Author: Eskin, Jodi

• Student Accomplishments – December 2019

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Please join us in congratulating the UConn undergraduates named below for their significant research and creative accomplishments in summer and fall 2019. Students: if you have an accomplishment to share, please do so using this online form.

PUBLICATIONS

Pasquale Mingione V ’21 (CLAS) was a co-author on a recent publication from Dr. Geoffrey Tanner’s (Physiology and Neurobiology) lab:

Lee, D.C., Vali, K., Baldwin, S.R., Divino, J.N., Feliciano, J.L., Fequiere, J.R., Fernandez, M.A., Frageau, J.C., Longo, F.K., Madhoun, S.S., Mingione V, P., O’Toole, T.R., Ruiz, M.G., and Tanner, G.R. (2019). Dietary Supplementation With the Ketogenic Diet Metabolit Beta-Hydroxybutyrate Ameliorates Post-TBI Aggression in Young-Adult Male Drosophila. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 30 October 2019,  doi: 10.3389/fnins.2019.01140

SUMMER RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

James He ’21 (CLAS) spent part of his summer engaged in a research project at the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine in Farmington, CT. Working in the lab of Dr. Edison Liu, CEO and President of the Jackson Laboratory, James’ research investigated a specific genomic configuration in certain cancer types. He was supervised by Dr. Francesca Menghi.

Shankara Narayanan ’21 (CLAS) interned at the College of International Security Affairs at National Defense University. He researched Russian operations in Africa with Dr. Erica Marat. Shankara’s research was published by the Jamestwon Foundation, a Washington D.C. think-tank focusing on regions strategically vital to U.S. foreign policy. https://jamestown.org/the-mercenaries-behind-russian-operations-in-africa/

PRESENTATIONS

  • Saurabh Kumar '21 (CLAS)

 

2019 Evolution Conference – June 21-25, 2019 – Providence, RI

Alyssa Ferreira ’20 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Development of an Open-Source, Web-Based Database Model for the Tripal Framework to Improve the Quality of Non-Model Eukaryotic Genome Annotation

2019 IEEE MIT Undergraduate Research Technology Conference – October 11-13, 2019 – Cambridge, MA

Camden Craigie ’20 (ENG), Samuel Pevsner ’20 (ENG), Brittany Smith ’20 (ENG) – OUR Travel Award recipients
Whopper Popper

American Physical Society, Division of Nuclear Physics 2019 Fall Meeting – October 14-17, 2019 – Crystal City, Virginia

Donovan Davino, Aug ’20 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Exploring Thermal Conductivity of Heat Treated Niobium at Cryogenic Temperatures to Produce More Efficient SRF Cavities

Sean Oh ’20 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Radiation Damage Recovery of PbWO4 Crystals with Optical Bleaching

Megan Sturm ’21 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Efficiency Measurements for HPGe Detectors

Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Annual Meeting – October 16-19, 2019 – Philadelphia, PA

Ariane Garrett ’20 (ENG) – OUR Travel Award recipient
A Novel Cerebral Spinal Fluid Flow Sensor

Rohit Makol ’20 (ENG) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Optimization of Immunohistochemical Staining Methods in Rat Spinal Cord Tissue

Morgan McNamara ’20 (ENG) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Crosstalk Detection Circuit for Microelectrode Arrays

Helen Phu, Dec ’20 (ENG) – OUR Travel Award recipient
A User-Friendly Interface to Wirelessly Control Neuroprostheses

Caroline Thompson ’20 (ENG) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Bioresorbable Bone Fixation Devices for Load Bearing Fractures Utilizing Silk and Hydroxyapatite

Society for Neuroscience (SFN) Annual Meeting – October 19-23, 2019 – Chicago, IL 

Aditi Anam ’20 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Persistence of Dorsal and Ventral Hippocampal Remapping after Exploring a Novel Environment

Saurabh Kumar ’20 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Developmental Changes to the Neural Stem Cell Niche in Fetal-Onset Hydrocephalus

Judie Wang ’20 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Observational Learning in a Working Memory, Food-Reward Task in Rats

Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Annual Meeting – November 10-15, 2019 – Orlando, FL

Nicole Khusid ’22 (ENG, CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Characterization of Rn-220 as a Calibration Source in EXO-200

Brianna Markunas ’20 (ENG) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Hydrodeoxygenation of Guaiacol with Ru Catalysts on Various Activated Carbon Supports

Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Annual Convention – November 21-24, 2019 – Atlanta, GA 

Adrienne Nguyen ’20 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Relationship between Internalizing Problems and Internet Gaming Disorder Symptoms among Treatment-Seeking Youth

Gabrielle Sharbin ’20 (CAHNR) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Evaluating Addictive Behaviors in HIV/Substance Abuse Populations

• SURF 2020 – Program Reminders

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With the SURF 2020 application cycle underway, we would like to take the opportunity to emphasize some key reminders regarding the SURF program. SURF continues to offer students from across the academic disciplines the opportunity to focus full-time on a research or creative project for 9-10 weeks over the summer. Shorter-term projects may also be proposed for funding through this program, with the requested award amount scaled down accordingly.

Application Management System

We will continue our use of the UConn Quest Portal, an application management system new last year and powered by SurveyMonkey Apply, to collect, process, and review SURF applications for summer 2020. This system allows students to complete the various components of the SURF application in the most appropriate order for them and to make edits as needed prior to submission of their application.

  • Letters of Recommendation. Two letters of recommendation are required for the SURF application.
    • Student applicants must request recommendation letters through the application system by entering the name and UConn email address of the faculty members who have agreed to write letters on their behalf. The system will send the recommenders an individual link for recommendation submission.
    • Faculty recommenders will receive an email from the Quest Portal on behalf of the student who is requesting a letter of recommendation. Both first and second recommenders will submit their letters through the portal by uploading a PDF file. Faculty who are serving as the project supervisor (1st recommender) will also be asked to answer a series of research compliance questions.

Application Reminders (See the full application outline here)

  • Budget reminders. Students should visit the Budget Policies and Samples page for detailed guidance about allowable expenses (now including maximum dollar amounts for expenses like poster printing) and examples of budgets that show the appropriate level of detail.
    • Student requesting stipend as part of a Plan A or Plan C budget should be careful to use accurate stipend language as noted on the Budget Policies page.
    • Faculty advisors of students conducting laboratory research: Please work with your advisee to ensure s/he has accurate information about the costs of lab supplies that can be procured through university purchasing channels and contracts.
  • Timeline reminders. Student should visit the Sample Timeline page for guidance on developing a detailed timeline. The SURF proposal timeline should clearly indicate start and end dates, the anticipated number of project work hours each week, and a week-by-week listing of planned project milestones.
  • Research Compliance reminders. Students and faculty should note that research compliance approvals are complex and take significant time. Please plan accordingly. While the necessary approvals are not required at the application stage, students should be aware that SURF funding will not be disbursed until all necessary compliance documents have been submitted to OUR, and that SURF awards will be rescinded if documentation is not received by the stated deadline. Both faculty and students are reminded to take care in reading the series of questions concerning biological materials as this category encompasses a wide range of items.

ESTA Requirement/Documentation of Safety Training

Students proposing SURF project work that will take place in a setting with hazards such as a lab, theater, or studio will be required to complete the Employee Safety Training Assessment (ESTA) with their faculty mentor to determine which safety training courses are required in order to work where hazards are present.

  • Student applicants will be asked about completion of the ESTA in the Research Compliance section of the application. We encourage students to complete the ESTA with their faculty supervisor prior to submitting their application.
  • Information on how to document completion of the ESTA and completion of the indicated training/registration for upcoming training is available on OUR’s Safety Training page.

We look forward to another excellent set of SURF applications this year! The application deadline is 11:59pm on Monday, February 3, 2020. Letters of recommendation are due by this date as well. We encourage all students to make use of SURF Office Hours to seek feedback on their draft materials and to ask any questions they might have about the program or the application. SURF Office Hours are scheduled for 1/21, 1/24, and 1/27. Full detail about times and location can be found in the sidebar on the main SURF webpage.

Kathryn Allen: The value of major exploration in discovering a research interest

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Kathryn Allen ’19 (CLAS) earned her bachelor’s degree this spring and shares the value of an unexpected academic “detour” in this essay.

When I first entered UConn, I had a plan. Like many eager incoming freshmen, I would major in Biology; take classes that follow the pre-med track, hopefully gain some research experience, and ultimately apply to medical school the summer of my junior year. However, also true of many freshmen entering the academia environment, that plan would soon change over my time at UConn.

After enjoying a few courses that were not strictly biology focused, I began thinking about a major that would provide both science-oriented subjects and those focused on the humanities. During my sophomore year, I changed my major to Cognitive Science, an interdisciplinary major, and began exploring various subjects including linguistics, psychology, and speech language and hearing science. My new major, while quite small, was a perfect medium that allowed me to enroll in a wider array of unique courses, while still having adequate time to fulfill the pre-med requirements. By the end of my sophomore year, I started to recognize my interest in topics like child development, language, and neurological disorders and function.

At this point in my undergraduate career, I began my search for a lab that would allow me to complete my thesis. Like many uncertain undergraduate students, I had no idea where to begin my search. During my junior year, I reached out to a professor in the psychology department, met with them about their interests and area of research, and eventually began working in their lab. Throughout the semester, I gained valuable experience running clinical trials, but realized that I wished to conduct my thesis on a different topic.

Towards the end of my junior year, my academic advisor, Dr. Naigles mentioned that she had a spot opening up in her lab, as well as a project she thought I might be interested in. I had taken two classes with her during my time at UConn and she proposed a project that had both language and neural components; two areas I was particularly interested in. Knowing that I was behind on my project compared to my classmates, I began doing preliminary work on it during the summer before senior year. I worked from home transcribing audio of story narratives told by both children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and typically developing children. In the fall, I had the opportunity to accompany our graduate student to a home to collect additional story narratives. A graduate student in our lab had previously collected the Auditory Brainstem Response data with an EEG and my project focused on the relationship between story narratives and internal brainstem response for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) children.

As I was transcribing the data, I realized noticeable differences between the narratives derived from the children diagnosed with ASD and those from the TD children; however, I could not initially explain why. I proposed to Dr. Naigles a method for assessing if these differences were significant. I generated a document featuring story narrative transcripts from the children, administered the transcripts to peers and had them rate the stories based on how well they understood them. Dr. Naigles was supportive and encouraging of the creative component of the project and suggested that we include it.

After transcription was performed during the summer, I spent the fall administering the transcripts to peers and analyzing the data. Prior to this project, I had never used SPSS besides minimal exposure in STAT1000Q and was not entirely sure what I was doing. However, as the months progressed, the data analysis became easier and easier. By the end of the project, I was able to run correlations, identify whether to run a paired or unpaired t-test, interpret statistical significance, and

Kathryn Allen presenting her research at the INSAR conference.
Kathryn Allen ’19 (CLAS)

more.

During my spring semester I compiled the data, started writing my thesis, and with the encouragement of Dr. Naigles, I applied to present my findings at an international conference held in Montreal, CA. The aid from the OUR grant made my attendance at the conference possible. I had few expectations of what it meant to present a poster at a conference, let alone attend one, but when I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised at what I found. I hope to attend medical school in the future and have interests ranging across disciplines. During the conference, I was able to attend talks focused on an array of different topics, such as clinical treatments, genetic predispositions to Autism Spectrum Disorders, and global disparities within the medical field. They were fascinating and educating. My poster presentation was scheduled for the second day I was there. I am generally not nervous when it comes to talking to new people, but when I knew I would be presenting my findings to experts in the field, I clammed up. Dr. Naigles helped me practice how to present the poster, which calmed my nerves significantly. Gradually, individuals approached my poster and began asking questions. As time went on, I became less and less nervous and it felt natural to tell others about the findings of my research.

The aid from the OUR grant not only allowed me to attend a conference, but it offered a space for me to explore exciting ongoing research, and refine my public speaking skills, which will be valuable for my future career in medicine. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to complete a project of my own and attend a conference where I was able to present my thesis to others in the field. Ultimately, I am happy my initial plan entering college took the many detours it did to get me to where I am today and surpass all my expectations as to what research can entail for an undergraduate at UConn.

• Student Accomplishments – May 2019

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accomplishments-headingPlease join us in congratulating the UConn undergraduates named below for their significant research and creative accomplishments in spring 2019. Students: if you have an accomplishment to share, please do so using this online form.

AWARDS

Congratulations to Shaylin Cetegen ’19 (ENG), Eric Lepowsky ’19 (ENG), Leann McLaren ’19 (CLAS), and Hetal Patel ’19 (ENG), the undergraduate recipients of 2019 NSF Graduate Research Fellowships! They are among the 11 UConn students and alumni who won NSF Graduate Research Fellowships this year.2019 UConn Goldwater Scholars

For the first time, four UConn students have been named Goldwater Scholars in a single year. Congratulations to Berk Alpay ’21 (ENG, CLAS), Ariane Garrett ’20 (ENG, CLAS), Sam Markelon ’20 (ENG), and Saurabh Kumar ’20 (CLAS), pictured at right, who were recognized for their outstanding ability and promise, as well as their intention to pursue advanced study and research careers. Learn more about the awardees in this UConn Today article.

PUBLICATIONS

University Scholar and Health Research Program participant Brian Aguilera ’19 (CLAS) was a co-author on a recent publication from the Ghosh and Shapiro groups in the Center for Vascular Biology at UConn Health:

Ghosh, M., Lo, R., Ivic, I., Aguilera, B., Qendro, V., Devarakonda, C., & Shapiro, L.H. (2019). CD13 tethers the IQGAP1-ARF6-EFA6 complex to the plasma membrane to promote ARF6 activation, β1 integrin recycling, and cell migration. Science Signaling 12. doi: 10.1126/scisignal.aav5938

Four undergraduate researchers in Dr. Alexander Jackson’s lab – Eric Beltrami ’19 (CLAS), Brock Chimileski ’17 (CLAS), James Costanzo ’19 (CLAS), and Jacob Naparstek ’18 (CLAS) – were coauthors on this Nature Neuroscience article:

Mickelsen, L.E., Bolisetty, M., Chimileski, B.R., Fujita, A., Beltrami, E.J., Costanzo, J.T., Naparstek, J.R., Robson, P., & Jackson, A.C. (2019). Single-cell transcriptomic analysis of the lateral hypothalamic area reveals molecularly distinct populations of inhibitory and excitatory neurons. Nature Neuroscience 22, 642-656. doi: 10.1038/s41593-019-0349-8

Patrick Briody ’20 (CLAS), Saurabh Kumar ’20 (CLAS), and Derek Pan ’20 (CLAS), all OUR Supply Award recipients, were co-authors on a recent publication based on research conducted in Dr. Joanne Conover’s lab:

Coletti, A.M., Singh, D., Kumar, S., Shafin, T.N., Briody, P.J., Babbitt, B., Pan, D., Norton, E.S., Brown, E.C., Kahle, K.T., Del Bigio, M.R., & Conover, J.C. (2018). Characterization of the ventricular-subventricular stem cell niche during human brain development. Development 2018. http://dev.biologists.org/content/early/2018/09/19/dev.170100

SHARE Award recipient Divya Ganugapati ’19 (CLAS) was the first author on an article based on research in Dr. Rachel Theodore’s Laboratory for Spoken Language Processing:

Ganugapati, D., & Theodore, R.M. (2019). Structured phonetic variation facilitates talker identification. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 145. doi: 10.1121/1.5100166

Emily Karr ’19 (CLAS) co-authored two book chapters based on research conducted in Dr. Alaina Brenick’s research group in Human Development and Family Studies:

Brenick, A., Schachner, M.K., Carvalheiro, D., & Karr, E. (2019). (No) space for prejudice! Varied forms of negative outgroup attitudes and ethnic discrimination and how they develop or can be prevented in the classroom. In H.E. Fitzgerald et al. (Eds.), Handbook of Children and Prejudice: Integrating Research, Practice, and Policy, pp. 315-330. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Brenick, A., Flannery, K., Karr, E., & Carvalheiro, D. (in press). Send nudes? Evaluating sexting and victimization as related to attachment and rejection sensitivity: Incorporating sexual minority perspectives. In M.F. Wright (Ed.), Recent Advances in Digital Media Impacts on Identity, Sexuality, and Relations. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Elliott Wilion ’19 (CLAS) co-authored an article based on research in Dr. James Li’s laboratory:

Wizeman, J.W., Guo, Q., Wilion, E.M., & Li, J.Y.H. (2019). Specification of diverse cell types during early neurogenesis of the mouse cerebellum. eLife 8. doi: 10.7554/eLife.42388

EXHIBITIONS AND SCREENINGS

Spring 2019 included a series of art exhibitions and screenings by the following undergraduate students:

Olivia Crosby ’19 (SFA) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
Making Welcome: Space, Material, and Human Centered Design

Kenny Glazer ’19 (SFA) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
Moving Day

Lucian Hatfield ’19 (SFA), Regan Kilkenny ’20 (SFA), Christian Partenio ’19 (SFA) – UConn IDEA Grant recipients
The Color of You

Kat Folker ’19 (SFA) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
There is Something in the Woods: A Short Horror Film

Isabella Saraceni ’19 (SFA) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
Anonymous Is A Woman

Blue Wallick ’19 (SFA) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
Prismatic: Reflections on Transgender and Non-Binary Experiences

PRESENTATIONS

American Astronomical Society Annual Meeting – January 6-10, 2019 – Seattle, WA

Aisha Massiah ’20 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
The Search For Galaxies That Host Multiple Type Ia Supernova

Joint Mathematics Meetings – January 9-12, 2019 – Baltimore, MD

Anthony Sisti ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Option Pricing for the VIX and TYVIX Indexes using a Risk-Neutral Historical Distribution

  • Leann Mclaren presenting at the Midwest Political Science Association annual meeting.
    Leann Mclaren '19 (CLAS)
Plant and Animal Genome XXVII Conference – January 12-16, 2019 – San Diego, CA

Alyssa Ferreira ’20 (CAHNR) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Investigation of Strategies to Improve Annotation and Assembly of Conifer Genomes

Olivia Maher ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Expression Analysis of Needle Abscission in the Deciduous Eastern Larch (L. laricina)

Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy – January 30-February 1, 2019 – Blacksburg, VA

Jillianne Garcia ’21 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Anti-“Weathering” Strategies

Emerging Researchers National Conference in STEM – February 21-23, 2019 – Washington, DC

Paulina Frutos ’19 (CLAS, CAHNR) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Study of Wetland Restoration Structures on Microbial Functionality

Eastern Psychological Association Meeting – February 28-March 2, 2019 – New York, NY  

Carly Danziger ’20 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Dyadic Worry Induced in a Laboratory Setting Increases Anxiety Between Friends

Christina Flores ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
The EEG Mu Rhythm and Temperament in 6- and 12-month-olds

Jeffrey Hunt ’20 (CLAS) & Nathan Rivera ’19 (CALS) – OUR Travel Award recipients
Physiological Concomitants of Dyadic Worry Between Friends

Emmalyn Lecky ’20 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Cognitive Biases for Erotic or Cannabis Stimuli

Kimberly Morais ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Can Discussing Worries Promote Anxiety Contagion?

  • Kimberly Morais presenting at the Eastern Psychological Association annual meeting.
    Kimberly Morais '19 (CLAS)
American Physical Society National Meeting – March 4-8, 2019 – Boston, MA 

Meagan Sundstrom ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
How do Interactive Physics Learning Environments foster Intellectual Humility?

Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Meeting – March 6-9, 2019 – Washington, DC

Mareyna Simon ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Using Consumer-Grade EEG Devices to Measure Meditation Progress: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Northeast Writing Center Association Conference – March 30-31, 2019 – Danbury, CT

Alexandra Atherton ’19 (CLAS), Ethan Couillard ’22 (CLAS), Caitlyn Cubilla ’20 (CLAS), Donovan Davino ’20 (CLAS), Mia Dupuis ’19 (CLAS), & Nina Lupo ’21 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipients
Where Writing Meets STEM: Finding Meaning in a Multidisciplinary Academic Center

Connecticut Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Annual Meeting – April 1, 2019 – Hartford, CT

Caitlyn Sward ’19 (CAHNR) – OUR Travel Award recipient
#EATINGFORTWO: What are People Posting About When They Use this Hashtag in Instagram Posts about Diet, Physical Activity, and Weight Gain During Pregnancy?

Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting – April 4-7, 2019 – Chicago, IL

Leann McLaren ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
West Indian Diasporic Consciousness: The Case of Hartford, CT

Mary Vlamis ’20 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Torts, Judges, and Juries: Assessing Confidence in the Civil Justice System

Jessica Weaver ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
The Feminine Touch: How Female Representation Affects the Legislative Success of Women’s Issues Legislation

Northeast Algal Symposium – April 26-28, 2019 – Salem, MA

Maryam Shahbadi ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Diversity of Terrestrial Green Algae from Chile and Panama, with a Focus on Diplosphaera (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta)

Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting – April 27-30, 2019 – Baltimore, MD

Maryyam Ali ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Risk Factors and Exposure to Violence in Pediatric Emergency Department Patients

Maria Antony ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Family Perspectives on Accessing Community Resources to Mitigate Toxic Stress

Adrienne Nguyen ’20 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Impact of Undergraduate Research Assistant Program (URAP)

International Society for Autism Research Annual Meeting – May 1-4, 2019 – Montreal, Canada

Kathryn Allen ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Are Variations in Narrative Language Reflected in Early Auditory Processing Via ABR?

• Congratulations, 2019 SURF Award Recipients!

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SURF logo 2The Office of Undergraduate Research is pleased to announce the selection of 45 undergraduate students to receive SURF Awards in support of their summer undergraduate research projects.

Click here to view the full list of Summer 2019 SURF awardees.

Congratulations, SURF awardees! Your academic achievements, curiosity, initiative, and motivation were evident in your applications. You have an exciting summer of deep engagement with the process of academic inquiry ahead of you. We look forward to hearing about all you learn and discover!

We thank the faculty members who supported SURF applicants in a range of roles: mentors, letter writers, and faculty review committee members. SURF represents a collaborative effort between students and faculty. This program would not be possible without the support and participation of the UConn faculty!

OUR also extends thanks to SURF supporters in the UConn community. We are grateful to the Office of the Provost, the Office of the Vice President for Research, and to the Deans of the Schools and Colleges of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources; Engineering; Nursing; and Pharmacy, who all contributed funding to the SURF competition this year. Alumni, parents, and friends of UConn also helped fund SURF awards. This collaborative funding effort ensures that SURF supports a diverse array of undergraduate research endeavors. We are grateful to all of our program partners for making intensive summer research opportunities available to students seeking to enrich their undergraduate experience in this way.

Once again, congratulations to the recipients of 2019 SURF awards, and good luck with your summer projects!

Analyse Giordano '20 (CAHNR)
With her SURF Award, Analyse Giordano ’20 (CAHNR) will research whether biocompatible ceramic nanoparticles and nanotexturing can increase the longevity of implantable glucose monitors. (Carson Stifel/UConn Photo)
Isabella Ferrante '19 (CLAS)
Isabella Ferrante ’19 (CLAS) will conduct SURF-supported research in archives in the UK to understand how Shell Shock was perceived and understood after World War I. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

• Health Research Program – Opportunities for Summer 2019

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Brian Aguilera with Prof. Mallika Ghosh
HRP student Brian Aguilera ’19 (CLAS) working with his UConn Health mentor, Dr. Mallika Ghosh, Center for Vascular Biology.

The Office of Undergraduate Research is pleased to announce the next phase of the Health Research Program (HRP). This program offers a pathway into undergraduate research for students with interests in health and/or the biomedical sciences. By facilitating connections between UConn Health researchers and UConn undergraduates, the program aims to involve more students in research at UConn Health.

For students interested in participating in this program for Summer 2019, here is the key information:

  • Summer 2019 opportunities are now posted on the HRP website. There are 31 opportunities that range from public health to biological modeling, biomaterials to neuroscience, genetics to psychiatry. The application deadline for these opportunities is 11:59pm on Monday, February 4, 2019.
  • All of these opportunities are slated to continue into the 2019-20 academic year. Continuation is contingent on satisfactory progress over the course of the summer and both student and faculty mentor interest in continuing the placement.
  • To be eligible for Summer 2019 HRP opportunities, students must plan to graduate no sooner than May 2020.

Further details and answers to frequently asked questions are available on the Health Research Program website. Students are encouraged to peruse the posted opportunities and begin preparing application materials for any placements of interest. We urge students to take care to consider the time commitment and schedule options involved in a given opportunity to ensure that they can accommodate these demands in their summer and academic year schedule.

• Student Accomplishments – December 2018

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accomplishments-heading

Please join us in congratulating the UConn undergraduates named below for their significant research and creative accomplishments in summer and fall 2018. Students: if you have an accomplishment to share, please do so using this online form.

PUBLICATIONS

Keara Frawley ’18 (ENG) was first author on a recent publication from Dr. Seok-Woo Lee’s lab and her paper is featured in the journal cover:

Frawley, K.G., Bakst, I., Sypek, J.T., Vijayan, S., Weinberger, C.R., Canfield, P.C., Aindow, M., & Lee, S. (2018). A Nanoindentation Study of the Plastic Deformation and Fracture Mechanisms in Single-Crystalline CaFe2As2. The Journal of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, 70(7). doi: 10.1007/s11837-018-2851-y

William Hunt ’19 (ENG) was a co-author on a recent publication from Dr. Kevin Brown’s (Biomedical Engineering) research group:

Brown, K.S., Allopenna, P.D., Hunt, W.R., Steiner, R., Saltzman, E., McRae, K., & Magnuson, J.S. (2018). Universal Features in Phonological Neighbor Networks. Entropy, 20(7), 526; doi: 10.3390/e20070526

Craig Mendonca ’18 (CLAS) worked in the Gene Therapy Center in Dr. Guangping Gao’s lab at UMass Medical School. Craig was a co-author on a recent publication from this research internship:

Wang, D., Li, J, Song, C.Q., Tran, K., Mou, H., Wu, P.H., Tai, P.W.L., Mendonca, C.A., Ren, L., Wang, B.Y., Su, Q., Gessler, D.J., Zamore, P.D., Xue, W., & Gao, G. (2018). Cas9-mediated allelic exchange repairs compound heterozygous recessive mutations in mice. Nature Biotechnology, 36. doi: 10.1038/nbt.4219

Kathleen Renna ’20 (CAHNR), an undergraduate in the Health Research Program, and Yue (Jacky) Yang ’19 (ENG), a 2018 SURF student, were co-authors on a recent publication based on research conducted with Dr. Ephraim Trakhtenberg at UConn Health:

Rheaume, B.A., Jereen, A., Bolisetty, M., Sajid, M.S., Yang, Y., Renna, K., Sun, L., Robson, P., & Trakhtenberg, E.F. (2018). Single Cell Transcriptome Profiling of Retinal Ganglion Cells Identifies Cellular Subtypes. Nature Communications, 9(1). doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-05134-3

SUMMER RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Jiana Baker ’20 (CLAS) conducted research in Dr. Sangamesh Kumbar’s lab in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at UConn Health through the Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) Summer Research Fellowship Program. Jiana presented her work “Novel Polymer-Nanotube Composites: Small Molecule Drug Delivery Systems for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration” at the HCOP poster session.

Claudia Fernanda Pena-Sulantay ’20 (ENG) spent her summer in Nove Hrady, Czech Republic, engaged in a research project at the Center for Nanobiology and Structural Biology (CNSB). Her work on the project “Structural and functional analysis of the yeast K+ translocation system(s) encoded by TRK1 and TRK 2 genes” was part of the REU program in Molecular Biophysics sponsored by Princeton University.

Tanya Miller ’20 (CLAS) engaged in structural biology research at the Laboratory of Structural Biology which is part of BIOCEV, the Biotechnology and Biomedicine Center of the Academy of Sciences and Charles University in Vestec, Czech Republic. She was supervised by Dr. Cyril Barinka during the 5-week summer program.

PRESENTATIONS

  • Jiana Baker presenting her research at the HCOP poster session.
    Jiana Baker '20 (CLAS)

Galaxy Community Conference-Bioinformatics Open Source Conference – June 25-30, 2018 – Portland, OR

Peter Richter ’19 (ENG) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Collecting Data for Association Genetics: Tripal Plant PopGen Submit Pipeline

American Society of Animal Science – Canadian Society of Animal Science Annual Meeting and Trade Show – July 8-12, 2018 – Vancouver, British Columbia

Lauren Engels ’19 (CAHNR) – OUR Travel recipient
The Effects of Poor Maternal Nutrition on Fetal Brain Development

Helenrose Iannitti ’19 (CAHNR) – OUR Travel recipient
Effects of Poor Maternal Nutrition during Gestation on Oxidative Stress in Offspring Muscle

Veronica Pleasant ’19 (CAHNR) – OUR Travel recipient
The Effects of Maternal Milk Production on Dairy Calf Growth and Health

SACNAS 2018 – The National Diversity in STEM Conference – October 11-13, 2018 – San Antonio, TX

Vinayak Mishra ’21 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Cellular Response to Biodegradable Stent in Vascular Bioreactor

Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Annual Meeting – October 17-20, 2018 – Atlanta, GA

Amanda Johnson ’19 (ENG) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Assembly of Compact Neurostimulator Circuit Board for Neuroprosthetic Applications

Alexandra Liberti ’19 (ENG) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Characterization of Tissue Response in Rodent Spinal Cords by Immunofluorescence Staining

Fawaz Mohsin ’21 (ENG & BUS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Vascular Laser Thermolysis of Blood Vessels Varying in Size

Society for Neuroscience (SFN) Annual Meeting – November 3-7, 2018 – San Diego, CA 

Skyler Sklenarik ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Behavioral Biases in People at Risk for Problematic Gambling and Pornography Use

Nathalia Hernandez ’20 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Observational Learning in Rats: Effects of Number and Quality of Observations

Kyrstyn Jenkins ’20 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Evaluating Mechanisms of Reward Enhancement by Nicotine in Humans

National Council of Family Relations Annual Conference – November 7-10 – San Diego, CA

Kalea Coles ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Child Birth Weight and Reading Skills: A Moderation by Race

SENTAC Conference – November 30-December 2, 2018 – Houston, TX

Anika Makol ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Pediatric Nasal Burns During Operative Cautery; Are Aural Speculums More Protective than Nasal Speculums? – A Retrospective Chart Review

• SURF 2019: Program Updates

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SURF logoWith the SURF 2019 application cycle underway, we would like to take the opportunity to highlight some updates and changes to this year’s SURF program. SURF continues to offer students from across the academic disciplines the opportunity to focus full-time on a research or creative project for 9-10 weeks over the summer.

Updates for 2019

New Application Management System

We are using the UConn Quest Portal, a new application management system powered by SurveyMonkey Apply, to collect, process, and review SURF applications for summer 2019. This new system will allow students to complete the various components of the SURF application in the most appropriate order for them and to make edits as needed prior to submission of their application.

  • Letters of Recommendation. As before, two letters of recommendation are required for the SURF application.
    • Student applicants must request recommendation letters through the application system by entering the name and email address of the faculty members who have agreed to write letters on their behalf. The system will send the recommenders an individual link for recommendation submission.
    • Faculty recommenders will receive an email from the Quest Portal on behalf of the student who is requesting a letter of recommendation. Both first and second recommenders will submit their letters through the portal by uploading a PDF file. Faculty who are serving as the project supervisor (1st recommender) will also be asked to answer a series of research compliance questions.

Application Reminders (See the full application outline here)

  • Budget reminders. Students should visit the Budget Policies and Samples page for detailed guidance about allowable expenses (now including maximum dollar amounts for expenses like poster printing) and examples of budgets that show the appropriate level of detail.
    • Student requesting stipend as part of a Plan A or Plan C budget should be careful to use accurate stipend language as noted on the Budget Policies page.
    • Faculty advisors of students conducting laboratory research: Please work with your advisee to ensure s/he has accurate information about the costs of lab supplies that can be procured through university purchasing channels and contracts.
  • Timeline reminders. Student should visit the Sample Timeline page for guidance on developing a detailed timeline. The SURF proposal timeline should clearly indicate start and end dates, the anticipated number of project work hours each week, and a week-by-week listing of planned project milestones.
  • Research Compliance reminders. Students and faculty should note that research compliance approvals are complex and take significant time. Please plan accordingly. While the necessary approvals are not required at the application stage, students should be aware that SURF funding will not be disbursed until all necessary compliance documents have been submitted to OUR, and that SURF awards will be rescinded if documentation is not received by the stated deadline. Both faculty and students are reminded to take care in reading the series of questions concerning biological materials as this category encompasses a wide range of items.

ESTA Requirement/Documentation of Safety Training

Students proposing SURF project work that will take place in a setting with hazards such as a lab, theater, or studio will be required to complete the Employee Safety Training Assessment (ESTA) with their faculty mentor to determine which safety training courses are required in order to work where hazards are present.

  • Student applicants will be asked about completion of the ESTA in the Research Compliance section of the application. We encourage students to complete the ESTA with their faculty supervisor prior to submitting their application.
  • Information on how to document completion of the ESTA and completion of the indicated training/registration for upcoming training is available on OUR’s Safety Training page.

SURF Mailing List. Students planning to apply for SURF can sign up for the SURF Mailing List to receive helpful application tips via email.

We look forward to another excellent set of SURF applications this year! The application deadline is Monday, February 4, 2019. We encourage all students to make use of SURF Office Hours to seek feedback on their draft materials and to ask any questions they might have about the program or the application. SURF Office Hours are scheduled for 1/22, 1/25, and 1/28. Full detail about times and location can be found in the sidebar on the main SURF webpage.

Photos of SURF recipients

• Student Accomplishments – May 2018

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accomplishments-heading

Please join us in congratulating the UConn undergraduates named below for their significant research and creative accomplishments in spring 2018. Students: if you have an accomplishment to share, please do so using this online form.

AWARDS

Congratulations to Colby Buehler ’18 (ENG), Sydney Carr ’18 (CLAS), Vince Pistritto ’18 (CLAS, SFA), and Daniel Wackelin ’18 (ENG), the undergraduate recipients of 2018 NSF Graduate Research Fellowships! They are among the 12 UConn students and alumni who won NSF Graduate Research Fellowships this year. Three other talented undergraduate researchers, Amy Robinson ’18 (ENG), Nicholas Russo ’18 (CLAS), and Nicholas Oliveira ’18 (ENG) received Honorable Mention recognition.

Naseem Sardashti ’18 (ENG), an undergraduate research in the Health Research Program working under the guidance of Dr. Sangamesh Kumbar, was awarded 3rd place at the 2018 Northeast Bioengineering Conference for her and her team’s work on the synthesis of hybrid skin models for product evaluation.

PUBLICATIONS

Jamasia Williams ’20 (CLAS), a participant in the Work-Study Research Assistant Program, was a co-author on a recent publication based on research conducted with Dr. Molly Waring:

Waring, M.E., Jake-Schoffman, D.E., Holovatska, M.M., Mejia, C., Williams, J.C., & Pagoto, S.L.(2018). Social media and obesity in adults: a review of recent research and future directions. Current Diabetes Reports, 18:34. doi.org/10.1007/s11892-018-1001-9.

 

EXHIBITIONS AND SCREENINGS

Spring 2018 included a series of art exhibitions and screenings by the following undergraduate students:

Matthew Bilmes ’18 (SFA) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
Exit: A Short Film

Kiana Cao ’18 (SFA) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
An Examination of Immigration: A look into Buddhism, Community & Refugees

Yanlin (Eva) Hu ’18 (SFA) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
CHU: A Solo Exhibition of Ceramic Sculpture

James Keth ’19 (SFA, CLAS) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
The Khmer – A Personal Journey: On being Cambodian American

Austin MacDonald ’18 (SFA) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient & UConn Co-op Legacy Fellow
Prodigal: The Sentinel’s Garden

Emy Regan ’19 (SFA) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
Clementine: The Adventures at Foxhead Manor

  • Exit Film Screening Promo Image

PRESENTATIONS

Joint Mathematics Meetings – January 10-13, 2018 – San Diego, CA

Rajeshwari Majumdar ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Applications of Multiplicative LLN and CLT for Random Matrices

Anthony Sisti ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Black-Scholes Using The Central Limit Theorem

Plant and Animal Genome XXVI Conference – January 13-17, 2018 – San Diego, CA

Madison Caballero ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Designing a Genotyping Array for Genomic Selection in Loblolly Pine

Alexander Trouern-Trend ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Comparative Genomics of the Juglandacea

Maria Antony
Maria Antony ’19 (CLAS, CAHNR)

Conference on Electronic and Advanced Materials – January 17-19, 2018 – Orlando, FL

Hope Whitelock ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Real Nanoparticles Have Curves: Exploring the Polar Phase Transition Topology in Superellipsoidal Nanoparticles

International Stroke Conference – January 23-26, 2018 – Los Angeles, CA 

Maria Antony ’19 (CLAS, CAHNR) – ISC Junior Investigator Travel Award recipient
Oral presentation: Restoration of MiRNA MiR-181c-5p–Rescue From the Detrimental Effect of Social Isolation in the Mice Subjected to Ischemic Stroke 

Ocean Sciences Meeting – February 11-16, 2018 – Portland, OR

Jessica Hinckley presenting her research poster.
Jessica Hinckley ’19 (CLAS)

Jessica Hinckley ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Investigating Dissolved Gas Concentrations and Alkalinity in a Long Island Sound Time Series

International Neuropsychological Society Conference – February 14-17, 2018 – Washington, DC

Debra Tomasino ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Informant Report of Cognitive Functioning in Geriatric Depression: Correlates with Objective Cognitive Tests and Structural Imaging

Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting – February 22-25, 2018, Baltimore, MD 

Caroline Brooks ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient

Caroline Brooks
Caroline Brooks ’18 (CLAS)
Savannah-Nicole Villalba presenting her poster.
Savannah-Nicole Villalba ’18 (CLAS)

Cross Sectional Time Series Analysis on the Impacts of Race on Homeownership

Savannah-Nicole Villalba ’18 (CLAS)
A Healthy Food Inventory of Waterbury, CT

Eastern Psychological Association Meeting – March 1-3, 2018 – Philadelphia, PA 

Allison Arnista ’18 (CLAS) & Kyrstyn Jenkins ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipients
Evaluating Mechanisms of Reward Enhancement by Nicotine in Humans

Dilsara Liyanage
Dilsara Liyanage ’18 (CLAS)

Dilsara Liyanage ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
The EEG Mu Rhythm and Language Abilities in 18- and 24-Month-Olds

Morgan Livingston ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Longitudinal Outcome of Attention Modification Training for Social Anxiety

Adam Mealy ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Longitudinal Stability of Hostile Attention Allocation, Attention Bias, and Hostility Symptoms

Michelle Padua ’18 (CLAS) & Skyler Sklenarik ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipients
Behavioral Biases in People at Risk for Problematic Gambling

Eastern Society for Pediatric Research Annual Meeting – March 16-18, 2018 – Philadelphia, PA

Benjamin Redenti ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Risk Stratification System for Use in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) and Correlation with Adverse Events During Hospital Admissions

Margaux Verlaque-Amara ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Impact of State-By-State Adoption of Key Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Provisions on PED Patients

American Chemical Society National Meeting – March 18-22, 2018 – New Orleans, LA 

Caroline Anastasia ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Multicomponent Flexible Film of Organometallic Polymers with Polyimide as High k and Low Loss Dielectric

Northeast Writing Center Association Conference – March 24-25, 2018 – Worcester, MA

Joseph Greenwald ’18 (BUS), Daniel Johnson ’18 (CLAS), & Kaylee Thurlow ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipients
Cracking the Code: A Method for Designing and Implementing a Writing Center Honor Code

Odia Kane ’19 (CLAS) & Kharl Reynado ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipients
Assessing Our Practice: A Writing Center Fellow-To-Fellow Support System

Kharl Reynado and Odia Kane presenting at NEWCA.
Odia Kane ’19 (CLAS) and Kharl Reynado ’19 (CLAS)

Anneliese Lapides ’20 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Reassessing Our Responses to the Everyday Language of Oppression

Sierra Rice ’18 (ED) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Hosting a Regional Middle and High School Conference: A Practical Model

Cognitive Neuroscience Society Annual Meeting – March 24-27, 2018 – Boston, MA

Roisin Healy ’19 (CLAS) & Jonathan Serino ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipients
Understanding “Thunder” is More Difficult than “Rainbow” when Performing a Concurrent Auditory Task

Northeast Bioengineering Conference – March 28-30, 2018 – Philadelphia, PA

Garrett Soler ’18 (ENG)
An Economical & Ergonomic Hydrocephalus Software System

New England Science Symposium – April 8, 2018 – Boston, MA

Brian Aguilera ’19 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
CD13 Promotes Tunneling Nanotube Formation and Cell-cell Communication in Human Endothelial Cells and Mouse Primary Macrophages

Eastern Nursing Research Society Annual Scientific Sessions – April 11-13, 2018 – Newark, NJ

Courtney Lopiano ’18 (NUR)
A Battle on Opiates: The NICU Nurse’s Perspective on Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Connecticut Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Annual Meeting – April 20, 2018 – Hartford, CT

Kayla Hope presenting her research poster.
Kayla Hope ’18 (CAHNR)

Kayla Hope ’18 (CAHNR) – OUR Travel Award recipient
What Type 1 Diabetes Nutrition Advice is Being Shared on Twitter and Who is Sharing It?

Experimental Biology Conference – April 21-25, 2018 – San Diego, CA

Jordyn Dickey ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Analysis of Physiology and Neurobiology (PNB) 2265 Course Redesign

 

• Congratulations, 2018 SURF Award Recipients!

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SURF logo 2The Office of Undergraduate Research is pleased to announce the selection of 59 undergraduate students to receive SURF Awards in support of their summer undergraduate research projects.

Click here to view the full list of Summer 2018 SURF awardees.

Congratulations, SURF awardees! Your academic achievements, curiosity, initiative, and motivation were evident in your applications. You have an exciting summer of deep engagement with the process of academic inquiry ahead of you. We look forward to hearing about all you learn and discover!

We thank the faculty members who supported SURF applicants in a range of roles: mentors, letter writers, and faculty review committee members. SURF represents a collaborative effort between students and faculty. This program would not be possible without the support and participation of the UConn faculty!

OUR also extends thanks to SURF supporters in the UConn community. We are grateful to the Office of the Provost, the Office of the Vice President for Research, and to the Deans of the Schools and Colleges of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources; Engineering; Fine Arts; Nursing; and Pharmacy, who all contributed funding to the SURF competition this year. Alumni, parents, and friends of UConn also helped fund SURF awards. This collaborative funding effort ensures that SURF supports a diverse array of undergraduate research endeavors. We are grateful to all of our program partners for making intensive summer research opportunities available to students seeking to enrich their undergraduate experience in this way.

Once again, congratulations to the recipients of 2018 SURF awards, and good luck with your summer projects!