Zoeller
Hauser students receive national academic honors
Hauser Jr.-Sr. High School seniors Grace Hattabaugh and Colin Kistler have received the College Board’s National Rural and Small Town Award. The honor is one of the organization’s national recognition programs, which are intended to celebrate the hard work of students from rural areas or diverse backgrounds and showcase their academic achievements.
Criteria for eligibility includes having a GPA of 3.5 or higher and PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 assessment scores that are within the top 10% of assessment takers in each state for each award program or a score of 3 or higher on 2 or more AP Exams in 9th and 10th grade.
“Sometimes students from smaller schools get overlooked when being considered for awards, scholarships, grants, or other recognitions,” said Hauser Principal Kris Fortune. “Grace and Colin are well deserving of being recognized. They’re great students and even better young adults. I’m thankful College Board is making it a point to recognize students from rural and small towns.”
Colleges and organizations who use College Board’s Student Search Service are able to connect directly with awardees during their recruitment processes.
University hosts Constitution Day
Indiana University-Columbus invites the public to celebrate Constitution Day with live music, a discussion of “This Land is Your Land,” at 3 p.m. Sept. 19 in the Columbus Learning Center, Room 1205, 4555 Central Ave.
This year’s annual event features a panel lead by Aimee Zoeller, an IU Columbus sociology professor and Woody Guthrie scholar. She will discuss the origins of Guthrie’s iconic ballad “This Land is Your Land” and present contemporary indigenous perspectives on the song.
“Woody was considered a ‘radical patriot’ because of his music and political engagements,” Zoeller said. “He believed in the power of people organizing, in political processes, and freedom as a political and individual destiny.”
She added that Guthrie famously said, “Right wing. Left wing. Chicken wing,” but was deeply invested in the power of participatory democracy.
Zoeller will be joined remotely by two additional members of the Woody Guthrie Teaching Collective: Court Carney, history professor at Stephen F. Austin State University, and Gustavus Stadler, English professor at Haverford College.
The event features local musician Dan Fleming who will perform Guthrie’s music, as well as traditional folk and bluegrass songs.
Voter registration will be available at the Landing in the Columbus Learning Center from noon until 3 p.m. on Sept. 19.
Constitution Day is an American federal observance recognizing the adoption of the United States Constitution and those who have become U.S. citizens. It’s been celebrated annually at the Columbus campus for nearly 20 years.
Students named to President’s list
Southern New Hampshire University
North Vernon: Kasey Zarate Aguilar
Nashville: Christopher Riehl
Brownstown: Charles Beavers
Seymour: Abigail Hatfield
IU conducts Alzheimer research
INDIANAPOLIS—A groundbreaking study led by experts from Indiana University School of Medicine has shed new light on the genetic underpinnings of Alzheimer’s disease. The team’s research, rooted in human genetics studies, has unearthed a critical mutation within a key gene operating in the brain’s immune cells, potentially elevating the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
The research team included several IU investigators within Stark Neurosciences Research Institute—Gary Landreth, PhD, the Martin Professor of Alzheimer’s Research; Bruce Lamb, PhD, executive director of Stark Neuroscience Research Institute; Stephanie Bissel, PhD, assistant professor of genetics; Kwangsik Nho, PhD, associate professor of radiology and imaging sciences; and Adrian Oblak, PhD, assistant professor of radiology and imaging sciences. Their research was recently published in the journal Immunity.
Andy Tsai, PhD, a graduate of the Medical Neurosciences Graduate Program, was the driving force behind the research, encompassing his PhD thesis. Tsai, now a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University Medical School, has significantly contributed to unraveling the mysteries of Alzheimer’s disease.
The focal point of the investigation revolved around the phospholipase C gamma 2 (PLCG2) gene, intricately entwined within microglia—central to the brain’s immune response. This genetic anomaly, discovered through analysis of the gene’s biological workings, showcased the impact of specific rare variants. The study found that the M28L variant heightened the susceptibility to Alzheimer’s disease, whereas the P522R variant exhibited a risk-reducing effect.
Innovative mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease developed by the NIH-funded MODEL-AD Center allowed researchers to substantiate their findings. Immune cells harboring risk-reducing gene variants demonstrated a reduction in amyloid plaques, while those carrying the risk-elevating variants exhibited a surge in plaque accumulation. The study unveiled specific gene clusters orchestrating these alterations in immune cell behavior within microglia.
Microglia, often regarded as the brain’s first line of defense against infections, toxins and damage, has garnered attention for its significant role in influencing disease susceptibility.
“The microglial response affects neurons which then affects the capacity to learn and form new memories,” Landreth said.
Extensive collaboration within Stark Neurosciences Research Institute enabled a comprehensive evaluation of the gene’s implications. This included a comparison between preclinical data from animal models and real-world human data on Alzheimer’s disease.
