Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Bonnie Brenseke

Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Bonnie Brenseke

In addition to serving as a Summer Scholars mentor, Dr. Bonnie Brenseke (illustration above) is a PI for the Collaborative Anatomy-Pathology (CAP) Project with Drs. Foster, Green, Mitchell, Newton, Proia, and Toler.

The CAP Project provides medical students a deeper understanding of anatomy, histology, pathology, and medicine via linking disease seen at gross and microscopic levels with clinical implications of the disease.

First year medical students document lesions found during gross anatomy dissection. Samples are collected and undergo routine histologic processing. The resulting glass slides are scanned to permit virtual microscopy. After extensive literature review, participating students construct scientific posters, under faculty guidance, for presentation at local symposia.

This project started in 2013, was a student initiative, generally involves 20 to 100 students each year, and the students complete the work on the project largely in the summertime between the first and second year of medical school.

Summer Scholars Faculty Mentor: Dr. Bonnie Brenseke, Associate Professor and Biomedical Chair of Pathology

Illustration: Amanda Dockery

Currently, she has project proposals submitted for:

Animal Model of Bipolar Disorder with Christopher Breivogel, Tara Adams, and Krisztian Toth; grant submitted to the Milken Institute, Baszucki Brain Research Fund, which would examine the underlying cause bipolar disorder.

Tracking Chagas disease in NC through a Sentinel Species with Sarah Hamer, Kathryn Purple, Andeliene Croce, and Grace Mathis, Which would create a multi-institutional collaborative to submit and assess samples of sentinel species (e.g., opossums and raccoons) to determine the incidence and prevalence of Chagas disease in North Carolina and surrounding states.