Renato Guerrieri '15 spends summer researching, globe trotting and interning

anMyMy name is Renato Guerrieri and I am a rising Sophomore Pre-Med student majoring in both Biology and Classics. For the first ten weeks of summer, I will work full-time as a Research Assistant in Dr. Yana Reshetnyak’s Biophysics lab at The University of Rhode Island. The research projects in Dr. Reshetnyak’s lab focus on the uses of a peptide called pHLIP (pH Low Insertion Peptide), which has the ability of targeting various imaging agents to acidic tumors. My role in the lab specifically involves investigating the novel uses of gold and magnetic nanoparticles in their ability to accumulate in cancerous tissues when attached to pHLIP. By using pHLIP to enhance the specificity, concentration, and distribution of gold and magnetic nanoparticles in cancerous tissue, this technology may be applied to better tumor imaging and drug delivery in cancer treatments. After participating in these two exciting research projects in my home state, I will be traveling to Panama City, Panama for four weeks, supported by a Dean Rusk Travel Grant. In Panama, I will be working on a variety of HIV/AIDS projects set up by RCDP-International, the volunteer program that is organizing my experience. Some days will be spent as a Public Health intern at the office of Aid for AIDS, an international NGO. Others will be spent at the Children’s Hospital where I will help out in the clinic and pharmacy as well as lead programs that gather to empower youth and promote AIDS prevention.