Amit Akula

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Using acquisition data from Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DT-MRI), an MRI variant that can map the diffusion of water, medical researchers have been able to image neural bundles in the brain, known as white matter tracts. Fiber tractography has been used extensively for clinical diagnosis of many neurological disorders and is used by neurosurgeons for surgical planning. Dipy, an open source project, provides a rich suite of fiber tracking algorithms accessible to any medical center in the world. Computing the fiber tracks using its probabilistic models, however, are computationally […]

Nicole Greene

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By understanding how physiology, behavior and the environment all contribute to animal multifunctionality, we can better understand animal motion and translate these discoveries into new technologies in the fields of robotics, prosthetics and rehabilitation. Ghost crab (ocypode quadrata) burrowing is particularly valuable for understanding multifunctional appendage design. To access burrowing data (like forces produced by the crabs legs, the effect of the crabs motion and the importance of the crabs anatomical features) and systematically vary them, I am constructing a robotic model based on actual ghost crab appendages. Robotic models […]

Lucas Brenes

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Regeneration is an organisms ability to regrow and compensate for damage to specific cell lineages, and the extent to which it can occur varies greatly among species. My research focuses on the germline, which is the cell lineage entrusted with producing and maintaining gametes that contribute to the creation of offspring. The ability to regenerate the germline is predominately observed in species that can undergo total body plan regeneration such as flatworms and sponges. Parhyale hawaiensis however, is an amphipod crustacean that has been shown to regenerate its germline post-hatching […]

Sandon Griffin

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Understanding the neurophysiology of sensation in mammals has been a major topic of research for over a century. My project aims to shed light on the neural circuitry underlying the sensory perception of body position, known as proprioception, by investigating its role in object localization. Our ability to proprioceive is mostly subconscious and facilitates several skills including typing on a keyboard without looking. As with other senses, specific sensory receptors that mediate proprioception, termed proprioceptors, have been identified. Research using whisking behavior in rats and mice as a model has […]

Ellison Chen

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Injuries to the ACL are very common in the young and active population, and this can often lead to posttraumatic osteoarthritis (OA), sometimes as early as in their third decade of life. Like idiopathic OA seen in older individuals, posttraumatic OA causes pain, impaired function, and overall decreased quality of life, but occurs at a much younger age after injury. ACL injuries are commonly treated with surgical reconstruction of the ligament, replacing the torn ACL with a graft. However, surgical reconstruction does not perfectly correct for tibiofemoral joint kinematics. Moreover, […]

Aryan Haratian

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Four serotypes of the dengue virus (DENV1-4) circulate globally, causing more human illness than any other mosquito-borne virus. DENV infections can be both asymptomatic and symptomatic, resulting in dengue fever or the more severe and life-threatening forms of the disease, dengue hemorrhagic shock/dengue shock syndrome. DENV infections confer life-long immunity against re-infection with the same serotype; however, they may either protect against or enhance a subsequent infection with a different serotype. An important step in assessing this topic is the determination of the amount of anti-DENV antibodies produced by the […]

Justin Choe

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Despite the growing prevalence of diabetes, the exact biological mechanisms leading to the onset of this disease still remain painfully unclear. Type 1 diabetes in particular is caused by an autoimmune attack to an individuals insulin secreting beta cells; this cell population cannot be regenerated and an adverse condition known as hyperglycemia ensues. The immune cells and chemokines present in the pancreas at the onset of this autoimmune response are of interest when considering this disease. Recent studies have suggested that the activity of a particular G-coupled protein receptor may […]

Katie Hitchcock

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Since its foundation in the early 20th century, ethological research has provided countless fascinating insights into the evolutionary significance of animal behavior. While the adaptive importance of behavior is often well understood, its molecular causes are still poorly known. Behavioral adaptations are often driven by sexual selection, one extreme example has been found in the males of the black widow spider species, Latrodectus hasselti and L. geometricus. As the result of strong sexual selection, these Latrodectus species have evolved obligate sexual cannibalism in which males somersault their abdomen on the […]

Leonardino Digma

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The leading hypothesis suggests that the progression of Alzheimers disease (AD), the major cause of dementia, is driven by the accumulation of misfolded amyloidB proteins into plaques within the brain. The presence of these plaques in some cognitively healthy adults has complicated our understanding of AD and has raised the question of what exactly triggers cognitive decline. Recent studies employing network theory have revealed that the answer may lie in the details of the disruption of the brain network by the amyloidB plaques. This summer I will use fMRI and […]

Jessica Hong

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Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) is a process through which cells internalize pieces of their plasma membrane (PM) and extracellular substances. Cells regulate signal transduction, membrane homeostasis, and nutrient uptake through this ancient and highly-conserved pathway. Previous research demonstrated that type I myosins are critical for endocytic internalization. The yeast type I myosin Myo5 is composed of a motor head linked to a multi-domain tail. Myo5 motor activity is necessary for PM internalization, and its tail domains are predicted to bind various cellular structures. Little is known about the precise role of […]