Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs)
CUREs are courses specifically designed for students looking to gain an authentic research experience in the classroom.
A CUREs class will take a research question based on the faculty's field of study, and participate in a large group data collection and analysis project. Students participating in the project will help move novel research questions forward and advance scientific understanding.
Student benefits include:
- CUREs look great on a resume/CV
- CUREs can help students determine if a particular research field is right for them
- Students gain knowledge in course content and research technical skills.
- Students are exposed to and explore new and exciting career opportunities.
CUREs in the Undergraduate Biology Program
In this course, students have the opportunity to learn modern immunological techniques while exploring interactions between our immune cells and gut microbes. So far, students in this course have tested whether metabolites from a variety of commensal gut bacteria have any effect on inflammatory cytokine production or signaling. The long-term goal of this CURE is to better understand the cellular and molecular basis for the interactions between our immune cells and gut microbes in order to develop better treatments for inflammatory bowel diseases and other conditions. Students will leave this course with a new toolbox of immunological techniques and experience with experimental design, data analysis, statistical analysis, and scientific communication.
Students taking the Bacterial Infectious Disease Laboratory Course learn molecular and media-based techniques to identify human bacterial pathogens and explore mechanism used by these pathogens to cause disease. Alongside this curriculum, students participate in an authentic research experience examining the protective role of the human skin microbiome.
Our CURE, titled MicrobioME, a CURE for Staphylococcus aureus, is a semester long project where students collaborate to develop and implement an experimental plan to isolate and identify bacterial isolates from their skin microbiome and assay for the ability to impact pathogenic mechanisms of S. aureus. This project is an extension of ongoing research in the Molecular Biology Department led by Dr. Rosana Ferreira. Past participants in this CURE shared their results at a KU Undergraduate Research Symposium and while others published results in a peer reviewed scientific journal!
The Virology Laboratory course exposes students to techniques in cell culture and viral cultivation. Students will use these techniques to work on the vCURE where students will study how Feline Herpesvirus 1 (FHV‑1) infects cells and makes new virus particles inside a host cell line called Crandell Feline Kidney (CrFK) cells. FHV‑1 is a herpesvirus that commonly causes upper respiratory infections in cats.
Students will begin by selecting a compound from a curated list of chemicals that are already known to block certain host cell processes. Based on what is known about these compounds, students will develop hypotheses about how their chosen compound might interfere with FHV‑1 replication. Next, students will work together to design and carry out experiments to test whether their compound can reduce FHV‑1 replication without harming the host cells.
Because relatively little is known about the basic biology of FHV‑1, discoveries made in this course have the potential to answer real, unanswered questions and contribute new knowledge to the field of herpesvirus research. This project is also especially engaging since many students have personal experience with pet cats or know people who do. Importantly, FHV‑1 is a safe and manageable virus to work with, making it an excellent model system for hands‑on undergraduate research.
