Cellular and Molecular Biology
Almost one million people in the world will be diagnosed with a genetic kidney disease occurring in the collagen IV within the glomerular basement membrane (GBM). I wanted a less-complex viv…
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most debilitating neurological diseases leading to impairments in cognitive, sensory, and motor functions. Amyloid Aß plaques and neurofibr…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
The purpose of the research was to determine if the vegetation removal from a lentic habitat would affect the water quality or biodiversity. A ten-meter section of a pond had the terrestrial…
Animal Sciences
Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading international cause of morbidity and mortality. The neurologic outcome of TBI is significantly influenced by the cellular, molecular and…
Systems Software
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) represents a significant and rapidly growing burden to the healthcare ecosystem. In the USA alone, about 5 million people suffer from the disease that costs the mana…
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Students attending high school today have an increased average stress level compared to those in the past. Heightened stress levels in high school students can cause health problems if stres…
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Subliminal messages are messages passed to the human mind without the mind being consciously aware of it, as, for example, in advertising. To test the efficiency of these messages, teenagers…
Robotics and Intelligent Machines
Machine learning is the ability for a computer to learn and adapt from experience rather than from code that is already in its program. More specifically, supervised machine learning takes d…
Translational Medical Science
Planaria are well known for their phenomenal regeneration abilities. Because of the presence of totipotent stem cells (also known as neoblasts) throughout their body, they are commonly used…
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Of the over 100 types of cancers that together claim 2,000 lives in the United States daily, neuroblastoma is the most common in children under the age of two. This project seeks to identify…
Physics and Astronomy
Major solar flares (X&M-class) and their resulting Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) and Solar Proton Events (SPE) severely threaten modern human society. A major solar event hitting Earth would…
Microbiology
Neurodegenerative disorders affect more than 6 million people in the United States alone. Heavy metal exposure has been implicated in the progression of disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease…
Translational Medical Science
Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a highly aggressive form of lung cancer. Despite available chemotherapeutics, resistance develops rapidly, accounting for a 6%, 5-year survival rate. Strateg…
Translational Medical Science
This study developed and characterized a novel proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) incorporating a beta hairpin sequence motif. PROTACs facilitate the proteasomal degradation of ‘undrugga…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Nanoparticles (NPs) are attractive cancer drugs but cannot target cancer cells, causing side effects in cancer therapy. To tackle this challenge, I developed NPs that could kill breast cance…
Materials Science
Tumor-mediated immunosuppression allows tumors to hide from the immune system and avoid recognition. To reverse this suppressive microenvironment, antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and other i…
Robotics and Intelligent Machines
In my project, I wanted to find out what method, out of the ones that I tested, would best train a neural network. Testing these methods is important because neural networks are used on a wi…
Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design
Initially, solar cells were made from silicon, but it was very expensive to get. Later on, scientists created dye-sensitized solar cells using ruthenium dye which was a pollutant and it was…
Environmental Engineering
Although water seems endlessly available, only 2.5% of the Earth’s water is fresh, with just 0.26% of that residing on the surface. This water supply is where much of humanity’s drinking wat…
Engineering Mechanics
When one sees an airplane take off, one wonders how an object so heavy, weighing tons, can lift off with ease. Thanks to complex aeronautics and aerodynamics airplanes are able to perform a…
Embedded Systems
The electrical devices used in this day and age are plentiful and useful, however there are only a select few ways to interface with these devices. While for some, the tiny buttons on tiny s…
Materials Science
Graphene, the monolayer form of graphite, is an atomically-thin material with unique physical and electrical properties, and a wide range of applications from stronger composite materials to…
Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design
By 2040, the global consumption of energy is expected to increase by 28% from 2017. As the demand for energy increases, the demand for sustainable sources increases. The purpose of this stud…
Behavioral and Social Sciences
It is possible to see the same event on two news channels, and receive differing opinions, positive and negative, about the same event. How much does exposure to negative priming and bias ne…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
This project studied the impact of tocopheryl acetate and diacetyl on the motility of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as a model for EVALI (E-Cigarette and Vaping Associated Lung Injury). This is…
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Abnormally stiff brain tissue is associated with neural damage and can indicate Alzheimer’s dementia, other dementias, and normal pressure hydrocephalus. Currently, early Alzheimer’s diagnos…
Cellular and Molecular Biology
How cells regulate and maintain their size is fundamentally unknown. Failure to maintain a consistent cell size has been associated with cardiac disease, brain disease, musculoskeletal disea…
Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design
The purpose of this project was to increase the efficiency of a solar panel and create a system that uses energy in the most efficient way. It was hypothesized that by putting the solar pane…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Turmeric and beta carotene, two antioxidants, have been known to have many benefits. Antioxidants prevent oxidation. This is a natural aging process that can damage cells and lead to disease…
Plant Sciences
Nutritional deficiencies are a problem in the developed world, so it is crucial to discover methods to produce nutritious foods for a low cost and without damaging the fragile environment. O…