Rebecca Luchtel

Other News
News Release Index

Rebecca Luchtel is a senior in nutritional science from Okoboji, Iowa. Since transferring to Iowa State as a sophomore, she has participated in several research internships and also serves as a teaching assistant.

 

“The research opportunities are huge,” Luchtel said. “Iowa State does a really good job of offering a lot for undergraduates. I’ve taken every internship opportunity that’s been available to me.”

 

Luchtel is excited about the upcoming research presentation. “I just see it as a good opportunity to communicate my research to the public and a way to build communication skills.”

 

Luchtel and her faculty mentor, Kevin Schalinske, are examining the disease-fighting capacity of egg protein. “We’re looking at dietary egg-white protein as a treatment strategy to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD),” Luchtel said.

 

More specifically, Luchtel is analyzing the protein’s effects on biomarkers, which are substances or molecules that, at high levels, can lead to diseases such as CVD. “We actually found not only that the increase in biomarkers was prevented by egg-white protein, but … [also] saw how it was being done,” she said. “So we have a pretty good idea of what’s going on and why.”

 

Because her research has important implications, Luchtel has taken care to ensure that it will be understood by those to whom she is presenting. “The title has been revised three times,” she said, laughing. “It’s difficult to talk about [the project] in ways that the general public will understand. That’s probably one of my biggest challenges.”

 

Upon graduating in May, Luchtel will immediately begin her graduate work at Iowa State, which will allow her to continue her research. “For future studies, we will move from just egg-white protein to whole-egg protein,” Luchtel said. “We’re hopefully going to show that it is even more beneficial to consume the whole egg than just the egg white.”

 

In addition to a schedule that already includes graduate classes and her teaching assistantship, Luchtel will soon present her research at seminars in San Diego and Ames. "It keeps me pretty busy," she said. "I wouldn't know what to do with free time."