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UROP Awardees


SUMMER 2024

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

Steven Luo (Mentor: Chenglu Li) - Improving Math Learning Outcomes for High School Students with Learning Disabilities through AI-Assisted Argumentative Writing

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Bryson Anderson (Mentor: Lars Laurentius) - Optimization of Smart Hydrogel Structures for Improved Glucose Response
Chad Berghoff (Mentor: Laura Hallock) - Surface Electromyography Sensor Use Cases in Stroke Rehabilitation
Andrew Coda (Mentor: Kerry Kelly) - Development of Teaching Tools Around Sensirion SFA30, an Indoor Air Quality Formaldehyde Sensor
Daniel Coimbra Salomáo (Mentor: Blair Sullivan) - Optimizing Robotic Inspection Planning through Advanced Graph Algorithms Techniques
Jensen Coombs (Mentor: Kay Park) - Nanoscale Investigation on The Surface Properties of Ice
Chimdi Ihediwa (Mentor: Ashley Dalrymple) - Image Processing of X-rays of the Lumbar Spine and Spinal Cord Stimulation Implants
Asma Khan (Mentor: Shireen Elhabian) - “Barely-SSM”: Weakly Supervised Statistical Shape Modeling for Anatomical Shape Representation
Taehoon Kim (Mentor: Heayoung Yoon) - Angle-Dependent Solar Power Generation Using Microstructured Si Panels
Jae Woong Lee (Mentor: Pai Wang) - Customizing Dispersion Bands of Phononic Crystals through Asymmetric Stiffness
Luke Loehding (Mentor: Jan Kubanek) - Noninvasive Ultrasound Treatment of Chronic Back Pain
Jacob Loseman (Mentor: Pai Wang) - Computational Modeling of Wave  Responses through Non-Local Interaction in  Phononic Crystals
Sam Makin (Mentor: Cindy Furse) - Enhanced Breast Cancer Screening: A Novel Microwave Imaging Approach
Jiwon Park (Mentor: Pai Wang) - Quantum Innovations in Solid Mechanics: A Variational Approach to Instability and Nonlinear Deformation
Kibin Park (Mentor: Jiyoung Chang) - Multi-direction piezoelectric vibration sensor for high frequency tool-wear detection
Keegan Richardson (Mentor: Jake George) - Development of Surface Electromyography Sock for Lower-Limb Muscle Activity Monitoring
Sydney Smith (Mentor: Marc Porter) - Improving Detection of the Tuberculosis Biomarker Mannose-Capped Lipoarabinomannan Through Refinements in Proteinase K Sample Pretreatment
Thomas Webb (Mentor: Tao Gao) - All Iron Redox-Flow Battery design, and Iron Refining
Jude Werth (Mentor: Jan Kubanek) - Recording and manipulating neural activity in human brain organoids
Stanley Wessman (Mentor: Taylor Sparks) - Student’s T Distribution as an Alternative to Gaussian Distribution for Bayesian Optimization
George Wintriss (Mentor: Jacob Hochhalter) - Computational Modeling and Experimental Test Developing of Silicon Carbide Ceramic Matrix Composites

COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS

Courtney Buss (Mentor: Beth Krensky) - Art for Critical Consciousness: Museums, Community, and Art Education for Social Transformation
Brandi Chase (Mentor: Meekyung MacMurdie) - Before and After the Potter’s Wheel:  Women’s Participation in Ceramic Production in Ancient Mesopotamia and Beyond
James Navarro (Mentor: Jessica Rudman) - Lullaby for a Good Night's Sleep: A musical experience of depression

COLLEGE OF HEALTH 

Amer Al-Shuqairat (Mentor: Sihem Boudina) - Elucidating the role of BMPER in adipose tissue homeostasis and to validate its pro-adipogenic and insulin sensitizing effects
Jaime Hurtado-Orozco (Mentor: Adriana Coletta) - Exercise across the cancer care continuum for breast and bladder cancer survivors.
Norah Milam (Mentor: Katsu Funai) - Effect of N-Acetyl-Carnosine on Age-Related Skeletal Muscle and Heart Dysfunction
Brianna Poulsen (Mentor: Sihem Boudina) - Exploring the mechanisms behind the sex-biased expression of PRDM16
Alex Puccio (Mentor: Ankur Shah) - Creation of In Vitro Setup to Assess the Mechanical Design of Pacing Coils to be Advanced into the Right Ventricle Septum
Seth Roberts (Mentor: Amandine Chaix) - Effect of Weight loss on Breast Cancer Growth in Obese Female Mice
Jack Wilson (Mentor: J David Symons) - The effects of DES1 inhibition on outcomes of Acute Ischemic Stroke in mice.

COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES 

Lucas Gunyan (Mentor: Margaret Toscano) - The Role of Women in the Greco-Roman Worship of the Mysteries of Isis and Osiris
Caroline Jarvis (Mentor: Therese De Raedt) - Mbëkë Mi Translation Proposal
Polly Redd (Mentor: Elizabeth Clement) - The Utah AIDS Foundation Food Bank: AIDS and LDS Identity-based Charity in Utah
Shreya Reddy (Mentor: Ben Cohen) - Colonial India in the Late 19th and Early 20th Century: Recording Newsworthy Moments Under the British Raj

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Shannon Anderson (Mentor: Kajsa Vlasic) - Evaluating facilitators and barriers of specialized pediatric burn care access at a tertiary healthcare facility in Northern Tanzania: A qualitative study
Annika Bachman (Mentor: Amy Lenz) - A Three Dimensional Analysis of Joint Space and Bony Morphology in Ankle Osteoarthritis
Brigham Boyack (Mentor: Taylor Webb) - Validation of MR Guidance for Transcranial Ultrasound Neuromodulation
Ryan Farnsworth (Mentor: Dustin Williams) - Presurgical Skin Preparation Approaches and Their Effect on Natural Bioburden
Reece Goh (Mentor: Oleksandr Shcheglovitov) - Cell analysis in organoid-glioblastoma chimeras through immunostaining and imaging
Soy Im (Mentor: Adrian Rothenfluh) - Investigating the Role of Kdm3 in Alcohol Sensitivity and Tolerance
Jordan Langford (Mentor: Amy Lenz) - Pilon Fracture Morphology Over Time
Tina Ly (Mentor: Moriel Zelikowsky) - The Neurological Mechanisms Underlying Partner Stress in Female Mice
Lorrin Malady (Mentor: Moriel Zelikowsky) - Role of CRH/Tac2 Co-expressing Neurons of Bed Nucleus of Stria Terminalis Projecting to Ventromedial Hypothalamus in Footshock-Induced Aggression
Malia Mason (Mentor: Eric Tuday) - The Effect of Simulated Microgravity and Radiation on Large Artery Stiffness in Mice
Abby Niwa (Mentor: David Grunwald) - Determining if Altered IL4R Gene Function is Linked To Osteoarthritis
Kevin Pan (Mentor: Yan-Ting Shiu) - The Impact of Nitric Oxide Therapeutic Gel on Venous Adaptation Following Arteriovenous Fistula Creation
Derrick  Peterson (Mentor: Matthew Firpo) - Search For Biomarkers For Pancreas Cancer
Jane Putnam (Mentor: Melissa Watt) - Caregivers’ expectations when visiting a village doctor with a complaint of pediatric diarrhea
Sandhya Senthilkumar (Mentor: Kent Lai) - Investigating the modulation of the Inflammatory pathway by ER-Stress induced autophagy in SARS-CoV-2-spike protein over expressed HEK293T cells
Alayna Stoddard (Mentor: Harriet Hopf) - The BASIC Trial: An ESKAPE From Transmission
Caitlin Tweed (Mentor: Jordan Grammer) - The Significance of BNST to NAc Projections in Social Isolation Induced Social Anxiety
Daniel Wray (Mentor: Lisa Joss-Moore) - Molecular and Lipid Drivers of Lung Development

COLLEGE OF NURSING

Stephanie Quist (Mentor: Lisa Taylor-Swanson) - ACUAWARE
Joshua Seabury (Mentor: Rebekah Perkins) - Promoting Age Inclusivity to Enhance Educational Excellence within the University of Utah College of Nursing (PAI-CON)

COLLEGE OF PHARMACY

Lily Halberg (Mentor: Mei Yee Koh) - Elucidating different ways to regulate the NF-kB and IFN pathway through the TRADD-HAF complex.
Kish Jay (Mentor: Karen Wilcox) - Seizure Dynamotype Identification and Classification

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE

Harold Chen (Mentor: Fabienne Chevance) - Build a Secretion Selection for SPI-1 System via Fusion Proteins
Megan Duval (Mentor: Jack Longino) - Exploring species boundaries in Labidus, a widespread army ant genus
Lydia Hall (Mentor: Colleen Farmer) - Ontogeny of An Ancient Lung
Bricia Hendry (Mentor: Gina Frey) - Sense of Belonging in Introductory Chemistry at the University of Utah
Kass Johnson (Mentor: Gina Frey) - Sense of Belonging in Introductory Chemistry at the University of Utah
Aubrey Jones (Mentor: Ben Bromley) - Supermassive Black Hole Growth
Veronika Kostur (Mentor: Colleen Farmer) - Passive Electroreception in the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
Krish Kotak (Mentor: Martin Horvath) - Odorant-Dependent Olfactory Receptor Activity in Transgenic Drosophila
Lukas Mesicek (Mentor: John Belz) - Investigating Critical Phenomena in Axisymmetric Black Hole Formation using the Finite Difference Method
Andrew Moore (Mentor: Mikhael Semaan) - Non-equilibrium Free Energy as a “Least Action” Problem
Tadg Noland (Mentor: Ekta Patel) - Reconstructing the Orbital History of the M32 Galaxy
Ethan Reid (Mentor: Kasey Cole) - Using Wyoming ground squirrel burrows to determine if surface artifact density accurately represents subsurface artifact density.
Nick Seefeldt (Mentor: Cagan H Sekercioglu) - Using stable isotopes to investigate the impacts of elevation and anthropogenically modified habitat on diet in Ethiopian rainforest birds
Richie Sheng (Mentor: Tim Tribone) - Matrix Factorizations of Polynomials

COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE

Haylee Bracken (Mentor: Sarah Small) - Predatory Immobility of Mobile Home Park Residents
Brette Crane (Mentor: Tom Kraft) - Effects of Early Life Adversity on Eating Behaviors in Domesticated Dogs
Celeste Dean (Mentor: Tim Collins) - Shade, Urban Heat, and Public Transportation in Tucson, Arizona
Isabella Dinardo (Mentor: Akiko Kamimura) - Factors Influencing the Pursuit of Careers in Genomics and STEM Fields Among Underserved Populations: Assessing the Impact of the Genomic Summer Research for Minorities (Magnificents) (GSRM) Internship Program
Brock Epperson (Mentor: Kara Moore) - Testing the Pristine Conditions Hypothesis in Children
Aubrey Hampton (Mentor: Akiko Kamimura) - Examining the Interplay of Dental Health and Mental Well-being in the Homeless Population
Whitney Lang (Mentor: Amy McDonnell) - Effect of Cellphone Usage on Stress Physiology in a Nature Environment
Max Lepore (Mentor: James Curry) - Social Class Representation in American Representative Institutions
Ashley Olsen (Mentor: Kara Moore) - The Eyewitness Confidence-Accuracy Relationship in Various Conditions
Mckenzie Price (Mentor: Jack Silcox) - Time-Frequency Analysis of Oscillatory EEG Activity During High-Level Language Processing
Zoha Riaz (Mentor: Akiko Kamimura) - Oral Health in the Homeless Population Due to Drug Use
Daniel Smith (Mentor: Francisco Perez) - Effectiveness of Special Drawing Rights in the Global South
Suzy Smith (Mentor: Tom Kraft) - Early Life Adversity in Dogs and its Effects on Their Eating Habits

COLLEGE OF SOCIAL WORK

Heba Alhamdani (Mentor: Alysse Loomis) - Fostering culturally-informed care for early childhood and family mental health providers
Dayttn Bartschi (Mentor: Sarah Canham) - A Thematic Analysis of Interventions to Address the Stigma and Discrimination Towards Persons Experiencing Homelessness
Gracie Cottage (Mentor: Alysse Loomis) - The influence of the number of topics covered in trauma-informed training on preschool teachers’ self-efficacy in dealing with trauma and their implementation of trauma-informed practices in the classroom.