Alex Yang Lu
My research this summer focuses on battling Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), the most common and malignant type of brain tumor. Despite invasive surgical resection and pharmaceutical therapy, patients with GBM have a mean survival time of 12-15 months following diagnosis, making GBM among the most aggressive of human cancers. Tumors growth is dependent upon vascularization through the formation of new capillaries from pre-existing blood vessels, a process called angiogenesis. Numerous cytokines and growth factors have been shown to regulate angiogenesis while modulating cell invasion, growth and differentiation; however, these mechanisms remain […]
Elina Serrano
KCNK18 is a two-pore potassium channel that is hypothesized to play a key role in pain and touch. Mutations in the KCNK18 gene have been found in people suffering from familiar migraine. Furthermore, this channel is targeted by a variety of anesthetics as well as hydroxy–sanshool, the active ingredient in Szechuan peppercorn responsible for its tingling and numbing analgesic properties. Since the parts of the protein responsible for function and modulation of the channel have not been identified, the specific goal of my project is to create and screen a […]
Neha Chandra
The innate immune response is the cells first line of defense against viral infection. One of its functions is the production of cytokines, such as interferons (IFN), which are needed to recruit immune cells to the site of infection. In order to create an efficient immune response, IFN production is controlled by highly regulated signal transduction pathways. The E3 ubiqutin ligase protein, TRIM21, has been shown to down-regulate IFN production pathways by targeting the IFN regulatory factor, IRF7, for degradation. However, the factors and mechanism leading to the affinity of […]
Eric Lu
Many eye diseases, such as diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, and macular edema, are caused by the abnormal development of retinal vasculature. My project aims to better understand the signaling network that regulates this process by examining the function of two key molecules: Very LowDensity Lipoprotein Receptor (VLDLR) and Low Density Lipoprotein Related Protein 5 (LRP5). Previous studies have demonstrated that VLDLR promotes vessel growth while LRP5 inhibits it. Additional studies done by the Gong lab suggest that LRP5 plays a more dominant role in this process. In order to […]
Bhavi Vohra
I will use Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases (TALEN) -mediated mutagenesis to determine the function of the RNA-binding protein tra2b and its role in alternative splicing during Xenopus tropicalis development. TALENs or Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases, are artificial restriction enzymes that create double stranded breaks, inducing mutations in targeted loci. They can be engineered to target any DNA sequence and cause permanent changes in the genome. Alternative splicing and pre-mRNA processing is an important target for regulation of eukaryotic gene expression, which is what I am interested in studying.
Sarah Cohen
Climate change, whether one believes in it or not, is an undeniably large presence in discourses about environmentalism, policy, and morality. Though the consensus among scientists about the reality and anthropogenic origin of global warming is solid, the general public is much less convinced. I am therefore interested in examining how an individuals understanding of the mechanism of the greenhouse effect is related to their political attitudes about climate change. To study this association, I will be running a survey project in “America’s Finest City,” San Diego. Once the data […]
Halea Meese
My project will examine the effect of national health insurance on rates of mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS (MTCT) in Sub-Saharan Africa. I will compare five nations of the region that have implemented national health insurance and compare their rates of MTCT to a control group of another five that have not. I will utilize data from various sources to compile a large data set on each of the ten nations and thus control for the necessary variables so that the two groups of 5 may be compared and […]
Xinkang Wang
This project aims at providing constraints on the dark energy parameters through galaxy surveys. In theory, given the precise values of cosmological parameters, including the dark energy parameters (e.g., the density parameter ), we are able to determine the history and the ultimate fate of the universe.Therefore, to better understand the evolution of the universe and to improve current related theories in physics, we need to determine the values of dark energy parameters with higher precision to put in another way, we need to put further constraints on the parameters. […]
Hasan Dani
The immune system monitors the inner workings of all cells of the body in its search for abnormal cells, whether they be infected or otherwise transformed. Every cell displays its intracellular peptides on its surface, and specialized cells of the immune system called T cells examine these peptides. The repertoire of peptides presented on the surface is a representation of the state of the cell; an abnormal peptide repertoire indicates an abnormal cell. An important part of the processing pathway that peptides undergo before being presented is ERAAP, an enzyme […]
Vivek Musinipally
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States . It has long been known that improper cell division often leads to proliferation of tumors eventually resulting in cancer. Thus, studying the proteins involved in cell division is important to the process of eventually preventing and curing the malignancy. My project involves the characterization of a protein, CENP-F (mitosin), associated in the outer kinetochore of cells that is known to bind microtubules, an essential component that drives cell division. I aim to characterize the microtubule binding activity […]