Browsing by Author "Haverty, Benjamin"
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Item Conducting a College Prep Program During Covid-19: An Analysis on Austin Test Prep (ATP) at Austin High School(2021-04-01) Haverty, Benjamin; Hitchcock, KennardAustin Test Prep (ATP) is a Houston-based college preparation program that focuses on mentoring high-school students from disadvantaged communities to counteract the effects of income disparity on education. The program curriculum is divided into two parts: SAT preparation and college preparation. The mentoring is conducted in two-hour sessions every Monday from 4pm-6pm with the first 30 minutes being a presentation from an ATP mentor and the final hour and a half used to guide the students through example problems and worksheets on the topic. The project aims to achieve at least a 100-point increase of SAT scores of students who actively participate in the program. Objective data, in the form of SAT scores before and after the program, and subjective data, in the form of survey questions that ask students to state their confidence in their abilities as well as the effectiveness of the program, are both collected. The subjective data is recorded on a scale from 1 to 5 where 1 is least confident and 5 is most confident. The students self-evaluate their abilities in the three subject sections of the SAT and their relationship with their mentor. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, this project has taken on an online approach via Microsoft Teams and has progressed through multiple barriers such as student attendance and commitment to the program. Through a logic model and falsifiable logic model, this presentation demonstrates the current program organization and explores the successes and setbacks to the program’s development.Item Protein Based Modeling of SARS-CoV-2(2020-09-29) Haverty, Benjamin; Maknojia, UzmaThe SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 outbreak has quickly risen to the most impactful public health crisis of the last century. As research teams across the country are working to identify potential vaccine and pharmaceutical candidates, the importance of identifying suitable proteins against which the human body makes antibodies has become ever more important. A number of proteins have already been identified in the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including spike, envelope, and nucleocapsid, however, it remains unknown which of these the human immune system produces antibodies against, aka which would be the most effaceable protein to use in COVID inoculation. We used Gibson assembly to join multiple pieces of plasmid DNA coding for different SARS-CoV-2 proteins and verified the results via DNA sequencing.Item Using CRISPR-Cas9 Applications for ACE2 Knockout in Liver Epithelial Stem Cells and Impact on SARS-CoV-2(2020-09-29) Maknojia, Uzma; Haverty, BenjaminThe emerging Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) poses a major threat to public health. COVID-19 is a viral respiratory illness caused by SARS-CoV-2 and can be contracted between individuals who are in close contact with one another or by touching a contaminated object. SARS-CoV-2 entry depends on the host cell factors, ACE2 and TMPRSS2. Angiotensin I Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a functional receptor for the spike glycoprotein SARS-CoV-2 and TMPRSS2 is a transmembrane protease that serves as a primer for SARS-CoV-2 entry into the cell. ACE2 is expressed in the human airway epithelium, gastrointestinal cells, and some organs of the digestive system such as the liver. My objective is to knock out ACE2 in liver epithelial stem cells using CRISPR Cas9 technology as a means for preventing the entry of SARS-CoV-2. This process involves using chemical-based transfection in order to insert plasmids with the target gRNA and Cas9 enzyme as well as a GFP reporter that would serve as a marker for cells that have been edited. After transfection, positive selection with GFP reporting signal will be done and it will be followed by DNA analysis through sequencing. From this, we can infect the edited cells with SARS-CoV-2 and assess the effectiveness of the gene knockout on the prevention of COVID-19.