undergraduate studies. \u201cJust as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a community to make a change, and I want nothing more than to be part of that community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friedman\u2019s project will investigate men who carry the Huntington\u2019s trait to determine if their age at conceiving children affects the rate of transmitting disease or a more severe form of the disease to the child. His project began as a part of Focused Inquiry & Research Experience (FIRE) module, which requires all UCF medical students to do scientific research.\u00a0 \u201cFor those who have been tested and know they carry this trait, the decision to have children can be scary and daunting,\u201d Friedman explained.\u00a0 \u201cWe want to investigate if parental age plays a role in the transmission of a disease that will affect their children earlier and harder. We hope that we can find evidence to support in vitro fertilization, or better yet that aging plays no role.\u201d<\/p>\n
Southwell, who has been working to develop therapies for Huntington disease since 2002, says the fellowships underscore the importance of UCF\u2019s student research programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am so proud of Jake and Ethan and thrilled that their hard work and passion for biomedical research has been recognized in this way,\u201d she said. \u201cThis award will help them to focus on their research this summer working on innovative translational projects with the potential to have a direct impact on patient\u2019s lives. For these young researchers who are dedicated to solving problems related to human health, this will be a deeply meaningful experience and I feel lucky to be able to guide them on this journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith, Friedman and other fellows will present the outcomes of their projects at the HDSA Annual Convention in the summer of 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three years ago, UCF undergraduate Ethan Smith watched his aunt deteriorate from a rare neurological disease \u2013 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) also called Lou Gehrig\u2019s disease. That experience inspired him to do lifesaving medical research.\u00a0 A recently awarded research fellowship from the Huntington\u2019s Disease Society of America is helping him to realize his dream. \u201cWhat I found the most difficult…","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":82462,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,12,17,23],"tags":[979,14916],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-82461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-health","category-medicine","category-research","tag-college-of-medicine","tag-research"],"yoast_head":"\n