Centenary In the Know

Centenary students' research to be published

After nearly four years of countless hours of research and hard work, a group of students at Centenary College has perfected a better method for detecting the important biological molecule nitric oxide. Because of their persistence and dedication, their work has just been accepted for publication in the Journal of Biological Chemistry and will appear in print in early 2009.

Students involved in the research include Julia Cornelius, senior, biophysics major; Tuan Tran, junior, biology major; Nicole Turner, biophysics major; Abigail Piazza, ‘08, neuroscience major; Lauren Mills, ‘07, biology major; Ryan Slack, ‘06, biophysics major; Sean Hauser, ‘05, biology major.

The research project, Isotope Tracing Enhancement of Chemiluminescence Assays for Nitric Oxide Research, was aimed at finding new ways to detect and trace the molecule in biological samples. This molecule plays a vital role in blood pressure maintenance, disease immunity and memory formation. The new method developed by Centenary students should help the development of drugs or dietary supplements that offset nitric oxide deficiency.

“The new method certainly represents an important development for areas of biology medicine related to nitric oxide,” said Dr. Juan Rodriguez, a professor of physics and biophysics at Centenary College who oversaw the project. “What is even more remarkable is that the method was entirely developed by undergraduate students.”

The idea for the project grew out of collaboration between Rodriguez and Dr. Martin Feelisch, then a professor of medicine and biochemistry at Boston University. The two were looking for a different type of detector that could also differentiate between isotopes of nitric oxide, the naturally abundant one and an artificial heavier form. The idea was that if one were to administer drugs or supplements containing the heavier form, then the detector could determine how much of the body’s nitric oxide came from what was administered compared to what was made by the body.

They decided to try to use a mass spectrometer detector, which had never been tried in conjunction with the type of chemical process Feelisch and others had developed.

“At this point we thought it was a great research project for the students at Centenary to become involved with,” Rodriguez said. “There was no guarantee it would work well enough to be of use, but it would at least be a valuable educational experience for our undergraduate students.” Rodriguez was immediately surprised at how receptive students were to the project. “They understood immediately the relevance of the project, persevered through many of its frustrating moments, and even though most were not able to see the project to its conclusion they made sure the next generation of students were trained to follow in their steps. They drove this project, while I basically acted as a mentor and advisor. I am very proud of what they have accomplished.”

Having an interest in research, Cornelius approached Rodriguez earlier this summer about the project. According to the Weatherford, Texas, native, she wanted to gain some insight and knowledge about what research was all about, and if it was something that she would be interested in pursuing after graduation.

“This has been an amazing experience for me,” Cornelius said. “I have been able to really see what the research process is all about, and how we as students were able to conduct all the research with input from our mentor, Dr. Rodriguez. I am so much more prepared now to continue my education when I attend medical school after I graduate.”

Echoing her sentiments, Tran, of Mansfield, jumped into the project because the thought of research was only an abstract idea. As a biology major, he also started work on the project in May and wanted to try his hand at research and see if he could apply it to the real world.

“I had read about the research and how important it was and its implications,” Tran said. “It has been interesting to apply what I learned in cell biology to raising cells for the project. I could not have had this opportunity or the interaction with my professor at a larger school.”

The project has attracted seven students over the past four years, and funding from the Louisiana Biomedical Research Network and the National Science Foundation. “These grants were used to support the students and to buy new equipment and supplies,” Rodriguez added.

The students will make a presentation on the project at the Society for Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine on Friday in Indianapolis.

Gents fall to Baylor, 90-55

WACO, Texas—The Centenary men’s basketball team found itself battling on hardwood against a highly competitive Baylor team on Tuesday afternoon live on ESPN. Where gold and green filtered through the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas, the Gents weren’t able to overcome an early deficit falling 90-55 to the Bears.

Centenary struggled to defend a 64.6 percent shooting afternoon by Baylor (2-0) falling 0-2 this season. Answering every Gents’ shot on the day proved to be all the Bears needed to secure their second win of the season in as many games.

At the beginning of the first half, the Gents exchanged baskets with the Bears, but eventually fell as far as 22 behind, which proved to be too much for the Maroon and White to overcome. Baylor went on an impressive 14-0 run in the middle of the first half, which was led by LaceDarius Dunn, who contributed 10 of those 14 points.

In the first half, the Gents were led by senior guard Nick Stallings with seven points while Chase Adams and Daman Starring each had five. Baylor’s 61 percent from the field in the opening half of the game was mainly due to Dunn’s 15 points. The Green and Gold from Waco were also able to take advantage of eight second chance points, while Centenary had none allowing Baylor to leave the hardwood with a 42-20 lead at the half.

Coming into the second half of the game, the Gents had to not only improve the shooting from a 29.2 percent first half performance, but defend the ever-so large inside men that Baylor had to offer in order to come within a reasonable margin. Two shots were made to begin the second half, each from beyond the arch by Centenary’s Adams and Baylor’s Dunn, but even that exchange wasn’t enough to defend 21 points provided by Centenary’s 13 turnovers.

With overpowering size, the Bears challenged the Gents with 36 points in the paint compared to Centenary’s 16. The Gents allowed the Bears to take advantage of their 24 team fouls knocking down 18-of-27 from the charity stripe on the day.

Centenary was only able to place two Gents in double figure scoring, while Baylor had five.  Leading Centenary for the afternoon was Adams with 12, Starring had nine, while Anthony Gatlin had eight. Baylor was led offensively by Jerrell’s 20 and Dunn’s 18. Baylor out rebounded the Gents 37 to 27 on the day.

The Gents will be back in action at the LSU Classic as they face Troy University at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday and Northwestern State at 4:00 pm. on Friday. All action can be heard locally on KSCL 91.3 or viewed as live stats on GoCentenary.com.

To view a slideshow of the game, click HERE

Ladies fall to ULM

November 19, 2008

Ladies fall to ULM

By Jimmy Watson
jimwatson@gannett.com

Centenary’s Cierra Bush (center) shoots
over ULM’s Shannon Davis (left) and Lottie
Moore during Tuesday night’s game.
(Douglas Collier/TheTimes)

The Centenary Ladies tried their luck on a spanking new court and sat on a different end of the Gold Dome arena, but came out with the same decision they’ve had against the UL-Monroe Lady Warhawks over the past 27 years — they lost.

This time, Centenary had a second-half lead only to fall 76-60 due to its inability to get the ball safely inbounds and then get it up the court without a turnover.

“It was a product of our mistakes,” Centenary coach Steve Curtis said. “We panicked in some things we don’t normally do, and we let them take the ball away from us and go lay it up for easy baskets.”

The Ladies took their only lead, after the game’s opening bucket, with just under 16 minutes to play when Cierra Bush dropped in two free throws to put Centenary in front 41-40. A trio of 3-pointers by ULM’s Jessie Carrier, pushed the Lady Warhawks’ lead back to eight points with 11 minutes to play, and a 25-7 run by the visitors salted the game away with a 17-point lead with 8 minutes to play. Centenary couldn’t get closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

It was a disappointing home opener for the Ladies, who played well against Alabama on the road last week before losing a nine-point game. With 27 turnovers in Tuesday’s contest contributing to 38 ULM points and allowing the Lady Warhawks to out-score them 28-9 on second-chance points, left the Ladies with little chance of winning.

“I felt we were fine when we took the lead, but then we became unraveled for a little bit and didn’t execute what we need to execute,” Curtis said.

Curtis tried a number of different player combinations on the night, but shaky guard play from constant ULM pressure forced the Ladies out of their rhythm. The Lady Warhawks had too much quickness and were more aggressive on the boards than Centenary, allowing them to control the game in crunch time.

“The first half was close, but I felt like our post players were more active in the second half and started to take over,” ULM coach Mona Martin said. “I like the way we stepped up our game. This was a major improvement over Saturday’s game, and I felt like we beat a very good team tonight.”

Bush led all scorers with 16 points, while Anne Farrell (13 points) and Ashley Jackson (12) also contributed double-digit points.

The Ladies nearly overcame a rocky first half that saw them commit 15 turnovers, which contributed to 20 of ULM’s 38 points. With less than 4 minutes to go before the break, the visitors had more offensive boards (13) than the Ladies had total rebounds (12).

The game was tied at 13 at the 13-minute mark of the first half, but the Lady Warhawks put together a 17-3 run and held the Ladies without a bucket for eight minutes to go in front 30-16 with about 5 minutes to play. But Bush hit a pair of 3-pointers to cap a 10-2 Centenary run and get the deficit under double digits two minutes later.

Chelsea Johnson’s 3-pointer and four points in the closing seconds by Ashley Jackson allowed Centenary to get within 38-33 at the break.

Despite playing just 12 minutes in the first half, Bush led all scorers with 11 points. The coaches combined to use 23 players in the frame, which helped contribute to 27 turnovers and 20 fouls by the I-20, non-conference rivals.