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

Students whose names are marked with an asterisk (*) below will be sharing their projects at the Fall Frontiers in Undergraduate Research Poster Exhibition on Wednesday, October 28, 2015, from 5-7pm in the Wilbur Cross South Reading Room. All are welcome to attend the event and learn more about these exciting research projects.

OFF-CAMPUS RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Mary Accurso ’18 (CLAS) completed an internship through the Summer Student Program at the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine in Farmington, CT. She worked in Dr. Jacques Banchereau’s immunology lab, analyzing RNA sequencing data to identify novel alternative splicing events in immune stimulated cells.

Virgilio Lopez III ’16* conducted his summer research in Costa Rica, studying the social interactions of hummingbirds. This research experience was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (NSF-LSAMP) via the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at the Organization for Tropical Studies, which is based at Duke University.

Andrew Maxwell ’17 (CLAS) participated in the TECBio REU program at the University of Pittsburgh. There, he executed ensemble-based virtual screening of the human glycine receptor alpha-3 subtype in support of a broader effort to discover compounds that elicit THC-like analgesic responses. Andrew conducted this research under the supervision of Dr. Pei Tang.

John Ovian ’17* (CLAS) participated in the Amgen Scholars program at UCLA this summer, working under the supervision of Dr. Neil Garg in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He investigated the total synthesis of tubingensin B, an indole diterpenoid with potentially useful biological properties.

Meredith Rittman ’16 (ENG) participated in a research internship at the NASA Glenn Research Center this summer. Over the course of the 10 week internship, she completed and presented a project entitled, Determining Pharmaceutical Efficacy of Pharmaceuticals Exposed to Deep Space Radiation. Meredith’s summer research was mentored by Don Jaworske, PhD and Jerry Myers Jr., PhD.

Rebecca Stern ’16 (ENG) completed a summer internship at Pfizer Inc., where she performed quantum chemical calculations to model and predict the pKa value of drug-like molecules. The pKa value defines a molecule’s degree of dissociation in solution and is vitally important in formulation design, candidate selection, and drug delivery.

Ronald Tardiff ’16 (CLAS) was named a 2015 Oregon Sea Grant Summer Scholar. This award provided Ron with funding to travel to and work at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, where he served as an Ecosystem Services Intern at the US EPA, Office of Research and Development, Western Ecology Division, Pacific Ecology Branch, Newport Lab. Learn more about his project, Framework to Conduct Ecological Estimate Transfers: A Case Study of Seagrass Blue Carbon.

Ornella Tempo ’16 (ENG) completed an NSF-funded REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) program at Mississippi State, where she studied how stimuli-responsive polymers such as Poly (N-Isopropylacrylamide)-Co-Methacrylic acid respond to temperature and pH changes. She conducted this research in the PolySEL lab of Professor Keisha Walters in collaboration with Professor Santanu Kundu.

Nico Wright ’18* (ENG) participated in the Applied Physics REU program at the University of South Florida. His project, Growth of ZnO Nanocolumns on Silica Nanospheres Using Glancing Angle Pulsed Laser Deposition, was supervised by Professor Sarath Witanachchi.

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PUBLICATIONS

Prakhar Bansal ’16 (CLAS) was a co-author on a recent publication from the May Lab:

Boyd, K.B., Bansal, P., Feng, J., & May, E.R. (2015). Stability of Norwalk virus capsid protein interfaces evaluated by in silico nanoindentation. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 3:103. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2015.00103

Emma LaVigne ’15 (CAHNR) was a co-author on an article based in part on data collected through her SURF award project in the Reed Lab. Additional undergraduate authors on the project are Delaney Patterson ’15 (CAHNR) and Allison Schauer ’15 (CAHNR).

Reed, S.A., LaVigne, E.K., Jones, A.K., Patterson, D.F. & Schauer, A.L. (2015). The aging horse: Effects of inflammation on muscle satellite cells. J. Anim. Sci. 2015.93:862–870. doi:10.2527/jas.2014-8448

These three Animal Science students were also co-authors on a newly-accepted publication in the Journal of Animal Science:

LaVigne, E.K., Jones, A.K., Sanchez Londoño, A., Schauer, A.L., Patterson, D.F., Nadeau, J.A., & Reed, S.A. (2015). Muscle growth in young horses: effects of age, cytokines, and growth factors. J. Anim. Sci. In press.

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ON-CAMPUS RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

UConn IDEA Grant recipient Stephen Hawes ’17* (ENG) has been working on his project to develop a 3-D printed prosthetic, the ATLAS Arm, for mid-forearm amputees. You can follow Stephen’s progress on his YouTube channel or watch the latest installment below.

Theodore Sauyet ’17 (CLAS) conducted research in the Jain Lab, Department of Physics, into materials exhibiting multiferroic and magnetocaloric effects. His summer research included sample preparation (solution route for creating thin films), characterization techniques, electric and magnetic measurements (as they apply to hysteresis loops and the magnetocaloric effect), and data analysis.

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EXHIBITIONS

Alana Valdez ’16* (SFA) exhibited her installation, So Easy a Woman Could Do It, in the Bishop Center from September 8-11, 2015. Alana’s artwork, which “overwhelms the viewer and provides an antithetical perspective on the dichotomy of femininity and strength,” was supported in part by an OUR Supply Award.

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PRESENTATIONS

2015 Joint Meeting of the American Society of Animal Science and American Dairy Science Association – July 12-16, 2015 – Orlando, FL

Emma LaVigne ’15 (CAHNR)
Interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, insulin-like growth factor-1 and fibroblast growth factor-2 alter proliferation and differentiation of equine satellite cells
Emma received a third place award in the undergraduate poster competition.

Abstract: LaVigne, E.K., Sanchez Londoño,A. & Reed, S.A. (2015). Interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, insulin-like growth factor-1 and fibroblast growth factor-2 alter proliferation and differentiation of equine satellite cells. J. Anim. Sci. 93(E-Suppl. 2):336.

Ellen Valley ’15 (CAHNR)
Effects of plant-derived compounds on Staphylococcus aureus infection of primary bovine mammary epithelial cells

Abstract: Valley, E.V., Jaganathan, D., Venkitanarayanan, K., Kazmer, G.W., Kuo, L., Wang, Y.B., & Govoni, K.E. (2015). Effects of plant-derived compounds on Staphylococcus aureus infection of primary bovine mammary epithelial cells. J. Anim. Sci. 93(Suppl. 3):335.

Katelyn McFadden ’15 (CAHNR)
Effects of poor maternal nutrition during gestation on protein expression in the liver of lambs
Katelyn’s presentation was selected as a Presidential Pick Poster and received the second place award in the undergraduate poster competition.

Abstract: McFadden, K.K., Peck, K.N., Reed, S.A., Zinn, S.A., & Govoni, K.E. (2015). Effects of poor maternal nutrition during gestation on protein expression in the liver of lambs. J. Anim. Sci. 93(Suppl. 3):336-337.

Katelyn was also a co-author on three additional abstracts:

1. Jones, A.K., Gately, R.E., McFadden, K.K., Zinn, S.A., Govoni, K.E., & Reed, S.A. (2015). Identification of early pregnancy and fetal landmarks via transabdominal ultrasound in sheep. J. Anim. Sci. 93(Suppl. 3):292.

2. Pillai, S.M., Raja, J.S., Hoffman, M.L., Jones, A.K., McFadden, K.K., Reed, S.A., Zin, S.A., & Govoni, K.E. (2015). Effects of under- and over-feeding during gestation on organ development of offspring at days 45 and 90 of gestation. J. Anim. Sci. 93(Suppl. 3): 293.

3. Raja, J.S., Pillai, S.M., Raja, J.S., Jones, A.K., Hoffman, M.L., McFadden, K.K., Zinn, S.A., Govoni, K.E., & Reed, S.A. (2015). Poor maternal nutrition decreases longissimus dorsi cross-sectional area of fetal offspring at d 45 of gestation. J. Anim. Sci. 93(Suppl. 3): 694.

23rd Annual Ronald E. McNair Scholars Symposium – July 30-August 2, 2015 – Berkeley, CA

Nicholas Arisco ’16* (CLAS)
Impacts of urbanization on the storm drain ecosystem: A comparison of micro and macro scale variants

Nelson Del Pilar ’16* (CLAS)
Dietary influences on Apolipoprotein C-III expression

Shaynian Gilling ’17 (CLAS)
Dura Biotech LowPro Valve

Crystal Green ’16 (CLAS)
A new method studying the dynamics of joint attention in a joint-action task using games

Hebo Ismail ’16 (CLAS)
Visualizing bacterial gene expression in the female reproductive system of the Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes

Zania Johnson ’16 (CLAS)
Auditory stability indices: Comparisons across stimuli and recording systems

Emmanuel Marte ’16 (CAHNR, CLAS)
Determining the location of ApoC-III in the intestinal enterocyte

University of Connecticut Music Department Convocation – September 18, 2015

Jonathan Schmieding ’16* (SFA)
Undergraduate research in music
The music editing process: The preparation of a scholarly edition of Dane Rhudyar’s late piano work, “Autumn”

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

AWARDS

Tyler Cappello ’16 (CLAS) received a Founders Affiliate Undergraduate Student Summer Fellowship Award from the American Heart Association. He will be working in the Wang Lab this summer, under the supervision of Professor Li Wang, on a project entitled “Circadian clock control of lipoprotein metabolism.” Congratulations, Tyler!

Congratulations to the two UConn undergraduate awardees in the 2015 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program: Steven Burger ’15 (CLAS) and Yingzhi Wu ’15 (ENG). Steven, a 2013 SURF Award recipient and 2014-15 Life Sciences Honors Thesis Award recipient, will attend the PhD Program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences at Harvard University. Yingzhi, a 2014-15 OUR Supply Award recipient, will pursue a PhD in Mechanical Engineering here at UConn.

We also congratulate three undergraduates who earned honorable mentions in the NSF GRFP competition: Robert Stickels ’15 (CLAS), a 2012 SURF Award recipient and 2014-15 LSHTA recipient, beginning the PhD Program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences at Harvard; Elizabeth Tripp ’15 (CLAS), a 2014 SURF Award recipient, beginning the Mathematics PhD program at Dartmouth; and Daniel Violette ’14 (ENG, CLAS), a 2014 University Scholar. Students interested in applying for the NSF GRFP should contact Dr. Rowena Grainger, STEM Fellowship Advisor in the Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships, for information and expert guidance.

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PUBLICATIONS

Elizabeth Flatley ’13 (PHR) was the first author on a publication resulting from her Honors thesis project:

Flatley, E.A., Wilde, A.M., & Nailor, M.D. (2015). Saccharomyces boulardii for the Prevention of Hospital Onset Clostridium difficile Infection. Journal of Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, 24(1), 21-24.

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EXHIBITIONS

Spring 2015 included a series of incredible art exhibitions by the following artists:

Julianne Norton ’15 (CLAS) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
Red Heifer

Feifei Luo ’15 (SFA) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
Makyo

Kaitrin Acuna ’15 (SFA) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
Pollataggle

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PRESENTATIONS

Earthquake Engineering Research Institute Annual Meeting – March 31-April 3, 2015 – Boston, MA

Dylan Allen ’15 (ENGR) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Hamza Aslam ’15 (ENGR)
Alexandra Hain ’15 (ENGR) – OUR Travel Award recipient
University of Connecticut Seismic Building Design

Lia Goncalves ’16 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
An Anthropological Study on Motivating Societies to Preemptively Implement Seismic Protective Systems

Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Annual Conference – April 1-4, 2015 – New Orleans, LA

Tara Pealer ’15 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient, sponsored by the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute
The Love Triangle: How Twilight, The Hunger Games and Divergent Defy and Affirm the Power of Romance and Sex When Defining Female Characters

Eastern Nursing Research Society Annual Scientific Sessions – April 15-17, 2015 – Washington, DC

Corrinne Kuzoian ’15 (NURS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Certified Nurse Midwives’ Attitudes, Knowledge, and Prescribing Practices of Evidence-based Recommendations for Omega-3 Intake in the Obstetric Population

National Conference on Undergraduate Research – April 16-18, 2015 – Cheney, WA

Rashmi Pashankar ’16 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Modifying BSA to Attach to Silica

Northeast Writing Centers Association Conference – April 18-19, 2015 – Hackettstown, NJ

Alexandria Bottelsen ’16 (ED, CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient, sponsored by the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute
Luke LaRosa Dec ’15 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient, sponsored by the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute
After the Branding: Student Created Perceptions of the University Writing Center

Sarah Carew ’18 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient, sponsored by the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute
Brandon Marquis ’17 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient, sponsored by the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute
Chantel Martin ’15 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient, sponsored by the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute
Jessica Zaccagnini ‘16 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient, sponsored by the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute
The Androgynous Center: Tutoring Across the Masculine/Feminine Spectrum

36th Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions of the Society for Behavioral Medicine – April 22-25, 2015 – San Antonio, TX

Jennifer Selensky ’15 (CLAS) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
Self-Esteem, Motivation, and Healthy Lifestyles in College Students

Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting – April 25-28, 2015 – San Diego, CA

Yue Lin ’15 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Assessing Childhood Obesity Risk Through Parental Diet and Location of Residence

Christopher Mashiak ’15 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Predictability of an ED-Screening Tool for Future Exposure to Violence

Bryan Swenson ’15 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Initial Effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on Pediatric Emergency Departments

169th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America – May 18-22, 2015 – Pittsburgh, PA

Emily Thompson ’15 (CLAS)
5aSC10: Effects of reading ability on lexically-informed perceptual learning

27th Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture – May 27-29, 2015 – Cooperstown, NY

Daniel Gutch ’16 (BUS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Sam Marshall ’16 (BUS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
MLB’s Next Expansion: A Case Problem for Three University Students

Society for Disability Studies Annual Conference – June 10-13, 2015 – Atlanta, GA

Victoria Sylvestre ’17 (NUR) – OUR Travel Award recipient, sponsored by the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute
Type 1 Diabetes: The Liminal Space Between Ability and Disability

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

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AWARDS

Emily Thompson ’15 (CLAS) is the recipient of a 2014-15 ASHA Students Preparing for Academic-Research Careers (SPARC) Award from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). This is a mentored award to support students who are pursuing careers in academia that integrate research and clinical practice. Emily’s Honors thesis research component will examine the effects of reading ability on perceptual learning in adults, and her teaching component will be to assist her advisor, Dr. Rachel Theodore, in preparing fMRI and EEG tutorials for a new interdisciplinary Honors core course on communication disorders. This SPARC mentorship experience will provide Emily with an opportunity to foster her teaching and research skills under the direction of Dr. Theodore. Emily is currently conducting her Honors thesis research in the UConn SLaP Lab, which examines perceptual learning in adults with dyslexia.

Margaret Rowland ’15 (CLAS) was selected by Active Minds as an Emerging Scholars Fellow. This fellowship program supports behavioral health research by undergraduate researchers. Margaret’s project examines how mental health professionals tackle ethical dilemmas in patient care, with a particular focus on decisions related to pharmacotherapy. This project lies at the intersection of her interests in neuroscience (pharmacology research) and bioethics.

Both Emily and Margaret will be presenting their research at the upcoming Frontiers in Undergraduate Research Poster Exhibition; we hope to see you there on April 10th and 11th.

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PUBLICATIONS

UConn IDEA Grant recipient Ari Fischer ’15 (ENG) is the first author on a manuscript related to his grant project:

Fischer, A., Du, S., Valla, J.A., & Bollas, G.M. (2015). The effect of temperature, heating rate, and ZSM-5 catalyst on the product selectivity of the fast pyrolysis of Spent Coffee Grounds. RSC Advances, DOI: 10.1039/C5RA00212E.

Undergraduate students Sai Nagella, Andrea Lugo, and Scott Pierce are co-authors on the following publication from the Angeles-Boza research group in Chemistry:

Daben, M., Libardo, J., Nagella, S., Lugo, A., Pierce, S., & Angeles-Boza, A.M. (2015). Copper-binding tripeptide motif increases potency of the antimicrobial peptide Anoplin via Reactive Oxygen Species generation. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 456(1), 446-451.

Garrett Fontaine ’16 (CAHNR) is a co-author on the following journal article:

Pryor, R.R., Casa, D.J., Vandermark, L.W., Attanasio, S.M., Fontaine, G.J., & Wafer, A.M. (2015). Athletic training services in public secondary schools: A benchmark study. Journal of Athletic Training, 50(2).

IDEA Grant recipient and Holster Scholar Sarah Mosure ’17 (CLAS) is a co-author on the following publication:

Deady, L.D, Shen, W., Mosure, S.A., Spradling, A.C. & Sun, J. (2015). Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 Is Required for Ovulation and Corpus Luteum Formation in Drosophila. PLOS Genetics, 11(2):e1004989. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1004989

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EXHIBITIONS

After a series of weather delays, February 2015 kicked off a series of incredible art exhibitions in the VAIS Gallery by the following artists:

Ashley Frato ’15 (SFA) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
it’s a dream: Memories of the Cuban Revolution

Marissa Stanton ’15 (SFA) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
Serragli (Menagerie)

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PRESENTATIONS

Eastern Athletic Trainers’ Association Meeting & Clinical Symposium – January 9-12, 2015 – Philadelphia, PA

Nicole Taranto ’15 (CAHNR) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Influence of Sport Specialization on Landing Technique in Youth Soccer Athletes

Joint Mathematics Meetings – January 10-13, 2015 – San Antonio, TX

Shaun Benvie ’15 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Partial Metric Spaces: Representation and Classification

Amanda Groccia ’16 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Stochastic Differential Equations

International Stroke Conference – February 11-13, 2015 – Nashville, TN

Kristopher Masilamani ’16 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Strokes in HHT

St. Jude/PIDS Pediatric Infectious Diseases Research Conference – February 20-21, 2015 – Memphis, TN

Kiersten Kronschnabel ’15 (CLAS) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
POWER: Providing Optimal Strategies for Patient Retention While Transitioning from Pediatric to Adult Care

American Choral Directors Association National Conference – February 25-28, 2015 – Salt Lake City, UT

Nathan Fletcher ’15 (SFA) – OUR Travel Award recipient
O Gracious Light

American Medical Student Association Annual Convention – February 27-28, 2015 – Washington, DC

Saher Kazi ’15 (CLAS) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
Prevalence and Risk Factors for Depression, Anxiety, and Alcohol Abuse Among Connecticut Migrant Farm Workers
Awarded the 2015 People’s Choice Award

56th Annual Drosophila Research Conference – March 4-8, 2015 – Chicago, IL

Sarah Mosure ’17 (CLAS) – UConn IDEA Grant recipient
The Role of Drosophila Adipocyte Secretions in Female Fertility

Eastern Psychological Association Annual Meeting – March 5-7, 2015 – Philadelphia, PA

Lauren Masayda ’17 (CAHNR) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Human Conditioned Place Preferences using a Secondary Reinforcer

Kimberly Valerio ’15 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Language Development and EEG Mu Rhythm in Early Childhood

AIChE Northeast Regional Student Conference – March 7-8, 2015 – Cambridge, MA

Ornella Tempo ’16 (ENG)
In Vitro Evaluation of Calcium Peroxide Release from Composite Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) Microsphere Scaffolds

United States Institute for Theatre Technology 55th Annual Conference & Stage Expo – March 18-21, 2015 – Cincinnati, OH

Lindsay Duval ’15 (SFA) – OUR Travel Award recipient
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Scenic Design

Academic and Health Policy Conference on Correctional Health – March 19-20, 2015 – Boston, MA

Alyssa Zabin ’16 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Social Challenges for Correctional Nurses Delivering Healthcare

Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting – March 19-21, 2015 – Philadelphia, PA

Kelly Romano ’15 (CLAS) – OUR Travel Award recipient
Cultural Identity, and Perceived Peer and Parent Outgroup Norms in Relation to Engagement in Cross­group Friendships
The Power of Home: Guardianship Effects for Adolescents in School­-based Substance Use Recovery
Patterns in Impulsivity and Emotion Regulation: A Comparison of Substance Use Recovery Students

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From Spring 2014:
Power and Energy Conference at Illinois (PECI) – February 28-March 1, 2014 – Champaign, IL

Manal Tahhan ’15 (ENG)
A Uniform Temperature Test Rig for Thermoelectric Generator Characterization and Testing (paper presentation)

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