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Buckhannon student Dane Heath’s research on compounds from reishi mushrooms and their effects on breast cancer cells was among the work presented at a summer research symposium in Morgantown.
Heath, a West Virginia Wesleyan College biochemistry major with a mathematics minor, is in the class of 2028 and conducted the research through the college’s McCuskey Fellowship with Dr. Luke Huggins.
“For my summer research project, my research group worked with Dr. Huggins on a long-term project to look into the effects of ganoderic acids (extracted from Reishi mushrooms) on breast cancer cell lines, hoping to slow the cancers’ metastases,” Heath said in a release from the college.
His group presented “The Effect of Ganoderic Acids from Reishi Mushroom on Cell Proliferation, Migration and Matrix Metalloproteinases in Breast Cancer.” Madelyn Armstrong, Barrett McCain, Lanna Nguyen, Megan Brozik, Caden Carpenter, Colten Workman and Huggins contributed to the poster.
Heath said he plans to return to Huggins’ project next year and help students joining the research team.
The 24th annual Summer Research Symposium brought together summer projects by Wesleyan students studying several science disciplines. Its host was the West Virginia IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence, or WV-INBRE, according to the college’s release.
Breanna Waldron of Fairmont, also in the class of 2028, was chosen as one of three WV-INBRE interns to present. Her project at West Virginia University was titled “Sensitizing BRCA-Proficient Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Brain Metastasis to PARP Inhibition through Arginine Deprivation.”
“This summer, I did research on breast cancer brain metastasis treatments, focusing specifically on implementing arginine deprivation for Triple Negative Breast Cancer cells to make them homologous repair deficient and therefore more sensitive to PARP inhibitor drugs,” Waldron said in the release.
Waldron, who wants to attend medical school, worked with Olivia Carpenter-Milam, a 2023 Wesleyan graduate. The college said a National Institutes of Health grant to WV-INBRE supported the project.
The college identified these additional presenters and their posters:
- Mariam Al-Zoubi: “Plasma-Derived Large Extracellular Vesicles Promote Cerebrovascular Endothelial Dysfunction in IBD.”
- Christopher Bender: “Kaempferol Reduces Cytotoxicity of Hydrogen Peroxide and Cisplatin in Renal Proximal Tubular Cells and Ferroptosis Pathway and Pterostilbene Attenuation of Hydrogen Peroxide Cytotoxicity in Human Renal Proximal Tubular Epithelial Cells.”
- Claire Denning: “Defining Adolescent Tripartite Synapse Maturation Using Integrated Spatial Transcriptomics and Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED Microscopy).”
- Jannah Miller, Rafe Riley and Dr. Kelsey A. Aldrich: “Effects of Macromolecular Crowding on the Kinetics of Pyruvate Kinase Muscle 1 with Variable ADP and PEP Substrates.”
- Addison Taylor, Mary Genes and Aldrich: “Pyruvate Kinase L is Sensitive to Physiological Macromolecule Concentrations.”
- Taryn G. Veltri: “Sex-Specific Cognitive Effects of Prenatal Nano-TiO2 Exposure and Preventative Febuxostat Treatment.”
- Claire Wheeler: “Determining Gene Expression Changes Induced by Ganoderic Acid A in Estrogen Receptor Positive and Estrogen Receptor Negative Human Breast Cancer Cells.”
Winthrop University associate professor and department chair Hope Lima, a 2012 Wesleyan graduate, participated in the symposium’s career panel.
Wesleyan students also took part in the research program last year. My Buckhannon reported in 2025 on 21 students whose summer research culminated in presentations at Marshall University.
