Eastern Student Christina Welch of Farmington Presents Research Poster at CREATE Conference

2016 May 3

More than 250 talented students at Eastern Connecticut State University presented research and creative work at the university's second annual CREATE conference this past April. CREATE stands for Celebrating Research Excellence and Artistic Talent at Eastern, and is the university's premier, academic year-end showcase. At the culminating event, students of all majors presented professional posters, live music, dance performances, artwork, photography, documentaries and panel discussions.

Christina Welch '17 of Farmington, who majors in Pre-Secondary Education and Biology, presented a research poster at the event. Welch's poster presentation was titled "How Can We Coax the Brain to Self-Repair?"

"When someone experiences a stroke, their brain performance is affected as critical blood supply is cut off, thus resulting in loss of function as the neurons die," said Welch. "It was once believed that if you damaged or injured your brain it could not self?repair. However, as the field of science advances this theory is being challenged. We now know there are discrete regions of the nervous system that can replace cells that are lost or damaged. One example is the tissue that is responsible for our sense of smell, called the olfactory epithelium. When the olfactory epithelium repairs itself through cell replacement, its function is likewise restored. This is how we are able to maintain a memory of the smells we have encountered over our lifetime. By applying regenerative mechanisms from the olfactory epithelium to the brain, functional recovery following a stroke may allow people to regain partial brain function and cognition. By studying the olfactory epithelium in chicken embryos, our goal is to identify the cells that are capable of cell replacement, termed regeneration. We use antibodies, like those found in your immune system, to apply fluorescent tags specifically to the cells thought to regenerate. A laser confocal microscope is used to visualize the cells labeled with fluorescent tags and produces a digital image that allows one to determine the location and abundance of the labeled cells. This research will contribute to the overall understanding of embryonic development in the olfactory epithelium and the long?term goal of identifying how neural tissue can regenerate to replace lost neurons."

Remarking on the variety of presentations, Professor Dickson Cunningham, conference co-chair, said, "CREATE encapsulates the essence of the liberal arts in one afternoon. It is an intellectual smorgasbord."

Speaking to the value of CREATE, Eastern President Elsa Nunez said, "It takes a very strong and dedicated student to produce this quality of work, and it's important for other students to see this output." Praising the faculty, she added, "It takes a committed and skillful mentor to guide students to the work that is on display. Mentorship is such an integral part of undergraduate research."

During the one-day conference, the Student Center crawled with artistic and scholarly activity. Students in professional attire addressed their peers, faculty and family. In the cafe, ensembles performed; in the theatre, student-produced documentaries were shown; in the Betty R. Tipton Room, aisles of posters depicting scientific research were displayed; across the hall, a gallery-worth of paintings lined the walls; and on the ground floor, panel discussions and oral presentations about the humanities took place.

In celebration of students' exemplary research, experiential learning and creative activity, CREATE serves to reinforce high-impact practices such as mentored research; increases the number of students presenting their work in a professional forum; raises public awareness of Eastern's liberal arts mission and student accomplishments; and contributes to the intellectual richness of the campus community.