Jesse Hart
Multimessenger astronomy combines gravitational waves and electromagnetic observations to study cosmic events. Due to multimessenger methods, binary neutron star mergers are believed to be the progenitors of the mysterious short gamma ray bursts (sGRBs) observed in telescopes. The joint detection of a gravitational wave (GW) with an associated sGRB demonstrated the potential of GW and sGRB observations to study the progenitors and environments of compact object mergers. However, only one confirmed joint detection exists, leaving sGRB emission mechanisms and their progenitors unclear. The Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) is a […]
Sasha Sengelmann
Despite standard-of-care radiotherapy (RT) and chemotherapy, glioblastoma (GBM) remains one of the most treatment-resistant and aggressive forms of cancer. A critical driver of this resistance is the tumor’s ability to repair radiation-induced DNA damage, a pathway largely regulated by an enzyme called DNA-PKcs. In preliminary data, I have shown that inhibiting DNA-PKcs enhances radiosensitivity in GBM. DNA-PKcs inhibition also induces immune signaling following RT, suggesting that combining DNA damage with immunotherapy could be a promising therapeutic approach. This project investigates the mechanisms underlying this immune activation. I will test whether […]
Johnny McNeill
The Hawaiian monk seal is one of the most closely monitored model organisms for endangered species, yet it remains unknown why some individuals are susceptible to infectious disease while genetically similar conspecifics survive. Small populations face a paradox in which the bottlenecks that threaten survival simultaneously erode the immune diversity required to resist pathogens, creating a feedback loop thought to accelerate extinction risk. Genomic evidence for this relationship in wild populations remains scarce. This project tests that framework by pairing whole-genome sequences from hundreds of monk seals with long-term disease […]
Tasmia Puspita
This project examines how the Bangladeshi government suppressed the July–August 2024 quota movement and why these actions have faced little legal accountability. While existing scholarship documents a long pattern of state violence—including extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances—there is limited analysis of how recent events violate both domestic and international law. My research focuses on specific cases, such as the use of live ammunition against protestors, the detention of minors, and warrantless searches, to evaluate whether these actions breach legal standards Bangladesh has formally agreed to uphold. Drawing on verified open-source […]
Laurie Desiderio-Giampiccolo
What does it mean to be an American author today? How does language legitimize the nationality of a text and define authorial identity? In his collection Unaccompanied (2017), Salvadoran poet Javier Zamora blends the trauma of immigration and assimilation with longing for his war-stricken homeland through linguistic hybridity. This technique reflects an emerging literary movement that challenges the monolingual understanding of nationality within the multicultural reality of 21st-century America. My project compares Zamora’s use of Spanish—rooted in intimate and quotidian expression—with 20th-century code-switching practices. In Corky Gonzales’s “Yo Soy Joaquín” […]
Rachel Sang
When cells are subjected to environmental stress, they must balance protein production with energy conservation. This results in increased quality control of protein production, ensuring cellular viability. Translation is a known mechanism that maintains protein balance and regulates stress responses. In the Titov Lab, we CRISPR engineered multiple strains of C.elegans to degrade specific translation factors. We identified 5 factors that when degraded, reduced overall translation and altered lifespan. As an extension of this finding, this project strives to investigate how the degradation of these 5 translation factors affects environmental […]
Lauryn Hong
Bipolar disorder (BD) is a mental illness characterized by pronounced shifts in mood, energy, and motivation. People with BD show disturbances in circadian rhythms manifested as irregular sleep and diurnal activity patterns, and differences in circadian gene expression. BD affects over 30 million people worldwide. Mice with a dominant negative mutation in the core circadian gene, Clock (ClockΔ19 mice), have been proposed as a model for BD, with mice showing hyperactivity, decreased sleep, increased risk-taking behavior, and increased reward sensitivity. These mice are also susceptible to obesity and metabolic dysfunction, […]
Beepashna Bista
The variable field cricket, Gryllus lineaticeps, is an insect that produces two adult morphs: a long-winged (LW) morph capable of flight that delays reproduction, and a short-winged (SW) morph that is flightless but matures earlier. Wing morph is an environmentally plastic trait, so adult morph is determined in response to seasonal cues, such as temperature and photoperiod. LW adults more frequently develop in warm and long days (WLD) and SW adults develop in cold and short days (CSD). Adult wing morph is determined in the last juvenile stage of development, […]
Kiran Waraich
College students are at a critical risk period for the emergence of a substance use disorder (SUD), showing the highest rates of alcohol and cannabis consumption of any age group. Standard prevention efforts by researchers often assert that negative consequences from substance use will deter students from further use; however, not all students interpret these consequences as equally negative. An understudied aspect of this equation is the evaluation of anticipated outcomes as positive or negative occurrences at different intersections of identity, which may shape substance-related decisions and outcomes. Thus, this […]
Priyanka Samant
A highly debated phenomenon within the phonetics-phonology interface is why consonant intrinsic fundamental frequency (CF0) differs based on voicing, or whether a sound theoretically involves vocal fold vibration. Cross-linguistically, voiced sounds (such as /b/, /d/, and /g/) have a low CF0, while voiceless sounds (such as /p/, /t/, and /k/) have a high CF0. Two theories drive this debate: a physiological account arguing that variation in anatomical muscle positioning accounts for this difference, and a phonological account arguing that mental abstractions of sounds are more crucial. Little work has been […]