David Mrdjenovich

Throughout human history, advances in materials science have heralded new periods of technological advancement, from the stone to the modern silicon age. By harnessing newfound computational power, it is now possible to design materials on the atomic scale and accurately predict their properties, based solely on the knowledge of their structure and composition. Such flexibility has allowed for the systematic, high-throughput computational characterization of materials. Focusing on calculated dielectric and piezoelectric response, this study will investigate the connection between materials’ fundamental crystal structure and their overall performance. Over two-thousand distinct […]

Parker Stow

Cycloprodigiosin is a novel chemical compound produced by a number of marine bacterial species. One such species of cycloprodigiosin producing bacteria, Pseudoalteromonas rubra or P. rubra, is convenient in that it has had its genome fully sequenced. The gene(s) responsible for the synthesis of cycloprodigiosin from its precursor prodigiosin, however, are yet still unknown and have eluded researchers to date.In this project I will comb through the P. rubra genomic library in search of the enzyme(s) of interest. Gene knockout studies will validate which enzymes are responsible for the synthesis […]

Dhruv Desai

Black hole-neutron star (BH-NS) mergers are remarkably exciting events to model, as they are a source of gravitational waves, same as those discovered for the first time by Advanced LIGO earlier this year. BHNS mergers are binary systems that consist of a black hole (BH) and a companion neutron star (NS), which under sufficient conditions, falls into the BH. After the merger of these two objects, an accretion disk typically forms around the BH and high-energy ejecta is flung out. Remnants of these mergers may power short gamma ray bursts […]

Ramin Khajeh

Self-assembly is the spontaneous organization of components into ordered structure, ubiquitous in materials science and biology. Many essential structures in biology, such as the ribosome or virus shells, organize themselves into ordered structures with surprisingly high efficiency. Despite progress, there is not a comprehensive theory to predict the most likely structure based on individual components in a self-assembling material. Moreover, many important examples of self-assembly occur far from thermodynamic equilibrium. In spite of this, modeling efforts have overwhelmingly focused on equilibrium properties of self-assembly. Aided by theory and computer simulations, […]

Dylan Kato

Building activity accounts for 25% of the world’s water consumption and 40% of the world’s energy demand. Much of the water comes into buildings at drinking quality and is used for all the water demand throughout the building, including uses that dont require drinking quality water, such as landscaping and toilet flushing. This leaves huge potential for water conservation by means of treating and re-using water from laundry, sinks, and showers. One known way to treat this water is by using titanium dioxide. Since the initial discovery of Titanium dioxides […]

Rebecca Kuan

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are plasma membrane localized receptors found in eukaryotic cells. GPCRs are common targets of pharmaceutical drugs because they mediate cellular responses to hormones, neurotransmitters, and environmental stimulants and are also involved in vision, olfaction, and taste. An important aspect of GPCR biology is negative regulation, or turning off a pathway to avoid deleterious effects of constant signaling. One mechanism for this is internalization, bringing the receptor from the membrane into the cell. The mating pathway of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (budding yeast) can be used to study GPCRs; […]

Elliott Chien

Astrocytes, the star-shaped glial cells of the central nervous system, are necessary for synapse formation, which makes the role of astrocytes in brain development particularly interesting as autism and schizophrenia are fundamentally diseases of circuit and synapse formation. Molecular communication between astrocytes and microglia, a second type of glial cell, is an emerging mechanism explaining synapse development and pruning in the central nervous system. Previous work in the lab has found that astrocytes secrete an immune signaling molecule called Interleukin-33 (IL-33) during brain development, and that this molecule acts as […]

Sarah Bhattacharjee

The field of fetal surgery, though it remains the best hope for expecting parents whose child might have dangerous complications, is impeded by the amniotic sac’s inability to heal following rupture. The Messersmith Group, in which I work, has proposed both a sealant, which draws inspiration from the chemical properties of the adhesive secreted by mussels to attach themselves to their surroundings in the underwater environment, as well as “presealing,” an innovative manner of delivering the sealant to the surgical area. This summer I shall be developing a benchtop method […]

Emily Chong

Genome sizes vary greatly across many species and within species, though their biological significance is still poorly understood. Large amounts of eukaryotic genomes are composed of repetitive DNA, whose functions also remain ambiguous, and are often called junk DNA. These repeats usually exist in the form of heterochromatin, DNA that is tightly packed as a possible mechanism to silence or repress the expression of these sequences. A group of repetitive elements include transposons, or transposable elements, which can jump around to different locations in the genome, interrupting other genes and […]

Sofia Arevalo

Polycarbonate Urethane (Bionate, PCU), a medical grade polymer, is utilized in the orthopedic industry as a load bearing system due to its superior mechanical properties and biocompatibility. However, adhesive/abrasive wear of polymers in vivo can lead to osteolysis (bone loss) and subsequent aseptic loosening of implants, severely limiting their overall lifetime. This study will instigate the surface mechanical properties, by using a nanonindenter by Hysitron, of Bionate 75D and Bionate 80A and determine a correlation between nanoindentation and wear properties. Understanding the relationship between surface properties and wear behavior can […]