Researchers of Emory

Mariam Goreish  is a senior majoring in Biology and Global Development Studies. She was awarded a Fall 2019 Conference Grant which she used to attend the American Society and Tropical Medicine and  Hygiene .

Sophia Minnillo  is a Senior in Emory College of Arts and Sciences majoring in Linguistics and French Studies. She was awarded a Fall 2019 Conference Grant, which she used to present at the Arizona Linguistics Circle Conference.

Andrew Teodorescu is a senior double majoring in Mathematics and Economics. He was awarded a Fall 2019 Conference Grant, which he used to attend the 2020 Annual Meeting of the Allied Social Science Associations.

Daniela Farchi  is a Fourth-Year in the college majoring in Biology. She was awarded a Fall 2019 Conference Grant which she used to attend the  American Society for Gravitational and Space Research Conference in Denver, Colorado .

Mawuko Kpodo     is a senior majoring in Philosophy. She was awarded a Spring 2019 Conference Grant which she used to attend the National Conference for Undergraduate Research (NCUR).

Joseph Piccolo  is a Senior majoring in Physics. He was awarded a Summer 2019 Conference Grant which he used to attend the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) . I work with the Emory Physics Department as an undergraduate researcher. My principal investigator, Dr. Laura Finzi, specializes in biophysics. Biophysics is the study of biological systems, such as a strand of DNA, using physics approaches. In the Finzi lab, we study the mechanics of DNA and epigenetic gene regulation. One way we study these topics is through the use of magnetic tweezers. In these studies, we attach a microscopic magnet to a single strand of DNA and exert forces on it using a macroscopic magnet we control in the lab. Additionally, we measure how the DNA responds to these forces. Traditionally, magnetic tweezers have been bar magnets mounted on the data collection microscope. The bar magnet is moved around the sample by mechanical motors, allowing us to generate forces on the DNA. ...

Megan Korn  is a Senior majoring in  Chemistry   She was awarded a Summer 2019 Conference Grant which she used to attend the Nucleosides, Nucleotides, and  Oligonucleotides  Gordon Research Conference. Towards the end of spring semester, I was making great strides in my research. My project revolves around designing small molecules for enhanced and synergistic methods of sequencing post-transcriptional modifications in RNA. In other words, I spend my days troubleshooting chemical synthesis, and see if my molecules react selectively with certain non-canonical bases in RNA. 

Junyi Han  is a senior double majoring in History and Media Studies. She was awarded a Summer 2019 Conference Grant which she used to attend the 10th Annual Texas A&M History Conference. On April 12, 2019, I attended the  10 th  Annual Texas A&M History Conference: “Resistance in Retrospect”  to present my research about the Great Purge. The conference is organized by the History Graduate Student Organization at Texas A&M University and it took place from April 12 to April 13. The central focus of this conference is to create a scholarly discussion on resistance in its various forms such as armed resistance against a central authority, political activism, engagement of public discourse, or popular memory.

Megan Withers is a Senior majoring in Environmental Science and Biology. She was awarded a Spring 2019 Conference Grant which she used to attend the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. Hello! My name is Meg and I had the pleasure of presenting at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), held at  Kennesaw State University . At the conference, I presented a poster about my honors research, which focuses on the transmission of a bacterial disease called Strep syndrome in Northern sea otters ( Enhydra lutris kenyoniI ). I used U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) data to assess population density as a possible indicator of the disease’s transmission mechanism. I didn’t find a significant relationship between population density and prevalence of the disease, but I did gain knowledge about other factors, such as gender, that could potentially affect the disease and its impact on sea otter health. Future directions in this research are aimed at furt...

Ashrita Satchidanand is aSenior majoring in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology. She was awarded a Spring 2019 Conference Grant which she used to attend the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. I began my research at the Rollins School of Public Health in the fall of junior year, as an undergrad who was interested in pursuing a Master’s in Public Health. I wanted to explore several fields within Public Health, and I found out that there was a professor of epidemiology at Rollins who were searching for some undergraduates to work on a new study. The research topic was  amblyopia  which is when someone has a difference in visual acuity between their eyes – the difference is characterized by at least 2 lines on the  Snell Chart  used at the eye doctor’s office. When I began researching for the project, I was interested in social participation of children affected by amblyopia compared to those who are not. However, I eventually became more intere...

Yu Zhang is a Senior double majoring in Biology and Chemistry. She was awarded a Spring 2019 Conference Grant which she used to attend the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. In NCUR conference, I presented my research on the development of a new HIV treatment. I was very happy to talk with many scholars who were also dedicated in natural science research. According to the previous report, over 170 million people infected worldwide, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) represents a significant public health burden. The primary mode of transmission for HCV is via exposure to infected blood, including transfusions from infected donors, and through intravenous use of illicit drugs. Although a minority of all HCV infections will spontaneously resolve without any clinical outcome, an estimated 80% of cases will progress into chronic hepatitis. The need for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV), has provided considerable impetus for the development of new classes of antiviral drug...

Seaira Lett is a Sophomore pursuing a joint major in Spanish and Linguistics. She was awarded a Spring 2019 Conference Grant which she used to attend the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. Last semester (Fall 2018), students in Linguistics 485: Field Methods were given the amazing opportunity to conduct linguistic interviews with a speaker of the Bantu language Lulogooli, an understudied language. We learned about IRB procedures and requirements, expectations for research involving human subjects, and how to use elicitation sessions to study the syntax and morphology of a language that you aren’t familiar with. 

Monica Vemulapalli is a junior majoring in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology. She was awarded a Spring 2019 Conference Grant which she used to attend the Experimental Biology Conference . When I found out that my first ever research conference was going to be in my hometown of Orlando, Florida, I was excited! I knew that having an unfamiliar event happen at a very familiar place would make me less anxious. However, the conference turned out to be less stressful and more interesting than I ever thought. I attended  Experimental Biology (EB)  and   presented  my very first research poster , a memory that I will definitely cherish forever.

                                                                     Michael Mu  is a junior majoring in Biology. He was awarded a Spring 2019 Conference Grant which she used to attend the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. Every 65 seconds, someone in the US develops  Alzheimer’s disease (AD) . That includes a whopping 1 in 10 people aged 65 and older and results in the sixth-leading cause of death in the US. In a time when the baby boomer generation is in dire need of geriatric care, it is imperative that we do anything we can to improve the health outcomes of our senior population. At the  National Conference on Undergraduate Research ( https://www.cur.org/ ) last week, I outlined the progress, future directions, and potential implications for AD of my research on the role of L...

Julie Wechsler  is a Sophomore majoring in Psychology and Linguistics. She was awarded a Spring 2019 Conference Grant which she used to attend the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. I had the privilege of attending the  National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) at Kennesaw State University ( http://www.cur.org/what/events/students/ncur/2019/ ). I presented research which I completed during the Fall 2018 semester in the  Linguistics 485 – Field Methods in Linguistics class along with Seaira Lett. This class introduced me to the methods of data collection and analysis in Linguistics, and it was a great experience to learn how this type of research is co nducted. Over the course of the semester, we studied a language called  Lulogooli , which is a member of the Bantu language family. It is a relatively small language spoken mainly in Kakamega and Vihiga, Kenya (according to the Ethnologue,  https://www.ethnologue.com/language/rag ...

Varsha Chiruvella is a senior double majoring in Bilogy and German Studies. She was awarded a Spring 2019 Conference Grant which she used to attend the Moravian College Undergraduate Conference in German Studies . I have been learning German for the past 10 years. As a pre-medical student and lover of learning, however, it becomes easy to become bogged down by rigorous science courses and challenging medical-related exams. To me, German, and the humanities in general, has been my escape from burnout.  “But why German?” is a question that I get ever so often. After years of receiving the same inquiry, I believe I have formulated a final answer.  “Because I love it…and, you know, why not?” has become my standard response. And it’s true- I do certainly love learning and teaching German to my peers. I had finally found something in academia that I not only enjoyed, but truly was gifted with. And it was this “why not” mentality that persuaded me to continue my pursuit of the ...

Klamath Henry is a senior majoring in Anthropology. She was awarded a Spring 2019 Conference Grant which she used to attend the 7th Annual Screening Media Festival at the University of Pennsylvania. As a Native American woman, I always try to embed my research in topics of interest and relevance to my people. The larger institution of higher education has not been historically accessible for my people. Even to this day, there are very few Native peoples’ voices being heard in academia. It is important for non-Native people to hear our stories and learn from our ways of knowing. Alongside that, institutions of higher learning can also work to preserve and protect some of the older ways of Native knowing and teaching that may be lost within the next few generations of people.

Ngozi Nwabueze  is a senior majoring in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology. She was awarded a Spring 2019 Conference Grant which she used to attend the Georgia Clinical and Translational  Science  Conference.

Julia Gensheimer  is a senior double majoring in Biology and Chemistry. She was awarded a Spring 2019 Conference Grant which she used to attend the Keystone Symposia: Cancer Immunotherapy: Mechanistic Insights to Improve Clinical Benefits. As a freshman at Emory, I was eager to join a lab studying cancer immunotherapy. I read research descriptions on faculty websites and contacted principal investigators to express my enthusiasm for joining their lab.  Rafi Ahmed , a world-renowned immunologist, replied within minutes. After learning of his legacy, I arrived at the meeting prepared for an intense interview. Instead, I was met with a smile as he simply asked me when I wanted to start!

Sydney Hwang  is a junior double majoring in Chemistry  and  Economics. She was awarded a Fall 2018 Conference Grant which she used to attend the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) This past November I had the opportunity to attend the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) in Indianapolis, IN. I enjoyed not only presenting my research to scholars in my field, but also networking with a plethora of passionate and driven science students. The conference offered various workshops that were attractive to undergraduate students, as they covered topics such as time management, applying to graduate school, writing an engaging personal statement, career pathways in science, and navigating mentor relationships. My favorite workshop was about the imposter syndrome, a psychological pattern in which one doubts their accomplishments and has a persistent fear of being exposed as a “fraud.” I was surprised to see th...