Presidential Research Scholar Working to Change Biology Labs

Sydney Azar ‘24 (Tucson, AZ), a Biology major, is working to make fundamental changes to Biology labs at York College.

The Presidential Research Scholar is currently exploring ways to make these labs entirely vegan. It’s a project that has stretched across multiple semesters and will eventually lead to Sydney presenting at the 99th Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Sciences at Messiah College in April.

It has been a long journey for Sydney, who was homeschooled during her middle school years and did high school entirely online. “I didn’t really have that biology lab experience in high school that most people get,” she says. “So, when I got to York College and took my first Biology class, I wasn’t even sure if I was going to like it. I was kind of scared, but I really enjoyed it, and once I got into the upper-level courses, that’s when it really hit me. I was like, ‘Wow, I love this.’ I just love figuring out how the world works.”

Arriving at her current research topic was a long process in and of itself. Sydney was initially interested in conducting research on health disparities between different populations, but the end result of that research—a traditional literature review—felt like well-traveled territory. “It’s a huge topic, and most of it’s been done before,” she says. “So, I decided to go in a different direction.”

Determining that direction meant reaching out to her professors for guidance, including Dr. Brian Gray, Assistant Professor of Biology and Sydney’s faculty advisor. Dr. Gray’s research interests, which include immunology and the microbiome, were in line with her own. The two spent nearly a semester discussing research options and narrowing her focus.

At the time, Sydney had just adopted a vegan diet, and the idea of researching the effects of a plant-based diet seemed both personally and ethically intriguing to her. She and Dr. Gray came up with the idea of working with human endothelial cells, the cells that line the interior surface of blood vessels and lymphatic vessels and regulate the passage of fluids, immune cells, gasses, and other molecules.

“We were initially going to start off with seeing what happens if we put different food supplements into the cell culture media,” says Sydney. (Cell culture media refers to any gel or liquid created to support cellular growth in an artificial environment). “But in doing this, we realized that most cell culture media contain something called fetal bovine serum. Essentially, it’s blood taken from fetal cows, and it is a very common thing to include in cell culture media because it contains so many hormones and proteins that feed the cells and help them grow and proliferate,” says Sydney. “But that’s not vegan, so the question became, ‘How are we going to replicate a vegan diet if the media isn’t plant-based?’"

For the last two years, that has been Sydney’s research question: “How do we make a plant-based media that grows cells at the same rate as animal-based media?” In arriving at this question, Sydney and Dr. Gray realized that they had stumbled across a fairly sizable gap in research. “There’s maybe three papers over the last 20 years asking in the direction of [Sydney’s] question,” he says. Such a gap can have multiple implications, according to Dr. Gray. “It means that nobody’s talking about it—fantastic—so you have a lot of room to play and explore. However, if nobody’s published about this, that sometimes means that people have tried exploring this area and found that it’s not worth the trouble. In the beginning, it was a mixture of excitement and trepidation,” he says.

“I’ve learned that research has many ups and downs,” says Sydney. “There is no straight path to your final answer, and it's possible that you may not even get there before you graduate. There can be whole semesters where it feels like nothing gets done because you have to wait for things to be sent in or something gets stored improperly. Things just happen. That’s how it is.”

Sydney credits Dr. Gray with helping her navigate those ups and downs. “He’s been very helpful. I knew absolutely nothing about tissue culture before doing this. I barely even knew how to set up a research project. You hear about these things in your classes, but to actually design your own research is something else entirely. And when things go wrong; how do you work through that? It’s been an amazing experience.”

Despite the challenges, Sydney has managed to collect a fairly large amount of data, and she will be presenting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Sciences hosted at Messiah College in April. She’s found that her education at York College has uniquely prepared her to give this kind of presentation. “I’ve heard from other Biology majors who have graduated and gone on to their own post-baccalaureates that their posters always look the best because we’ve been trained here to make really good posters.” Sydney has already submitted an abstract but will be working on her final poster right up until the conference on April 12. “After everything that I’ve done and gone through, I’d really like to share it with the world and possibly talk to other people in the field and get their thoughts on the project. If someone picks up this research after me, my project will influence what they do.”

Aside from her academic pursuits, Sydney is heavily involved in campus life. She is a Resident Assistant, the vice president of the Tri-Beta Biological Honor Society, and a tutor.

After graduation, Sydney will begin pursuing her master’s degree in August at the University of Colorado in Denver. After her master’s, she hopes to move on to medical school. “I’ve wanted to be a doctor since I was a kid,” she says. “It’s always been this thing that I’ve been striving for.”

Sydney has some advice for students who are in the beginning phases of their research. “Just get started. It’s very daunting to look at it all and see all these steps, but just get started. Talk to other people who have done this before. Your professors are a really great resource, so find someone who will mentor you from the start. Don’t give up.”

“And push yourself,” she adds. “A part of research is exposing yourself to new things. Try new things, and don’t be afraid to tell other people about your research. Show it to the world.”

York College works with Engaged Scholars and Graham Collaborative Innovation Fellows From Day One to help them form their dreams into a personal mission, which is supported with financial and other assistance. They leave York College with a record of achievement that will gain the attention of employers, graduate schools, or others who provide entry into the next step in the extraordinary lives they imagine for themselves.