John Walent
  • Biology
  • Class of 2015
  • Shrewsbury, MA

Shrewsbury Native John Walent Named Stonehill SURE Scholar

2014 Apr 3

Shrewsbury native John Walent, a member of the 2015 at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass., will be one of 50 students at the College who will be conducting research with Stonehill faculty this summer through the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program.

Walent will be working with Associate Professor of Biology Gregory Maniero on a project titled "Stimulation of Xenopus CD4 Cells with Exogenous IL-16."

Globally, amphibian populations have declined over the past 40 years. The recession can be attributed to several factors, including environmental changes and pathogens.

Walent and one other student, both biology majors, will attempt to isolate T cells, detect CD4 mRNA and demonstrate the existence of a CD4-positive, CD8-negative T-cell subset. The group aspires to present their results at the Eastern New England Biological Conference and perhaps have their findings published in a peer-reviewed journal.

The scholars and their faculty mentors are the 19th group to work under the SURE Program, which provides students with an opportunity to perform significant, publishable research under the guidance of an experienced faculty researcher.

The research experience will help to provide Stonehill students with a competitive advantage in graduate and professional school applications and in post-college employment opportunities, as well as to provide assistance to faculty in research activities.

Stonehill is a selective Catholic college located on a beautiful 384-acre campus in Easton, Massachusetts. With a student-faculty ratio of 13:1, the College engages over 2,500 students in 80+ rigorous academic programs in the liberal arts, sciences, and pre-professional fields. The Stonehill community helps students to develop the knowledge, skills, and character to meet their professional goals and to live lives of purpose and integrity.