This week of BSURF was special because my peers and I had the opportunity to engage in chalk talks together! These “chalk talks” were 6-8 minute summaries of the projects that we plan to complete over the summer. I was genuinely impressed by the many different topics and presentations that everyone had put together, but I was particularly interested in Vinicius’ project researching how we might be able to use nanofibers to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBS).
IBS is a relatively common condition affecting the gastrointestinal tract. According to Vinicius’ presentation, an intranasal vaccine might be one way of treating the symptoms of IBS. However, one problem is that it’s very difficult for the vaccine to make it through the mucosal barrier and into the body. Vinicius is working on a possible solution to this problem that takes inspiration from how influenza A is able to bypass the barrier: the molecules on its surface. Influenza has two types of molecules on its outer surface that are asymmetrically distributed, where one type cleaves sialic acid and the other binds it. Influenza then uses the force generated by this cleaving and binding process to propel it through the barrier. Vinicius’ project proposes mimicking this process with nanofibers to propel the IBS vaccine through the nasal barrier and into the body so that it can arrest symptoms of IBS.
I thought that this project was especially interesting because of how it uses the characteristics of influenza, a malignant virus, to better human health and quality of life. Vinicius himself presented his topic very clearly and made the presentation altogether insightful and engaging.
