When most people look at dandelions, they see a nuisance—a weed that can easily take over the yard. When researchers at the University of Central Oklahoma look at dandelions, they see a potential cure for cancer.

This research began in 2019, when Melville Vaughan, Ph.D., professor of biology with UCO, and Christina Hendrickson, Ph.D., a former UCO professor, started exploring the effects of dandelion seed extract on cervical cancer cells compared to healthy cells. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 11,500 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. each year and approximately 4,000 women die of this cancer.

O ver the course of the research, UCO undergraduate and graduate students have had the opportunity to work side-by-side with the professors, including Brooke Stoutjesdyk, a UCO graduate student from Greenville, Michigan. She has been working on the project for more than two years and presented the team’s latest findings at the recent Oklahoma Research Day held on UCO’s campus.

Stoutjesdyk originally came to UCO for the graduate forensic science program. But when she spoke with Hendrickson about the study, she knew she wanted to pursue a new area of study.

For a while, Stoutjesdyk was the only graduate student on the team. This meant she got to be part of all aspects of the research as she helped to oversee the work of undergraduate students. As time went on, her focus on the project narrowed to picking a few specific genes that were affected by the treatment and describing what was happening on a more focused scale to get a better picture of why the cancerous cells were dying, which is what she presented at this year’s event.

“I love telling people what we do because it sounds crazy or sounds like we are just playing with flowers, but we are actually making strides in cancer with a weed.” Stoutjesdyk said.

Stoutjesdyk, who will graduate this May, has translated her work on cancer research at UCO into a position with Exact Sciences in Madison, Wisconsin, in their cancer lab, where she works with cancer patients to determine treatment.

“Dandelions grow in everyone’s yard. It’s been really fun to get to share that, and Oklahoma Research Day is a great way to get to do that in a bite-sized format,” Stoutjesdyk said.

“Getting the opportunity to present our work was really rewarding.”

For more information about the UCO Department of Biology, including research, visit www. uco.edu/cms/academics/ biology/.