Biomedical and Health Sciences
Fourth Award
This research study was performed to determine whether Ashwagandha can be used as an effective treatment for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) in Zebrafish embryo models. IBD is a chronic gas…
Translational Medical Science
Coping with an abrasion or cut poses the challenge of not just averting bleeding but also managing blood contact while searching for and opening adhesive bandages strips like Band-Aids®. The…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is an idiopathic pain disorder, classified by paroxysmal pain in the face. The spinal trigeminal tract extends into the spinal cord as far as the fourth cervical ve…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Alzheimer's Disease International (2024) predicts that by 2030, Alzheimer's will impact over 78 million people worldwide. Currently, there is no cure or accurate diagnostic method for Alzhei…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Handwriting is defined as a complex neurophysiological process that involves multiple aspects including visual-motor, memory, and linguistic aspects as well as multiple subsections of the ce…
Translational Medical Science
The inability of deep learning (DL) models to explain their output, known as the AI “Black Box” problem, greatly hinders clinical adoption of DL models in healthcare. This study is the first…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Cancer is one of the major adverse health issues in the world, and is the second leading cause of death amongst Native Hawaiians. Ovarian cancer specifically, is known to have a stronger eff…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Introduction While the incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma is rapidly increasing, the prognosis remains poor with a five-year survival rate of 20%. Therefore, the discovery of new molecul…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) results in a progressive loss of kidney function over time, affecting 37 million in the US. Chymase is the primary enzyme mediating angiotensin II formation inde…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Over 1 million deaths annually can be attributed to suicide, yet no biomarkers exist. This study investigated blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption by examining claudin-5 (CLDN5) epigenetic a…
Translational Medical Science
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is an intracranial damage common among soldiers and impact-sport athletes. In severe cases, TBI is associated with neurodegeneration and dementia if left untreat…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cells and Bispecific T cell Engagers (BiTEs) are two novel immunotherapy platforms. I hypothesized that the different mechanisms used by anti-CD3-CD19 BiTEs…
Translational Medical Science
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is an inherited X-linked disease with an incidence of 1:3,600. Patients become weak at 2-3 years old with progression to a wheelchair in their early teens,…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive and fast-growing form of brain cancer with a high rate of mortality. It is the most common malignant brain tumor in adults, accounting for 47.7…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease with multiple organ involvement, including lung, skin, gastrointestinal tract, and kidneys. A subset of SSc patients develops a critical ren…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is a genetic, progressive myopathy and the second most common muscular dystrophy. Progression of the disease primarily begins in the facial, sho…
Translational Medical Science
The visual similarity of melanoma and seborrheic keratosis has made it difficult for elderly patients with disabilities to know when to seek medical attention, contributing to the metastasis…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Third Award
Circadian disruptions have been implicated in the oncogenesis of multiple cancers. However, the underlying mechanisms linking circadian rhythms and cell cycles remain unclear, posing a signi…
Translational Medical Science
Second Award
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a prevalent autoimmune condition that affects 2.39 million Americans and is characterized by an excess of inflammatory cytokines. Interleukins, a class of…
Translational Medical Science
Around 800 million individuals worldwide are estimated to have chronic kidney disease (CKD), with most cases being undiagnosed. Diagnosing CKD and other renal dysfunctions requires an assess…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
I characterized placenta and fetal brain tissues on the cellular level by leveraging single-cell (sc)RNA-seq data from pregnant pigtail macaques (Macaca nemestrina). My hypothesis was that t…
Translational Medical Science
Second Award
Across neurological drug development, researchers struggle with the inability of most drugs to pass through the blood-brain barrier (BBB), due to the semipermeable membrane’s high selectivit…
Translational Medical Science
Currently, 6.2 million adults suffer from heart failure (HF), with 30-40% surviving one-year post-hospitalization and a 30-day readmission rate of 23%. The urgent need for an affordable, spe…
Translational Medical Science
Biodegradable polymers are often used to seek applications addressing specific needs, such as wound care, due to their compatibility with biological interfaces, are eco-friendly, and safe fo…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Fourth Award
Adoptive Cell Therapy (ACT) is a promising form of Immunotherapy, wherein T-Lymphocytes are propagated in the laboratory and re-infused into patients. However, a major limitation to ACT is C…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a molecular subset of breast cancer defined by a lack of estrogen, progesterone, and the human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) receptors. Currently,…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Fourth Award
UGT1A1 is an enzyme involved in metabolizing Irinotecan, a DNA topoisomerase class I inhibitor chemotherapeutic drug. Polymorphisms within the UGT1A1 promoter reduce UGT1A1 mRNA expression,…
Translational Medical Science
Commonly known as the yellow water lily root or kaandoosh in Ojibwe language, the rhizome of Nuphar advena is utilized by Indigenous communities for treating bacterial overgrowth. This study…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Ankylosing Spondylitis a type of rheumatic autoimmune disorders where normal body cells attack musculoskeletal cells, making bones' weak joints unstable and prone to fractures. This can caus…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Colorectal Cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer death. This is because during early stages, CRC is difficult to catch, which means that treatment can only be offered after the…