Amy Zhong
Neurodegenerative disorders, caused by abnormal death of neurons, manifest in incurable and debilitating conditions. Ataxia, the loss of muscle coordination of voluntary movements, is a hallmark symptom of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinsons. Various genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have pointed to Tox3s crucial role in neurodegenerative diseases, but current knowledge on its relationship with ataxia is limited. Tox3 is a transcriptional coactivator that confers protective anti-apoptotic effects in the brain, with the highest level of expression in cerebellar Purkinje cells. Our preliminary data show that mice with Tox3 deletion show […]
Anthony Principe-Contreras
My research focuses on Ocean Vuong’s 2019 novel “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.” Vuong incorporates the epistolary form–narrated by his protagonist, Little Dog, to his mother–to elucidate how Little Dog explores his identity in 21st-century New England as the son of a Vietnamese immigrant. My research will consider how Vuong’s novel integrates scholarship from post-colonial studies, queer and gender studies, and most notably, studies of the novel form. By examining the novel through this diversified lens, I will argue that its contents mimics the social conditions we see in America […]
Alma Rechav Ben Natan
Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women – as high as 25%, while ovarian cancer accounts for 2.5% of cancers in women. Women who carry BRCA1 or BRCA2 non-functional mutations are predisposed to early onset of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. There are many variants of uncertain significance (VUS) in the population, which are limiting the clinical utility of genetic information – they might not be sensitive to the current clinically used therapeutic drugs. PARP inhibition (PARPi) is currently the only therapeutic drug that is used for […]
Rahul Jain
Numerical linear algebra underlies much of the modern world. It is essential to a wide variety situations, and as such, it is of great interest to analyze and optimize the underlying algorithms. In recent years, there has been an increased interest in optimizing algorithms to reduce communication, which is frequently many orders of magnitude slower than performing calculations. The Hlder-Brascamp-Lieb inequality and the Red-Blue Pebbling Game are two powerful approaches to theoretical analysis of communication, and both are used to derive communication optimal lower bounds. Once these bounds have been […]
Julia Dunker
Novel traits (i.e. new traits or behaviors that allow organisms to perform a new function) have long fascinated biologists. Their evolutionary origins, however, are poorly understood and may involve changes in multiple behaviors and traits. The effects of these changes do not occur in a vacuum and may have downstream effects on other processessuch as the formation of reproductive barriers between groups. This research investigates the relationship between the evolution of novel traits and the formation of reproductive barriers using the scale-eating pupfish. Scale-eating is an example of a novel […]
Audrey Phan
Impulsivity as an individual behavioral trait is a hallmark of externalizing disorders including ADHD, oppositional defiant, and conduct disorders. Impulsive individuals are thought to lack cognitive control (i.e., the ability to behave according to ones goals), which has been found to operate via two distinct modes: reactive control (i.e., goal information is triggered by a stimulus) and proactive control (i.e., goal information is sustained over time). While many studies have indicated that dysfunction of the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) is implicated in poor cognitive control, the temporal dynamics of LPFC […]
Katherine Roger
My research aims to understand the impact of invasive plant species on multi-level ecological relationships i.e. how do (or dont) invasive plants change the relational landscape of a region? To address this question, Ill be looking at the tripartite relationships between 1) native and non-native plant species, 2) butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera), and 3) the microbiota that live within butterfly and moth guts. Each of these relationships has coevolved through time, and I am curious to see how changing species assemblages impact not just individuals, but the tightly woven networks […]
Hongli (Bob) Zhao
From modeling cardiovascular circulation, to designing power grids or complex financial derivative products, the study of how noise influences a probabilistic system’s state is vital for successful financial, biological and physical models. Uncertainty quantification aims to explore how uncertainty is propagated throughout computational models via constitutive laws of dynamics. Building upon previous literature, I start by focusing on coupled stochastic balance laws on each edge of a network, whose numerical characterizations of the solution can be achieved with the PDF method. On the other hand, the derivations are problem dependent […]
Maple Wang
Mussels have the ability to adhere to wet surfaces through the byssus, a collection of protein-based threads, that are formed by the mussels foot. My graduate student mentor and I will investigate the use of mussel-inspired adhesive moieties to enhance contact and retention of polymers on mucosal tissues. In particular, I plan to use our mucoadhesive drug-loaded particles to explore the new concept of drug-induced regenerative medicine, wherein adult mammals are able to regenerate tissues in a scarless manner. The resulting mucoadhesive polymers will be useful in the future for […]
Phoebe Gross
Habitat diversity in a watershed can support diverse biological communities, as well as promote diverse traits and behaviors within a population. This project will investigate if juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) alter their foraging behavior in different stream habitats, using underwater video footage. This work will be part of a larger study that aims to understand whether diverse physical habitats within Lagunitas Creek, Marin County give rise to trait diversity within an endangered coho salmon population.