Georgetown College. Georgetown University.

Christine Helou, pictured here, is shadowing 5th year Ph.D. student Colleen Walls in Dr. Elmendorf's lab. (Photo: Roland Dimaya)

By Megan Weintraub

Colleen Walls and Christine Helou, two students in Dr. Heidi Elmendorf’s lab, spend copious hours tracking down new drug therapies for Giardia, a parasite whose unique features have a large impact on global health. Giardia infects its host by using a mechanism similar to a suction cup to attach itself to a mammal’s intestine.

Walls, a 5th year Ph.D. student in the Department of Biology, is in the midst of a comprehensive series of drug trials to study how this attachment mechanism is affected by a set of 2,000 drugs provided by the National Cancer Institute. Of the 2,000 drug candidates, roughly 82 successfully inhibit Giardia’s ability to attach, a promising step toward developing a drug that could prevent Giardia from infecting its host. Helou, a sophomore STIA major with a concentration in Biotechnology and Global Health, shadows Walls in the lab, and hopes to continue the drug trials after Walls graduates at the end of 2008.

“My job is to figure out what the drugs might possibly be doing to cause Giardia to detach or die,” explains Helou. “Using video microscopy, I observe the immediate effects of the drugs on Giardia morphology within different time intervals. For example, I look for changes in the pattern or speed at which the cells are swimming, whether the cells shrivel or swell, and how fast any of these changes appear.”

Walls, whose responsibilities outside of the lab include parenting a 15 year-old daughter, arrived at Georgetown as Dr. Elmendorf’s research assistant after attending Smith College as a non-traditional student through a program designed for women of non-traditional ages or who are attending school while raising children. Helou, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, was drawn to Georgetown because of the opportunity she saw to study medicine and public health from a global vantage point rather than just a strict scientific perspective.

While Walls and Helou have taken very different paths to Dr. Elmendorf’s lab, they have both benefited from her presence as a creative force and her commitment to her students’ pursuit of knowledge regardless of their particular interest in research.

“Sometimes advisors have a hard time imagining students doing anything other than research or taking a path that leads into academia,” says Walls. “However, Dr. Elmendorf is much more open-minded. She has always encouraged students to find their own paths.”

Dr. Elmendorf’s dedication to education is evident through her work to promote student teaching of science in public high schools and her motivation to introduce students from all academic disciplines to the field of biology. For instance, as a teaching assistant for one of Dr. Elmendorf’s microbiology classes, Walls witnessed the professor’s creative and inspiring teaching methods.

“I think Dr. Elmendorf is always on the lookout for future scientists,” explains Walls. “Developing a stronger biology curriculum in public schools and finding ways for political science majors or art history majors to connect the importance of microbiology to their own fields is a sure way to cultivate a new generation of biologists.”

Walls and Helou have both led accomplished careers at Georgetown. Walls has been selected as the recipient of a university fellowship and has received an honorable mention from the National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship program. Helou has made honors every semester and is working under a GUROP grant this semester. She was also selected as a peer advisor through the Dean’s Office for this academic year.

Following their education at Georgetown, both students plan to tackle issues of global health using their extensive Giardia research experience. Walls hopes to work on parasitic infections that plague underdeveloped countries and have strong links to poverty. Although many of these diseases have low mortality rates, they can have devastating affects on the economic growth and stability of underdeveloped countries.

“My biggest ambition, after graduating from Georgetown, is to do some field research where I can travel to many of these places,” says Walls. “I want a chance to see how social, political, and economic factors can influence the prevalence and severity of these diseases. I think having a complete picture can really enhance your research.”

Helou hopes to attend a medical school that maintains a strong emphasis on research so that she can continue her work with Giardia or other infectious diseases.

“My research and working with Dr. Elmendorf has strongly shaped the way I think and solve problems and has definitely boosted my knowledge of science in general, which should all help me in whatever I pursue in the future,” says Helou.

The collaboration of Helou and Walls is emblematic of the ideals of research at Georgetown. Led by Dr. Elmendorf, this Giardia team is on the path to treat this menacing microbe.

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