Claire Sawyer
Why do communities use traditional medicine? My research will investigate whether high rates of Traditional Medicine (TM) in Oceania, specifically Fiji, are due to lack of trust in modern healthcare or lack of education. Colonial and imperial histories have long contributed to hesitancy to receive healthcare, which I hypothesize catalyzes communities to shift to traditional healthcare as a reactionary measure. The study includes field research in Suva, Fiji, a postcolonial nation, where I’ll survey patients at a variety of STI Clinics and analyze their responses in order to provide a […]
Merut Shankar
1 in 36 children are born with autism (ASD), characterized by challenges in social communication, mental cognition, and behavioral aspects. ASD is recognized to have a neurodevelopmental cause, making it crucial to study during early fetal brain development. Early ASD development remains misunderstood due to lack of a standard model. A critical transient region of early brain development is the medial ganglionic eminence (MGE), which produces most cortical interneurons (INs) that refine circuitry. My research aims to develop MGE organoids modeling in-vivo IN development of ASD, with the goal of […]
Sanjana Shankar
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a debilitating disorder that can lead to difficulty thinking, while also disrupting an individual’s ability to carry out bodily functions. With no known cure, those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s live an average of 4-8 years after detection of the disease. A mutation in a gene known as APOE4 has been implicated as a high risk factor for AD. Specifically, this genotype leads to higher risk of AD in women who are carriers of the gene. However, the mechanisms involved in differences between male and female patients is […]
Xiaomei Song
Exploring Diabetes’ Impact: Social Media Analysis with NLP This SURF project investigates the emotional and socioeconomic burdens of diabetes by analyzing social media discourse. We leverage advanced NLP techniques to categorize sentiments and topics shared by individuals. By delving into positive, negative, and neutral expressions across platforms, we aim to illuminate the complex challenges of managing diabetes beyond clinical settings. This research will provide valuable insights for patient care, and public health policies, and bridge the gap between traditional research and real-life experiences.
Neeraja Sripada
Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) is the leading cause of bacterial sexually transmitted infections with over 131 million new cases occurring globally each year. This is due in part to unchecked transmission because ~50% of males and ~80% of females are asymptomatic and remain untreated. Recently, rectal Ct infections have been shown to be significantly more common than previously thought, especially among women. Little is known about rectal Ct infections in women and the immune responses to it that may drive or prevent infection. My project will therefore aim to elucidate the […]
Emma Teng
Melanoma is an impactful disease that causes the death of two people in the United States every hour. Often, cancerous mutations occur in genes crucial for development. During gastrulation, the process that forms the primitive gut, several movements resemble those of melanoma cells. One of these events is the formation of teardrop-shaped bottle cells and tissue ingression towards the anterior end of the embryo. The actin cytoskeleton is known to be responsible for shape change (Lee & Harland, 2006) and intracellular effectors allude to the mechanisms involved (Popov et at., […]
Kristie Moore
In 2010, brutal violence broke out in Southern Kyrgyzstan between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. Preceded by decades of mistrust and conflict, this incident is one of the many manifestations of exclusionary nationality policies, discrimination, and interethnic tensions in the region that continue to plague the region today. Through interviews with young people and peacebuilding organizations in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan–specifically in the cities of Bishkek, Osh, and Tashkent, my research seeks to understand perspectives on multiculturalism, diversity, and interethnic relations. It will specifically consider how young people make sense of government […]
Fiona R. Murphy
While many have been taught that the middle ages were sexually non-existent, or at least avoidant, that could not be further from the truth. In the Early Irish Sagas (c. 8th – 12th centuries) stories of sex, infidelity and more are rampant. These stories, all of which were recorded by monastically trained scribes, are an incredible trove of information on the Early Irish opinions toward sexuality. Yet, as the field has opened in terms of gender studies, it still shies away from sex and even more so from the study […]
Luc Nguyen
Transistors are the building blocks of modern technology. Layering additional materials on top can greatly change the characteristics of these devices, but it can be a difficult process. What if, instead, a molecule layer could be deposited instead, and manipulated into a desired state? This is possible by placing molecules on top of graphene and applying voltages to control them. However, this process is time consuming, and simulations are a necessary preliminary step in order to gain insight into the behavior of molecules. Previous simulations have shown promising results, but […]
Afton Okwu
Comedy, particularly live comedy, is one of America’s oldest entertainment forms, with Blackness a primary target. On the minstrel stage, race was put on display, with the comedic register a powerful tool in shaping the zeitgeist’s understanding of Blackness and the American racial hierarchy. Gender politics, too, by way of the mammy caricature, was confronted through minstrel drag. By the latter half of the 20th century and into the modern day, Black comedians like Flipp Wilson, Tyler Perry, Dave Chappelle, and Jerrod Carmicheal have taken the spotlight with the weight […]