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Wednesday, April 21, 2004 Los Lunas student studies nicotine effectsAlbuquerque In a crisp, white jacket, eye pressed to a microscope, University of New Mexico senior Adam Gomez looks the part of a medical researcher at work in a UNM Health Sciences Center neuroscience lab. Better yet, he is not acting. A student in the Minority Biomedical Research Support Program (MBRS), under the supervision of Dr. Mary Johnson, Gomez studies the effects on the nervous system of prenatal exposure to nicotine. "Adam has learned just about everything I'd teach a Ph.D. or post-doc student," Johnson said. "Personally, I've found that undergraduates do very high-level work. It's important that they choose an area that interests them and that they get their own project once they get into the lab."
"There has been more research conducted on the effects of alcohol. I wanted to expand the findings on nicotine concerning the mechanisms of cell loss and acute versus chronic treatments," he said. Researchers know that prenatal exposure to nicotine results in low birth-weight and tremors. Long-term effects include delayed language development and behavioral disorders. According to the New Mexico Department of Health, the infants are also at increased risk of developing respiratory problems and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). In 1997-98, nearly 24 percent of new mothers smoked before pregnancy. The figure dropped to 11 percent of those in the last three months of pregnancy. About 18 percent smoked after delivery. To study the effects of nicotine on the peripheral nervous system, UNM researchers treat harvested cells with low or high concentrations of nicotine for two, six or 14 days. "This research forms the basis of further experiments to study cell loss and possible effects on the cell cycle. Exposing the cells to nicotine at different intervals helps determine the rate of cell loss," Gomez said. "If it's a biochemical reaction and we understand the activating mechanism, for example, we could develop ways to ameliorate the effects," Gomez said. "We can also determine if the cells become accustomed to nicotine with various doses and how they respond." In March, Gomez presented his findings at a Western Alliance for the Expanding Student Opportunities conference held in Phoenix. Last summer, he shared his research with members of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science. Prior to graduating this spring with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry, he plans to write a paper on his findings and submit it to medical journals. Since his junior year, Gomez has taken part in the HSC's Minority Biomedical Research Support Program, founded by the National Institutes of Health (HIH) in 1972 to correct under-representation of minorities in biomedical research. The program is funded at UNM through a NIH Initiative for Minority Student Development grant, which supports students from the undergraduate level through the Ph.D. Applications are accepted on a continuous basis. Students must be enrolled full-time, working toward a degree in biology, biochemistry, chemistry or psychology and meet GPA and other requirements. Interested in medicine since childhood, Gomez hopes the UNM research experience will help him determine areas of interest and strengthen his application to medical school. "The pursuit of medicine is tied to my faith and how I feel I can make the greatest difference. I can take what I've learned in school and the laboratory and apply it to the career I know will make me the happiest," Gomez said.
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