University of Arizona senior Kelly Arganbright wasn't sunbathing on the beach this summer.  She wasn't sweating in the heat of a Tucson summer either.  In fact, she wasn't even in the United States. 

Kelly Arganbright, chemistry major, spent her summer doing research in the Czech Republic.  Funded through a grant to the UA from the NIH (#MD001427),Biomedical Research Abroad: Vistas Open! (BRAVO!/MHIRT)) program, Kelly was able to learn, teach, and share research techniques with students and technicians of the Czech Academy of Sciences. 

Since fall of 2005, Kelly has been a member of a research lab in Tucson, Arizona under principal investigator Bohuslav Dvorak, PhD.  This lab investigates an intestinal disease of premature babies, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).  The lab intends to find the best preventative methods and treatment of NEC, which currently has no cure.  This summer, Kelly traveled back to Dr. Dvorak's roots - the place where he completed his doctoral studies.  Kelly's objective was to enhance a long lasting collaboration between the lab in Tucson and the lab in the Czech Republic.  Under supervision of faculty mentor Hana Kozáková, PhD, Kelly was able to be part of a research project studying inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the Czech Republic. 

The Laboratory of Physiology, Immunity, and Ontogenesis of Gnotobionts in Novy Hradek, Czech Republic is hidden in the depths of a valley -- a small treasure within the village of 750 inhabitants in the countryside 150 kilometers east of Prague.  This lab is known for specializing in animal models that are germ-free.  This allows for great advancements in research, especially with inflammatory bowel disease. 

IBD includes ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.  IBD affects about one million Americans.  The project in the Czech Republic focuses on ulcerative colitis by studying a mouse model of the human disease.  Ulcerative colitis causes severe diarrhea, bleeding, and abdominal pain that may lead to more severe complications such as dehydration, anemia, and malnutrition.  The exact causes of IBD are unknown, and current treatment plans are extensive and likely to be unsuccessful, with some remissions taking up to 15 years.  Dr. Kozáková's team of researchers hopes to find new treatment methods through the research of probiotics. 

Probiotics are live bacterial cultures that are known to provide benefit to the host.  This includes bacteria seen in foods such as yogurt - Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium and many more.  The lab is working to isolate various strains of Bifidobacterium bifidum to test their probiotic effect against ulcerative colitis in mice.  They hope to find a strain that can provide the greatest benefit to the host with the smallest degree of risk.  This work is being done in germ-free conditions because it's necessary to know the direct effect of the bacterial strain in analysis with no other microbes acting on the inflammation.

Kelly was able to learn new techniques that can be applied to her research project in Tucson, Arizona as well as share techniques with the Czech students.  Since both laboratories investigate intestinal diseases, it is important to form collaborations and share ideas that are beneficial to both sides and the entire international scientific world. 

Kelly Arganbright, URBPer in Dr. Bohuslav Dvorak's lab, Pediatrics

Note: Attend Kelly's datablitz on Monday, November 24, 2:00 PM, Life Sciences South 340