Ava
Chao-Mendoza
Sponsor: Amy Lesneski, M.A. MED: Stem Cell Research Program Traditional blood glucose monitoring in porcine models relies on intermittent, direct venous sampling, which is not suitable for frequent blood glucose readings due to added restraint, personnel, and stress. To address this, Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) devices were employed in swine models (n=4) for approximately 35 days. We hypothesized that significant glycemic changes will be seen in burn-injured swine at predictable intervals: after feedings, pre-procedural fasting, and burn-inductions due to stress hormones (cortisol, catecholamines). This study characterized glucose dynamics around scheduled feedings with ~17 hours of overnight fasting and across the healing of standardized burn injuries treated with novel tilapia skin and lidocaine/ketamine nanoparticle-integrated bandages. High-frequency data allowed for accurate measurements of daily glycemic fluctuations and mapping of glycemic variability over the course of wound-healing. We identified distinct patterns in glucose levels that correlate with different fed and fasted states as well as phases of recovery and treatment. These results can be developed to provide a framework for diet changes to mitigate metabolic stress in research swine, which can potentially affect outcome data. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that CGM is a viable, minimally invasive tool for improving the precision of metabolic monitoring in complex, biomedical, surgical swine models. Impact of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals on Developmental Transition in the Juvenile Ovary
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Authors:
Ava Chao-Mendoza
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Female reproductive success depends on the ovarian reserve established around birth, which contains a finite number of immature oocytes. As the organism ages, there is a decline in oocyte quality leading to reduced fertility, a phenomenon known as the maternal age effect. This decline can result from chromosome segregation errors during meiosis caused by dysregulation of sister-chromatid cohesion in oocytes at the onset of puberty. In this study, we test how endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) exacerbate the maternal age effect. Atrazine and Bisphenol A are EDCs that raise concern for their impact on female fertility based on their pervasive environmental presence. Using these chemicals, C57BL/6J mice are exposed to high or low levels of each EDC through drinking water, with denionized water controls. After two weeks of exposure, the animals mature to 3, 6, 9, or 15 months where meiosis I chromosome spreads are then conducted. Oocyte quality will be assessed by measuring interkinetochore distances and cohesion levels at metaphase I. We expect EDC-exposed mice to show reduced cohesion levels, increased chromosome missegregation, and increased interkinetochore distances compared to the controls. The data collected will provide insight into the reproductive effects of these EDCs potentially influencing toxicology-related legislation. IL-10 Neutralization Induces Acute Inflammatory Gene Programs Aparna Chatterjee
Source:
UC Davis / Microbiology & Molec Genetics / 2026
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Co-authors:
Ava Chao-Mendoza