Aug. 14 2009 | UAMS graduate student Shannon Rose said seeing her older brother living with autism made her want to learn more about the developmental disorder.

Rose, a doctoral student in the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences program of the UAMS Graduate School, hopes that understanding autism at a cellular level could lead to new treatments. She is studying the potential role of mitochondrial dysfunction in autism in the lab of Jill James, Ph.D., a professor of pediatrics in the UAMS College of Medicine.

Her work is focused on the pathophysiology of autism – the specific biological malfunctions that either cause autism or are a result of autism. Documenting those changes could lead to new ways to treat the disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior.

Rose said her brother has a more severe case of autism and does not speak.

"I’ve always wanted to get a glimpse of how he sees the world," said Rose, who would like her work to improve the lives of those living with autism and their families.

In her two years at UAMS, Rose has been an author on three autism studies. Most recently she was an author on the 2009 study, "Cellular and mitochondrial glutathione redox imbalance in lymphoblastoid cells derived from children with autism" that was published in the FASEB Journal.

The Searcy native was awarded the Dean's Distinguished Scholarship when she arrived at UAMS. She also is active in student activities outside the lab, serving on the Graduate Student Association as Associated Student Government (ASG) representative for 2008-09 and will serve in that role again for 2009-10 when she also will serve as ASG treasurer.

Rose, who earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) already had a strong research background before arriving at UAMS. She worked in the neuroscience lab during her undergraduate years at UCA, where she studied the lifelong behavioral effects of neonatal pain with and without anesthesia.

"Math and science have always been my favorite subjects throughout school," said Rose when asked what interested her in science. "My interest in scientific research actually stems from high school when I did my science fair project one summer in a lab at UAMS. It had a lasting impact."

Links on This Page

Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences program: http://www.uams.edu/ibs/

UAMS Graduate School: http://www.uams.edu/gradschool/

Autism: http://www.uamshealth.com/healthlibrary/default.aspx?ContentTypeID=90&ContentID=P02556