George Santarpia, senior biochemistry major at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL), has contributed to multiple chemical and biological defense projects with the National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) at the University of Nebraska.
Working closely with NSRI Fellow Dr. Eric Carnes, associate professor in environmental, agricultural and occupational health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, George has built a body of work that includes multiple papers, proposals, prototypes and research reports, all directly contributing to active projects for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).
In addition to his academic efforts and NSRI contributions, George serves as the president of the UNL microbiology club, organizing events, coordinating with other officers, recruiting members and inviting speakers to campus. He served as a teaching assistant in a lab focused on antibiotic resistance research as part of an honors course at UNL, taught by Dr. Karin van Dijk. George currently serves as the student representative on the advisory board for the UNL microbiology program. As the student representative, he attends meetings, coordinates between the club and the program and assists with program events and curriculum revisions, among other duties including but not limited to mentoring and leading hands-on training for new lab members.
Briefly describe how you have contributed to NSRI projects so far.
One of my main projects has involved finding and characterizing bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, for use as alternatives to antibiotics in disease treatment and environmental applications. The bacterial targets have included human pathogens with high antibiotic resistance, such as salmonella and staph, as well as environmental bacteria, such as cyanobacteria that cause harmful algae blooms and produce toxins.
Another project has involved testing antibody-based treatments and prophylactics against neurotoxins like tetrodotoxin, commonly known as pufferfish toxin, and saxitoxin, a paralytic shellfish toxin. Finally, I am developing a cell line that fluoresces when infected with a broad range of viruses, to help detect and quantify viruses in samples.
What have you found most interesting about the work you’ve done with NSRI?
I have done most of my work at the NSRI Collaborative Biosecurity Laboratory on the University of Nebraska–Lincoln East Campus. One of the main advantages of this location is that virologists in many different specialties are all nearby in the building. This allows us to share reagents and equipment easily and opens opportunities for collaboration. The laboratory is also quite spacious and there are shared equipment rooms and facilities, which allows us to set up various instruments in the laboratory itself and access other pieces of equipment that we would be unable to use otherwise.