Our Lady of Holy Cross College joins research group

Our Lady of Holy Cross College has been accepted as a partner institution in the Small World Initiative, an innovative research collaboration based at Yale University that focuses on addressing the diminishing supply of effective antibiotics.

“The purpose of the initiative is to use crowdsourcing as a means of extending antibiotic research,” said Lehman L. Ellis, Ph.D., chair and professor of the department of biology and physical sciences. “Crowdsourcing means that a variety of institutions will conduct exploratory research to find strains of micro­organisms that naturally produce antimicrobial activities.”

Ellis says Our Lady of Holy Cross College’s participation is a testament to the strength of its academic programs in the natural sciences.

“Most importantly, it gives our students unique opportunities to participate in authentic research that could clearly make a difference as part of their undergraduate curriculum,” he said. 

This approach allows a more diverse screening process in terms of environments sampled and range of microorganisms to be evaluated than could typically be accomplished by a single research group. The initiative calls on partner institutions to develop research curricula that serve as a platform from which to teach important biological concepts. Research will begin at OLHCC during the 2014-15 academic year. 

OLHCC offers a bachelor of science degree in biology, with alternative tracks to prepare students for graduate school, medical school, dentistry, pharmacy, optometry, physical therapy or veterinary programs. 

Our Lady of Holy Cross College, founded in 1916, is a fully accredited Catholic liberal arts college offering more than 50 undergraduate programs including nursing, education, counseling, biology and theology and graduate programs, including the first Ph.D. program in counseling.

It is a ministry of the Marianites of Holy Cross located at 4123 Woodland Drive, Algiers. Call 394-7744 or visit www.olhcc.edu.