Cuhran Represents Eberly College of Science as Student Marshal

Jennifer Lynn Cuhran, of New Castle, Pennsylvania, will be honored as the Eberly College of Science student marshal during spring commencement ceremonies on Saturday, 13 May 2006, at the Penn State University Park campus. She has selected Andrew J. Henderson, associate professor of veterinary and biomedical sciences, to be her faculty escort for the commencement exercises.

Cuhran conducted research for her honors thesis in Henderson's lab in the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences. She contributed to research on the effects of the RON-receptor tyrosine kinase-a protein shown to function as a negative regulator that decreases inflammation-on HIV-1 transcription and replication. Researchers believe that HIV-1 down-regulates, or inhibits, the function of the RON receptor in order to promote inflammation and facilitate its own replication. The resulting inflammation is known to contribute to degenerative diseases of the central nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and HIV-associated dementia (HAD). HAD provides a useful system to study the mechanisms that contribute to inflammation and tissue damage in the brain.

Cuhran's work focused on the signaling molecules and receptor domains involved in RON-dependent inhibition of HIV-1 transcription, as well as the pathway by which HIV-1 may overcome this inhibition. Researchers hope that understanding these signaling pathways will provide novel cellular targets that might be used to control HIV-1 replication and lead to possible treatments for HIV.

Cuhran says, "My experience in the lab has been one of the most beneficial experiences in my entire undergraduate career. It has allowed me to apply the knowledge I've gained from class lectures and books, and to understand and appreciate the contribution of basic scientific research to the clinical practice of medicine."

Cuhran will be completing a major in premedicine and a minor in philosophy. She has earned a 4.0 grade-point average, has been on the Dean's list at Penn State every semester, and was named to the National Dean's List in 2004. Her academic achievements have been recognized with a President's Freshman Award in 2003, a President Sparks Award in 2004, and with Evan Pugh Scholar Awards in 2005 and 2006. She has been a member of the Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society since 2003 and will be inducted into the Phi Beta Kapa honor society in May. She received a Schreyer Honors College Academic Excellence Scholarship during each of her four years at Penn State. She also received a Kenneth and Nancy Costa Family Trustee Scholarship in 2004, a Ruth E. Duffy Premedicine Endowment Scholarship in 2004, a Class of 1934 Reunion Fund Scholarship in 2005, a Morrow Endowed Prize Scholarship in 2006, and a Wentroble Scholarship for Science in 2006.

In addition to her academic activities, she has been actively involved in the National Premedical Honor Society Alpha Epsilon Delta, where she served as secretary in 2005 and 2006. She has been a member of the Student Red Cross Club, was a premedicine and science peer mentor, and was captain and manager of an intramural soccer team. Over the summer of her freshman and sophomore years, she worked full-time as a nurse's aide at the Jameson Hospital in New Castle, Pennsylvania. She also has been a volunteer with the Centre Volunteers in Medicine in State College.

Cuhran was the 2002 valedictorian at Neshannock Junior/Senior High School in New Castle, Pennsylvania, where she graduated with a 4.22 grade-point average. Attending the Pennsylvania Governor's School for Health Care at the University of Pittsburgh during the summer before her senior year in high school, she had the opportunity to observe a kidney transplant. This experience ignited an interest in the study of medicine that was reinforced by her undergraduate research experience at Penn State. After graduation, she will be attending the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in pursuit of a doctoral degree in medicine. She is particularly interested in specializing in pediatric surgery.

Cuhran says, "Penn State truly gave me every opportunity I could have needed in order to achieve my goal of going to medical school. I made the most of all the extracurricular and research opportunities available to me here, and I was able to compete with the most talented students at colleges across the country."

Cuhran will be accompanied at graduation by her parents, Debra Jean and Joseph John Cuhran III; her grandfather Joseph Cuhran, Jr.; her brother Joseph Cuhran IV; her aunt Sandy Rivera; and her cousin Nicole Reed.