Undergraduate Research Grant Winners
Summer 2011
The Weinberg College Dean's Office joins the Office of the Provost, the Undergraduate Research Grants Committee, and ISEN in congratulating this year's Summer Undergraduate Research Grant winners. Eighty-seven Weinberg students received awards for Summer 2011. The grants fund autonomous student research with advisory assistance from a faculty member.
Berkcan Akpinar (Chemistry), "Synthesis of the Proposed Pharmacophore of Maoecrystal V" (Faculty Adviser: Regan Thomson, Chemistry)
Jessica Allen (Political Science, International Studies), "Women in Political Office in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Qualitative Study of Gender and Formal Political Power in Uganda" (Faculty Adviser: Kearsley Stewart, Anthropology)
Mikhail Attaar (Biological Sciences, Psychology), "Isolation and Structural Determination of the Pdr1-DNA Complex Involved in Pleiotropic Drug Resistance in the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae" (Faculty Adviser: Heather Pinkett, Molecular Biosciences)
Taylor Barrett (Sociology, English), "Female Comedians: Negotiating the Gender Bias in Improvisational Comedy" (Faculty Adviser: Karrie Snyder, Sociology)
Dana Behnke (History, Economics), "Competing for the Masses: Progressive Ideology and Early Twentieth-Century Chicago Amusement Parks" (Faculty Adviser: Carl Smith, English and History)
Camila Benaim (Integrated Science Program), "Using Statistical Mechanical Simulations to Understand Cancer Immunology" (Faculty Adviser: Joshua Leonard, Chemical and Biological Engineering)
Abhit Bhandari (Political Science, African Studies), "Democratic Growth in Jeopardy? Judicial Independence of the Senegalese Supreme Court" (Faculty Adviser: Rachel Riedl, Political Science)
Amy Blood (Biological Sciences), "Effects of Exenatide on Circadian-Rhythm-Related Obesity in Wild-Type Mice" (Faculty Adviser: Joseph Bass, Department of Medicine—Endocrinology Division)
Mazdak Bradberry (Chemistry), "MicroRNA-33 Regulation of Synaptic Structure and Function" (Faculty Adviser: Peter Penzes, Physiology)
Lauren Buxbaum (American Studies), "War of the Women's Worlds: Social Tension between the Public and Private Spheres in 19th Century America" (Faculty Adviser: Henry Binford, History)
Caitlin Callahan (Political Science, International Studies), "The Methods and Metrics of Impact of Social Enterprise Organizations" (Faculty Adviser: Michael Diamond, Biomedical Engineering, Anthropology, Global Health)
Michael Campos* (Chemistry), "Titania-Silica Nanocomposites: Characteristics and Performance in Solar Fuel Production" (Faculty Adviser: Kimberly Gray, Civil and Environmental Engineering)
David Caratelli (Integrated Science Program, Physics, Math), "Theoretical Design of an Experiment to Determine the Neutrino Mass Hierarchy" (Faculty Adviser: Andre Gouvea, Physics and Astronomy)
William Chang (Biological Sciences), "Structural Studies of the PHD2 Domain of Pf1 Protein" (Faculty Adviser: Ishwar Radhakrishnan, Molecular Biosciences)
Lei Cheng (Biological Sciences, Economics), "Effects of Brain-Specific Bmal1 Knockout on Energy Metabolism" (Faculty Adviser: Joseph Bass, Department of Medicine—Endocrinology Division)
Michael Clark (Biological Sciences), "Reconstitution of the Sin3 Corepressor Complex" (Faculty Adviser: Ishwar Radhakrishnan, Molecular Biosciences)
Kevin Dam (Biological Sciences), "Theranostic Magnetic Nanostructures for Cancer Treatment" (Faculty Adviser: Thomas Meade, Chemistry)
Alina Dunbar (International Studies), "Talking About AIDS: Understanding the Discourse Between Journalists and Health Care Workers in South Africa" (Faculty Adviser: Jeffrey Rice, History)
Betsy Feuerstein (Political Science, Art History), "Dakar Graffiti: Incitement Towards Political Change?" (Faculty Adviser: Hannah Feldman, Art History)
Branden Fini (Chemistry), "Exploring Novel Building Blocks for Hydrogen Bond Catalysis" (Faculty Adviser: Karl Scheidt, Chemistry)
Erin Gallagher (Viola Performance, English), "Soli Deo Gloria: The Theology of the Word and the Emotional Music of J. S. Bach" (Faculty Adviser: Christine Helmer, Religious Studies & German)
Emily Gao (Political Science, Science in Human Culture), "Race, Disability, and Health: Using Photovoice to Explore the Health Perceptions of Asian Americans with Visually Identifiable Disabilities" (Faculty Adviser: Kearsley Stewart, Anthropology)
Ekjyot Gill (Earth and Planetary Sciences), "The Role of the Circadian Clock in Mitochondrial Energy Homeostasis" (Faculty Adviser: Joseph Bass, Biological Sciences)
Jessica Gottesman (Political Science, Violin Performance), "Multiculturalism in Paris: A Study of Music Programs in the Banlieues" (Faculty Adviser: Jeffrey Rice, History)
Jonathan Green (American Studies, German), "John Quincy Adams, Friedrich von Gentz, and the Nature of the American Revolution" (Faculty Adviser: Mark Alznauer, Philosophy)
Paula Ham (Anthropology), "Characterization of the Soluble Domain of Particulate Methane Monooxygenase (pMMO) from Acidimethylosilex fumarolicum SoIV" (Faculty Adviser: Amy Rosenzweig, Molecular Biosciences and Chemistry)
Britta Hanson (English, History), "A Question of Tolerance: Homosexuality in the Victorian Royal Navy" (Faculty Adviser: Deborah Cohen, History)
Emily Hittner (Biological Sciences), "Effects of Musical Training on Behavioral and Perceptual Skills in a Hearing-Impaired Population" (Faculty Adviser: Nina Kraus, Communication Sciences & Disorders)
Cynthia Hong (Chemistry), "Design of Selective Inhibitors of Cancer Cell Growth" (Faculty Adviser: Alexander Statsyuk, Chemistry)
Samuel Ide (Political Science, International Studies), "An Analysis of Chinese Influence in Kyrgyzstan" (Faculty Adviser: John Bushnell, History)
Arthur Jago (Cognitive Science, Psychology) "The Effects of Processing Fluency on Mock-Juror Decision Making" (Faculty Adviser: Neal Roese, Kellogg School of Management)
Constantine Karras (Economics), "Targeted Inhibition of MMP-2 Using Co(III)-Peptide Conjugates" (Faculty Adviser: Thomas Meade, Biochemistry)
David Kasjanski (Economics), "Synthesis of Various Multifunctional Contrast Agents" (Faculty Adviser: Thomas Meade, Biochemistry)
Jack Kennedy* (Physics), "Organic Ferroelectrics: Investigating Nanoscale Crystalline Structures for Low Power-Consumption Computer Memory Solutions" (Faculty Adviser: Samuel Stupp, Materials Science & Engineering, Chemistry)
Derek Kiebala* (Integrated Science Program, Chemistry) "Chromophore Self-Assembly into Functional Light-Absorbing Membranes" (Faculty Adviser: Samuel Stupp, Materials Science & Engineering, Chemistry)
Angelica Kielbus (Chemistry), "Structure-Activity Relationship of (—)-Exiguolide" (Faculty Adviser: Karl Scheidt, Chemistry)
Rebecca Kim (Biological Sciences), "The Role of Chromatin Remodeling in Activating Transcription of Type I Interferons" (Faculty Adviser: Curt Horvath, Molecular Biosciences)
Eun Ko (Biological Sciences), "Specific Nucleotides in the Repeat Region of the CRISPR gene of S. epidermidis that are Necessary for Recognition and Cleavage by the Cas Proteins to Produce Functioning Small crRNAs" (Faculty Adviser: Erik Sontheimer, Molecular Biosciences)
Sheila Kredit (Anthropology, Harp Performance), "Breastfeeding Cessation among WIC-Enrolled African American and Hispanic Women in Chicago" (Faculty Adviser: Thomas McDade, Anthropology)
Todd Levine (English), "Language and 'Notlanguage' in the Novels of William Faulkner" (Faculty Adviser: Nicholas Davis, English)
Samuel Lozoff (Sociology), "Visualized Identity of Brazilian Nikkeijin in a Multiethnic Japan" (Faculty Adviser: Laura Hein, History)
Robert Magin (Biological Sciences), "Identifying Putative Cholesterol Binding Sites on the Motor Protein Prestin" (Faculty Adviser: Jing Zheng, Department of Otolaryngology)
Allison Manley (English—Creative Writing, Religious Studies), "Buddhist Themes in Contemporary America: Adapting Buddhist Jataka Tales into Contemporary Short Stories" (Faculty Adviser: Brian Bouldrey, English)
Laura Markey (Biological Sciences), "The Mechanisms of Initiation of Symbiosis Between Vibrio fischeri SR5 and Euprymna scolopes" (Faculty Adviser: Mark Mandel, Microbiology—Immunology)
Mauricio Masi (Mathematics, Physics), "Origin and Stability of the Kepler-11 Planetary System" (Faculty Adviser: Yoram Lithwick, Physics & Astronomy)
Redmond McGrath (History, French), "The Holy Name Cathedral and Catholic Church Location and Design in Post-Fire Chicago" (Faculty Adviser: Carl Smith, English and History)
Dhrumil Mehta (Computer Science, Philosophy), "Language and Thought: An Interdisciplinary Research Proposal" (Faculty Adviser: Sanford Goldberg, Philosophy)
Jay Meisner (Biological Sciences), "Heparan Sulfate Modified Elastomeric Scaffold to Promote Angiogenesis in a Urinary Bladder Augmentation Model" (Faculty Adviser: Arun Sharma, Urology)
Kaitlin Meyer (Psychology, Religious Studies), "Body Image among Jewish Women" (Faculty Adviser: Renee Engeln-Maddox, Psychology)
Jennifer Mills (Integrated Science Program, Chemistry, Physics), "Testing the Sulfate Initiation Hypothesis for Ocean Anoxic Event 1a" (Faculty Adviser: Bradley Sageman, Earth and Planetary Science)
Charleston Noble (Mathematics), "Modeling Epidemic Dynamics on Adaptive Networks" (Faculty Adviser: Dirk Brockmann, Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics)
Daniel O'Leary (English, Psychology), "Charles Brockden Brown's French Connection" (Faculty Adviser: Jay Grossman, English)
Akhilesh Pant (Anthropology), "Shifting Social Identities: A Study of American Third Culture Kids in Singapore" (Faculty Adviser: William Murphy, Anthropology)
Monique Patel (Biological Sciences), "High Fat Diet Leads to Disruption of the Circadian Clock Gene Transcription Through the Activation of the NF-kB Pathway" (Faculty Adviser: Joseph Bass, Biological Sciences)
Pavan Patel* (Integrated Science Program), "Growth of Graphene by Chemical Vapor Deposition" (Faculty Adviser: Venkat Chandrasekhar, Physics and Astronomy)
Matthew Pilecki (Biological Sciences), "Inducing M2 Macrophage Polarization by Gene Delivery from Scaffolds to Promote Spinal Cord Regeneration" (Faculty Adviser: Lonnie Shea, Chemical and Biological Engineering)
Patricia Radkowski (Political Science, Legal Studies), "The Effects of Katyn 2010 on Polish-Russian Relations as Measured by Changes in Three Groups of Polish Society (Media, Government, Public)" (Faculty Adviser: Andrew Roberts, Political Science)
Samuel Raim (English), "Spurning Influence: An Intertextual Analysis of Character Drawing in the Fiction of Virginia Woolf and Her Edwardian Predecessors" (Faculty Adviser: Christine Froula, English)
Ellen Reynolds (Psychology), "The Effects of Comorbid Anxiety on the Course and Outcomes of Bipolar II Disorder" (Faculty Adviser: Robin Nusslock, Psychology)
Melissa Rothman (Anthropology, Psychology), "Urbanizing Villa 31: An Investigation of Integration" (Faculty Adviser: Elisa Baena, Spanish)
Brenna Scheving (Psychology), "Using Language in Music Making" (Faculty Adviser: Richard Ashley, Music Studies)
Gabriel Schonfeld (History), "Power-Politics: Irish- and Jewish-American Political Organization 1967-2000" (Faculty Adviser: Laurel Harbridge, Political Science)
Tom Schroeder (Chemistry), "N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Catalyzed Stereoselective Synthesis of TMC-95A Precursors" (Faculty Adviser: Karl Scheidt, Chemistry)
Rashmi Singh (Biological Sciences), "Investigating the Role of Th2 Cytokines in the Induction of Innate Immune Response Effectors STAT3 and S100A7" (Faculty Adviser: Robert Schleimer, Allergy-Immunology)
Brooke Sinnen (Biological Sciences), "Understanding the Role of DNA Zip Codes in Regulating Post-Transcriptional Gene Expression" (Faculty Adviser: Jason Brickner, Molecular Biosciences)
Devin Sizer (History, Spanish) "Southern Unionist Families in Orange and Wake Counties of North Carolina" (Faculty Adviser: Kate Masur, History)
Margaret Sledd (Biological Sciences, Psychology), "Investigation of the Involvement of Spred in Hedgehog Signaling" (Faculty Adviser: Robert Holmgren, Molecular Biosciences)
Christy Stallknecht (Dance, Sociology), "Dance Invaders in Our Midst!: Flash Mob Performances in Chicago" (Faculty Adviser: Susan Manning, English)
Mitchell Steinfeld* (African Studies, Journalism), "What Does Ghana's New-found Oil Mean for the Environment? An Audio Documentary Exploring These Issues Through the Eyes of Farmers and Fishermen" (Faculty Adviser: Jeffrey Rice, History)
Daniel Stevens (Physics, Mathematics), "Convergence Tests for Metropolis-Hastings Markov Chain Monte-Carlo Simulations" (Faculty Adviser: Vicky Kalogera, Physics and Astronomy)
Victoria Sun (Political Science, Art History), "Community Identity and Empowerment: The Role of Street Murals in Chicago's Pilsen Neighborhood" (Faculty Adviser: Ana-Maria Reyes, Art History)
Rebecca TeKolste (Political Science, International Studies), "The Effect of United States Policy Toward Jewish Settlements on the Peace Process" (Faculty Adviser: Wendy Pearlman, Political Science)
Sophia Theodossiou (Anthropology), "A Matter of Life and Death: An Archaeological Study of Inequality and Health in 19th Century Dominica" (Faculty Adviser: Mark Hauser, Anthropology)
Jessina Thomas (Biological Sciences), "Impact of Gleevec on Fertility Preservation for Cancer Patients" (Faculty Adviser: Teresa Woodruff, OB/GYN)
Adam Thompson-Harvey (Cognitive Science), "Unconsciously Enhancing the Visual Word Through Smell: The Effects of Cross-Modal Semantic Priming Involving Subliminal Smells" (Faculty Adviser: Jay Gottfried, Neurology; Feinberg School of Medicine)
Yufei Tian (Biological Sciences), "Optimization and Analysis of Novel Antifouling Polymer Coatings to Prevent Undesirable Biofouling" (Faculty Adviser: Phillip Messersmith, Biomedical Engineering)
Kayla Viets (Biological Sciences), "Identification of a Gene Recruitment Sequence in the GAL1 Promoter" (Faculty Adviser: Jason Brickner, Molecular Biosciences)
Anastasiya Vinokur (Chemistry), "Size Control and Investigation of Properties of Metal Oxide-Fluoride Single Crystals" (Faculty Adviser: Kenneth Poeppelmeier, Chemistry)
Angela Wang (Art History, Art Theory & Practice), " 'Cross-Pollinating the Grassroots': A Study of Collective Artistic Practice in Punk Communities" (Faculty Adviser: Hannah Feldman, Art History)
Zheng Wang (Chemistry), "Characterization of the Effect of Nitric Oxide and Arterial Injury on Adventitial Sca1+ Stem Cells" (Faculty Adviser: Melina Kibbe, Surgery)
Sara Weston (English, Psychology), "Exploration Into the Correlation Between Linguistic Speaking Style and Personality Traits" (Faculty Adviser: William Revelle, Psychology)
Alicia White* (Chemistry), "Enhanced Internal Electric Field of Organic Photovoltaics by Anode Surface Modification by an Organic Self-Assembled Monolayer" (Faculty Adviser: Tobin Marks, Chemistry)
Deanna Wong (Biological Sciences), "Characterizing the Role of 14-3-3 in Neural Crest Development" (Faculty Adviser: Carole LaBonne, Molecular Biosciences)
Tianning Xu* (Chemistry), "Synthesis and Characterization of Self-Assembling Perylene Monoimide Trefoils" (Faculty Adviser: Michael Wasielewski, Chemistry)
Jenny Yu (Biological Sciences), "Role of Clk Gene in Neurodegeneration of Circadian Pacemaker Neurons" (Faculty Adviser: Ravi Allada, Neurobiology and Physiology)
Ross Zhan (Biological Sciences), "An Investigation Into Behavioral Differences Between Wild Type and TAAR Deletion Mice Regarding Urine" (Faculty Adviser: Thomas Bozza, Neurobiology and Physiology)
Tina Zhu (Biological Sciences), "Characterization of the Role of CCM2/OSM in Programmed Cell Death" (Faculty Adviser: Xiaozhong Wang, Molecular Biosciences)
(* indicates URG-ISEN award recipient)
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