(Posted June 2, 2003)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Emily Eller, a Juniata College freshman from Manchester, Maine, and Max Stem, a Juniata freshman from Lilly, Pa. have been accepted as summer research interns at Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine.

The Jackson Laboratory is the world's largest mammalian genetic research facility, specializing in mice used in genetics research. The laboratory serves the global scientific community as a provider of genetic resources and is a center for training present and future scientists.

The Laboratory supplies universities, medical schools and research laboratories all over the world with approximately 2 million JAX®Mice from more than 2,500 varieties, 97 percent of which are available only from The Jackson Laboratory. Mice are commonly used as research models for human diseases and disorders.

Eller, who is studying international politics and peace and conflict studies, will be working with the laboratory?s Human Relations Center. Her assignment will be to complete a needs asessment study on building environmentally sensitive housing for the laboratory?s graduate student research staff.

?I really hope to get a better understanding of how to do research,? Eller says. ?We will work with postdoctoral researchers and then all of the interns will do a formal research presentation after their project.?

Stem, who is studying biology/pre-medicine, will be working with lab mice that have hypertension and diabetes. Diabetic mice have been found to secrete a particular protein that may lead to early kidney damage and that also helps to retain sodium, which therefore may lead to high blood pressure.

Stem will work with researchers to test whether or not the absence of certain protein receptor sites in these diabetic mice will prevent diabetic mice from either developing hypertension and/or experiencing kidney damage.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.