Students honored with 2015 Intersections: SOURCE Symposium & Poster awards

On April 17, undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff and post-docs came together to present their research at the Intersections: SOURCE Symposium & Poster Award Winners. At the poster session, many students were recognized for their scholarly pursuits.

Undergraduate Students

Engineering Oral Presentations

(tie) 1^st: Taylor Nguyen, Materials development for large-scale production of organic light emitting diodes. Faculty Mentor: Mohan Sankaran, chemical and biomolecular engineering. (tie) 1^st: Elishama Kanu, Correlating kinetics and kinematics of earthworm peristaltic locomotion. Faculty Mentor: Hillel Chiel, biology.

Natural Sciences Oral Presentations

(tie) 1^st: Anisha Garg, Investigation of the effects of STATI post-translational modification on the interferon ɣ signaling responses. Faculty Mentor: Barbara Kuemerle, biology. (tie) 1^st: Raghav Tripathi, Incidence and survival of sebaceous carcinoma in the United States. Faculty Mentor: Jeremy Bordeaux, dermatology.

Engineering Poster Presentations

(tie) 1^st: Diana Acosta, Study of the Second Virial Coefficient of Cowpea Mosaic Virus Under Varying pH and Ionic Strength Using Composition Gradient Multi-Angle Static Light Scattering. Faculty Mentor: Roger French, materials science and engineering. (tie) 1^st: Margaret Mack, Nanoparticle-mediated delivery of small interfering RNA as a therapy for drug-resistant triple-negative breast cancer. Faculty Mentor: Zheng-Rong Lu, biomedical engineering. (tie) 2^nd: Paul Advincula, Carbazole-assisted Electrodeposition of Graphene Oxide: Synthesis, Characterization and Directed Deposition. Faculty Mentor: Rigoberto Advincula, macromolecular sciences and engineering. (tie) 2^nd: Samantha Butler, A Single-use, Disposable, In Vitro Platinum-Based Biosensor for the Detection of Extremely Low Level Nitric Oxide in Aqueous Medium. Faculty Mentor: Chung-Chiun Liu, Chemical and biomolecular engineering.

Nursing Poster Presentations

1^st: Moriah Watts, Increasing Colorectal Cancer Screening. Faculty Mentor: Marilyn Lotas, nursing. (tie) 2^nd: Sara Mithani, Self-care Instructions Improve Biomarkers for Gum Disease in Postmenopausal Women. Faculty Mentor: Leena Palomo, dentistry. (tie) 2^nd: Rachael Wieber & Breanon Glover, Improving Nutrition Knowledge Among Irish Traveller Children. Faculty Mentor: Mary Quinn Griffin, nursing.

Natural Sciences Poster Presentations

(tie) 1^st: William Qu, Engineering a MGMT mutation in hematopoietic cells with the CRISPR/Cas system to confer resistance to high dose chemotherapy. Faculty Mentor: Paul Tesar, genetics. (tie) 1^st: Logan Smith, Analysis and Processing of Hyperspectral Data with the Purpose of Classification. Faculty Mentor: Julia Dobrosotskaya, mathematics. (tie) 2^nd: Arvind Haran, Optimizing Immunofluorescence Staining of Whole Mount Quail Embryonic Hearts. Faculty Mentor: Michael Jenkins, pediatrics. (tie) 2^nd: Elishama Kanu, Correlating kinetics and kinematics of earthworm peristaltic locomotion. Faculty Mentor: Hillel Chiel, biology. (tie) 2^nd: Katie Pezzot, Crowdsourcing in Epidemiology: Current Utilities, Trends and Standards. Faculty Mentor: Jiayang Sun, epidemiology and biostatistics. (tie) 2^nd: Samir Shah, Physics, Model of Arm Movements by Estimation of Intended Equilibrium Posture and Relationship to Electromyograms. Faculty Mentors: Matthew Williams and Robert Kirsch, biomedical engineering.

Management and Accounting Poster Presentations

1^st: Harini Ushasri and Liana Manuel. Influence of a Leader’s Gender on a Group’s Confidence in Completing a Behavioral Task. Faculty Mentor: John Paul Stephens, organizational behavior

Social Sciences Poster Presentations

1^st: Alayna Klco, The Impact of Political Change and Education Reform on Youth Aymara Identity in Bolivia. Faculty Mentor: Katia Almeida, anthropology. (tie) 2^nd: Kathy Lin, The Relationship Between Parent Anxiety, Parental Behaviors, and Child Play. Faculty Mentor: Amy Przeworski, psychological sciences. (tie) 2^nd: Lauren Pohl, Coming Out: Self-Esteem and Sexual Identity Distress as Predictors of LGBQ Individuals’ Level of Sexual Identity Disclosure. Faculty Mentor: Amy Przeworski, psychological sciences. (tie) 2^nd: Lisa Richey, Psychosocial Adjustment of University Students Studying Abroad in India. Faculty Mentor: Kathryn Rothenberg, psychological sciences.

Graduate Students

First Place Award Winners

Ronald Leibach, mechanical and aerospace engineering, "Energy Return in a Biologically Inspired Tunable Compliant Actuator" Shoshana Ginsburg, biomedical engineering, "Differences between Computer-Extracted Multi-Pareametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging Features Associated with Central Gland and Peripheral Zone Tumores" Eric Abenojar, chemistry, "Magnetic Hyperthermia Properties of Manganese Ferrite (MnFe2O4) Nanochains" Breanna Perlmutter, medicine, "Isthmic Spondylolisthesis: Analysis of Quality of Life Outcomes Following Surgical Treatment" Jared Bendis, Dance, "'Chroma' - Performance Media & Modern Dance: Dancing with Light & Color" JohnKrebs, physiology and biophysics, "Microfluidic Analysis of Synovial Fluid for Monitoring of Joint and Prosthesis Health" Nasmah Bastaki, biology, "The Stability and Inheritance of the Linum Insertion Sequence (LIS-1) in Transgenic Plants"

Honorable Mention Winners

Seyed Mohsen Seifi, materials science and engineering, "Sensitization Effects on Fracture and Fatigue of Al-Mg Naval Alloys" Jang Ik Cho, epidemiology and biostatistics, "Sociocultural Biological Factors Contribute to Fertility and Offspring Survival among Tibetan Women Residing at High Altitudes in Nepal" Jennifer Espartero, macromolecular science and engineering, "Use of Polymers for Corrosion Protection of Carbon Steel in Acidic Geothermal Conditions" Priyanka Gokhale, reproductive biology, "Safety of Deep Sedation Without Intubation for Obese and Non-Obese Women Undergoing First and Second Trimester Surgical Abortion" Michael Gearhart, social work, "Predictors of Health in an Opiate Drug Court: Gender, Parental Status, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse" Mark Asirwatham, plastic surgery, "Impact of Anti-Estrogen Therapy on Random Pattern Skin Flap Survival" Rachel Matthews, chemistry, "Functionalization of Small Molecules for Applications in Organic Electronics"

Postdoctoral Awards

The Postdoctoral Research Award

to postdoctoral scholars or fellows for outstanding posters at the Research ShowCASE Intekhab Alam, postdoctoral scholar, pharmacology Melissa Babcook, postdoctoral fellow, urology Andrew Cooper, postdoctoral scholar, psychological sciences Marie Gadziola, postdoctoral scholar, neurosciences Ranganath Mamidi, postdoctoral scholar, physiology and biophysics

The Postdoctoral Research Honorable Mention

to a postdoctoral scholar or fellow for an honorable mention research poster at Research ShowCASE David Soler, postdoctoral scholar, dermatology