Dr. Sarah Redmond

I am interested in the impacts that stress has on cells, especially cells in the immune response. Stress can come from many different sources, so I work with a variety of models and organisms. Here are some current and upcoming projects, recent and current lab members and collaborators, and specific ways interested students can get involved:

How does extreme stress impact cells?

1) Vespa amino acid mixture (VAAM), which is sold as a sports supplement in some countries, induces extreme aerobic capacity and rapid death in insects, but it isn't clear whether this is due to loss of energy, induction of inflammation, and/or an increase in the normal rate of aging. Collaboration with Jason Davis, Department of Biology

- How does VAAM impact mucosal immune barriers? Caitlin Linville and Monica Kaur – abstract presented at 2016 Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology meeting
- Does VAAM cause breakdown of mitochondrial structure? Elizabeth Grandy
- Does VAAM activate inflammation? Cell culture, RT-PCR, ELISA
- Which steps of aerobic metabolism are impacted by VAAM exposure? Cell fractionation, enzyme function assays – Attia Mohamed, Samuel Stowers, Kristy Clark, Marisa Dameron – abstract presented at 2016 National Council on Undergraduate Research meeting
- How is the mechanism of VAAM different from that of 2,4-dinitrophenol, another manipulator of mitochondrial metabolism? Cell culture, RT-PCR, ELISA, enzyme function assays

2) Binge consumption of ethanol and nicotine induces changes in behavior and physiology of rats, even during withdrawal. Collaboration with Dayna Hayes, Department of Psychology

- How is mucosal antibody production impacted during withdrawal? Is the response different in adolescents and adults? Henry Harris – abstract presented at 2015 American Association of Immunologists meeting
- How does this exposure affect circulating white blood cell populations? Differential blood cell counting
- How is the spleen, a secondary immunological organ, impacted? Histological sectioning and staining

How can stress-mitigation be used to enhance the immune response?

1) Tickling rats before stressful research procedures reduces the induction of stress from the procedure. Collaboration with Dayna Hayes, Department of Psychology

- Do different types of handling elicit different behavior during routine handling? Diamond Cooper
- Do tickling and different types of handling affect the delayed-type hypersensitivity response or proportions of circulating white blood cells? April Tingle - abstract presented at 2016 Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology meeting
- Is there a greater impact of stress mitigation on the thymus (a primary immunological organ) or the spleen (a secondary immunological organ)? Histological sectioning and staining, RT-PCR
- Is the specific immune response to an antigen impacted by handling methods? ELISA

2) What immunological stress is evident from "normal" activities of college students?

Take my immunology class (BIOL 337) to design your own project on this topic! Here are some from previous groups:

- Eyob Ayalew, Henry Harris, and Hannah Markowitz. Impacts of exercise on salivary IgA levels on college students.
- Cassandra Boerstler, Kasey Neely, Tanya Schultz, and April Tingle. Impacts of stress associated with college major on immune response.
- Megan Collier, Marleigh Durham, Seth Harrison, Sara Jones, and Danielle Lattanze. Variance of stress levels based upon time of day studying.
- Diamond Cooper, Steve Gallas, Alan Schano, and Anthony Whisman. The effects of cardiorespiratory or yogic exercise on salivary IgA levels.
- Mary Currier, Leia King, Manuella De Carvalho, and Zeb Pike. Impacts of smoking on human salivary IgA levels.
- Elizabeth Grandy, Mohammad Iqbal, Holly Rindorf, and Ashley Sherertz. A study on studying.