by Madeleine Scott, March 31, 2024
Lucy Fry, a fourth year Ph.D. student in the Weinkopff Lab, won the best poster (Graduate Student category) in this year’s Student Research Day (SRD) on March 5, 2024, which highlighted her parasitology project involving a non-healing form of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania amazonensis.
Traditional cutaneous leishmaniasis, caused by L. major and transmitted by the bite of a sand fly, leads to formation of skin lesions that usually resolve within three to six months without any treatment. L. amazonesis, on the other hand, causes more disfiguring lesions that are much harder to treat. Previous research has found that the healing that occurs in L. major infections is due to the body’s ability to create new lymphatic vessels around the lesion, while Lucy has shown that L. amazonensis thwarts this development to instead cause the long-lasting sores.
Her presentation of her research earned her the first-place poster award in the graduate student category at SRD 2024, an accolade she feels is important for the growing field of parasite research in Arkansas. As she says, “Since we don’t have these diseases in the U.S., people consider them not to be an issue. The reality is, these parasitic diseases are closer than we would like to think and will be knocking on our door in the upcoming years. There have already been cases of leishmaniasis in Oklahoma and Texas, while malaria has recently been seen in Arkansas! I really enjoyed SRD because you get exposure and feedback from others that are in completely different fields, as well as a chance to interact with the local scientific community and spark collaborations that otherwise couldn’t be found.”
When asked if she had any tips for students presenting at SRD in the future, she said it’s important to make sure your audience is on the same page as you. “Be sure to speak slowly and clearly and not rush through your figures. Really focus on what makes you excited about your research and I think that will come through to your audience – then emphasize why your research is important and why they should be interested in it!”
Congratulations to Lucy and all the other winners at SRD 2024! If you want to read more about Lucy’s research and publications, visit the Weinkopff lab page here.