Wilson Students Present Research at the 2025 Pennsylvania Academy of Science

Five Wilson seniors presented their research at this year’s annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science (PAS), held April 11-13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa.

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Wilson’s senior presenters: (l to r) Cassidy Sowers, Judi Wolf, Hailey Steele, Kylie Wright, and Adrián Lugo.

Kylie Wright
“Assessing the correlation between California Mastitis Test results and somatic cell counts in caprine milk.”
Advisers: Deborah Austin, Ph.D., and Sherri Buerdsell, Ph.D.

Judi Wolf
“The effects of lipid synthesis inhibitor ND-630 on fungal species Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida albicans, and
Cryptococcus neoformans in comparison to fluconazole.”
Advisers: Kathryn Sarachan, Ph.D., and Amber Marble, Ph.D.

Cassidy Sowers
“Influence of anthelmintic medications on the aerobic bacterial populations of the equid gastrointestinal tract microbiome.”
Advisers: Amber Marble, Ph.D., and Sherri Buerdsell, Ph.D.

Adrián Lugo
“The effects of serotonin transporter gene variations on major depressive disorder treatment and anxiety.”
Advisers: Amber Marble, Ph.D., and Deborah Austin, Ph.D.

Hailey Steele
“The cytotoxicity of synthetic dye; Red 40 and its metabolites cresidine-4-sulfonate and 1-amino-2-naphthol-sulfonic acid on the Caco-2 human colon cell line.”
Advisers: Kathryn Sarachan, Ph.D., Amber Marble, Ph.D., and Sherri Buerdsell, Ph.D.

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PAS Award Winners were (left) Acadia Banis ’26 and (right) Hailey Steele ’25. Banis received a PAS Undergraduate Research Grant for her work with her adviser Amber Marble, Ph.D., titled “A Systematic Comparison of Traditional Veterinary-grade Topical Tick Preventions Versus Holistic Topical Tick Repellants for Canines.” Steele took Third Place in the PAS Spychala Student Presentation Awards for her oral presentation.