Name: Joshua Moeller
Major: Biological Sciences
Research Location: University of Notre Dame
Joshua presented a poster detailing his project at the Society of Developmental Biologists Midwest Regional Meeting. He presented two poster sessions, attended skill workshop sessions, and learned about fascinating development research going on all around the Midwest! Joshua studies Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), which encompasses a broad range of effects caused by prenatal alcohol exposure. Children afflicted with FASD can have congenital defects of the heart, eyes, and kidneys, as well as poor development of facial structures such as the nose and mouth. There is no known cure for FASD and in utero detection methods are not available. In terms of urinary tract defects, kidney and renal related maladies remain an underreported and rather uncommon diagnosis within patients with FASD. In order to better understand the renal phenotypes associated with prenatal alcohol exposure, his lab employed the zebrafish, Danio rerio, a vertebrate species well-suited for developmental nephrology and teratological work that has been used extensively to model FASD. They treated zebrafish embryos with ethanol to examine its effects on the formation of renal cell populations.
Josh says, "This experience really helped me improve my ability to communicate my scientific research. When presenting a research project it is very important to practice tailoring your presentation for your audience. I had presented at College of Science poster sessions which are mostly attended by undergraduate students and during Wingert lab meetings before, but this conference allowed me to practice presenting to an audience with high background knowledge of the field, but no familiarity with my project. Importantly, the audience at a conference is the same (or very similar) to the audience that would be reading any research paper I would eventually get published."