Barrett Updegraff

1512 Forest Ave Apt. C101, Knoxville, TN 37916 Phone: 615-516-3022 E-Mail: bupdegra@utk.edu

October 31, 2011 Dear [Application Review Committee Member], I am an undergraduate student at the University of Tennessee majoring in Nutrition. In addition to basic and biochemical nutritional knowledge, I possess a wide-variety of hands-on experience in the field of biochemical research, knowledge on mass spectrometry analysis, and research data presentation. I am projected to graduate in May of 2012 from the department of Nutrition with a BSHHS. On top of the core course load required for the Nutrition majorincluding basic biochemistry, organic chemistry, introductory microbiology, and metabolic biochemistryI have taken on an addendum of courses that help me better prepare for graduate research in the field of biochemistry and molecular biology including basic genetics with a lab, advanced cell biology, and immunology. On the background of these courses, I have also maintained an unpaid internship since October of 2010 in a lab focused on Type 1 Diabetes pathology through cytokine-mediated inflammatory responses, select genes that are upregulated during the progression of the disease (iNOS, chemokine/chemokine ligands, prostaglandin-producing genes, and apoptotic initiating genes such as Fas and FasL), and various cellular responses to cytokine treatment. The lab is led by my faculty mentor, Dr. Jason Collier, in the department of Nutrition with help from postdoctoral fellow Dr. Susan Burke. Through this lab I have been taught and given responsibility of carrying out various experiments such as: PCR reactions, realtime PCRs, restriction digests, ligations, transformations, miniprepping of plasmid vectors, RNA isolation, cDNA synthesis, Southern blotting, and all associated data-collecting assays such as Luciferase assays and BCA assays. I have a relatively autonomous role in carrying out these experiments with little supervision. I have also been involved in experimental design, data analysis through Microsoft excel, figure-making, and presentation of collected data to my lab as well as to the Zhao lab led by Dr. Ling Zhao. Ive become accustomed to working efficiently on projects related to iNOS gene transcription and upregulation, prostaglandin upregulation of prostaglandin genes, and chemokine roles in type 1 diabetes progression. The primary mode of research collection used in the lab is through using plasmid vectors and adenoviral shuttle vector to elucidate various transcriptional impacts of select mutations of NF-kB pathway accessory proteins, JAK/STAT pathway accessory proteins, and promoter element mutations. If youre looking for an incoming student that has had adequate preparation in the field of biochemical and genomic research, I believe I am the right student for your program. My hands-on involvement and varied knowledge of biochemical components of cellular inflammatory responses, genomic mutation and transcriptional regulation, biological safety education, and numerous experimental techniques are well suited to the goals of research in your graduate program. I would appreciate the opportunity to discuss how my experience in biochemical research can help advance the research in your program. Thank you for your consideration of my application and I look forward to discussing my education and experience with you.

Sincerely, Barrett Updegraff