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Researching the Puzzle

Dr. Lori Bergeron Explores the Effects of Bacteria on Health

Lori Bergeron“Biology is like a puzzle,” notes Dr. Lori Bergeron, Assistant Professor of Biology. “I’ve always liked puzzles. No one knows the answers to the questions that I have proposed. As our research uncovers information, we start to put the puzzle pieces together. It’s a fascinating process!”

Specializing in microbiology, Dr. Bergeron is currently studying a bacterium known as Actinomyces naeslundii, that thrives on surfaces in the mouth and is a member of a living community referred to as a biofilm. Although A. naeslundii is not generally thought to be harmful to humans, studies have shown that the bacteria are part of dental plaque and perhaps contribute to periodontal disease. Dr. Bergeron’s research is aimed at determining how genes involved in disease get turned on and off.  Recent studies have shown a connection between poor oral health and cardiovascular disease. The questions posed by Dr. Bergeron may have implications not only for dental diseases but for cardiovascular diseases as well.

Students in Dr. Bergeron’s “Genetics” class have also been involved in the research on A. naeslundii. “I could have given them a ‘canned lab’ with a pre-determined outcome,” notes Dr. Bergeron. “But science doesn’t work that way. By conducting research where the answers are not already known, students have to troubleshoot. That translates into a classroom environment with a direct correlation to real scientific inquiry.”

The equipment and materials used to conduct Dr. Bergeron’s research are expensive. Through the INBRE grant, New England College will make substantial improvements to the College’s classroom and laboratory facilities allowing students to conduct more sophisticated research projects. “The enhanced facilities will have great appeal to students interested in the biomedical sciences or who are looking to pursue graduate programs in the sciences,” notes Dr. Bergeron. Laboratory renovations, expected to be completed for the spring semester, include additional equipment, cabinets, and workspaces, some of which will meet ADA requirements.

Not only will the grant allow New England College to upgrade its science laboratories, student and faculty researchers will also have the opportunity to use facilities at Dartmouth College and the University of New Hampshire. Dr. Bergeron has been working closely with Dr. George O’Toole, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Dartmouth Medical School who specializes in the study of biofilms.

According to Dr. Bergeron, the INBRE grant awarded by the National Institutes of Health seeks to encourage research that furthers the knowledge of public health and that has the potential to benefit society. As she observes, “The INBRE grant will go a long way in supporting research professionals to do work that is beyond the call of the classroom. It’s hard to get money if you don’t already have it. For investigators like us, the INBRE grant puts us in a better position to apply for additional grants in the future.”

For more information about the New Hampshire Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (NH-INBRE), please visit their website at http://nhinbre.org.

NEC INBRE Undergraduate Research Program

New England College is a recipient of a National Institutes of Health INBRE ( IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence) grant which supports the NEC INBRE  Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP).  SURP offers students research training opportunities at New England College with NEC professors/mentors in Psychology or Biology and Health Science for an 8 to 10 week period during May – August 2012.  The specific time depends on the research project.   The goal of the INBRE grant is to provide research opportunities that help encourage students to pursue graduate programs in biomedical research.   For more information see the NEC INBRE at the NEC webpage http://www.nec.edu/inbre and NH INBRE web page  http://nhinbre.org/ or contact the professors listed below.

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Student Profile

Christy Atkinson

My name is Christy Atkinson; I am currently a senior working toward a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology. For the first fifteen years after high school graduation I journeyed through several occupations including the United Sates Marine Corp, a small café owner, a nursing assistant and a habilitation specialist. As a habilitation specialist I was working with dually diagnosed, mentally compromised, teenagers in a federal hospital to gain life skills to live and work outside of an institution. I am a veteran of the Gulf War of 1990, a single parent, and a non-traditional student attending New England College in Henniker, a small college originally began to educate returning WW11 veterans.

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INBRE GRANT TRANSFORMS RESEARCH LABORATORIES AT NEC

The linoleum floors, standard black slate countertops, and old cabinets painted in bright primary colors didn’t exactly scream “RESEARCH” when New England College students walked into the science laboratories. With little storage facilities, cramped working spaces, and meager equipment, conducting any serious study has been a challenge for them. But thanks to about $68,000 from the National Institutes of Health in the form of the INBRE grant, that’s all changed. New England College was the only INBRE partner in New Hampshire to be awarded renovation funds as part of the larger $650,000 grant received by the College in September.

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