MDH CUREs Community

MCC CUREs engage students in an authentic research experience integrated in a laboratory course. MDH CUREs are focused on the enzyme Malate Dehydrogenase, and can be taught from first year to senior year. MDH CUREs are able to be taught in either a full semester version or a modular format (5-6 weeks). MCC CUREs share the common key features of a CURE defined by CURENet. In addition, MCC CUREs share common elements of Research, allowing for pedagogical research efforts to determine key elements of research that contribute to desired student outcomes in a CURE.

Key Elements of a CURE (MCC PAGE)

CUREnet (What is a CURE)

Why MDH CUREs Community? The MCC supports faculty in bringing a high-impact practice to students. MCC members are part of a welcoming community of faculty all sharing and helping each other.

The MCC is organized into three regional Hubs to provide local mentoring and timely support. All faculty are welcomed - Members include faculty from community colleges, MSI, PUI, comprehensive and research-intensive institutions.

MDH CUREs dramatically increase the numbers of students from a broad range of backgrounds, who experience the benefits of CUREs in their undergraduate education.

Together, the community engages our students in protein and molecular life science based-CURES focused on malate dehydrogenase.

MDH The focal point of all science in the MCC centers around the study of a single enzyme, malate dehydrogenase (MDH).

MCC members have access to many wild-type and mutant MDH constructs. MDH is stable, inexpensive to assay, and is histidine-tagged for easy purification. MDH is involved in pathways already familiar to students studying metabolism. Mutation, expression, purification, and experimenting with MDH are routine for undergraduate labs from large universities to small less-resourced schools.

Using a single protein with many isoforms and mutants as a scientific focal point provides a shared experience for our research community. The common use of the various isoforms of MDH facilitates the incorporation of scientific collaborations between institutions.

These collaborations support sustainable and creative CURE research and increase student learning, retention, and ownership.