Mathilde Bonvalot

The reassertion of Catholicism’s essential principles after the Council of Trent had a major impact on religious art production in 16th century Italy. Consciously putting together reliques from the early years of Christianity with Rinascimento painting techniques, the new visual programs created within Roman churches became the place where sacred space and ideas could be rebuilt, generating a new meaning for the Catholic community. I will travel to Rome to investigate the emergence of the discipline of Archaeology as the crucial event that allowed early Christian antiquities discovered in the […]

Stephanie Fung

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) was established in 2003 with the goal of trying those responsible for the horrors inflicted upon Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge between 1975-1979. Two of the original four Accused in Case 002 are currently being tried at this Khmer Rouge Tribunal, and as part of my research, I will be monitoring these trials at the ECCC on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. By observing these trials and interviewing experts on the ECCC and the Democratic Kampuchea period, I intend to examine […]

Khashayar Nattagh

The goal of radiation cancer therapy is to deliver a lethal dose of radiation to a tumor while sparing the healthy tissue along the beam path. My project studies the phenomenon of gold nanoparticle radiosensitization: where gold nanoparticles are used to increase the damage that a certain dose of radiation has to a tumor without increasing the damage to the healthy cells. Specifically, I am trying to determine why gold nanoparticles increase the effects of radiation, a question that scientists are debating today. I am investigating this by using cutting […]

Kamyar Jarahzadeh

Turkey is home to a population of 17,000 Afghan refugeesa number which is projected to double by the end of the year. Afghan refugees travel to Turkey fleeing violence and economic hardships, only to find themselves struggling to subsist while navigating a convoluted resettlement process. My project is an ethnographic study of their experiences and interactions within their communities, and with state and non-state actors. Findings will be generated with participant observation and interviewing of Afghan refugees currently in Turkey. The project will explore what citizenship means for displaced peoples […]

Tai Ng

Streptomyces is a large genus of actinobacteria well known for their secondary metabolism, producing a large array of antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic drugs. The compound of interest in this project is physostigmine, produced by Streptomyces griseofuscus. Physostigmine is a tryptophan-derived alkaloid that reversibly inhibits acetylcholinestrase. It is a candidate drug for treating numerous neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, myasthenia gravis, glaucoma, and orthostatic hypotension. Studying the biosynthesis of physostigmine can provide insight into the biosynthesis of a large family of alkaloids with the unique pyrroloindole skeleton. Furthermore, understanding the […]

Robert Gleichman

Currently, it is difficult for robots to manipulate deformable objects. This is because deformable object’s plethora of states make it is difficult for the robot to figure out what next action will get it closer to its goal. One solution to this problem is to use human demonstrations. The robot can currently tie knots when given a demonstration of a knot tying sequence. This is done by finding a transformation from the rope state at test time to the rope state at the beginning of a demonstration. This transformation is […]

Jessica Chan

My primary work revolves around a eukaryotic pathway known as RNA interference (RNAi) where small RNA molecules regulate gene expression. As the main enzyme responsible for generating these small RNAs, Dicer measures and cleaves a diverse population of RNA molecules into mature fragments primed to control genes. The two main substrates are hairpin RNAswhich are cut into microRNAs (miRNAs)and long duplex RNAswhich are cut into small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). Although many studies have analyzed Dicers ability to cleave RNA, there are still many unanswered questions about how Dicer selects its […]

Arvin Javadi

TRPA1 ion channels are a specific example of a protein class that help the cell interact and respond to its environment. TRPA1 channels have been shown to consist generally of six trans-cell-membrane segments with two ends, an N-terminal and C-terminal end, with the N-terminal end extending into the cell. This endo-cellular region consists of 16 structural repeats called ankyrin repeat (AR) motifs. Studies have shown that TRPA1 channels in snake cells respond more to heat than chemical stimuli, in contrast to similar channels in mammals. Past research has also shown […]

Catherine Nguyen

Members of the Burkholderia genus are Gram-negative intracellular bacteria that are highly pathogenic to humans and animals. Some species are capable of manipulating the actin cytoskeleton in eukaryotic cells for intracellular movement, which promotes cell-to-cell spread and evasion of the host immune system. However, the mechanism of actin nucleation is not understood. This project will determine how actin nucleation mediated by the conserved bacterial factor Burkholderia intracellular motility A (BimA), which is required for actin-based motility, differs among three Burkholderia species. Identification of BimA motifs that are important for actin-binding […]

Fikreselam Habebo

In 2009 the country witnessed a spate of suicides among foreign maids, and last year a 33-year-old Ethiopian woman [Dechesa] killed herself shortly after being filmed being beaten by a Lebanese man on a Beirut street. With increasing reports of immigrants and abuse of domestic workers in the Gulf countries, the conditions of these migrant women need to be closely studied. My research question asks: 1) How is domestic work in Beirut, Lebanon racialized and gendered and 2) How do Ethiopian domestic workers in Lebanon experience race? I will approach […]