Madison Payne
Lichens are complex symbiotic associations between filament-forming fungi and green algae or cyanobacteria. This project is part of the ongoing investigation in how the symbiosis forms and is maintained over the lifetime of a lichen and over evolutionary time. This summer, I will be using microscopy to examine the composition and structure of different lichens, aiming to better understand the intimacy of the relationship between the fungal and photosynthetic partner within the lichen symbiosis.
Jaclyn Lee
Our summer research in the Theunissen lab will be focusing on observing and understanding juvenile zebra finches and their auditory development. I will be observing their day-to-day advancements and how quickly they can learn tasks that are given during experiments. As an oscine species, they learn their repertoire through practice and imitation early in their lives. We hope to learn more about this process by utilizing their young age. Additionally, I will be analyzing the results and diving into biostatistics and animal behavior.
Lucas Maldonado
Our project seeks to better analyze and understand the relations between elected municipal representatives and citizens, as well as how dynamics with the greater national government affect local initiatives and politics. This past academic year, we have been focusing on analyzing written city council meeting transcripts from both countries in an effort to find keywords that could help us more efficiently analyze specific discussions, especially those pertaining to funding for local projects. This summer, I’ll focus on analyzing how local politicians advertise their participation in securing this funding to constituents […]
Carina Tu
Patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) often face communication barriers that lead to lower quality care and more frequent medical errors. Our research centers on characterizing and identifying these language interpretation challenges in patients’ everyday efforts to access care and manage chronic health conditions. We aim to understand how primary care practices meet the language needs of diverse communities through bilingual staff, interpreters, and support for patients who speak less common languages. Our work will inform policy changes that will make medicine more accessible.
Ivona Sutilovic
Our goal is to first develop a method for infecting macrophages with Mycobacterium abscessus (Mab). Once the model has been generated we will use it to investigate to role of Mab specific antibodies in the clearance of intercellular bacteria. If a role can be established, the antibodies will be used in conjunction with antibiotics to see if there is a synergistic effect against intracellular Mab.
Tianze Li
Birks’ Law is a widely used model for predicting how much light a scintillator emits when exposed to ionizing radiation, but its applicability is limited to a specific range of energy loss per unit distance. This summer, I will extract data from published literature to expand the Scintillator Library, and support ongoing efforts at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory by helping collect and interpret experimental results from measurements at the 88-Inch Cyclotron. By improving the models that describe ionization quenching, this work contributes to more accurate descriptions of scintillator behavior. These […]
Alexander Chang
This project aims to develop durable, water-repellent mycelium bricks with structural integrity suitable for architectural use. By repurposing invasive eucalyptus as a primary substrate, this work also explores the potential for ecological co-benefits such as carbon sequestration and landscape restoration. Ultimately, the study seeks to advance sustainable material innovation through circular bio-based systems that integrate ecological stewardship with regenerative design.
Daniela Arreola
This summer I will focus on developing a sustainable YPAR Data Dashboard that promotes the use of youth-led research findings in SFUSD policy by mapping past projects and findings using ArcGIS. We will engage district leaders and youth, incorporating their feedback to improve the dashboard. The dashboard will also serve as a form of institutional memory, preserving the work and impact of youth over time to inform future initiatives and decision-making. Additionally, I’ll take a leadership role in strengthening the YPAR Hub, which houses the YPAR curriculum—an educational resource that […]
Nevan Hanford
Over the past two decades, there has been a resurgence in both clinical and non-clinical use of psychedelics, raising important public health questions about their therapeutic potential and possible adverse effects. MDMA-assisted therapy has recently been shown to offer significant clinical benefits for individuals suffering from PTSD, suggesting a possible legal and medical use for the substance. At the same time, recreational use of MDMA has been associated with various cognitive deficits, highlighting the need for further research into its health effects. Our study aims to shed light on this […]
Jane Lin
By knocking out Vitamin D Receptor (VDR) gene and Calcium Sensing Receptor (Casr) genes, we created Double Knockout mice (DKO). After 12 months, these mice spontaneously develop squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), as supported by precious histology analysis of the tumor sections. In the summer, I will analyze gene expressions and stem cell trajectories of specific genes related to carcinogenesis and epidermis cells via single cell sequencing.