Browse real student projects, abstracts, and awards.
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Cortical interneurons (INs) are a diverse group of INs crucial for regulating excitatory pyramidal neuron (EPN) activity– with dysfunction in certain IN types linked to neurological disorder…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs), like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, are characterized by impairment of synaptic plasticity, the brain's capacity to rewire connections critical for cognition…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Metastatic prostate cancer (mPC) stands second in cancer-related mortality among men. As current treatment options are largely palliative, there is a dire need for novel therapeutic targets…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Translation initiation in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) is governed by a delicate balance among canonical, cap-dependent and alternative pathways. This study dissects the roles of eIF4G…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Uveal melanoma, cancer of the melanin-producing cells in the eye, is the most common type of intraocular cancer in adults. Approximately half the patients develop metastatic disease, which h…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most aggressive and prevalent malignant primary brain tumors, accounting for 50.1% of all gliomas and 16% of all primary brain tumors. In the Unit…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) affect over 300 million people globally. In previous research, we identified ASXL3 as a biomarker for NDDs, but our understanding of how the clinical seve…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
This project aimed to focus on identifying VEGF-B’s specific roles in cell survival and apoptosis, as well as its role in-vivo in cardiomyocyte regeneration within the zebrafish heart. The f…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a debilitating autoimmune disease of the neuromuscular junction that affects over a million people and can cause life-threatening muscle weakness. As current treatm…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Helicases are enzymes that unwind double-stranded DNA during replication and repair. Human DNA helicase B (HELB) is critical for proper genome maintenance and recovery from replication stres…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Neurons use neurotransmitter carrying synaptic vesicles to transmit information at specialized locations called presynapses. Synaptic vesicle release of neurotransmitter becomes less efficie…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. In 2021 almost 10 million people died of cancer. Numerous conditions and factors can be attributed to the formation of cancer. A critic…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Base editors hold great promise in the treatment of genetic diseases as nearly half of known pathogenic genetic variants are point mutations. However, despite recent progress, the base edito…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP) is a rare bone disorder caused by a mutation in the ACVR1 receptor, whose downstream signaling leads to excessive bone growth. The defining charac…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) is a staple supplement in cell culture, providing key growth factors that promote cell health and proliferation. Cell culture has been a cornerstone of biological sc…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Alcohol consumption leads to complications in brain blood vessels and biological function, but how alcohol damages such vessels is unclear. Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) signaling, regulated b…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Although CAR T-cell therapy has significantly improved treatment outcomes for hematologic B-cell malignancies, challenges such as relapse and mortality rates (35-50% within 6-12 months post-…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Epigenetics is the study of how environmental stimuli affect gene expression without altering the DNA sequence. DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism in which a 5-methyl group binds to…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Sorafenib, a targeted anticancer therapy, is used in the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma by inhibiting vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFRs) and tyrosine kinases (…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is an obligate intracellular parasite that persistently infects the central nervous system (CNS) of up to a third of the world’s population. In the immune compe…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Research showed significant changes in the brain of Drosophila melanogaster such as fewer stem cells and smaller brains after knocking out nhes in the brain. Nhes also affect a decline in ag…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
The endothelium, a layer of cells lining the inner wall of coronary arteries, contributes to blood hemostasis and healthy function of the heart. In coronary artery disease (CAD), endothelial…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Epidemiological studies performed in large cohorts among different populations indicate a negative correlation between developing melanoma skin cancer and drinking coffee. While coffee’s pop…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Constituting up to 90% of tumor volume in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), fibrotic tissue growth (desmoplasia) acts to inhibit chemotherapeutic drug delivery through physical blocka…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable cancer of malignant plasma cells with a 5-year survival of 54%. Immunotherapy has recently emerged as a highly promising modality to treat MM. CD8+ T-ce…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Our project determined that resazurin, a synthetic fluorescing agent originally used as a bioburden detector, is a practical fluorescing agent for quantifying NADH in cell-free reactions. We…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Aedes aegypti is a mosquito species that transmit diseases, including dengue fever, Zika virus and chikungunya. The control of A. aegypti populations is essential to prevent the spread of th…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Genetics is an ever-expanding field of research. The genetic field has rapidly expanded from Mendel’s studies to genetically modified treatments, multi-allele variation knowledge, and studie…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Current underlying mechanisms to treat neurodegenerative diseases (ND) are limited due to an incomplete understanding. Tight junctions (TJ) and efflux pumps on the BBB restrict drug permeabi…
ISEF · 2025
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations experience a high incidence of kidney disease, with 921 cases per million annually (Xiang et al., 2020). A key contributing factor is the hea…