Smith Completes Internship in Clinical Laboratory Science

SALISBURY, MD---Salisbury resident Meghan S. Smith, a senior in Salisbury University’s Clinical Laboratory Science Program, completed an internship at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD, this summer.

During her internship, she successfully completed a research project and publicized her work, “Multiplex Bead Array Assays for Detection of Soluble Cytokines: Comparison of Sensitivity and Quantitative Values Among Kits from Multiple Manufacturers,” at an NIH poster session.

Smith studied the human immune reaction to toxins. Subjects were injected with a toxin and samples were taken at four intervals during a 24-hour period. In response to many challenges, the body produces minute amounts of chemicals called cytokines and chemokines.

Smith tested each sample four times for particular cytokines and chemokines, evaluating the products of four different manufacturers. This allowed her to obtain information about the immune response to certain toxins, as well as data on which manufacturer produces the optimal testing materials.

“I would not have been able to complete my experiment this summer at NIH, if not for the extensive and in-depth classes in the Clinical Lab Science Program,” Smith said. “I went into the lab this summer with an appreciation and the base knowledge for how all of the instruments work. So, after a brief orientation, I was able to work independently on my experiments and was able to instruct M.D.s and Ph.D.s on different laboratory procedures.

“Without the classes I have taken at SU, I would have had to spend months learning the process behind the instrumentation and would not have been able to carry out an experiment so readily.”

For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.