Lillian Hyde Receives Fellowship from NASA CT Space Grant Consortium

2017 Aug 4

Lillian Hyde '17, a Biology major at Eastern Connecticut State University from Collinsville, is one of six undergraduate students across Connecticut to receive a summer research fellowship from the NASA Connecticut Space Grant Consortium (CTSGC). Hyde is using the fellowship to support her research titled "Assessment of Microglia Function in Brain and Blood Microenvironments."

"My experiment focuses on microglia, a cell found in the central nervous system that has been shown to change between an anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory state," said Hyde. "These cells are normally grown in fetal bovine serum, however in the body they are isolated in a cerebrospinal fluid-like environment, the fluid that coats the brain and the spinal cord."

The purpose of the study is to test if the microglia have different states in cerebrospinal fluid (fluid closest to their native environment) compared to fetal bovine serum (their standard culture media).

"A main component of the study is cell culture," said Hyde, who is working with Biology Professor Kurt Lucin during the fellowship. "I am responsible for going to Eastern at least three times a week to maintain the cell culture and conduct various experiments. My experiment is testing how the cells react to growing in different culture environments and assessing their different states based on their appearance, chemicals that they secrete, and how they respond to foreign substances."

Relating the experiment to space travel, the NASA CTSGC writes: "By establishing a baseline for microglia function in their native environment, space travel conditions can eventually be tested to assess their effects on the central nervous system."

"Since microglia are found in an environment more like cerebrospinal fluid than fetal bovine serum, it is possible that cells might display different characteristics based on their culture media," continued Hyde. "Microglia are often studied for neurodegenerative diseases, so if there are differences between the culture media this could have implications for the accuracy of these studies."

The fellowship from the NASA CTSGC is financing necessary supplies for the experiment, such as cerebrospinal fluid, fluorescent dyes and testing kits. Furthermore, a goal of the fellowship is to raise awareness in the community about STEM careers.

"Conducting NASA-supported research has been a great experience so far," said Hyde. "I am very excited to present my research experience at Eastern and encourage others to pursue their interests in science."

The NASA Connecticut Space Grant Consortium (CTSGC) is a federally mandated grant, internship and scholarship program that is funded as a part of NASA Education. There are Space Grant Consortia in all 50 states, plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. Eligible full-time undergraduate/graduate students of a consortium university/college may apply for the fellowship program, in which students are expected to work on research related to space/aerospace science or engineering under the guidance of a faculty member or a mentor from industry.