Gaik Mkrtchian

My lab’s research focus is the characterization of bone quality in disease states affecting the skeleton using high-resolution imaging techniques. I will personally be contributing to the study NIH-funded study of the impact of weight loss on skeletal structure and strength by analyzing HR-pQCT data. I will be responsible for segmenting and analyzing the CT scans that have been obtained over the past years. This musculoskeletal research will open a new window for researchers and allow clinicians to understand and treat their patients better.

Celine Cen

The ability to control attention enables adaptive behaviors by facilitating selective processing of the most important information in the environment. By training mice to perform goal directed behavior we aim to quantitatively measure the effects of selective attention on neural activity in specific cell classes. The project will involve multiple experimental approaches including 2-photon calcium imaging, optogenetics, and quantitative sensory behavior.

Daniel Deng

Currently, there is an unmet need for an accessible method of objective diagnosis and tracking of motor symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease (PD). The ability to quantify motor symptom progression in PD patients is crucial for assessing and optimizing therapeutic interventions, such as dopaminergic medications and deep brain stimulation (DBS). This summer, I will continue the development and validation of a computer-vision-based analysis pipeline for tracking clinical states in PD based on simple recordings of patients performing motor-related tasks. By developing this pipeline, we hope to allow affordable, accessible, and automated […]

Sooyeon Kim

During the duration of Summer 2023, I will continue my work in the CALM Lab with the Attention, Impulsivity, Memory (AIM) study as well as the Neurobehavioral Affective Control Training (N-ACT) trials. The main objectives of the AIM research are to understand how stress impacts attention and memory in real-world decision-making and the relationship between emotional and non-emotional cognitive processes. N-ACT is a cognitive training program that utilizes computer-based tasks to practice various mental techniques related to emotional processing and control. The main objective is to determine if the N-ACT […]

Erica Jazmin Villegas Padilla

This summer I will be recruiting, interviewing, and building bonds with older Latinx Richmond and Oakland, CA community members. I will have the privilege of listening to their experiences with community support systems and services. Pulling from these experiences, my team and I seek to address strengths and weaknesses within the older adult service sector. 

Lez’li Waller

Help research and secure image reproductions and permissions for two book projects centered on race, gender, and photography. Research the history of photography through the lens of collaboration rather than individual authorship. Potential photographic projects from across the African diaspora that model different versions of collaboration. This includes locating images, researching artists/photographers, and assembling short descriptions. Both projects place questions of race, gender, and power at the center.

Derik Liu

Produced during cellular metabolism, the compound fructose-2,6-bisphosphate (F26BP) has been shown to activate glycolysis, a key pathway that breaks down the sugars we eat into energy and other usable products our bodies need. Even small amounts of F26BP can dramatically increase the rate of glycolysis under a variety of conditions, suggesting that it contributes to promoting the production of various proteins, fats, and other molecules that cells need to grow. We aim to better understand the factors controlling the process that produces F26BP in order to mathematically model its functionality, […]

Jean Doody

This summer, I will be working on-site with the Nemea Center for Classical Archaeology at the Sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea, Greece. During the program, I will catalog and conserve artifacts in the museum, and also participate in fieldwork and excavation on-site. This summer experience will be a continuation of my academic year experience as a Undergraduate Research Apprentice with the on-campus Nemea Center.

Kaya Poff

The undergraduate real analysis course, in addition to being particularly difficult to teach and to learn, is often challenging to justify and explain. Throughout the year, my mentor and I have studied several professors’ language practices used in their real analysis lectures in order to answer the questions: What is real analysis and why should we study it? By coding instances of the professors exhibiting value judgments, asserting student-instructor positionality, and other examples of “tension” in the professors’ justification of the course, we have explored how mathematicians navigate the complicated […]

Enoch (Yinuo) Zhou

Graphic database enjoys various important advantages in representing data in Icelandic Sagas comparing to traditional databases, such as more convenient visualizations and querying. My summer research project focuses on improving and populating the graphic databases that store the characters and interactions in Icelandic Sagas, such as the collection of sagas in “The Sagas of Icelanders” prefaced by Jane Smiley. My potential objectives include synthesizing character data throughout different sagas and creating user interface for the graphic databases. Furthermore, as a product of generating graphic databases, investigation of graphic structures and […]