Sanjana Shankar
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a debilitating disorder that can lead to difficulty thinking, while also disrupting an individual’s ability to carry out bodily functions. With no known cure, those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s live an average of 4-8 years after detection of the disease. A mutation in a gene known as APOE4 has been implicated as a high risk factor for AD. Specifically, this genotype leads to higher risk of AD in women who are carriers of the gene. However, the mechanisms involved in differences between male and female patients is […]
Xiaomei Song
Exploring Diabetes’ Impact: Social Media Analysis with NLP This SURF project investigates the emotional and socioeconomic burdens of diabetes by analyzing social media discourse. We leverage advanced NLP techniques to categorize sentiments and topics shared by individuals. By delving into positive, negative, and neutral expressions across platforms, we aim to illuminate the complex challenges of managing diabetes beyond clinical settings. This research will provide valuable insights for patient care, and public health policies, and bridge the gap between traditional research and real-life experiences.
Neeraja Sripada
Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) is the leading cause of bacterial sexually transmitted infections with over 131 million new cases occurring globally each year. This is due in part to unchecked transmission because ~50% of males and ~80% of females are asymptomatic and remain untreated. Recently, rectal Ct infections have been shown to be significantly more common than previously thought, especially among women. Little is known about rectal Ct infections in women and the immune responses to it that may drive or prevent infection. My project will therefore aim to elucidate the […]
Emma Teng
Melanoma is an impactful disease that causes the death of two people in the United States every hour. Often, cancerous mutations occur in genes crucial for development. During gastrulation, the process that forms the primitive gut, several movements resemble those of melanoma cells. One of these events is the formation of teardrop-shaped bottle cells and tissue ingression towards the anterior end of the embryo. The actin cytoskeleton is known to be responsible for shape change (Lee & Harland, 2006) and intracellular effectors allude to the mechanisms involved (Popov et at., […]
Yuqi Tian
How do we form imaginations of a city? How do we consider technological production through questions of place and space? What does literature tell us about the function of geo-locating methods and virtualities in our everyday life? My project examines Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities through theories in literary cartography, urban geography, and new media and asks how we can imagine urban futures with the incorporation of mobile phones and digital mapping technologies. Calvino’s book provides various ways in which a city and its experience can be, but he also reconsiders […]
Mario Varo
Deportation is a significant concern in areas of the United States with sizable amounts of low-income immigrant communities, such as the San Francisco Bay Area. Masses of detained migrants do not have access to legal representation, which previous studies have linked to lower removal rates. In an effort to address this issue, pro bono legal representation plays a vital role for low-income migrants by providing them with free or reduced-cost legal assistance. While there is substantial literature on Pro Bono initiatives in other metropolitan areas, this research seeks to assess […]
Daphne Maskrey
This research project conducts rhetorical analysis of Title IX policy to investigate its limits in the pursuit of nondiscrimination. I ask: How does the language of Title IX contribute to the discourse surrounding sex-based discrimination, and what rhetorical limitations obfuscate Title IX’s declared pursuit of nondiscrimination? Based on my firsthand experience with Title IX, I hypothesize that Title IX enacts a discursive feedback loop wherein the language around sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination self-limits in the pursuit of nondiscrimination. My project hopes to point out the limitations of Title IX […]
Beatrice Mchugh
My thesis explores the aesthetic dialogue created by Nabokov in his usage and treatment of language. Through the apparent precision to which Nabokov’s language gestures, he in fact exposes the vagueness inherent in words. In doing so he facilitates the reader’s interrogation of the text as the creation of its author as well as their own subjectivity as reader, the consumer of its language. We must consider the connotative and denotative values of words; what each word has the potential to embody as well as what rifts it may expose […]
Kristie Moore
In 2010, brutal violence broke out in Southern Kyrgyzstan between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. Preceded by decades of mistrust and conflict, this incident is one of the many manifestations of exclusionary nationality policies, discrimination, and interethnic tensions in the region that continue to plague the region today. Through interviews with young people and peacebuilding organizations in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan–specifically in the cities of Bishkek, Osh, and Tashkent, my research seeks to understand perspectives on multiculturalism, diversity, and interethnic relations. It will specifically consider how young people make sense of government […]
Fiona R. Murphy
While many have been taught that the middle ages were sexually non-existent, or at least avoidant, that could not be further from the truth. In the Early Irish Sagas (c. 8th – 12th centuries) stories of sex, infidelity and more are rampant. These stories, all of which were recorded by monastically trained scribes, are an incredible trove of information on the Early Irish opinions toward sexuality. Yet, as the field has opened in terms of gender studies, it still shies away from sex and even more so from the study […]