Leslie Lasher
White House High School
Biology and Physical Science 

Jay Snoddy, Ph.D. - Biomedical Informatics Dept 

This summer I worked for Dr. Jay Snoddy.  We worked on a website called SerotoninWorld.net.  This site helps explore serotonin functions and biological networks.  My main job was transfer the information from the Grant manual to the website. The Grant was divided into six projects and four Core groups that are working together to make the research possible.  First, I took all the overviews of each project and put their goals into their own section on the website. Next, the goals from each Core group were transferred to the website.  All the Project Investigators and their researchers were put into a section of their own on the website.   

Our main focus was gathering data over the genes controlling assembly and function of serotonin systems in a mouse.    We took all the genes and proteins discussed in the overviews of each project of the Grant and applied them to a spreadsheet. We linked each one of the genes and proteins to the orthologous gene networks in multiple species used in this biomedical research including humans.  I researched the website network,

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, to collect all the gene and protein information needed for the spreadsheet that will be placed onto the website.   

Dr. Jay Snoddy was very informational and taught me so much about how to research different genes and proteins.  He provided many websites and networks to help in the understanding of how human genes are very similar to the same gene in other species.   He also helped me improve my computer skills. 

The module that I will teach my students will be focused around the function of serotonin on the brain of the human.  The focus will be how drugs affect the different levels of serotonin in the brain.  The different disorders of serotonin will be taught with this module.