New Virtual Research Program Exceeds Expectations During COVID-19 Shutdown
Written by Kristen Kusek, Former Communications Director for USF CMS
If ever you doubted the planetary significance of bacteriophages, chat with Noah Yonas. He鈥檇 love to tell you about these ubiquitous viruses that infect bacteria, and will no doubt share his profound passion for phage therapy, too -- a medical treatment for people suffering from antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. Yonas will get you onto 鈥渢eam phage鈥� before you can spell DNA.
鈥淧hages have intrigued me for a long time. They play such a vital role in the environment and are absolutely key to understanding the genetic blueprint for all living things,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut we know so little about them. They really don鈥檛 get the respect they deserve.鈥�
Undergraduate student Noah Yonas, was mentored by Mya Breitbart, PhD, for the first-ever NSURP. This new program was developed once the pandemic hit to ensure that students from underrepresented minority groups were able to get critical research experiences.
Yonas recently authored a publication in where he describes the genome of a phage whose name sounds more like a treatment for pools, or maybe a low-budget sci-fi thriller: Aquatic Killer 99 (AQKL99). AQKL99 infects a marine bacterium called Vibrio natriegens, an emerging model organism for marine-related lab studies. It may even steal the throne from E. coli, the longstanding microbial lab rat for biotechnology and genetic studies.
V. natriegens is a marine organism whereas E. coli is not, and it doubles its population in ten minutes to E. coli鈥檚 20. Game on.
鈥淗aving the genome for another phage that infects V. natriegens is a big deal for microbiologists using this emerging model system,鈥� said Mya Breitbart, PhD, a professor who has big plans for using this organism in her at the USF College of Marine Science. This new phage was isolated last year by another undergraduate student, Paige Boleman from the USF St. Petersburg campus, but its genome sequence remained unanalyzed - creating the perfect opportunity for Noah to contribute. 鈥淣oah really threw me for a loop with his quick mastery of this project and the great questions he鈥檇 ask in our lab meetings. He was fantastic.鈥�
Because here鈥檚 the thing about Noah Yonas: He鈥檚 not (yet) a microbiologist. Not by traditional academic standards, anyway. He鈥檚 a junior at the University of Maryland College Park. Sequencing the phage genome was his very first lab-based experience. He figured out the software, performed the work, and published his first paper 鈥� as an undergraduate 鈥� over the course of an eight-week program for which Breitbart served as his faculty mentor.
鈥淲hat I took away from this program was that I love doing this,鈥� Yonas said. 鈥淚t gave me the opportunity to take this little spark of interest I had, in microbiology, and to grow it into something much bigger.鈥�
Introducing NSURP: summer program for underrepresented minorities pursuing STEM careers
Yonas was one of 250 students to participate in this year鈥檚 inaugural NSURP, the National Summer Undergraduate Research Project. The program, and Yonas鈥檚 achievements, blew Breitbart away.
鈥淣SURP was my big source of joy for the summer. It was nice to feel like we were doing something good in all of the awfulness of 2020,鈥� she said.
NSURP, whose tagline was #NoLabNoProblem, is the brainchild of Michael Johnson, PhD, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona. He worked with colleagues to design it in response to a double whammy of 2020: the COVID-19 pandemic was derailing research programs around the globe because everyone had to stay home, and events of racial injustice incited the need for action.
The primary goal was to ensure that, despite stay-at-home orders, students from underrepresented minority groups could get critical research experiences under their belts so that a STEM career path remains a viable option for them.
Johnson became a matchmaker, leveraging the power of crowd-sourcing to pair undergraduate students seeking research experiences in microbiology 鈥� all of which would be performed virtually 鈥� with mentors around the country. He and colleagues took to Twitter to spread the word, as reported in a , and that鈥檚 where Breitbart saw it. Interested mentees and mentors filled out simple Google forms recording their interests and available projects, which were collated and launched a website for the program.
The program, which ran for eight weeks from June 22, 2020 through August 14th, offered mentors virtual training in anti-racism and remote mentoring, and all students who signed up received weekly professional development opportunities as well.
鈥淚鈥檓 so glad I opened that email offering this opportunity,鈥� Yonas said. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 believe something this amazing landed on my lap. It was one of the best decisions I ever made.鈥�
At the end of the program, NSURP students gave virtual presentations that are currently available on the . Yonas won honorable mention.
鈥淚t felt so good to be valued, and to have my work respected,鈥� he said. Yonas, who says he really enjoys diving down the 鈥渞abbit holes鈥� of discovery, gained critical research experience plus training in scientific writing and how to present a poster, and learned additional invaluable lessons as well.
鈥淪cience is about advances and failures. They all drive the enterprise forward,鈥� he said.
Breitbart鈥檚 Lab: breaking boundaries
Breitbart is no stranger to programs like NSURP. Her lab at the College of Marine Science is committed to broadening access to , and she has mentored several traditionally underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students since she started at USF in 2006.
鈥淢ya鈥檚 lab is a great example of the power of effective mentorship,鈥� said Tom Frazer, PhD, dean of the College of Marine Science. 鈥淢entorship is such a critical part of graduate education in general and the education of underrepresented students especially.鈥�
Karyna Rosario, PhD, was one of Breitbart鈥檚 graduate students who is now a Research Associate in her lab.
鈥淓ven though Mya was only two years older than me when I started, she seemed at the time like a great mentor,鈥� Rosario said. 鈥淪he was supportive of me from the get-go and treated me more like a colleague than a student. She always makes me feel like I have a voice.鈥�
It鈥檚 no surprise that Breitbart鈥檚 lab group and staff routinely participate in outreach
activities such as the annual St. Petersburg science festival, work with a nonprofit
called , the , the College鈥檚 , and more.
鈥淎s a microbial ecologist, I can't help but think about diversity among people in
our lab in the same way that we think about diversity of biological systems,鈥� Breitbart
said. 鈥淒iverse communities are more flexible and more resilient. To be honest, monocultures
are boring.鈥�
But NSURP had a particularly strong influence on her, she said.
鈥淎t first, frankly, I was skeptical that I could effectively mentor a student I鈥檇 never met before,鈥� said Breitbart, who paid Yonas for his 40-hour work weeks from an NSF grant. 鈥淏ut Noah very quickly became integrated into our lab. This program really pushed me to realize what鈥檚 possible. We CAN do amazing science virtually,鈥� Breitbart said. 鈥淲e simply have to adapt.鈥�
As for Yonas, he aims to go to medical school and become a doctor who also does research on the side. Research on phage therapy (surprise, surprise!).
鈥淭his program lit a fire in me,鈥� he said.