Annual Graduate College Summer Research Conference and Closing Ceremony
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On August 11, 2009, eighty graduate school-bound juniors and seniors from schools across the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico exhibited their summer research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Education, National Science Foundation and the University of Arizona. These outstanding students participated in an array of 10-week intensive summer research programs under the supervision of UA faculty mentors. They conducted research in the sciences, social sciences, education and humanities. All demonstrated high academic achievement, strong research experience and a desire to pursue graduate education. The programs represented at the event were:
· Summer Research Institute (SRI)
· Ronald E. McNair Achievement Program (McNair)
· Minority Health Disparities Summer Research
Program (MHD)
· Minority Access to Research Careers Program (MARC)
· Collaborative Research in the Chemical Sciences (CRCS)
· Programa de Verano de la Investigacion 2009/Mexico-UA Summer Research Program (Mexico)
· Hooked on Photonics Summer Research Program (HoP)
· Integrated Optics for Undergraduates (IOU)
· Focusing on Research on the Border Region (FRONTERA)
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Summer Research Opportunity Programs Directors and Sponsors
Summer Research Institute (SRI)
- Maria Teresa Velez, Ph.D., Program Director
- Donna Treloar, MA, Assistant Director, Graduate Diversity Programs
UA Sponsors: Graduate College; President’s Office; Executive Vice President and Provost’s Office; Vice President for Research; Graduate Education & Economic Development; Associate Vice President, Academic Resources, Planning & Management; Vice Provost & Dean, Student Affairs; College of Agriculture & Life Sciences; College of Public Health – Export Grant; College of Humanities; College of Science; Senior Vice President for Business Affairs
Non-UA Sponsors:The Proctor & Gamble Company
Ronald E. McNair Achievement Program (McNair)
- Maria Teresa Velez, Ph.D., Program Director
- Nura Dualeh, M.A,. Assistant Director
- Andrew Huerta, MA, Learning Skills Coordinator
Sponsors: TRIO, US Department of Education
Minority Health Disparities Summer Research Program (MHD)
- Maria Teresa Velez, Ph.D., Program Director
- Stephanie Adamson, Senior Program Coordinator
Sponsors: UA Graduate College; MIGMS/MORE Division (IMSD); National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute; UA Bio5 Institute
Minority Access to Research Careers Program (MARC) and Pre-MARC (Pre-MARC)
- Marc Tischler, Ph.D., Program Director
- Maria Teresa Velez, Ph.D., Program Co-Director
- Cindy Neal, M.S., Senior Program Coordinator
Sponsors: NIGMS/MORE Division (MARC), Vice President for Research (Pre-MARC), Chemistry & Biochemistry Department (Pre-MARC), Research Corporation for Sci ence Advancement (Pre-MARC)
Collaborative Research in the Chemical Sciences (CRCS)
- Katrina Miranda, Ph.D., Program Director
- Yvonne L. Espino, Program Coordinator
- Brittany Douglas, Program Coordinator
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Programa de Verano de la Investigacion/Mexico-UA Summer Research Program(Mexico)
- Maria Teresa Velez, Ph.D., Program Co-Director
- Sergio Arias Negrete, Ph. D., Director of International and Inter-Institutional Academic Relations at the Universidad de Guanajuato
- Nadia Alvarez Mexia, M.S., Program Coordinator
Sponsors: Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Cajeme (ITESCA), Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juarez, Universidad de Guanajuato, Universidad de las Américas, Universidad de Sonora
CMDITR Hooked on Photonics (HoP)
- Neal Armstrong, Ph.D., Program Director
- Nasser Peyghambarian, Ph.D., Program Co-Director
- Kimberly Sierra-Cajas, Program Coordinator
- LaKeisha McClary, Program Assistant
- Guillermo Alvarez, Student Assistant
Sponsors: The Center on Materials and Devices for Information Technology Research, National Science Foundation
Integrated Optics for Undergraduates (IOU)
- Meredith Kupinski, Ph.D., Program Director
- Trin Riojas, Program Coordinator
Sponsors: Engineering Research Center for Integrated Access Networks (CIAN), National Science Foundation
Focusing Research on the Border (FRONTERA)
- Oscar Beita, Ph.D., Associate Director
- Ana Maria López, Ph.D., Principal Investigator
- Cazandra Zaragoza, Internship Coordinator
- Shiras Manning, Internship Coordinator
Sponsors: Hispanic Serving-Health Professions Schools, The Centers for Disease Control
Presenters
Ese Adun, University of Arizona (Pre-MARC)
Faculty Mentor: Murray Brilliant, Pediatrics
Title: Genetic Anaylsis of Albinism
Adrian Arroyo-Perez, Universidad La Salle (Mexico)
Faculty Mentor: Todd D. Camenisch, Pharmacology and Toxicology; Grad Student: Pablo Sanchez-Soria
Title: Cloning of the Catalytic Loop of Hyaluronan Synthase-2 (Has-2) to Elucidate Potential Interactors
Alberto Arvayo, University of Arizona (McNair)
Faculty Mentor: Cho Lik Chan, Engineering
Title: Mathematical Modeling of Electrothermal Flow in Micro-Fluidic
System
Bianca Barcelo, The University of Arizona (MHD)
Faculty Mentor: Scott Boitano, Physiology
Title: Arsenic Alters Lung Epithelial Barriers: a Role for Tight Junction Proteins
Cayla Baynes, University of Arizona (MARC)
Faculty Mentor: Linda Restifo, Neuroscience
Title: The Actin-Bundling Protein Fascin Alters Susceptibility to a Neurotoxic Drug Effect: Implications for Gene-X-Environment Interactions during Brain Development
Rene Begay, The University of Arizona (MHD)
Faculty Mentor: Ray Runyan, Cell Biology and Anatomy
Title: Isoform Responses to TGFB Family Members
Camille Bigelow, University of Arizona (SRI)
Faculty Mentor: Roger Dahlgran, Agricultural and Resource Economics
Title: The Usefulness of Three Technical Indicators in Forecasting Stock Index Futures Prices in an Economic Downturn
Bradley Bowman, University of Arizona (Pre-MARC)
Faculty Mentors: Emmanuel Katsanis and Nicholas Larmonier, Pediatrics
Title: Effect of Imatinib Mesylate on Macrophage Function
Kristen Brown, Rutgers University (MHD)
Faculty Mentor: Tom Doetschman, Cell Biology and Anatomy
Title: TGFB2 is Required for Heart Valve Development
Heather Bruce, University of Arizona (McNair)
Faculty Mentor: Lisa Nagy, Molecular and Cellular Biology
Title: Characterizing post2 in Ilyanassa obsoleta
Nasira Burkholder, The University of Arizona (MHD)
Faculty Mentor: Scott Going, Nutritional Sciences
Title: Physical Activity and Bone Geometry in Young Girls
Jeannie Camarillo, University of Arizona (MARC)
Faculty Mentor: Jay Gandolfi, Pharmacology and Toxicology
Title: Human Bladder Epithelial Cells: Acute Exposure to Arsenite and Monomethylarsonous Acid
Jennifer Casanova, Indiana University of Pennsylvania (MHD)
Faculty mentor: Bill Montfort, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Post Doc: Stacy Mazzalupo Elliott; Grad Student: Saumya Ramanathan
Title: Identifying Binding Partners for Soluble Guanylate Cyclse (sGC) Using Transient Transfection into MCF-7 cells and Immunoprecipitation
Melissa Chan, University of Arizona (McNair)
Faculty Mentor: Emily Butler, Family Studies and Human Development/Psychology
Title: Examining the cross-cultural Differences of Attachment Styles within Marriage Types between Asian Indians and Americans
Sandra L. Cruz-Alejandre, Universidad de las Américas (Mexico)
Faculty Mentor: Pelagie Beeson, Speech, Language and Hearing
Sciences
Title: Conceptual Knowledge across Cultures
Emilita Diaz, Valencia Community College (HoP)
Faculty Mentor:Jayan Thomas, Optical Sciences; Post-Doc: Palash Gangopadhyay
Title: Electrostatic Force Microscopy of Photogenerated Charge Carriers in Thin Films of Poly(3-hexyl)thiophene Blends
Whitney Ellis, St Augustine’s College (MHD)
Faculty Mentor: Marilyn Halonen, Pharmacology
Title: The Relation of Asthma by Age 5 to LPS-induction of IL-6 in Early Life
Tarrell Ezell, Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (HoP)
Faculty Mentor: Hong Hua, Optical Sciences; Grad Student: Leonard Brown
Title: Enabling Robust Object Tracking in Tabletop Augmented
Environments
Omar I. Félix-Villar, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez (Mexico)
Faculty Mentor: Eduardo Saez, Chemical and Environmental
Engineering; Grad Student: Fernando Alday
Title: Evaluation of Leaching from High Capacity Arsenic Sorbents under Simulated Landfill Conditions
Carlos Figueroa, University of Arizona (SRI)
Faculty Mentor: Varda Shoham & Michael Rohrbaugh, Psychology
Title: Demand/Withdraw Interaction Differences between Latino and
Anglo-American Adolescents: A Cultural Perspective
Denise Garcia, University of Arizona (SRI)
Faculty Mentor: Barron Orr, PNR-Arid Lands
Title: Assessment of Longer Term Environmental Change in the San Simon Watershed Following Significant Structural Intervention to Control Desertification
Dennis Garcia, University of Houston - Downtown (MHD)
Faculty Mentor: Giovanni Bosco, Molecular and Cellular Biology
Title: Condensin II-mediated Telomere Positioning and Telomere-Lamina Interactions in Drosophila melanogaster
Mary Garcia, The University of Arizona (MHD)
Faculty Mentor: Patty Thompson-Carino, Arizona Cancer Center
Title: Association of Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 2 (FGFR2) with Breast Cancer Prognosis of Mexican American Women
Whitney Gore, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State
University (MHD)
Faculty Mentor: Chris Rensing, Soil, Water, and Environmental Science
Title: Construction of Copper Biosensor in Listeria monocytogenes to Monitor Status in Macrophages.
Keila Gutierrez, The University of Arizona (MHD)
Faculty Mentor: Edwin Maas, Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
Title: Insight into Holistic and Segmental Speech Planning in Children as Revealed via Auditory Priming
Marlene Gutierrez, California State University, San Bernardino (CRCS)
Faculty Mentor: Neal Armstrong, Chemistry and Biochemistry;
Grad Student: Mariola Macech
Title: Characteristics of TiOPc-P3HT Mixed Heterojunction
Kate Hacker, University of Arizona (MARC)
Faculty Mentor: Charles Sterling, Veterinary Science & Microbiology
Title: A Survey of Trypanosoma rangeli and Trypanosoma cruzi Infections in Pack Rat and Triatomid vectors in Tucson Arizona
Heather Harteis, Saint Francis University (CRCS)
Faculty Mentor: Victor Hruby, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Grad Student: Vinod Kulkarni
Title: Microwave Assisted Lactam Cyclization of Peptides
Melissa Healey, Cornell University, (HoP)
Faculty Mentor: Oliver Monti, Chemistry and Biochemistry; Grad Student: Mary Steele & Nahid Ilyas
Title: Thin Film Structure at Interfaces
C. Jaziel Hernández-Luna, Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Cajeme (Mexico)
Faculty Mentor: Kimberly Ogden, Chemical and Environmental
Engineering; Grad Student: Ming Ren
Title: Effect of Nitrogen Sources and Concentration
Maria Hernanez-Venegas, The University of Arizona (MHD)
Faculty Mentor: Glenn Sipes, Pharmacology; Grad student: Gabriel A. Knudsen
Title: Isolation of Benzene Metabolites Derived from Male BALB/cByJ and C57BL/6j Mice
Victoria Hernandez, University of Arizona (Pre-MARC)
Faculty Mentor: Donna Wolk, Pathology
Title: Comparative Analysis of a Lytic Bacteriophage Technology for Rapid Identification and Differentiation of Methicillin Resistant and
Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus from Blood Culture Bottles
Jason Hightower, University of California San Diego, (HoP)
Faculty Mentor: Ray Kaustuk, Electrical and Computer Engineering; Grad Student: Jose Castro
Title: Photovoltaic Solar Cell Efficiency Characterization
Venessa Jim, Northern Arizona University (MHD)
Faculty Mentor: Paul McDonagh, Surgery
Title: Post-Resuscitation Injury Following Cardiac Arrest Induces Acute Hyperglycemia
Nancy Jimenez, Ponce School of Medicine (FRONTERA)
Faculty Mentor: Marilyn McEwan
Title: Research Opportunities in the Arizona-Sonora Border
Evelina Kory, Rollins School of Public Health (FRONTERA)
Faculty Mentor: Howard Eng
Title: A Needs Assessment of Border Health Research
Christopher Liu, California Institute of Technology, (HOP)
Faculty Mentor: Robert Norwood, Optical Sciences; Grad Student: Adam Jones
Title: Poling and Characterization Methods for Electro-Optic Modulators
Daniel Lopez, University of Arizona (SRI)
Faculty Mentor: Melissa Faulkner, Nursing
Title: Activity Patterns in Youth with Diabetes in Response to a 16-Week Exercise Intervention
Brittany Lynn, University of Arizona, (IOU)
Faculty Mentor: Neal Armstrong, Chemistry & Biochemistry;
Grad Student: Judy Jones
Title: Effects of Solvent Annealing on ClinPC Thin Films
Edgar Madril, Pima Community College, (IOU)
Faculty Mentor: Robert Norwood, Optical Sciences;
Grad Student: Ram Voorakaranam
Title: Applications of Magneto Optics for Modulators and Sensors
Claudia Meece, The University of Arizona (MHD)
Faculty Mentor: Laurence Hurley, Pharmacology and Toxicology
Title: Determining the Effect of the T263G SNP in the ODC Gene on
G-quadruplex Formation
Salena Meyer, University of Arizona (McNair)
Faculty Mentor: Kristen Limesand, Nutritional Sciences
Title: IGF1 Affects the Response of Salivary Glands to DNA Damage Following Irradiation
Belinda Molina, Universtiy of Texas at El Paso, El Paso TX (HOP)
Faculty Mentor: Neal Armstrong, Chemistry and Biochemistry;
Grad Student: Mario Malfavon
Title: Characterization of Diffraction Gratings Comprised of Core/Shell Nanocrystals
Marvin O’Ketch, University of Arizona (Pre-MARC)
Faculty Mentor: Michael Cusanovich, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Title: Alteration of Lipid Synthesis Mechanism in Green Algae to Obtain Higher Biofuel Yield
Ricardo Palos-Pacheco, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez (Mexico)
Faculty Mentor: Douglas A. Loy, Materials Science and Engineering
Title: New Methods for Preparing Spherical Rare Earth Oxide Doped Particles
Jessica Perez, The University of Arizona (MHD)
Faculty Mentor: John Konhilas, Physiology
Title: Varying Ratios of Myosin Isoforms in Mice with Hypertrophic
Cardiomyopathy
Charles Perkins, Norfolk State University, (IOU)
Faculty Mentor: Hyatt Gibbs, Optical Sciences;
Grad Students: Benjamin Richards and JD Olitzky
Title: The Characterization of the Quality of Semiconductor Samples in Nanostructures
Joel Ramirez, UA South SRI
Faculty Mentor: Kevin Gosner, Latin American Studies
Title: Trying to Learn the History of a Community: The Case of
Tamichopa, Sonora, Mexico
Bladimir Ramos-Alvarado, Universidad de Guanajuato (Mexico)
Faculty Mentor: Peiwen Li, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Title: CFD Analysis of Heat Dissipation of Plates with Novel Flow Fields for Cooling of Electronic Devices
Angela Reese, University of Arizona (MARC)
Faculty Mentor: Richard Levine, Neuroscience
Title: Effects of Neuronal Activity on Dendritic Development of Drosophila Motoneurons
Lyndsey Reid, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State
University (MHD)
Faculty Mentor: Chris Rensing, Soil, Water, and Environmental Science
Title: Characterization of a Putative Pariplasmic Iron Efflux Pump in
Shewanella Strain ANA-3 and S. oneidensis strain MR-1
Joahnibel Reyes Maysonet, The University of Puerto Rico at Cayey (MHD)
Faculty Mentor: Roy Parker, Molecular and Cellular Biology
Title: Identification of Genes that Interact with Yeast Scd6, an Important and Concerned Translation Repressor
Carolyn Reynolds, Norfolk State University (IOU)
Faculty Mentor: Supapan Seraphin, Materials Science and Engineering;
Grad Student: Binh Duong
Title: Effects of Hydrogen’s Flow Rate on the Growth of CNT’s
Daniela Rosales Del Prado, Universidad La Salle (Mexico)
Faculty Mentor: Peter J. Cotty, Plant Sciences, UA and Agriculture
Research Service, USDA
Title: Survival of Aspergillus flavus: Influence of Temperature, Solutes, and Growth Stage
Gregory Rosic, University of Arizona (CRCS)
Faculty Mentor: Jeanne Pemberton, Chemistry and Biochemistry;
Grad Student: Anoma Mudalige
Title: Attachment of Acrlyodan to Silica Nano Particles
Lauren Routen, University of Arizona (CRCS)
Faculty Mentor: Vicki Wysocki, Chemistry and Biochemistry;
Grad Students: Dave Bush and Forrest Helfrich
Title: Isolation and Characterization of Divalent and Trivalent Collagen Crosslinks from Bovine Articular Cartilage
Rafael A. Sabory-García, Universidad de Sonora (Mexico)
Faculty Mentor: Janet Meiling Wang, Electrical and Computer
Engineering
Title: Renewable Energy Circuit Design for Harvesty
Johnny Saldate, University of Arizona (McNair)
Faculty Mentor: Lynn Nadel, Psychology
Title: The Process of Memory Reconsolidation: Context-Dependent
Updating in a Virtual Setting
Cynthia Sandoval, University of Arizona (MARC)
Faculty Mentor: Anne Cress, Cell Biology and Anatomy
Title: Urokinase Receptor Regulation of Integrin Function
Kelly Sesemann, Northern Arizona University (CRCS)
Faculty Mentor: Michael Brown, Chemistry & Biochemistry; Grad Student: Blake Mertz
Title: Investigating the Binding of Ligands to Opsin using Automated Docking
Nikolas Sharp, University of Arizona (SRI)
Faculty Mentor: Paul Cohen, Computer Science
Title: Morpheme-Based Segmentation with Voting Experts
Cameron Simmons, University of Arizona (IOU)
Faculty Mentor: Mahmoud Fallahi, Optical Sciences;
Grad Student: Chris Hessenius
Title: Varying the Thickness of Birefringent Filter Used in a VECSEL Affects Output Power and Spectral Width
Keiko Taniguchi-Ponciano, Universidad La Salle (Mexico)
Faculty Mentor: Joyce Schroeder, Molecular Cellular Biology; Grad
Student: Hsin-Yuan Su; Research Tech: Aarthi Goverdhan
Title: Determining what Domain of MUC1 is Interacting with ErbB
Receptors”
Julia Tatum, Harvard School of Medicine (FRONTERA)
Faculty Mentor: Cecilia Rosales
Title: Health Promotion in Indigenous Mexican Communities: Training Materials for Promotoras
Jose Marc Techner, University of Arizona (MARC)
Faculty Mentor: Nancy Horton, Chemistry & Biochemistry
Title: Small Molecule Modulation of Zinc Finger DNA Sequence
Specificity
Emilio Torres, New Mexico State University (MHD)
Faculty Mentor: Brad Davidson, Molecular and Cellular Biology
Title: Discovering the Genes in Heart Cell Fate
Eduardo Tovar-López, Universidad La Salle (Mexico)
Faculty Mentor: Tsu-Shuen Tsao, Biochemistry and Molecular
Biophysics; Grad Students: Dave Briggs, Martha Nuñez
Title: PDI Expression, Purification, and It’s Role in Adiponectin Assembly
Garrison Tsinajinie, University of Arizona (McNair)
Faculty Mentor: Jane Erin, Special Education, Rehabilitation and School Psychology
Title: The Service and Cultural Experiences of Native Americans with Visual Impairments
Ranalda Tsosie, Diné College (CRCS)
Faculty Mentor: Katrina Miranda, Chemistry & Biochemistry;
Grad Student: Lisa Buttitta
Title: Investigation of the Role of NO in Regulation of HIF-1 α Inducible Transcription Factor
Octavio Ulloa, University of Arizona (SRI)
Faculty Mentor: Chris Scott, Geography, Planning
Title: Water Sustainability in Water Harvesting
Amy Van Newkirk, Grove City College, Grove City, PA(HOP)
Faculty Mentor: Mahmoud Fallahi, Optical Sciences; Grad Student: Hongxi Zhang
Title: Optical and Electrical Properties of Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Sol-Gel Films
Monique Vasquez, University of Arizona (SRI)
Faculty Mentor: David Sbarra, Psychology
Title: Attachment, Language, and Divorce: The Role of Linguistic
Immediacy in Coping
Stephanie Vivanco, Loyola Marymount University (MHD)
Faculty Mentor: Paloma Beamer, Community Environment, and Policy
Title: Spatial Relationship Between Pediatric Asthma, Asthma Risk
Factors and Diesel Pollutants
Erienne Weine, University of Arizona (McNair)
Faculty Mentor: Alan Sanfey, Psychology
Title: Influences on Moral Decision-Making
Lizett Wilkins y Martinez, UCLA School of Public Health (FRONTERA)
Faculty Mentor: Tracy Carroll
Title: Health Promotion in Nogales Sonora
Gabby Winston-McPherson, University of Arizona (CRCS)
Faculty Mentor: Eugene Mash, Chemistry & Biochemistry; Grad Student: Ramesh Alleti
Title: Synthesis of Florescent Probes for Investigation of Multivalent Ligands
Caroline Winters, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (IOU)
Faculty Mentor: Franko Kueppers, Optical Sciences
Title: Characterizing Fiber Optic Components for Non-Linear (“Soliton Effect”) Signal Conditioning
Anthony Wolfe, Cochise College, (IOU)
Faculty Mentor: Ivan Djordjevic, Electrical and Computer Engineering;
Post-Doc: Lyubomir Minkov
Title: MultiLevel Transmission Constellations for Optical Communication Systems
Jackson Wray, University of Arizona (McNair)
Faculty Mentor: Jennifer Roth-Gordon, Anthropology/Psychology
Title: Survivor Guilt in the Academic Domain: An Educational and
Psychological Perspective
Cordell Yazzie, University of Arizona (SRI)
Faculty Mentor: Robert Fleischman, Civil Engineering
Title: Seismic-Resistant Design of Concentrically Braced Frames