Ouachita Stories

Five students from Ouachita Baptist University’s Patterson School of Natural Sciences have published research in the nationally-recognized scientific journal, “microPublication Biology.” The students studied the MicroRNA involved in lung cancer metastasis and submitted their research to the peer-reviewed journal, which published it in October 2024.

Students on the team included Jackson Lipscomb, a senior biomedical sciences major from Sherman, Texas; Kassidy Gray, a senior biomedical sciences major from Malvern, Ark; Parker Nelson, a senior biology major from Alexander, Ark.; Alyssa Rye, a senior biology and Christian foundations double major from Conway, Ark.; and Tuesday Melton, a senior biomedical sciences major from Benton, Ark. The group worked under the supervision of Dr. Christin Pruett, associate professor of biology, and Dr. Nathan Reyna, professor of biology.

This team initially conducted their research for a cell biology class taught by Reyna in Fall 2023 and decided to continue research on miR-127, a molecule found by a previous Ouachita research team to be linked to breast cancer.

“When a person has cancer, the cancer cells often sluff off DNA and debris into the bloodstream,” said Reyna. “If we could detect this debris early, then we could detect cancer earlier.”

Lipscomb, who served as lead writer, said, “I had no clue that Ouachita is exceptional in allowing students to run their own research projects compared to bigger state schools. The more I’ve experienced the field of upper-level science, the more I notice that our project actually resembles graduate and post-graduate research. And we were juniors in Cell Biology!”

As a result of the research and publication process, the students expressed appreciation for the work involved.

“I learned that meaningful research is an obtainable opportunity,” Nelson stated. “If you told high school me, or even freshman me, that I would have the opportunity to assist with real cancer research that would be presented at an international conference and published in an academic journal, I would never have believed you.”

Reyna’s goal for this group’s research was “to show we could do actual research with students in a class setting. This group and their paper are proof of that concept.” With the funding of a Cell Biology Education Consortium Path to Publication grant, he noted, “We’ve shown that not only could students do research, they could also do publishable research.”

“I learned so much from this experience,” said Rye. “While the research required a lot of time and energy, the work was worth it. I hope someone can use our research in the future to continue working on ways to improve the prognosis and treatment options for cancer patients.”

The full study can be found at https://www.micropublication.org/journals/biology/micropub-biology-001355.

Ouachita’s Patterson School of Natural Sciences prepares students for lives of meaningful work in a variety of fields, as well as graduate and professional schools, teaching and research. For more information, contact Dr. Tim Knight, dean of the Patterson School, at [email protected] or at (870) 245-5528.

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Lead photo: Students in Ouachita's Patterson School of Natural Sciences whose cancer cell research was published in the scientific journal, “microPublication Biology” include (from left) Tuesday Melton, a senior biomedical sciences major from Benton, Ark.; Jackson Lipscomb, a senior biomedical sciences major from Sherman, Texas; Parker Nelson, a senior biology major from Alexander, Ark.; and Alyssa Rye, a senior biology and Christian foundations double major from Conway, Ark. Not pictured is Kassidy Gray, a senior biomedical sciences major from Malvern, Ark.

Lead photo by Coleman Callan

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• Biology
• School of Natural Sciences