Three biology students held a symposium to present their research on causes of preterm birth, the mechanism itself and treatment options earlier this month.

Bao-Tran Nguyen, John Schwabe and Siobhan Donnelly presented their theses and will graduate and pass on their part of the research this May.

"We're going to have students working on this for years," Schwabe said. "It's great to be a part of research with this magnitude and breadth, especially as an undergraduate."

A total of ten students are currently working on the project with Chishimba Mowa, an associate professor in the department of biology.

Nguyen said Mowa's lab is one of the few looking specifically at cervical remodeling to understand why preterm births occur.

"Sometimes it's frustrating because there's not a lot of previous studies, so we have to forage our own way and invent the wheel," Nguyen said.

This type of research is important because preterm birth is the leading cause of newborn death, Nguyen said.

Nguyen, Schwabe and Donnelly plan to publish their findings, Schwabe said.

"We're going to be the first people to publish this kind of study on this tissue," Schwabe said. "We've identified proteins previously unstudied in the cervix that may play a pivotal role in controlling natural birth."

Other students working on this research project are looking into herbs like Echinacea as a treatment option for preterm birth, Donnelly said.

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Biology students contribute to science community, preterm birth research