Alexdiel Figueroa Pérez
Undergraduate
Natural Sciences Faculty
Dept. of Chemistry
University of Puerto Rico
Río Piedras Campus
Home Research
Mentor: Demetrio Sierra, PhD
University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus
San Juan, PR
Project: Glyphosate decreases object interaction, but not social interaction
Project Description: Recent studies in rodents have shown that glyphosate is capable of increasing the expression of anxiety-like behaviors in classical paradigms such as the open field test and elevated plus maze. However, the effect that glyphosate may have on novelty-induced anxiety or neophobia, has not been explored. Therefore, we aim to evaluate the effect of prolonged oral consumption of glyphosate-contaminated drinking water on novelty-induced anxiety.
Summer Research 2022
Mentor: Dr. Ryan Hibbs
Project: Optimizing expression and purification of proteins for nanodisc reconstitution
Project Description: This past summer, I worked on optimizing Saposin and TEV purifications. Previous purification protocols have not been efficient enough to result in high yields consistently. Therefore, I worked in identifying steps in the protocols that could be improved to ensure a high yield preparation and to make them less time-consuming.