Undergraduate Research & Scholarships

Shahram Misaghi

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The goal of Shahram’s Senior Honors Thesis in Molecular and Cell Biology is to obtain a detailed picture of the structure of a novel protein, called Acr A, that has recently been discovered to play an essential role in bacterial resistance to certain antibiotics. Using the technique of protein crystallography, Shahram plans to purify large amounts of Acr A protein from bacteria, crystallize the protein, and then study the chemical structure of this protein. His intention is to identify potential weak points that can be attacked by additional drugs, disabling […]

Kwa Yu Liou

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Kwa’s Senior Honors Thesis in Molecular and Cell Biology will investigate the RNase P ribozyme, which is one of many RNA enzymes being developed as promising gene-targeting reagents to cleave specific RNA sequences. Kwa’s research will establish a kinetic framework to analyze the catalytic mechanism of RNase P ribozyme to cleave a viral mRNA. By determining the ribozyme’s catalytic efficiency, he will provide insight into the engineering of RNase P for antiviral application, with potential therapeutic use in inactivating specific mRNA sequences of infectious viruses such as Herpes Simplex Virus […]

Maurilio Arreola Leon

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A joint McNair-Haas Scholar, Maurilio will continue his research into the influence of the Latino Caucus within the California State Legislature, in order to determine its effectiveness in addressing issues that impact the constituencies of its members. Founded in 1973, the Caucus has grown from five members to sixteen members, tripling in size in twenty-five years. With the recent election of the second Latino Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, Latino political leadership has continued to grow. Maurilio’s timely study promises to provide crucial information and analysis about an increasingly important arena […]

Sean Poi Lee

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Sean’s project addresses two major questions in biochemistry: what is the nature of antibody catalysis, and what is the nature of transiently formed refolding intermediates. He is investigating whether antibodies that have been shown to catalyze conventional chemical reactions can be made specifically to catalyze a protein folding reaction. His project is based on the hypothesis that antibodies can recognize, bind, and stabilize high-energy intermediates of the refolding process, thus accelerating the rate of refolding.

Malihe S. Kigasari

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Mali will investigate how Latino seniors at an inner city high school in Oakland make decisions about applying to prestigious institutions of higher education such as the University of California at Berkeley. Mali’s project has evolved out of previous fieldwork, in which she uncovered unexpected data suggesting a pattern she terms “self-elimination”: Latino students who were qualified to apply to academically stronger institutions, nevertheless elected to apply to community colleges. In this follow-up study, Mali will use qualitative, “new ethnographic” research methods to gain insight into her student informants’ beliefs, […]

Kabrina Kau

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Kabrina will undertake a field-study of the indigenous people of Taiwan, who were colonized by Han immigrants from mainland China in the late-seventeenth century, focusing specifically on their attitudes toward education. Using surveys and interviews with several targeted youth and adult populations in the city of Taitung, she will attempt to ascertain the factors that have impeded this minority group from using education as a means of improving their socio-economic status. She intends her research to provide information that will aid in the development of a new aboriginal education assistance […]

Alison Joy Harrington

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Alison’s Peace and Conflict Studies Senior Honors Thesis will examine the specific coalition-building efforts that have taken place historically and in the present between Irish and Mexican peoples. Alison will travel this summer both to Mexico and to Northern Ireland in order to meet with Irish nationals who are involved in the struggle for indigenous people’s rights in Chiapas. In addition, she will be researching coalition work in the United States between Irish Americans and Mexican Americans, looking particularly at the San Patricios, an organization that commemorates Saint Patrick’s (San […]

Sora Yoon Han

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Sora’s project promises to provide an important corrective to the stereotype of the “model minority” by giving voice to a generally silenced segment of the Asian American community. Through oral histories of incarcerated Asian Americans, Sora seeks to create a more complete and heterogeneous picture of the economic, social, political and cultural issues facing Asian Americans today. Sora will supplement her use of oral histories with more traditional research methodologies, in order to investigate thoroughly the situation and position of incarcerated Asian Americans and to improve our understanding of their […]

Christophe Marc Wall-Romana

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Christophe will translate for publication a volume of poetry, titledViens dit quelqu’un, by the French poet James Sacr. Sacr is one of the most accomplished French poets writing today, the winner of France’s most prestigious poetry prize (Prix Apollinaire, 1988) and highest cultural distinction (Chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres, 1987). Translated into Swedish and Spanish, Sacr’s work is still largely unknown in the English-speaking world, despite the fact that the poet has lived in the United States for the last twenty years, where he currently teaches as […]

Natalia Oleg Glebova

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Natalia’s Senior Honors Thesis in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology evolves out of her passionate commitment to contribute to the restoration of the environment, a matter she believes should be a priority for modern society. She will be investigating the molecular mechanisms of selenite detoxification in the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, focusing on the function of the proteins thioredoxin and thioredoxin reductase in toxic metal biotransformation. The results of her research will lead to improved bioremediation of selenite-contaminated soil and water and, more broadly, to a better understanding of the practical use […]