FULLERTON, Calif. – Senior right-handed pitcher Nyah Rodman will be headed to Argentina in January to participate in the "Research Experience with Clinical Microbiology" study abroad program put on by Cal State Fullerton. It is a two-week program where Rodman will travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina to study advanced microbiology in a clinical setting.
Under the direction of Dr. Maria Soledad Ramirez, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences on campus, the program includes lectures and practical research opportunities at the Hospital de Clinicas Jose de San Martin, UBA in Buenos Aires, Argentina. While there, Rodman and her colleagues will get to work directly with some of the leading researchers of Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), a group of bacteria that are resistant to the carbapenem class of antibiotics and is considered a last resort antibiotic. Rodman has been doing research in this field here at Cal State Fullerton.
Her research has led to her working on a couple of projects with her principal investigator, one of which has been going on for over a year and a half now. Her part of the project is looking at and studying Acinetobacter baumannii, a bacterium labeled as 'critical' by the World Healthcare Organization because it is multi-drug resistant. It affects people with compromised immune systems and is becoming increasingly important as a hospital-derived infection. Rodman has been testing the bacteria's competence (state of an organism's ability to pick up DNA from the environment) in relation to human products and seeing these molecules are promoting said competence.
"I'm really excited to go to Argentina," said Rodman. "I'll be able to apply my microbiology knowledge in a clinical setting and build connections with investigators whose career paths I hope to follow."
Rodman is currently in her final year at CSUF and applying for medical school at some of the top schools in the country. She plans to get her MD-PhD so that she can study the human response to infectious disease and translate that into therapeutic programs. She will leave for the program on Jan. 8 and return back home Jan. 18.
For the full brochure and more information on the program, click here.
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