2024-2025
Aitana Estefania Allen-Perez 2024-2025 Major: Physiology Faculty Mentor: Lindsay De Biase Faculty Mentor Department: Physiology Project: The Effect of Reward-Seeking Behavior on Microglial-ECM Remodeling |
Shubhreet Singh Bhullar 2024-2025 Major: Pre-Psychobiology Faculty Mentor: Reshma Biniwale Faculty Mentor Department: Cardiac Surgery Project: Intraoperative Ventilation on Cardiopulmonary Bypass: A Lung Protective Strategy |
Siddharth Bhaven Bid 2024-2025 Major: Physics Faculty Mentor: David Leibrandt Faculty Mentor Department: Physics and Astronomy Project: Harder Better Faster Stronger Heating: In Vacuum Sub-Second Atomic Oven |
Priscilla Boo 2024-2025 Major: Materials Engineering Faculty Mentor: Yifang Zhu Faculty Mentor Department: Public Health - Environmental Health Science Project: Characterization of Metal Content in E-Cigarette Aerosol within an Artificial Lung Environment |
Chloe Anne Yaquiten Borja 2024-2025 Major: Physiological Science Faculty Mentor: Thomas Aguiar Vallim Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine - Cardio Project: AAV-CRISPR is an Effective Tool for Somatic Disruption of Bile Acid Genes in the Liver |
Shujun Cheng 2024-2025 Major: Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics Faculty Mentor: Anjie Zhen Faculty Mentor Department: School of Medicine, Department of Hematology/Oncology Project: Hematopoietic Stem Cell-based Chimeric Antigen Receptor Therapy Targeting Alzheimer’s Disease |
Sachita Chittal 2024-2025 Major: Neuroscience Faculty Mentor: Laura DeNardo Faculty Mentor Department: Physiology Project: Early Life Adversity Alters Microglial-Mediated Synaptic Pruning in the Nucleus Accumbens |
Samuel J Choi 2024-2025 Major: Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics Faculty Mentor: Peter Bradley Faculty Mentor Department: MIMG Project: Function and Interactions Mapping of Cytoskeletal IMC Proteins in Toxoplasma Gondii |
Ela Mikhal Dynner 2024-2025 Major: Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics Faculty Mentor: Kathrin Plath Faculty Mentor Department: Biological Chemistry Project: Role of LINE1 Transcription and Zinc Protein Clusters in X-Chromosome Inactivation Erosion in iPSCs |
Karrin Nikole Evans 2024-2025 Major: Neuroscience Faculty Mentor: Shulamite Abra Green Faculty Mentor Department: NPI - Brain Mapping Center Project: The Neural Effects of Verbal Language Ability on Reappraisal Success in ASD |
Qinyan Feng 2024-2025 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Timothy E O'Sullivan Faculty Mentor Department: MIMG Project: Serine is an Essential Amino Acid for Human NK Cell Function |
Samantha Sumi Frehner 2024-2025 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Stuart Conway Faculty Mentor Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry Project: Development of Indolequinone-Based Fluorescent Probes and Prodrugs to Image and Target Cancer |
Brianna Tatevik Phoenix Gaughan 2024-2025 Major: Chemical Engineering Faculty Mentor: Yen-Chih (Neil) Lin Faculty Mentor Department: MAE Project: Exploring Epithelial Cross-Talk in Early Prostate Tumor Development Using a 3D Organoid Model |
Sasha Alexandra Gladkikh 2024-2025 Major: Computational and Systems Biology Faculty Mentor: Aldons Lusis Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine - Cardio/Microbiology Project: Mechanism of Indole-3-Propionic Acid Protection in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms |
Victoria Ji Gong 2024-2025 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Aaron Meyer Faculty Mentor Department: Bioengineering Project: Finding Determinants of Cetuximab-Mediated Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity in Lung Cancer |
Julia Yi-Lin Gonzalez 2024-2025 Major: Neuroscience Faculty Mentor: Melissa Malvaez Faculty Mentor Department: Psychology Project: Cell-Type-Specific Contributions of Striatal Projection Neurons to Behavioral Strategy Learning |
Jennifer Gonzalez-Diaz 2024-2025 Major: Environmental Science Faculty Mentor: Sanjay Mohanty Faculty Mentor Department: Civil & Environmental Engineer Project: PDADMAC Application Strategies to Improve PFAS Removal in Stormwater Biofilters |
Travis Ha 2024-2025 Major: Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Mentor: Subramanian Iyer Faculty Mentor Department: Materials Science and Engineering Project: AI Based Maskless Patterning for Teru |
Melody Clara Jiang 2024-2025 Major: Physiological Science Faculty Mentor: David A Nathanson Faculty Mentor Department: Molecular & Medical Pharmacology Project: Discovering Signaling Components of Brain-Dependent Lineage Plasticity and Drug Resistance in GBM |
Kairi Euna Kim 2024-2025 Major: Pre-Psychology Faculty Mentor: Catherine M Sandhoffer Faculty Mentor Department: Psychology Project: Impact of Context upon Preschool Language Acquisition in Multilingual versus Monolingual Learners |
Bethany Ye-Rim Kim 2024-2025 Major: Pre-computational and Systems Biology Faculty Mentor: Huiying Li Faculty Mentor Department: Molecular & Medical Pharmacology/Crump Inst Project: Skin Microbiome Analysis of Dermatomyositis Patients |
Aidan An Le 2024-2025 Major: Neuroscience Faculty Mentor: Liying Zhang Faculty Mentor Department: Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Project: Evaluating Biomarker Efficacy for Ovarian Cancer Diagnostics: ELISA Protocols for Improved Detection |
Kyla Helena Letko 2024-2025 Major: Physics Faculty Mentor: David Leibrandt Faculty Mentor Department: Physics & Astronomy Project: Setup and Testing of Integrated Photonics for Ion Trapping |
Javier Jesus Martinez 2024-2025 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Andrew Goldstein Faculty Mentor Department: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Project: Perilipins in Prostate Cancer Cells Lines and their Role in Lipid Metabolism and AR Signaling |
Samantha Anne Melendrez 2024-2025 Major: Biology Faculty Mentor: Diana Marquez-Garban Faculty Mentor Department: Department of Medicine Project: Novel Therapeutic Strategy to Treat Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma by Combining CDK4/6 Inhibitors with Biguanides" |
Mrinalini Mishra 2024-2025 Major: Neuroscience Faculty Mentor: Rajarshi Mazumder Faculty Mentor Department: Department of Neurology Project: Perfusion-Diffusion Mismatch's Role in Predicting Post-Stroke Epilepsy in Acute Ischemic Patients |
Jaden Nguyen-Kha Nguyen 2024-2025 Major: Biology Faculty Mentor: Melissa Lechner Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine Project: Sensitizing ICI-Resistant Papillary Thyroid Cancer to Checkpoint Inhibitors |
Darcy Niu 2024-2025 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Lili Yang Faculty Mentor Department: MIMG Project: Targeting Endometrial Cancer Using Off-the-Shelf Stem Cell-Engineered CAR-NKT Cells |
Leia Florence Norton 2024-2025 Major: Pre-Computational and Systems Biology Faculty Mentor: Kristen Reider Faculty Mentor Department: Orthopedic Surgery Project: Identifying Differential Gene Expression and Muscle Composition of Cerebral Palsy through sN-RNAseq |
Charlotte Grace Nyland 2024-2025 Major: Human Biology and Society (BS) Faculty Mentor: Keriann Marie Backus Faculty Mentor Department: Biological Chemistry Project: Inducible MECOM, MLLT3, MYCT1 Expression for Gene-Specific Immunopeptidomics in inv3 Leukemogenesis |
Christopher Santiago Garcia 2024-2025 Major: Materials Engineering Faculty Mentor: Qibing Pei Faculty Mentor Department: Materials Science and Engineering Project: Wrinkle-Based Shape Memory Polymers for an Adhesive Gripper in Pick-and-Release Applications |
Vikram Senthilkumar 2024-2025 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Peter Bradley Faculty Mentor Department: MIMG Project: Silencing Transcription Factors in N. caninum Aids Sexual Cycle Differentiation and Reveals Merogony |
Alison Shamoony 2024-2025 Major: Neuroscience Faculty Mentor: Kate Wassum Faculty Mentor Department: Psychology Project: The Role of Amygdala Dopamine in Action-Outcome Learning for Adaptive Decision Making |
Katie Yishin Shi 2024-2025 Major: Physiological Science Faculty Mentor: Yen-Chih (Neil) Lin Faculty Mentor Department: MAE Project: Overcoming Drug Resistance in Advanced Prostate Cancer by Targeting the NF-κB Pathway |
Aila Kade Shibao 2024-2025 Major: Chemistry Faculty Mentor: Chong Liu Faculty Mentor Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry Project: Metabolic Flux Analysis of X. autotrophicus under Electrochemical Growth Conditions |
Chloe Zee Sy-Perez 2024-2025 Major: Neuroscience Faculty Mentor: Catherine Marie Cahill Faculty Mentor Department: Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences Project: The Impact of Low-Dose Naltrexone on Mice Who Have Experienced a Traumatic Stressor |
Kirsten Takeshima 2024-2025 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Stanley T. Carmichael Faculty Mentor Department: Neurology Project: Characterization of Astrocyte Infiltration and Proliferation in Biomaterials Following Stroke |
Lavie Le Tran 2024-2025 Major: Physiological Science Faculty Mentor: James G. Tidball Faculty Mentor Department: Integrative Biology and Physiology Project: The Role of Klotho on MyoD Expression and Myogenesis in Aged Mice |
Bomin Wei 2024-2025 Major: Computer Science Faculty Mentor: Yuan Tian Faculty Mentor Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science Project: Distinguish Large Language Models using Orthogonal Hidden Layer Projection |
Iris Yang 2024-2025 Major: Human Biology and Society (BS) Faculty Mentor: Pamela J Yeh Faculty Mentor Department: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Project: The Impact of Urbanization on the Microbiome of Dark-Eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis) |
Star Yu 2024-2025 Major: Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics Faculty Mentor: Hong Zhou Faculty Mentor Department: MIMG Project: RNA-Protein Complex Model Building from a Cryo-EM Map using CryoID |
Dena Zamani 2024-2025 Major: Physiological Science Faculty Mentor: Katsushi Arisaka Faculty Mentor Department: Physics & Astronomy Project: Mapping Neuronal Activity Patterns in Drosophila Larvae |
Jessica Zhao 2024-2025 Major: Cognitive Science Faculty Mentor: Matthew Lieberman Faculty Mentor Department: Psychology Project: Communication and Loneliness: Real-Time fNIRS Study of Interactions with Humans vs. AI |
2023-2024
Sachi Bopardikar 2023-2024 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Andrew Goldstein Faculty Mentor Department: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology (UCLA College) Project: Modeling Hypoxia in Tumor Evolution via Genetically Defined, Heterogenous, Human Prostate Organoids |
Jackie Caplan 2023-2024 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Christopher Evans Faculty Mentor Department: Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences (David Geffen School of Medicine) Project: GTPγS Proximity Ligation Assay for Detecting G-Protein Activation |
Nathan Chu 2023-2024 Major: Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics Faculty Mentor: Dr.Yirong Peng Faculty Mentor Department: Ophthalmology (David Geffen School of Medicine) Project: Developing new molecular tools to investigate the genetic program mediating the foveal development |
Christina Deng 2023-2024 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Rachelle Crosbie Faculty Mentor Department: Integrative Biology and Physiology Project: The role of YAP in macrophage-mediated cytotoxicity in Duchenne muscular dystrophy |
Arpa Dilanchian 2023-2024 Major: Psychobiology Faculty Mentor: Faculty Mentor Department: Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences (David Geffen School of Medicine) Project: Effects of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Sensory Processing in Adults with ASD |
Yuelai Feng 2023-2024 Major: Computational and Systems Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr.Mayank Mehta Faculty Mentor Department: Physics & Astronomy (UCLA College) Project: Multi-sensory Mechanisms of Hippocampal Spatial Selectivity |
Angel Fuentes 2023-2024 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Scott Kitchen Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine, Department of (David Geffen School of Medicine) Project: Anti-HIV CAR-MQ and CAR-NK cells provide synergistic support to CAR-T cell cytotoxicity function. |
Sofia Garza 2023-2024 Major: Human Biology and Society (BS) Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sanaz Memarzadeh Faculty Mentor Department: Obstetrics and Gynecology (David Geffen School of Medicine) Project: Investigating the Tumor and Immune Landscape of Carcinosarcomas |
Arya Gharib 2023-2024 Major: Computer Science Faculty Mentor: Dr.Alexander Hoffmann Faculty Mentor Department: Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics (UCLA College/David Geffen School of Medicine) Project: Using Convolutional Neural Networks for B-Cell Image Analysis |
Mia Hansen 2023-2024 Major: Physiological Science Faculty Mentor: Dr. Stephanie Correa Faculty Mentor Department: Integrative Biology and Physiology (UCLA College) Project: Hypothalamic Estrogen Receptor Gene Expression Across Pregnancy |
Lydia Huang 2023-2024 Major: Electrical Engineering Faculty Mentor: Dr. Puneet Gupta Faculty Mentor Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering (Samueli School of Engineering) Project: Enhancing Matrix Dot Product Efficiency through Bit Shrinkage Circuit Optimization |
Elliot Kang 2023-2024 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lili Yang Faculty Mentor Department: Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics (UCLA College/David Geffen School of Medicine) Project: Allogeneic HSC-iNKT Cell Therapy to Deplete Tumor-Associated Macrophages In Vivo |
Lauren Kim 2023-2024 Major: Psychology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nicole Petersen Faculty Mentor Department: Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences (David Geffen School of Medicine) Project: Neural Circuitry of Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists |
Zoe Latham 2023-2024 Major: Bioengineering Faculty Mentor: Dr. Yen-Chih Lin Faculty Mentor Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (Samueli School of Engineering) Project: Understanding How Geometric Constraint Induces Genomic Changes During Cell Crowding |
Courtney Machler 2023-2024 Major: Neuroscience Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kenneth Subotnik Faculty Mentor Department: Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences (David Geffen School of Medicine) Project: Cardiorespiratory fitness as a predictor of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in schizophrenia |
Albert Macias 2023-2024 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Anthony Covarrubias Faculty Mentor Department: Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics (UCLA College/David Geffen School of Medicine) Project: Unraveling the link between NAD immunometabolism and senescence |
Syon Mansur 2023-2024 Major: Neuroscience Faculty Mentor: Dr. Andrew Wikenheiser Faculty Mentor Department: Psychology Project: The Role of Methamphetamine in the Presence and Activity of Hippocampal Place Fields |
Sophia Joy Ong 2023-2024 Major: Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics Faculty Mentor: Dr. Yvonne Chen Faculty Mentor Department: Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics (UCLA College/David Geffen School of Medicine) Project: Constructing VEGF-A and TGF-β Dual-Neutralizing IL-13Rα2 CAR-T Cells |
Tasnia Rasul 2023-2024 Major: Human Biology and Society (BS) Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jesse Zamudio Faculty Mentor Department: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology (UCLA College) Project: Elucidating the roles of posttranslational phosphorylation on RNAi effector Argonaute proteins |
Joanne Sarsam 2023-2024 Major: Precomputational and Systems Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Yalda Afshar Faculty Mentor Department: Obstetrics and Gynecology (David Geffen School of Medicine) Project: A Novel Pipeline for 3D Modeling of Fetal Echocardiograms to Characterize Coarctation of the Aorta |
Iris Sloan 2023-2024 Major: Bioengineering Faculty Mentor: Dr. Yen-Chih Lin Faculty Mentor Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (Samueli School of Engineering) Project: Deciphering How Intracellular Strain Regulates Chromatin Organization |
Noosha Steward 2023-2024 Major: Bioengineering Faculty Mentor: Dr. Dino Di Carlo Faculty Mentor Department: Bioengineering (Samueli School of Engineering) Project: Isolating tumor-reactive cells from murine tumors using alternative combinatorial chemistry approach |
Elliana Tsang 2023-2024 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Zhefeng Guo Faculty Mentor Department: Neurology (David Geffen School of Medicine) Project: Structural Studies of Yeast Prion Mot3 using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy |
Anna Wei 2023-2024 Major: Pre Human Biology and Society Faculty Mentor: Dr. Hsian-Rong Tseng Faculty Mentor Department: Molecular & Medical Pharmacology (David Geffen School of Medicine) Project: Noninvasive Detection of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer by Purifying Tumor-derived EVs and CTCs |
Blake Williams 2023-2024 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Melissa Spencer Faculty Mentor Department: Neurology (David Geffen School of Medicine) Project: Understanding IgG-mediated internalization of AAV9 and pro-inflammatory signaling in macrophages |
Cara Yean 2023-2024 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Steven Dubinett Faculty Mentor Department: David Geffen School of Medicine Project: The Effect of Tumor Heterogeneity on Response to Immune Checkpoint Inhibition in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer |
2022-2023
Michelle Ai 2022-2023 Major: Chemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Guillaume Chanfreau Faculty Mentor Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry Project: Effect of Prp18p-related splicing factors on non-canonical splicing repression |
Kaitlyn Shen-Wen Ang 2022-2023 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Olujimi Ajijola Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine Project: Neuronal and glial structural remodeling after myocardial infarction in the murine stellate ganglion |
Enrico Ysmael Santiago Arambulo 2022-2023 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Carla Koehler Faculty Mentor Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry Project: Restoring Protein Localization in a Human Cell Model of Primary Hyperoxaluria Type 1 |
Aaliyah Nicole Balagtas 2022-2023 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. David Shackelford Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine - Pulmonary and Critical Care Project: Investigating mitochondrial remodeling as a mechanism of chemo-sensitization in lung cancer |
Rodrigo Baltazar-Nunez 2022-2023 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Thomas Vallim Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine Project: Analyzing the effects of BAAT, AKR1D1, and AKR1C14 deficiency on lipid and bile acid metabolism |
Noelia Barajas-Mendoza 2022-2023 Major: Physiological Science Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joseph Crompton Faculty Mentor Department: Surgery Project: Reprogramming of Sarcoma Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes to Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells |
Soulaimane Bentaleb 2022-2023 Major: Bioengineering Faculty Mentor: Dr. Wentai Liu Faculty Mentor Department: Bioengineering Project: Unsupervised Classification of Interictal iEEG Activity as Pathological or Physiological in Epilepsy Patients |
Sarah Mina Bialo 2022-2023 Major: Mechanical Engineering Faculty Mentor: Dr. Xiaochun Li Faculty Mentor Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Project: Developing Zinc Matrix Nanocomposites for Bioresorbable Stents (BRS) |
Caitlyn Jodie Brahim 2022-2023 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jonathan Jacobs Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine Project: Characterization of Stress Response in Mice Colonized with Stress Reactivity-Associated Microbiota |
Rebecca Anne Brown 2022-2023 Major: Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics Faculty Mentor: Dr. Koki Morizono Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine Project: B-cell receptor specificities of lentivirally transduced B-cells |
Noe Cazares Jr 2022-2023 Major: Neuroscience Faculty Mentor: Dr. William Zeiger Faculty Mentor Department: Neurology Project: A Novel Vibrotactile Whisker Discrimination Task to Investigate Functional Remapping After Stroke |
James Donald Chen 2022-2023 Major: Applied Mathematics Faculty Mentor: Dr. Aaron Palmer Faculty Mentor Department: Mathematics Project: Fictitious Gradient Descent |
Julia Chen 2022-2023 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Feng Guo Faculty Mentor Department: Biological Chemistry Project: Dual Luciferase Reporters for SARS-CoV-2 Inhibitory Oligonucleotides |
Reanne Joanna Coutinho 2022-2023 Major: Chemistry Faculty Mentor: Faculty Mentor Department: Dr. Alexander Spokoyny Project: Chemistry and Biochemistry |
Hy Ba Dao 2022-2023 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joseph Crompton Faculty Mentor Department: Surgery Project: Tissue regeneration with adipose derived stem cell in irradiated wounds of sarcoma |
Mattias Sebastian De Los Rios Rogers 2022-2023 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Thomas Graeber Faculty Mentor Department: Molecular and Medical Pharmacology Project: Effect of Aneuploidy on Oncogene Independence in Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer |
Emir Arda Deger 2022-2023 Major: Electrical Engineering Faculty Mentor: Dr. Aydogan Ozcan Faculty Mentor Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering Project: Training of Diffractive Optical Network Architectures |
Jeffrey Kenneth Doeve 2022-2023 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Roxana Radu Faculty Mentor Department: Ophthalmology Project: Lipid Droplet Accumulation in Stargardt RPE Models |
Rachel Dove 2022-2023 Major: Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics Faculty Mentor: Dr. Andrew Goldstein Faculty Mentor Department: Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology Project: Initiating oncogenesis in iPSC-derived prostate epithelium to assess tumor-immune cell interactions |
Zoe Fu-Chen 2022-2023 Major: Marine Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Morgan Tingley Faculty Mentor Department: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Project: Gender of Study Authors and Separation of Female and Male Bird Survival Rates |
Jackie Gallardo Beltran 2022-2023 Major: Psychology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Stephanie Correa and Dr. Ed van Veen Faculty Mentor Department: Integrative Biology and Physiology Project: The Role of ARC-Specific ERα expressing Kiss1 Neurons in Tamoxifen-induced Hot Flashes |
Spencer Stephen Gaut 2022-2023 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Owen Witte Faculty Mentor Department: Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics Project: Mitochondrial Energy Metabolism in Small Cell Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer |
Hugo Pierre Greenhill 2022-2023 Major: Neuroscience Faculty Mentor: Dr. Catherine Cahill Faculty Mentor Department: Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Project: The Contribution of Mu-Opioid Receptors in Noradrenergic Neurons to Opioid Reward and Withdrawal |
Lucy (Lucinda) Holden-Wingate 2022-2023 Major: Physiological Science Faculty Mentor: Dr. Laura Wilke Faculty Mentor Department: Physiology Project: Identification of Neuronal Ensembles Underlying Memory Retrieval and Maturation Across Development |
Kevin Seokwoo Hong 2022-2023 Major: Astrophysics Faculty Mentor: Dr. Michael Fitzgerald Faculty Mentor Department: Physics and Astronomy Project: Assessing Detectability of Exoplanets Using High Resolution Cross Correlation Spectroscopy |
Henry Hsieh 2022-2023 Major: Pre Psychobiology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lindsay De Biase Faculty Mentor Department: Physiology Project: Uncovering the mitochondria of microglia in Parkinson models |
Nicole Huang 2022-2023 Major: Human Biology and Society Faculty Mentor: Dr. Melissa Lechner Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine - Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism Project: CD8+ T Cell-mediated Antigen-specific Attack in Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-related Thyroiditis |
Ethan Hung 2022-2023 Major: Precomputational and Systems Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Aaron Meyer Faculty Mentor Department: Bioengineering Project: Monitoring and reactivating endogenous anti-tumor responses through cancer systems serology |
Naman Jain 2022-2023 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Steven Bensinger Faculty Mentor Department: Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics Project: The Effects of Statin Medication on T Lymphocyte Regulation |
Akash Jain 2022-2023 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nicolaos Palaskas Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine Project: An LC-MS method to quantify coenzyme Q10 and alpha-tocopherol in cancer cells |
Palak Jayesh Jariwala 2022-2023 Major: Chemistry-Material Science Faculty Mentor: Dr. Miguel Garcia-Garibay Faculty Mentor Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry Project: Observing a Solid-State 1,2-Methyl Migration Through Crystalline Photochemistry |
Alexandra Yang Jensen 2022-2023 Major: Bioengineering Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alice Soragni Faculty Mentor Department: Orthopedic Surgery Project: Investigation of hypoxic conditions on drug efficacy for tumor Organoids |
Catherine Suhyun Kang 2022-2023 Major: Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Yirong Peng Faculty Mentor Department: Ophthalmology Project: Delineating the Molecular Mechanism Underlying Retinal Circuit Formation |
Tyler Sangmin Kim 2022-2023 Major: Human Biology and Society Faculty Mentor: Dr. Diana Marquez-Garban Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine Project: |
Euibin Kim 2022-2023 Major: Computer Science; Physics and Astronomy Faculty Mentor: Dr. R. Michael Rich Faculty Mentor Department: Physics and Astronomy Project: Characterizing Populations of Lyman-alpha emitting Galaxies near Giant Lyman Alpha Nebulae |
Brianna Monique Kramer 2022-2023 Major: Environmental Science Faculty Mentor: Dr. Shaily Mahendra Faculty Mentor Department: Civil and Environmental Engineering Project: Biodegradation Kinetics of 1,1-Dichloroethane and 1,2-Dichloroethane by Pseudonocardia dioxanivorans |
Ryan Joseph Lamkin 2022-2023 Major: Chemistry-Material Science Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sarah Tolbert Faculty Mentor Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry Project: Synthesis of Nanostructured Li2FeS2 for High Energy Density Battery Materials |
Hillary Nguyen Le 2022-2023 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alice Soragni Faculty Mentor Department: Orthopedic Surgery Project: Investigation of p53 Aggregation in Sarcoma |
Mélia Leclercq 2022-2023 Major: Environmental Science Faculty Mentor: Dr. Shaily Mahendra Faculty Mentor Department: Civil and Environmental Engineering Project: Optimizing bacteria and algae ratios in a Combined Aerobic Membrane Bacterial Algal Reactor (CAMBAR) |
June Won Lee 2022-2023 Major: Psychobiology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Antoni Ribas Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine Project: Interferon Gamma and its Effects on the CHORDC1 Gene |
Yunqi Li 2022-2023 Major: Astrophysics Faculty Mentor: Dr. Tuan Do Faculty Mentor Department: Physics and Astronomy Project: Learning Galaxy Evolution with Generative Machine Learning Models |
Hannah Liu 2022-2023 Major: Chemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Justin Caram Faculty Mentor Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry Project: Change Point Analysis of Photoluminescence Blinking in Semiconductor Nanoplatelets |
Jianwen Lu 2022-2023 Major: Neuroscience Faculty Mentor: Dr. Benjamin Ellingson Faculty Mentor Department: Radiological Sciences Project: Contrast-Enhanced T1 Subtraction Maps for MRI of Brain Metastases Acquired at Half and Full Doses |
Juhi Mehta 2022-2023 Major: Bioengineering Faculty Mentor: Dr. Song Li Faculty Mentor Department: Bioengineering Project: Optoelectronic Biomaterials for Enhancement of Direct Cardiac Reprogramming via Photo-Stimulation |
Koray E Mentesoglu 2022-2023 Major: Electrical Engineering Faculty Mentor: Dr. Aydogan Ozcan Faculty Mentor Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering Project: Deep Learning Enabled Virtual Histological Staining |
Jonathan Theodore Moore 2022-2023 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Robert Prins Faculty Mentor Department: Neurosurgery Project: Investigating T-Cell Phenotypes in PD1 Blockade and Dendritic Cell Vaccination Treated Glioblastoma |
Leo Aiden Morag 2022-2023 Major: Chemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Paula Diaconescu Faculty Mentor Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry Project: Ethylene and Carbon Dioxide Coupling Utilizing Multimetallic, Redox-Active Catalysts |
Mursall Mostamand 2022-2023 Major: Neuroscience Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sharmila Venugopal Faculty Mentor Department: Integrative Biology and Physiology Project: Assessing Astrocyte Reactivity in Selectively Vulnerable MN as Marker for Neurodegeneration in ALS |
Christopher James Oh 2022-2023 Major: Pre Cognitive Science Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jocelyn Kim Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine Project: Engineering NK Cells with LVs Pseudotyped with Recombinant Baboon Retroviral Envelope Glycoprotein |
Sidharth Panda 2022-2023 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. William Zeiger Faculty Mentor Department: Neurology Project: Measuring Axon Survival and Outgrowth in the Peri-infarct Cortex After Administration of Ellipticine |
Jonathan Phan 2022-2023 Major: Bioengineering Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jeffrey J. Hsu Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine - Division of Cardiology Project: The Mechanistic Role of SARS-CoV-2 Viral Fragments in Endothelial Cells Inflammation |
Stuti Chirag Pradhan 2022-2023 Major: Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics Faculty Mentor: Dr. Yvonne Yu-Hsuan Chen Faculty Mentor Department: Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics Project: In Vivo and In Vitro Effects of Empagliflozin on Osteoblastic Differentiation |
Vikram Seenivasan 2022-2023 Major: Physics Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alvine Kamaha Faculty Mentor Department: Physics and Astronomy Project: Characterizing an Americium-Beryllium Neutron Source |
Cheyanne Shariat 2022-2023 Major: Physics Faculty Mentor: Dr. Smadar Naoz Faculty Mentor Department: Physics and Astronomy Project: A Comprehensive Investigation of Triple Stellar Evolution |
Neel Sharma 2022-2023 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Harley Kornblum Faculty Mentor Department: Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Project: Investigating the Role of Endocan in Conferring Radioresistance in Glioblastoma |
Mabel Song 2022-2023 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Robert Clubb Faculty Mentor Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry Project: Structural Characterization of Activated Sortase Enzyme Complexes in Corynebacteria diphtheriae |
Yang Sun 2022-2023 Major: Psychobiology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Shulamite Green Faculty Mentor Department: Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Project: Sex Differences in Thalamic GABA Levels in Autistic Youth and Associations with Autistic Traits |
Sohan Talluri 2022-2023 Major: Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics Faculty Mentor: Dr. Yvonne Yu-Hsuan Chen Faculty Mentor Department: Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics Project: Armoring CAR-T cells with DAMPs to Overcome Solid Tumor Antigen Heterogeneity |
Tiao Tan 2022-2023 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kathrin Plath Faculty Mentor Department: Biological Chemistry Project: Underpinning the molecular changes in X chromosome reactivation during iPSC primed to naïve reprogramming |
Julia Tang 2022-2023 Major: Human Biology and Society Faculty Mentor: Dr. Marcus Horwitz Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine Project: Designing a Mycobacterium tuberculosis Toxin-Antitoxin Kill Switch System for Vaccine Development |
Jordan Alexander Tatang 2022-2023 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Roxana Radu Faculty Mentor Department: Ophthalmology Project: Characterizing the Conditional Abca4 Knockout Mice: biochemical and morphological approaches |
Nicholas Kaiwen Tien 2022-2023 Major: Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Anjie Zhen Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine Project: The Effects of STING agonist on Improving Functions of CAR-T and CAR-Macrophages |
Gulesin Tunali 2022-2023 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Hilary Coller Faculty Mentor Department: Biological Chemistry Project: Investigating the role of bone marrow-derived immune cells in autophagy-dependent wound healing |
Shreya Vajragiri 2022-2023 Major: Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics Faculty Mentor: Dr. Yvonne Yu-Hsuan Chen Faculty Mentor Department: Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics Project: Optimizing IL-12 expression in CAR T cells with TGF-beta inducible response elements |
Shreya Vajragiri 2022-2023 Major: Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics Faculty Mentor: Dr. Yvonne Yu-Hsuan Chen Faculty Mentor Department: Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics Project: Optimizing IL-12 expression in CAR T cells with TGF-beta inducible response elements |
Faith Nicole Veenker 2022-2023 Major: Pre Psychobiology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Scott Wilke Faculty Mentor Department: Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences Project: The Role of the Anterior Cingulate-Dorsal Striatum Pathway in Effort-Based Decision-Making |
Jesus V Velazquez 2022-2023 Major: Pre Psychobiology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Dean Buonomano Faculty Mentor Department: Neurobiology Project: Differential Expression of Somatostatin and Parvalbumin Interneurons Across the Neocortical Hierarchy |
Gabby Vilchez 2022-2023 Major: Neuroscience Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kate Wassum Faculty Mentor Department: Psychology Project: The Role of Amygdala-Cortical Circuitry in Reward Memory and Decision Making |
Emma Grace Villinski 2022-2023 Major: Chemistry-Material Science Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sarah Tolbert Faculty Mentor Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry Project: Designing Silica-Cellulose Composite Aerogels for Efficient Passive Daytime Radiative Cooling |
Lucas Ross Willey 2022-2023 Major: Chemical Engineering Faculty Mentor: Dr. Samanvaya Srivastava Faculty Mentor Department: Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Project: Covalently Cross-Linked Polyelectrolyte Complexes |
Yuxuan Xia 2022-2023 Major: Precomputational and Systems Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Yin Tintut Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine Project: Effects of Exercise Intensity on Morphological Changes of Cardiovascular Calcification |
Priscilla Yang 2022-2023 Major: Bioengineering Faculty Mentor: Dr. Shaily Mahendra Faculty Mentor Department: Civil and Environmental Engineering Project: Characterizing the effects of varying growth conditions on fungal enzyme activities: implications for environmental cleanup |
Geon Yim 2022-2023 Major: Chemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Aydogan Ozcan Faculty Mentor Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering Project: Systemic validation of vertical flow assay for highly sensitive and reproducible assay development. |
Wenshu Zhang 2022-2023 Major: Computational and Systems Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Paul Boutros Faculty Mentor Department: Human Genetics Project: External Data Registration and Figure Generation Methods for Landscape Recharacterization of Sarcoma |
Xiangyin Zhao 2022-2023 Major: Chemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Timothy Deming Faculty Mentor Department: Bioengineering Project: Effect of Chain Length and Side-Chain Molecular Features on Coacervate Formation of Homopolypeptides |
Charlie Zhi-Lin Zheng 2022-2023 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Tzung Hsiai Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine Project: Role of Snail-Expressing Cardiomyocytes in Zebrafish Bulboventricular Valve Development |
Wilson Zheng 2022-2023 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Utpal Banerjee Faculty Mentor Department: Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology Project: Exploring the role of aldolase in a Drosophila tumor model |
Zikang Zhou 2022-2023 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Maureen Su Faculty Mentor Department: Pediatrics and Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecuar Genetics Project: Determining the role of epigenetic regulator UTX in the development of autoimmune CD8 T cells |
2021-2022
Mariana Arino 2021-2022 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Elaine Hsiao Faculty Mentor Department: Integrative Biology & Physiology Project: Determining the effect of lipid content in the clinical ketogenic diet on the human gut microbiome |
Aishwarya Atmakuri 2021-2022 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Andrew Goldstein Faculty Mentor Department: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Project: Effect of Metabolic Modulation on Lineage Identity and Response to Androgen Blockade in the Prostate |
Tiffany Ying Wen Chen 2021-2022 Major: Human Biology and Society Faculty Mentor: Dr. Scott Wilke Faculty Mentor Department: Psychiatry/Biobehavioral Science Project: Cost-Benefit Decision Making Through The Role of Medial Prefrontal Neurons |
Karen Dutko 2021-2022 Major: Environmental Science Faculty Mentor: Dr. Elsa Ordway Faculty Mentor Department: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Project: Analysis of Deforestation and Degradation in Southern Cameroon using Sentinel-1 and Landsat derived data products |
Aracely Garcia Romero 2021-2022 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Elissa Hallem Faculty Mentor Department: Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Project: Effect of Aging on Carbon Dioxide Sensing in C. elegans |
Daniel Gomez 2021-2022 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. William Edward Lowry Faculty Mentor Department: Molecular, Cell & Developmental Biology Project: Determining the Effects of Senescence Inhibition on Molecular Phenotypes in Trisomy 21 Neurons |
Madeline Harris 2021-2022 Major: Environmental Science Faculty Mentor: Dr. Peggy Fong Faculty Mentor Department: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Project: Examining the Influence of Herbivore Identity and Behavior on Reef Recovery in Moorea. |
Abraham Horrillo 2021-2022 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Hilary Coller Faculty Mentor Department: Biological Chemistry Project: Characterization of H4K20me3 Cell Cycle Regulation |
Shutong Hou 2021-2022 Major: Neuroscience Faculty Mentor: Dr. S. Thomas Carmichael Faculty Mentor Department: Neurology Project: Astrocytic structure across the lifespan of adult mice: morphology, tiling, and interaction with the vasculature |
Caroline Huynh 2021-2022 Major: Computational and Systems Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Xia Yang Faculty Mentor Department: Integrative Biology & Physiology Project: Trajectory Analysis of Endothelial Cells in the Pathogenesis of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension |
Christabelle Junaidi 2021-2022 Major: Psychobiology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Scott Wilke Faculty Mentor Department: Psychiatry/Biobehavioral Science Project: The Role of ACC-to-NAc Projecting Neurons in Deliberative, Effort-Based Decision Making |
Cathy Lu 2021-2022 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nasim Annabi Faculty Mentor Department: Chemical Engineering Project: Engineering a hydrogel that can be fabricated into structural constructs for surgical applications |
Tracie Luu 2021-2022 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. William Gelbart Faculty Mentor Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry Project: Characterization of the Delivery of Self-Amplifying MicroRNA |
Rachel Ma 2021-2022 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Steven Jonas Faculty Mentor Department: Pediatrics - Hematology/Oncology Project: OPTIMIZATION OF MECHANOPORATION WITH SLIPPERY LIQUID-INFUSED POROUS SURFACES |
Ethan Mccarthy 2021-2022 Major: Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Mentor: Dr. Maureen Su Faculty Mentor Department: Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Project: Identifying Novel Autoantibodies in Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy |
Nico Pedroncelli 2021-2022 Major: Bioengineering Faculty Mentor: Dr. Song Li Faculty Mentor Department: Bioengineering Project: Optimizing Synthetic Notch (synNotch) Activation with Mechanically-Tunable Alginate Hydrogels |
Kristin Jean Pischel 2021-2022 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Michael Teitell Faculty Mentor Department: Pathology Project: Describing the impact of mitochondrial mutations in B16 and 4T1 cells with a constant nuclear genome |
Alex Qi 2021-2022 Major: Neuroscience Faculty Mentor: Dr. Scott Wilke Faculty Mentor Department: Psychiatry/Biobehavioral Science Project: The Role of ACC to Anterior Insula Projections in Cost-Benefit Decision Making |
Jeff (Songrong) Qu 2021-2022 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jose Rodriguez Faculty Mentor Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry Project: Understanding and Manipulation of Symmetry in the Amyloid State |
Snehin Pramathan Rajkumar 2021-2022 Major: Physiological Science Faculty Mentor: Dr. Scott Kitchen Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine - Hematology-Oncology Project: Efficacy of dendritic cell vaccine with GPI anchor coupled with CAR-T therapy for HIV-1 infection |
Sophia Roberts 2021-2022 Major: Environmental Science Faculty Mentor: Dr. Elsa Ordway Faculty Mentor Department: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Project: Understanding Tree Phenology in the Congo Basin Rainforest |
Leah Shamel 2021-2022 Major: Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Leonid Kruglyak Faculty Mentor Department: Human Genetics Project: Applying Yeast Genetics to Understand How Natural Variation Impacts Conserved Oncogenic Fitness |
Jamilla Situ 2021-2022 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jonathan Jacobs Faculty Mentor Department: Medicine - Gastroenterology Project: A Pleiotropic Variant in SLC39A8 Amplifies Schizophrenia Severity in DiGeorge Syndrome Mouse Model |
Layal Suboh 2021-2022 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Amy Rowat Faculty Mentor Department: Integrative Biology & Physiology Project: Understanding the Role of Mechanosensitive Genes in Cancer Cells |
Rohan Tonk 2021-2022 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lachezar Nikolov Faculty Mentor Department: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Project: Characterizing Genetic Factors of Lignin Organization in Nectaries in Arabidopsis thaliana |
Robert Keith Tran 2021-2022 Major: Psychobiology Faculty Mentor: Dr. William Speier Faculty Mentor Department: Bioengineering Project: Applying Deep Learning to Decode Speech from Neural Signals |
Manu Vohra 2021-2022 Major: Physiological Science Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jason Hinman Faculty Mentor Department: Neurology Project: Novel Inhibitors for Mark4 with Therapeutic Applications for Alzheimer’s Disease |
Lauren Q Vuong 2021-2022 Major: Biochemistry Faculty Mentor: Dr. Paul Weiss Faculty Mentor Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry Project: Studying Spin-dependent Electron Transport Through Chiral Molecules on Ferromagnetic Substrates by Spin-dependent Electrochemistry |
Laura Walter-McNeill 2021-2022 Major: Psychobiology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Leonid Kruglyak Faculty Mentor Department: Human Genetics Project: Characterization of a Maternal-Effect Selfish Genetic Element in C. elegans |
Ruixiao Wang 2021-2022 Major: Mathematics of Computation Faculty Mentor: Dr. Mason Porter Faculty Mentor Department: Mathematics Project: Using Network Structures and Dynamical Systems to Model and Analyze Glass Ceilings and its Potential Interventions |
Anna Dong Wu 2021-2022 Major: Human Biology and Society Faculty Mentor: Dr. Laura Anne DeNardo Faculty Mentor Department: Physiology Project: The Role of the Retrosplenial Cortex in Fear Memory Maturation Across Development |
Kevin Xu 2021-2022 Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Guillaume Chanfreau Faculty Mentor Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry Project: Inactivation of the Rrp6 nuclear exosome and the Nonsense-mediated decay complex |