Doogie Kim
Plant diseases present a substantial threat to global agricultural production, impacting food security and economies. This research project aims to tackle this issue by developing genetically modified plants with enhanced disease resistance. Using synthetic biology principles, we will design immune receptor-based constructs that confer broad-spectrum resistance to various pathogens while maintaining healthy plant growth, offering an environmentally friendly, cost-effective solution that promises to boost agricultural resilience and productivity. During my summer research, I will focus on promoter engineering to create constructs for transgenic tomatoes and analyze the promoters using bioinformatics […]
Nyssa Alvarado
My summer research is a clinical study set to examine certain microbial and inflammatory biomarkers in the lungs of HIV-positive patients, particularly those prone to opportunistic pneumonia. Our work utilizes pulmonary function tests, blood samples, and bronchoscopy procedure findings to evaluate possible mechanisms that cause the development of severe symptoms such as airflow obstruction and oxygen diffusion abnormalities. Our research works toward the end goal of understanding how the development/progression of life threatening diseases like COPD, emphysema or chronic bronchitis occurs, and how to aid in preventing their development in […]
Catherine Flowers
The focus of the project is on the connections between Religion/Spirituality and Public Health, with the intention of improving relationships between these communities and improving how R/S factors are taught in public health graduate schools. My contribution to this work will consist of qualitative coding and analysis of the Key Informant Interviews that our project team has conducted throughout the past year with faith leaders, Professors in Public Health schools, and professionals in the Public Health workforce. These interviewees discuss their experiences collaborating with faith communities and Public Health Programs, […]
Caitlyn Wilt
This project is working to compare the policy approaches of Europe and the United States to meet the challenge of aging farmer populations through addressing high barriers to entry for young and socially disadvantaged farmers. We will be distributing a U.S.-focused policy brief based on interviews with government organizations, non-profits, and individual farmers about their perspectives and experiences with these issues, as well as begin writing our comparative analysis with Spain. Our ultimate goal is to develop a workshop that allows actors in both Spain and California to learn from […]
Rebecca Haile
My summer research project will involve data cleaning/visualizations for 2 new Public Health Informatics courses to present to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology including: number and demographics of underrepresented minority students; demographic changes over time; and visualizations for each type of data/demographic (race/ethnicity/age/gender/undergraduate vs graduate/URM vs. not URM). We will also interview a small subset of students and undertake qualitative data analysis to identify strategies to increase underrepresented students in these courses. I will complete related readings, informatics coursework, and prepare an abstract to submit […]