Connor Ratycz
  • biology
  • Class of 2014
  • Westlake, OH

Connor Ratycz receives competitive national grant for summer research

2013 Jun 18

The American Physiological Society selected University of Dayton junior Connor Ratycz as one of its 2013 Undergraduate Research Fellows. Only 24 students nationwide are chosen for this highly competitive research program.

Ratycz, from Westlake, Ohio, will spend his summer working in the lab of University of Dayton biology professor Carissa Krane. Ratycz is a junior biology major at the University of Dayton who attended Benedictine High School (Cleveland).

In Krane's lab, Ratycz will study the blood of the Cope's gray treefrog, an animal with the rare ability to survive winter with more than 60 percent of its body frozen solid. In recent years, students in Krane's lab have identified a protein known as aquaglyceroporin HC-3 as playing a critical role in the ability of the frog to survive freezing and thawing. Sometime during the process of cold acclimation, this protein moves from the interior of the frog's cells to insert into the cell membrane, allowing water and glycerol (a cryoprotectant) to flow freely in and out of the cell.

Ratycz will continue the research of a recent University of Dayton graduate to investigate the chemical trigger -- believed to be epinephrine -- that moves HC-3 from inside the cell to the cell membrane. He will focus on identifying the individual steps in the process.

He plans to submit the findings of this research to a peer-reviewed journal in the fall and present the research at the Experimental Biology Meeting in San Diego in April 2014.

"This work is important because if we identify how the frog survives freezing, we may be able to extrapolate the process into human organs and extend the amount of time they can be preserved for transplantation," Ratycz said.

Each APS fellow receives a $4,000 stipend to cover living expenses during the 10-week fellowship. Fellows also will receive an additional $1,300 in travel funds to present their research at the Experimental Biology 2014 meeting in San Diego, which is expected to attract nearly 14,000 scientists.

The University of Dayton is a top-tier national, Catholic, research university and Ohio's largest private university. Founded by the Society of Mary (the Marianists), the University of Dayton educates students for excellence in scholarship and practical wisdom, grounded in faith and reason, to build community and partner for the common good.