Lucas Laudermilk

High School Student Acquires Real-World Genetics Research Experience with Mentor at ORNL

“Opportunity is rare, and a wise man will never let it go by him,” poet Bayard Taylor once said. Inspired by the same awareness, high school junior Lucas Laudermilk, from Gibson County High School in Humboldt, Tenn., knew that the Tennessee Governor’s Academy for Mathematics and Science (TGA) represented for him the chance of a lifetime.

As a member of the inaugural class of TGA, Laudermilk was mentored by Dr. Cymbeline “Bem” Culiat, a molecular geneticist in the Biosciences division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), in the fundamentals of heart and blood vessel structure and development, the genetic basis of hereditary human diseases and disorders, and the use of mutant mouse models.

Laudermilk had dreams of becoming a physician, but after participating in TGA, he became intrigued by the idea of being a researcher and began considering that as a possible career path. Laudermilk said: “TGA has changed my academic career a lot—colleges I’m thinking about, recommendations I’ll be able to get.”

Laudermilk also became excited about the real-world, advanced knowledge afforded him by the TGA program. “I’ve learned a lot about DNA and RNA and the techniques to examine them, as well as proteins and many important things about how the body works, and we’ve studied genetic mutations,” he said. “Actually, our project has the potential to develop new diagnostic techniques for medicine.”

According to Dr. Culiat, the research project involved examining a novel pathway involved in early cardiovascular development using a mouse mutation generated by the ORNL Mouse Mutagenesis Program. She said the knowledge is important in figuring out certain congenital heart defects and could lead to potential diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

Dr. Culiat explained: “Because of the similarity in the genomes and basic principles of organ and tissue development in man and mouse, mutant mouse models provide great clues into how perturbations in specific genes and pathways can cause certain human heart defects and diseases.”

“I have several direct experiences with the human cost of heart problems: a friend’s young daughter and another friend’s young husband died due to congenital heart problems,” she said. “And I have had severe heart failure myself due to myocarditis.”

Laudermilk’s research experience with Dr. Culiat was part of the curriculum at TGA and one of the many ways that ORNL is partnering with Tennessee schools to enhance the education of the state’s young people. During the past academic year, which ran from August 2007 to May 2008, the laboratory provided mentored research experiences for all 24 of the TGA inaugural class of high school juniors in addition to a number of other area high school students. Administrative aspects of involving the students in research at the laboratory were handled by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, the laboratory’s long-time partner in education.

TGA is rewarding for both student and mentor alike. “Seeing students enjoy learning something new makes the effort of teaching and preparing experiments worth it,” Dr. Culiat said. “I love seeing student trainees develop good habits of scientific investigation and have fun learning in the lab.

“I typically train undergraduate- and graduate-level interns in my lab,” she explained. “This was my first experience in mentoring high school students, and it was very challenging bridging the gap between the student background and the requirements for the project. I had to be very creative in explaining complex methods and scientific literature to a very young trainee.”

Laudermilk summed up his feelings by saying, “This [participating in TGA] has been wonderful. The opportunity was invaluable.” As a message to other students, he added, “Don’t hesitate to seize the opportunities presented to you.”

TGA students are based in cottages at the historic Tennessee School for the Deaf in Knoxville. The TGA year runs from August to May. More information about the program may be obtained at the Tennessee Governor's Academy Web site.