Recent Projects and Mentors
2023 Senior Honors Thesis Students
| Student | Mentor | Thesis Title |
|---|---|---|
| AbiChedid, Anicka | Dr. Catherine Freudenreich | Slx8 Facilitates Loading of Rad51 at CAG Repeats in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. |
| Assaad, Jonathan | Dr. Liron Bar-Peled | Investigating the Genetic Interactions of PAX8, a Lineage-Specific Transcription Factor in Ovarian Cancer. |
| Bidgood, Kate | Dr. Catherine Freudenreich | S. cerevisiae form micronuclei in G2/M checkpoint deficient cells in response to DNA damage caused by long CAG repeats. |
| Dackiw, Morgane | Dr. Zarin Machanda | Effect of Fruit Availability and Seasonality on Wild Chimpanzee (Pan Troglodytes Schweinfurthii) Space Use and Dispersion. |
| Do, Vicki | Dr. Mitch McVey | DNA Dynamics in Drosophila: Detecting Chromosomal Translocations Using High-Throughput Genome-Wide Translocation Sequencing. |
| Hakimjee, Sarrah | Dr. Sergei Mirkin | The Role of the Clamp Loader in Maintaining GAA Repeat Stability During Replication. |
| Harandi, Bijan | Dr. Samuel Kounaves | The Effects of Perchlorate on Chr20 Extremophile Bacteria Growth in Martian Simulant and Regolith Conditions. |
| Kritzer, Eli | Dr. Hisashi Umemori | Investigating how postnatal inactivation of Smad proteins in dopaminergic neurons and how neonatal nicotine exposure affects the proper functioning of midbrain dopaminergic neurons and their synaptic projections into the striatum. |
| Ling, Lauren | Dr. Howard Chen | Differential Impact of Cardioprotective Autophagy Modulation on Breast Cancer Therapy. |
| Malhotra, Riya | Dr. Catherine Freudenreich | Characterizing the Role of Irc20 in DNA Repair. |
| Markovits, Chloe | Dr. Elizabeth Crone | Roads are partial barriers to foraging solitary bees Agapostemon virescens in an urban environment. |
| Martinez, Ruben | Dr. Catherine Freudenreich | Determining When the Structure-Selective Endonuclease Mus81-Mms4 acts on FRA16D Flex1 (AT)34 to induce fragility in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. |
| Moore, Sydney | Victoria Brown | Immortalized fallopian tube secretory epithelial cells do not tolerate constitutive CCNE1 overexpression despite p53-compromise. |
| Rogers, Vaughn | Dr. Al Charest | A novel model to study EGFR in glioblastoma: EGFR-A289V transforms through hypersensitivity to ligand. |
| Rosen, Emma | Dr. Michael Romero | DNA Damage in Response to Resonance Photoperiods in House Sparrows (Passer Domesticus). |
| Slepoi, Leah | Dr. Catherine Freudenreich | Identification of Nucleases the Cleave at Sites of Transcription-Replication Conflicts at CAG Repeats. |
| Thomas, Mayura | Dr. Michael Levin | Elucidating the Effects of Neuromodulatory and Psychoactive Substances on Xenopus laevis Embryonic Development. |
| Wainapel, Samantha | Dr. Mimi Kao | The effect of bilateral lesions of a premotor nucleus on the ability of male zebra finches to flexibly recognize rhythmic patterns. |
| Wang, Evon | Dr. Iris Jaffe | Mechanisms by which BCR-ABL Kinase Inhibitors Impair Endothelial Cell Wound Healing and Induce Cell Death. |
| Wheeler, JJ | Dr. Benjamin Wolfe | Ecology and Evolution of the Pseudomonas GacS/GacA Two-Component Regulatory System in Cheese Rind Microbiomes. |
Spring 2023 Independent Research Students
| Student | Mentor | Thesis Title |
|---|---|---|
| Awais, Noha | Dr. Peter van Galen | Synergistic Targeting of Protein Translation in Acute Myeloid Leukemia |
| Boylan, Mark | Dr. Ben Wolfe | Characterizing microbial community composition in the phyllosphere of houseplants |
| Caile, Nolan | Dr. Catherine Freudenreich | Investigating Localization of Protein-Mediated Fork Collapse via Tus-Ter in S. cerevisiae |
| Chen, Aidan | Dr. Larry Feig | Investigating the Role of Nectin1 in the Intergenerational Transmission of Stress |
| Diab, Lindsay | Dr. Catherine Freudenreich | The Role of Mph1 in Bypassing Replication Stalls at Cruciform Structures formed by (AT)34 Repeats |
| Dooley, Karen | Dr. Elizabeth Crone | Examining the presence of a luxury effect in urban spaces through community gardens. |
| Eimbinder, Max | Jenn Khirallah | Determining the impact of gender for ABE8e base editing for 8 week old mice |
| Fragano, Angela | Dr. Sophia Shallhout | Radiomics Machine-Learning Prediction for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Survival |
| Friedman, Alex | Kate Sulka | Evaluating the effect of STING signaling on lung resident macrophage populations with age in mice |
| Gyurko, Rita | Dr. Mitch McVey | Identification of Mutations within PolH and CG7139 as Roleplayers for Translesion Synthesis |
| Kean, Catie | Elina Radchenko | Determining the genetic control of RS3 microsatellite recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae |
| Kusaku, Laura | Dr. Mitch McVey | Quantifying expression levels of inflammatory gene markers in flies treated with Parabacteroides Distasonis |
| Larsen, Izzy | Tong Xu | Investigating the immune mechanism of anaphylaxis in response to vaccination of mice with a dendritic cell vaccine |
| Lightfoot, Maya | Nicholas Woodward | Characterizing the Role of Helicase Q in Facilitating Alternative End-Joining Repair |
| May, Robert | Dr. Ben Wolfe | Characterizing Pseudomonas carnis mutations from experimental evolution with Hafnia alvei |
| McDermott, Robert | Dr. Kathryn Reynolds | FMR1 splicing - temporal dynamics |
| Montag, Suzune | Dr. Michael Levin | Investigating behavioral patterns in Xenopus laevis tadpoles |
| Morton-Alexander, Jade | Olivia Foster | Developing a Full Thickness Human Skin Cancer Model for Microneedle Chemotherapy Drug Delivery |
| Nagij, Jenna | Dr. Mitch McVey | Characterizing the Role of Polybromo in the DNA Damage Tolerance Pathway in a Rev1ΔCTD Background |
| Nguyen, Christina | Dr. Catherine Freudenreich | Investigation of CAG repeat stability and role of Leu2 correction mediation step during BIR in S. cerevisiae |
| Nguyen, Ly | Dr. Rakesh Ganji | p97 AAA-ATPase and UBXD8 complex mediates degradation of novel substrates |
| Paolone, Elias | Dr. Barry Trimmer | The Identification and Characterization of Manduca Sexta Peripheral Neurons in the presence of Nitric Oxide Donors |
| Raissi, Siavash | Dr. Peter Bullock | Designing and evaluating an anti-PD1 scFv-GFP fusion protein as a diagnostic reagent |
| Saint-Denis, Elisa | Dr. Jacob Dalton | Investigating the structure and function of prothoracicotropic hormone gene in Ostrinia nubilalis via CRISPR-Cas9 knockout |
| Schlumpf, Wanda | Dr. Barry Trimmer | Characterizing Nociception Genes in Manduca Sexta |
| Texeira, Carolina | Dr. Eric Tytell, Yordano Jimenez | Physical Properties and Work Loop Study of Red Muscle in Trout |
| Veliko-Shapko, Annushka | Dr. Barry Trimmer | The Brain is Necessary for Manduca sexta's Downregulation of Nociception |
| Wu, Jasmine | Dr. Devon Davidian | Identifying distally induced genes during regeneration in planarian D. japonica species |
| Xu, Shidong | Jerome L. Ackerman | Correlation of alveolar bone assessments provided by 1.5 T MRI with micro-CT and 14 T MRI |
| Zhao, Monali | Dr. Catherine Freudenreich | The Role of Rad5 in Bypassing Replication Stalls at Cruciform Structures formed by (AT)34 Repeats |
2022 Senior Honors Thesis Students
| Student | Mentor | Thesis Title |
|---|---|---|
| Chadraa, Michelle | Dr. Sergei Mirkin | Investigating the Instability of Expanded AAGGG repeats in CANVAS using Saccharomyces cerevisiae |
| Chandra, Lyra | Dr. Michael Levin | Anticipation and colony level behavior assays to understand collective intelligence in ants |
| Chung, Mia | Dr. Joshua Kritzer | Affinity Profiling a Library of Stapled-Peptide GABARAP Inhibitors |
| Dooley, Karen | Dr. Elizabeth Crone | The dynamics of monarch oviposition in urban environments |
| Fonticella, Jay Miguel | Dr. Kelly McLaughlin | Characterizing the morphological and molecular requirements necessary for craniofacial tissue remodeling in pre-metamorphic Xenopus laevis tadpoles |
| Kelleher, Brendan | Dr. Eric Tytell | Electrocardiograms and Metabolics: Using heart rate to assess metabolic rate changes in Lepomis macrochirus |
| Kerber, Hannah | Dr. Colin Orians | The Chemistry of Quality in Coffee: An Analysis of Volatile Compounds in Green and Roasted Coffees |
| Matthews, Eleanor | Dr. Zarin Machanda | Strategic aggression among male wild chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) |
| Pavuluri, Ananya | Dr. Michael Levin | Extraembryonic assistance and stress: computational and experimental investigations of new developmental mechanisms |
| Wang, Katherine | Dr. Elizabeth Byrnes | Early Life stress impacts reward learning and motivation for sucrose reward in a sex and age-specific manner |
| Xiang, Rachel | Iris Jaffe | Sex Differences in Mechanisms of Vascular Stiffness with Aging: A Potential Role for the Smooth Muscle Cell Mineralocorticoid Receptor |
| Zuckerman, Jake | Dr. Mitch McVey | Understanding Synthesis-Dependent Microhomology-Mediated End Joining Repair of DNA Double Strand Breaks |
Spring 2022 Independent Research Students
| Student | Mentor | Thesis Title |
|---|---|---|
| Sheila Chan | Dr. Philip Starks | Viability and cytocompatibility of chemically modified silk fibroin nanoparticles |
| Sydney Moore | Victoria Brown | Genetic Alterations Reveal Separate CDK2 Functional Pathways in CCNE1-amplified Ovarian Cancer |
| Luana Machado | Dr. Mitch McVey | The more we age, the more we inflame: Investigating the mechanisms through which Parabacteroides Distasonis promotes gut barrier integrity in D. melanogaster |
| Yannis Stratouilias | Dr. David Kaplan | Formation of nanoparticles with charged silk for electrostatic LBL deposition on individual cells and delivery of encapsulated drugs & growth factors |
| Sarrah Hakimjee | Dr. Sergei Mirkin | The Role of RFC1 protein in maintaining GAA repeat stability in Saccharomyces cerevisiae |
| Izzy Larsen | Shiv Pillai | Mouse Splenocyte Analysis after Vaccination with CD4 T Cell Specific LCMV Peptide: A Potential Model for Studying Germinal Center Loss in Severe COVID-19 |
| Jonathan Assaad | Dr. Liron Bar-Peled | Verification of 13-F10 as Inhibitor id SOX10 Activity in Melanoma |
| Katharine Bowers | Dr. Michael Levin | Investigation tadpole bullying behavior: Finding Patterns in collective of Xenopus Laevis embryos interacting with deformed conspecifics |
| Victoria Rose | Dr. David Kaplan | A Comparative Study of Mitochondrial Calcium Uniporter as a Potential Neuronal Death Pathway in 3D TBI Mouse and Human Models |
| Emma Rosen | Dr. Michael Romero | Effects of Chronic Stress on the Innate Immune System and Healing Capabilities in House Sparrows |
| Michelle Lu | Dr. Mitch McVey | Analyzing Role of PCNA Ubiquitination in DNA Damage Tolerance Through CRISPR-Cas9 Mutation of Drosophila melanogaster |
| JJ Wheeler | Dr. Benjamin Wolfe | Evolution and ecology of the gac two-component system of Pseudomonas fluorescens in cheese rind microbiomes |
| Ginga Sato | Vitaly Napadow | Pain-related facial expressions in fibromyalgia patients during fMRI scanning |
| James Graham | Larry Feig | Investigating the Role of Exosomes in Mediating Stress-Related Sperm miRNA Profiles and Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance |
| Harshannie Kundun | Dr. Mitch McVey | Investigation and Visualizing of Karyosomes in Rad51, SCAI and w118 Stocks of Drosophila melanogaster |
| Ayesha Lobo | Dr. Mirkin | The Role of dNTP Pool Compositions on (GAA)n Expansions in S. Cerevisiae |
| Leah Slepoi | Dr. Catherine Freudenreich | Identification of Nucleases that Cleaves Sites of DNA Damage Resulting from Transcription-Replication Conflicts |
| Ruben Martinez | Dr. Catherine Freudenreich | Mus81-Mms4 Structure Specific Endonuclease Cleaves Cruciform in the S-Phase in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae |
| Riya Malhotra | Dr. Catherine Freudenreich | Characterizing the Role of Irc20 in the context of Rad5 Family Members in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae |
| Maxwell Allison | Dr. Catherine Freudenreich | Examining APOBEC-Mediated Cag repeat fragility and instability in a S. cerevisiae model |
| Kate Bidgood | Dr. Catherine Freudenreich | S. cerevisiae form micronuclei in G2/M checkpoint deficient cells in response to DNA damage caused by long CAG repeats |
| Aaron Zou | Dr. Robert Blanton | The Effects of HnRNPL on Cardiac Development |
| Rebecca Donahue | Dr. David Kaplan | Characterizing a mucin-mimetic protein coating to support microbiome culture in in vitro intestinal models |
| Ming Gong | Dr. Eric Tytell | 3D tail Kinematics During Upward and Downward Swimming in Largemouth Bass (Micropterus Salmoides) |
| Chelsea Ty | Dr. Klaus Miczek | The Effects of Ethanol on Mice Decision Making: Male or Female Interaction |
| Nick DaRosa | Dr. Klaus Miczek | Identification of Babesia microti antigens for the development of a multiple-antigen diagnostic assay for babesiosis |
| Paolo Padova | Dr. Mitch McVey | Testing the Interaction between SCAI and HP1 in Drosophila melanogaster |
| Cesar Urzua | Dr. Jamie Maguire | Investigating the potential for prior litter damage to influence subsequent litter stress reactivity and BLA network function |
| Seyda Kilic | Dr. Joe Bonventre | Optimization of Approach to Generate Primitive Streak and Intermediate Mesoderm Kidney Progenitor Cells from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells |
| Lauren Ling | Howard Chen | Autophagy Modulation of Doxorubicin Treatment in Breast Cancer Cell Lines |
| AJ Lee | Dr. Amy Yee | Effect on WNT Signaling and Tumor Volume of Combinatorial Drug CHA 2 on Breast Cancer Tumors in Syngeneic Mouse Models |
| Alba Martín Tutor | Michael Malamy | MenA genes in Bacteroides |
| Mayura Thomas | Dr. Michael Levin | Exploring the role of neuropharmacological drugs in non-neural aspects of embryonic development of Xenopus laevis |
| Maha Shafiq | Dr. Jake Chen | Adiponectin mRNA Based Nano-Therapy for Treating Diabetic Osteoporosis (DO) |
| Makenzie Tomihiro | Dr. Zhigang He | Investigating the Distal Changes in Gene Expression of Relevant Injury Markers Following Spinal Cord Injury |
2021 Senior Honors Thesis Students
| Student | Mentor | Thesis Title |
|---|---|---|
| Baxter, Dana | Dr Eric Tytell | Internal vertebral morphology of bony fishes matches the mechanical demands of different environments. |
| Benites, Nina | Mitch McVey | SLX1 and REV1 Enhance D. melanogaster DNA Damage Tolerance |
| Blaise, Alyssa | Richard A. Young and Alessandra Dall’Agnese | Insulin Receptor Condensates are Altered in Insulin Resistance |
| Brush, Hanna | Elizabeth Crone | More than it racemes: understanding nectaring behavior and preference in Puget blue butterfly females. |
| Chakraborty, Anirban | Qiaobing Xu | Assessment of Antigen-LC3^T50A fusion protein for targeting of antigen to MHC Class I presentation via rerouting from autophagy to proteasome processing. |
| Chien, Melanie | Michael Levin and Douglas Blackiston | Migration of multiciliated cells throughout development using a mucociliary organoid system derived from Xenopus laevis ectodermal animal caps. |
| Ghobrial, Mina | David Kaplan | Development of Skeletal Muscle Tissues & Neuro-muscular Co-Cultures in Collagen Gel Structures. |
| Jillian Armenia | Sergei Mirkin | |
| Krishnamurthy, Manan | Dr. Mitch McVey | On the roles of Polq, Parp, and Rif1 in DNA Repair. |
| Larsen, Benjamin | Catherine Freudenreich | The Role of APOBECs in R-Loop Associated Chromosomal Fragility and Instability at CAG Repeats in S. cerevisiae. |
| Ling, Yingjie | Lin, Yu-Shan | Rational Design of Cyclic Peptide for Inhibiting Cancer Proliferation. |
| Shevzov-Zebrun, Anna | David Kaplan | Role of glutamate toxicity in neurodegeneration following traumatic brain injury in a human 3D in vitro brain-like tissue model. |
| Spencer, Leslie | Colin Orians | How does landscape context influence pollination by wild bees in coffee landscapes? |
| Wolf, Alexandra | Elizabeth Crone | Heterogeneity in Eastern Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) Movement. |
| Yin, Hannah | Michael Romero and Nina Fefferman | Modeling Stress in Vertebrates & The Nutrient Economies. |
Spring 2021 Independent Research Students
| Student | Mentor | Thesis Title |
|---|---|---|
| Ginga Sato | Dr. Klaus Miczek | Behavioral Hierarchy in Male Mice: Sweet Intake and Female Social Interaction. |
| Iyra Chandra | Dr. Michael Levin | Designing Methodology to Investigate Individual and Collective Cognitive Anticipatory Responses in Ants (Camponotus sp.) |
| Kate Bowers | Dr. Michael Levin | Topic: How Xenopus tadpoles identify deformities in other tadpoles |
| Ming Gong | Dr. Eric Tytell | Effects of Longitudinal Body Position on Power Output of Red Muscle from Brook Trout (Salelinus fontinalis) |
| Rachel Xiang | Dr. Iris Jaffe | Using in silico methods to examine atherosclerosis in preclinical models |
| Anna Joseph | Dr. Mitch McVey | Sensitivity to crosslinking and fork stalling agents in FANCD2 mutant Drosophila melanogaster |
| Luana Machado | Dr. Mitch McVey | A gut feeling: Administration of Parabacteroides distasonis and its impact on intestinal barrier stability and inflammation in Drosophila melanogaster |
| Jillian Armenia | Sergei Mirkin | |
| Celia Rubien | Dr. Mitch McVey | Uncovering a synthetic sickness in Drosophila melanogaster—the relationship between mutations in the genome and in the Polymerase Theta linker domain |
| Eleanor Matthews | Dr. Philip Starks | Impact of heat stress on brood emigration patterns in T. curvispinosus and T. longispinosus |
| Mayura Thomas | Dr. Michael Levin | Mapping chemotactic migration in Xenopus cranial neural crest cell collectives |
| Vaughn Rogers | Dr. Alain Charest | The oncogenicity of missense mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor gene (EGFR) and relevant implications for glioblastoma (GBM) |
| Lauren Cohen | Dr. Catherine Freudenreich | Draft title: Length-dependent contractions in trinucleotide repeat tracts in S. cerevisiae |
| Hector Rivera Bermudez | Dr. Klaus Miczek | The effect of social Interactions on saccharin consumption |
| Katherine Wang | Dr. Elizabeth Byrnes | Impacts of early life stress on sex differences in reward learning and approach motivation in chocolate self-administration OR: Early maternal separation induces increased approach motivation for chocolate reward in adult male rats |
| Morgane Dackiw | Dr. Zarin Machanda, Dr. Michael Reed | “Primates in Peril”: An Investigation into the Conservation of Wild Primates |
| Katie Walsh | Dr. Christopher Walsh | Identifying copy number variations in Autism Spectrum Disorder with single-nucleus RNA sequencing |
| Alexandra Fong | Dr. Zarin Machanda | Investigation of the Effect of Maternal Rank and Age on Maternal Investment |
| Christopher Herbosa | Dr. Amy Yee | The Effects of a New Therapeutic for Triple Negative Breast Cancer in Mice |
| Riya Malhotra | Dr. Catherine Freudenreich | Characterizing the Role of Irc20 |
| Caitlin Ball | Dr. Jan Pechenik | Impacts of thermal and desiccation stress on the survival and respiration rates of the intertidal snail C. fornicata |
| Neal Chan | Dr. Benjamin Wolfe | Investigating the effects of bacterial communities on the fungus P. solitum |
| Julia Koh | Dr. Michael Romero | Analysis of the Attenuation of Stress throughout an Organism’s Lifetime |
| Sarah Lok | Dr. Michael Romero | Neophobic and Locomotive Responses to Chronic Stress in House Sparrows |
| Ashleigh Williams | Dr. David Kaplan | Comparing M Cell Yield and Induced Differentiation in Human Stem Cell-Derived In Vitro Culture Systems using Varying Growth Factor-Containing Culture Medias |
Fall 2021 Independent Research Students
| Student | Mentor | Project | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grace Gong | Jake Chen | Effect of Irisin on Oral Cancer Development | ||
| Radhika Sharma | Mary Wallingford | Impact of Slc20a2 deficiency on placenta calcification | ||
| Jaymie Pietropinto | John Yuen | Dense in vitro murine adipose tissue formation in a hydrogel-sponge 3D culture system | ||
| Bella McKinney | Olga Liaudanskaya (Kaplan lab) | Identifying the effect of monocultural nervous system cells on the NLRP3 inflammasome | ||
| Hannah Pearl | Candace Fleischer | Diversity in Neuroimaging Studies According to Race, Ethnicity and Sex: A Systematic Review | ||
| Chloé Markovits | Dr. Elizabeth Crone | Impact of nesting status on site fidelity in Agapostemon virescens | ||
| Joel Rheaume | Dr. Howard Weiner | Effect of Protollin in Alzheimer’s Disease | ||
| Reina Ashizawa | Dr. David Kaplan | Identifying drivers of cost in production of cell-based meat using Manduca sexta and other insect cell lines | ||
| Eli Kritzer | Hisashi Umemori | The role of Smad signaling in midbrain dopaminergic neuronal dendritic growth and synaptic input in mice | ||
| Jonah Zuckerman | Phil Starks | Tentative: the effect of cue normalization on Temnothorax curvispinosus recognition systems | ||
| Ming Gong | Eric Tytell | Tail kinematics during upward and downward swimming in largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) | ||
| Jaya Wetzel | Phil Starks | Tentative: the effect of chronic heat stress on Apis mellifera hive phenotype | ||
| Evon Wang | Iris Jaffe | Understanding Endothelial Cell Toxicity of Novel Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors Used in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Treatment | ||
| Mayura Thomas | Dr. Michael Levin | Dopamine induces embryogenic black aggregate formation during Xenopus laevis development | ||
| Rebecca Graham | Phil Starks | Tentative: Changes in Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera) Nutritional Preferences Throughout the Life Cycle |
||
| Luana Machado | Mitch McVey | The aging gut: Parabacteroides distasonis increases lifespan and fitness while prolonging intestinal membrane integrity in Drosophila melanogaster | ||
| Grace Yang | Qiaobing Xu | Tentative: Long-term Storage Stability of Lipid Nanoparticle and Lipid-mRNA Complexes for mRNA Delivery | ||
| Maxwell Allison | Catherine Freudenreich | Assessing the Activity off APOBECs at R-loops formed at CAG Repeats in S. cerevisiae | ||
| Riya Malhotra | Catherine Freudenreich | Characterizing the Role of IRC20 and it Relationship to RAD5 family members | ||
| Makenzie Tomihiro | Zhigang He | Distal effects of spinal cord and sciatic nerve injuries to the brain | ||
| Jonathan Assaad | Liron Bar-Peled | Characterization of PAX-Dependence of Proliferation on Eigh Ovarian Cancer Cell Lines | ||
| Ansel Link | Athar Chrishti | Phage Display cDNA Library Screens to Identify Antigens of Babesia microti | ||
| Emma Rosen | Michael Romero | Effects of Chronic Stress on Innate Immune System in House Sparrows | ||
| Caroline McCarthy | Michael Levin | Immunohistochemistry analysis of induced mouse digit regrowth following pro-regenerative BioDome application | ||
| Atef Fayed | Madeleine Oudin | Characterizing matrikines from digested fibronectin to detect effects in metastatic TNBC |
2020 Senior Honors Thesis Students
| Ada Huang | Catherine Freudenreich | Characterizing the Role of the Rad5 Family of Proteins in DNA Repair |
|---|---|---|
| Annie Phan | Eric Tytell | Integration of Multiple Mechanical Stimuli in the Lamprey Central Pattern Generator |
| Daniel Caron | Barry Trimmer | Peripheral neural pathways of nociception in Manduca sexta |
| Emma Sanders | Catherine Freudenreich | The Role of D-loop Synthesis and Progression in Trinucleotide Repeat Instability Through a Break-induced Replication (BIR) Model |
| Francesca DeIeso-Frechette | Amy Yee, Mitch McVey | Effects of the Cha1 Novel Combination Treatment on Tumor Properties and Immune Response in Triple Negative Breast Cancer |
| Grace Materne | Sergei Mirkin | Understanding the Genetic Mechanism of Variability of the AVPR1A Polymorphism, RS3, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae |
| Hannah Vigran | Michael Levin | Wearable Device and Pro-Regenerative Drug Cocktail-Mediated Limb Regeneration |
| Jillian Armenia | Sergei Mirkin | Investigating a Biological Role for Paranemic Crossover (PX) DNA in S. cerevisiae |
| Mackenzie Parmenter | Stephen Fuchs | Using CRISPR-Cas9 to Study the Effect of Repeat Variation on Azf1p |
| Madeline Bondy | Colin Orians | Branch dieback in Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica): Risk Factors and Recommendations |
| Maria Ostapovich | Elizabeth Crone | Effect of worker body size on bumblebee colony dynamics |
| Matthew Johnson | Catherine Freudenreich | The Role of the S-phase DNA Damage Checkpoint in the Relocalization of CAG Trinucleotide Repeats to the Nuclear Pore Complex |
| Max McCarthy | Elizabeth Crone | Phenological Trends in Wild Bees with Diverse Life History Traits |
| Michael Dente | Benjamin Wolfe, David Kaplan | A Study of Toll-Like Receptors in a 3D in vitro Enteric Nervous System Tissue Model |
| Rodolfo Estrada | Michael Romero | Studying the Stress Response across Tissues in House Sparrows; A Dive into the Rest of the Picture through the Lens of DNA damage |
Spring 2020 Independent Research Students
| Student | Mentor | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Abigail Kaplan | Phillip Starks | Impact of dietary protein on the size of hypopharyngeal glands in nurse honey bees (Apis mellifera) |
| Alyssa Blaise | Richard Young | Insulin Receptor IDR Phase Separates with Coactivator IDR |
| Ananya Pavuluri | Mike Levin | Revisiting Recapitulation Theory through Analysis of Head Morphology During Planarian Regeneration |
| Anirban Chakraborty | Qiaobing Xu | Dissecting the Mechanism of Nanoparticle-Mediated Intracellular Protein Delivery |
| Ashton Black | Yongjie Yang | Quantifying the specificity and efficiency of Eaat2-Tdt astrocyte reporter in Ai9f/f-ALDh1L1eGFP -Eaat2-CreERtransgenic mice |
| Caroline Hayes | Kelly McLaughlin | The role of Serotonin Signaling in Craniofacial Remodeling |
| Christopher Herbosa | Amy Yee, Eric Paulson | Cha-1: A New Drug Treatment for Triple Negative Breast Cancer |
| Claire Dunn | Madeleine Oudin | The role of proteases in triple-negative breast cancer metastasis, migration, and drug resistance. |
| Eli Strauss | George Ellmore | Caffeine vs cannabidiol in plant tissue culture and seedling growth |
| Elizabeth Corn | Andrew Camilli | The role of Vibrio cholerae porin OmpU in predation by Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus |
| Ethan Brown | Mitch McVey | Allelic Replacement in REV1 |
| Hanna Brush | Elizabeth Crone, Rachel Bonoan | Understanding adult butterfly nutrition in Icaricia icarioides blackmorei |
| Ishan Gupta | Mitch McVey | Investigating the BRCA2 and RAD51 Double Mutant Synthetic Lethal Relationship |
| Jacob Zuckerman | Mitch McVey | Understanding Replication Protein A’s Role in Preventing Secondary Structure Formation during Synthesis |
| Keya Viswanathan | Abha Aggarwal | The Effect of MCT1/4 Inhibition in Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer |
| Lauren Snow | David Kaplan, Kyle Fish | A novel approach to fat differentiation using fatty acids in synthetic meat. |
| Leslie Spencer | Colin Orians | Understanding resource allocation in coffee (Coffea arabica): Applying ecological theory to an agricultural system |
| Neal Chan | Benjamin Wolfe | Investigating the role of bacterial collagenases in inhibiting planarian worm regeneration |
| Nehalee Surve | Catherine Freudenreich | Investigating the role of helicases in Flex1 fragility |
| Nina Benites | Mitch McVey | SLX1’s Role in DNA Damage Tolerance |
| Sarah Shnayder | Mitch McVey | Interplay of the Gut Microbiome, Inflammation, and Aging |
| Serra Muftu | Mitch McVey | Elucidating the Function of POLDIP2 in Drosophila Melanogaster |
| Sharad Mahajan | Madeleine Oudin | Investigating the Role of Chemotherapy Treated Extracellular Matrices in Cancer Liver Metastasis |
| Yanchen Dong | Sergei Mirkin | GAA trinucleotide expansion in mammalian cells |
Fall 2019 Independent Research Students
| Student | Mentor | Project |
|---|---|---|
| Alec Tyminski | Phillip T.B. Starks | Seasonal differences of total protein, and amino acids within bee collected pollen |
| Alison Moky | Mimi Kao and Gina Mantica | Testing the Effectiveness of neurotoxin AF64A on Ablating Tonically Active Cholinergic Interneurons (TANs) in the songbird basal ganglia |
| Anar Kansara | Christopher Dulla | Interneuron development in APC cKO Mouse Model of IS |
| Anirban Chakraborty | Qiaobing Xu | Evaluation of why some lipid nanoparticles are better than others for delivery |
| Anna Kolchinski | Alan Cantor | Exploring the Effects of the Novel W284C Mutation in the FLI1 Transcription Factor |
| Anna Shevzov-Zebrun | David Kaplan & Andrew Ford | Optimization of an in-vitro 3D cornea model |
| Carl Schirmeister | Bree Aldridge | Developing a more precise and information-rich laboratory assay for antibacterial response |
| Claire Kerns | Michael Levin | The role of Actin in Planarian regeneration |
| Damanveer Singh | Benjamin Wolfe | Effects of Aquitalea Mutants on Planarian Regeneration |
| Eileen Liu | Amy Yee & Eric Paulson | The Effects on CHA1 Therapy on Triple Negative Breast Cancer |
| Emily Chu | Catherine Freudenreich | Investigating the Role of the Slx8 protein in Preventing Chromosome Fragility at Expanded CAG repeats that Stall DNA Replication |
| Finn McGarghan | Mitch McVey | Investigation of the Function of DNA Polymerase Theta in DNA Damage Tolerance in D. melanogaster |
| Gabriel DePinho | Mitch McVey | Modeling Chromosomal Translocations in D. Melanogaster |
| Ishan Gupta | Mitch McVey | Investigating the role of BRCA2 in double knock out flies |
| Kaili Chen | David Kaplan and Natalie Rubio | Mycelium as a potential scaffold for Cellular Agriculture |
| Lauren Romero | Phillip T.B. Starks | Adult-juvenile interactions in Fowler’s toads with a note on anti-predatory behavior |
| Lauren Snow | David Kaplan | Edible (FDA approved) differentiation cocktail for adipogenesis in synergetic meat model |
| Leona Tu | Yongjie Yang | Astroglial mRNA and protein translation dysregulation in Fragile X Syndrome Mouse Models |
| Lila Cart | Klaus Miczek & Herbert Covington | Fighting Females |
| Machlan Sawden | Kevin Hart | Role of Liver Sinusoidal Endothelial Cells in Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis and Inflammation |
| Makenzie Tomihiro | Carol Kumamoto | Interactions between Clostridium difficile and Fungal Colonizers of the Human Gastrointestinal Tract |
| Mallika Purandare | David Kaplan | Effects of Nicotine on Cortical Neuron Development in Rat Pups in 2D Setting |
| Melanie Chien | Michael Levin | Pro-Regenerative Cocktail-Induced Neurite Regeneration in Primary Cortical Neurons |
| Michelle Ysrael | Michael Romero | Validating Human POC devices to measure metabolites in house sparrows |
| Mina Ghobrial | David Kaplan | Development of Skeletal Muscle Tissues in Collagen Structures |
| Nathan Mitchell | Michael Levin | Differentiation of hiPSC via cell membrane potential modulation |
| Nina Benites | Mitch McVey | The role of SLX1 and REV1 in DNA damage bypass in Drosophila melanogaster |
| Paras Patnaik | Zarin Machanda | Paternity Investigation and Analysis of Father-Offspring Relationships in East African Chimpanzees |
| Paul Jin | Michael Levin | Effects of Physarum on Planarian regeneration |
| Radha Garvey | Peter Juo | Behavioral Characterization of lrp-2 in C. elegans |
| Raissa Li | Qiaobing Xu | Investigating pH-Responsive lipids for drug delivery |
| Sarah Shnayder | Mitch McVey | The Interplay of the Microbiome, Inflammation, and Aging |
| Serra Muftu | Mitch McVey | Elucidating the Functions of Poldip2 in D. Melanogaster |
| Tara Zhou | Sergei Mirkin | CAG repeat instability in quiescent yeast cells |