An Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts alumna was recently among 15 students from across the nation selected to present their research during the National Council of NASA Space Grant Directors' Spring Meeting next month outside Washington, D.C.
Diamond McGehee is from Magnet Cove, where she attended school before she moved to ASMSA and graduated in 2008. She is the daughter of Daniel and Debbie Shelman.
"This is the first time the Director's Meeting has included a student poster session," McGehee said. "I have previously received very generous funding from the Arkansas Space Grant, which is how I found out about the session."
McGehee earned her bachelor's degree in biology and completed an internship at the National Center for Toxicology Research and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, where she published a study with several of her colleagues. She is now pursuing a doctorate in Applied Bioscience at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
NASA's National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program includes 52 consortia, one in each state, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each state consists of multiple independent Space Grant institutions and one lead institution.
Each consortium was allowed to nominate one student candidate based on their submitted abstracts. The National Council selected 15 students to present posters at the meeting.
The Arkansas Space Grant Consortium includes 17 four-year universities and colleges. McGehee's current research is related to cancer prevention in astronauts and has not yet been published.
"I chose the project because I'm very interested in cancer research and metabolomics," McGehee said. "It's an upcoming field that I think has lots of potential to provide new and possibly cheaper treatment options."
The meeting will be hosted March 2-4 by the District of Columbia Space Grant Consortium. Students will present their posters on the first day of the meeting at the Westin Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Va.
"I'm looking forward to meeting people in a myriad of research fields, learning more about current research and visiting Washington, D.C., as I've never been before," McGehee said.
The session will last for 45 minutes, during which attendees can ask the students questions about their work. Metabolomics is the study of metabolites within cells, biofluids, tissues and organisms.
"Most things on the Ph.D. level are collaborative," McGehee said. "My principle investigator is Dr. Mariya Khodakovskaya.
"Additionally, I was aided by Dr. Mohammad Alimohammadi and Dr. Mohamed Lahiani. The research I present will be based on past work the three of them have done and I am eternally grateful for their work both in the past and on this project."
McGehee said she hopes to find employment locally after she completes her doctorate. She said she has not decided whether she will pursue interests in academia or industry.
Local on 02/14/2017