Category: Student Voices

The following blog post was written by fellow UHPer and Fall 2023 SURE Award recipient, Paul Leoni (Environmental and Sustainability Science, ’25). Read on about Paul’s research and how he plans to utilize the SURE Award funding to further expand upon his experience!

My name is Paul Leoni and I am an undergraduate junior studying Environmental and Sustainability Science. For the past year, I have worked as a research assistant for Dr. Keryn Gedan’s coastal marine ecology lab in the Department of Biology. The Gedan Lab studies the response of dynamic tidal wetlands to sea level rise, species invasions, and nutrient availability. In addition to collecting and sorting biomass collections from agricultural fields and saltwater marshes along the Delmarva Peninsula, I have started a long-term project to create graphical abstracts and conceptual figures for the lab’s ongoing publications, conference presentations, and grant proposals. As a recipient of the GW SURE Award, I will be attending a conference on saltwater intrusion and sea level rise in coastal agroecosystems to interact with stakeholders and scientists on topics surrounding these science communication products.

Last summer, I was an intern in Dr. Kate Tully’s Agroecology Lab at the University of Maryland. Through this position, I gained invaluable research experience sampling agricultural fields, performing experiments in saltwater marshes, and conducting an independent mapping project on the risk of nutrient runoff into the Chesapeake Bay. In doing so, I learned the socio-ecological impacts of saltwater intrusion on coastal agroecosystems, including species invasions, loss of farmland, crop yield declines, and runoff of legacy nutrients. After interacting with various farmers on the Eastern Shore in their salt-damaged fields, I was also reminded of the human impact of sea level rise, which threatens lives and livelihoods in the coastal zone.

The GW SURE Award will enable me to translate these impacts to the general public through visual communication tools developed and presented at the conference. For instance, I recently created the conference’s official logo & promotional flier with original photography of ghost forests and salt-damaged corn fields. Leading up to the conference, I will design presentation materials and create a graphical abstract for a grant proposal on saltwater intrusion modeling, implementation, and engagement for rural and agricultural coastlines. At the conference, I will engage with scientists, stakeholders, and farmers, and transform their verbal and written testimonials into communication products like articles and photo essays.

In this sense, the GW SURE award will open doors for further research opportunities, such as publishing scientific illustrations for the broader Coastal Critical Zone Network, the primary research group attending the conference. These opportunities, coupled with experience at an academic conference, will provide me with the communication and research skills for asking questions to a scientific audience and translating the answers to a general public.

Interested in applying for your own SURE Award funding? Find out more about the application process here!

The following blog post was written by fellow UHPer and Fall 2023 SURE Award recipient, Chaitrali Patil (Biology and Statistics, ’24). Read on about Chaitrali’s research and how she plans to utilize the SURE Award funding to further expand upon her experience!

The chemical industry and its advancements have played an imperative role in driving sustainable development and contributing to a higher quality of life for people. However, as a result of the commercialization of hazardous chemicals, the industry has also become the primary contributor to our two current and intertwined environmental crises: climate change and chemical pollution. The industry continues to rely on chemical and manufacturing technologies that are tied to fossil-fuel feedstocks, resulting in the generation of greenhouse gasses and chemicals that have adverse effects on human and environmental health. The industry possesses the means to rebuild a more innovative sector based on renewable and circular feedstock. To achieve such a desired change in developing next-generation chemicals that are high-performing, safe, and degradable, my research focuses on creating a new, virtual repository of biobased chemicals from natural and renewable feedstocks.

I will apply advanced statistical methods and programming languages, along with machine learning, AI, and other computational chemistry tools to develop a diverse set of novel pesticides with tunable properties that are better performing and less harmful than existing products. I will assess the efficiency and safety of the newly generated molecules by targeting their effects on acetylcholinesterase inhibition, the most common endpoint of existing insecticides, and comparing the results to pre-existing chemicals. Acetylcholinesterase is an essential enzyme for neuromuscular and central nervous system functioning, therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms that disrupt the enzyme’s processes is key to both function (e.g. in insects) and toxicity (e.g., in fish or higher mammals). Additionally, this project will leverage the principles of green chemistry to propose synthetic processes to develop these novel molecules in a sustainable and green manner, considering factors such as waste (e-factor) and atom economy (conversion efficiency). Thus, the end product of my effort will be both a vast library of virtual compounds, which can be further used by the industry to develop safer chemicals across different functional classes, as well as a proof-of-principle case study on pesticides, showing a path to replacing existing active ingredients with better performing, sustainable alternatives.

The chemical industry is seeking radical change to achieve a more sustainable future, and this research, through the help of the SURE award, allows me to become a part of the process. The award will support and primarily alleviate some of the cost associated with the presentation of my research at the Society of Toxicology (SOT) National Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah in March 2024. Being able to present my research will allow me to share the progress I’ve made in the field of green chemistry pertaining to the redesigning of pesticides, gain perspective and advice from experts, and expand my professional network.

Interested in applying for your own SURE Award funding? Find out more about the application process here!

The following blog post was written by fellow UHPer and Fall 2023 SURE Award recipient, Katie Phillips (Neuroscience, ’25). Read on about Katie’s research and how she plans to utilize the SURE Award funding to further expand upon her experience!

As a first-year neuroscience student, I knew I wanted to partake in research to learn the practical application of class content. My UHP Peer Advisor connected me with Dr. Peusner, a Principal Investigator (PI) in the Department of Neurology at GW SMHS. Dr. Peusner’s work stood out to me because of her use of the chick animal model to reveal more about the vestibular ganglion (VG) and how its defects can affect children. I was excited to do research with applications to neurological and medical advancements, so I interviewed with her and was accepted into her lab! As a first-year student, I admit I had little neuroscience knowledge, but Dr. Peusner consistently indulged my curiosity and took the time to explain the importance of my work. Dr. Peusner showed interest in my success and took the time to teach me what was important to my work. Research, especially early in my time at GW, taught me fundamental neuroscience concepts and research techniques before taking neuroscience-specific courses and has allowed me to have opportunities I would not have had otherwise.

Dr. Peusner’s lab introduced a chick model to investigate the inner ear pathology of children with syndromic, congenital vestibular disorders (CVDs). Children with this disorder have a sac-like inner ear with missing or truncated semicircular canals, an ear structure essential for identifying movement in space. The otocyst is a part of the inner ear that is a fluid-containing organ containing otoliths, which are calcium crystals, that comprise the saccule (sac) and utricle (utr) (see images below). In humans and chicks, when the head is moved, gravity causes the membranes in the otoliths to move which bends the hair cells in your inner ear and sends information about the movement to the vestibular nerve and brain. By rotating the otocyst in the chick’s inner ear 180 degrees at the embryo day 2 (E2) stage, a sac-like inner ear forms, which is similar to what we see in children with CVDs. The procedure is referred to as the anterior-posterior (front-back) rotation of the otocyst and creates what the lab identifies as the ARO chick. The ARO chick is a study into the role of the semicircular canals in vestibular system neural circuitry, a circuit system whose neurons transmit signals from the outer ear to the brain are the VG cells. VG neurons are reduced in children with CVDs, so our lab investigates whether VG neurons survive or reduce at the embryo day 13 (E13) stage.

My research project involves working with E13 chick specimen images and analyzing the VG on IMARIS, a 3D image analysis software. I outline the boundaries of the VG, count the VG neurons, and determine the volume of the VG in normal (completely unrotated) and ARO (rotated) chicks. Using this information, I also use statistical analysis to determine the differences between normal and ARO chicks. I will be using the SURE award to pay for my IMARIS sessions and data collection, and it will assist me in publishing a paper with my research in top journal. Following the publication of the paper, I plan to continue in Dr. Peusner’s lab analyzing the VG in the hatchling stage (H5) and completing my senior thesis. I will continue to outline the VG, count VG neurons, and use other statistical analysis tests to analyze the hatchling stage of chick development. Using these findings, I plan to create a poster presentation for the 2024 Society for Neuroscience conference and contribute to a paper for the hatchling phase as my senior thesis product.

Undergraduate research has been an incredibly valuable experience, in which I have learned critical analysis skills, gained knowledge of statistics and fundamental neuroscience, and had the opportunity to present as a first author at the Society for Neuroscience conference. These abilities will help me in future endeavors, as I plan to become a practicing physician, caring for patients potentially with the disorders whose development I study. Without my involvement in research, I would have missed out on countless opportunities for professional and academic development. I also believe that by getting involved in research early, I have had an advantage in my classes since I connect what I learned in class with my research, and have a deeper understanding of the content. I would like to thank Professors Carol and Lee Sigelman for the opportunity to continue my work with the use of the SURE award. I want to express to any undergraduate considering research to give it a try – you will be surprised and grateful for the opportunities you find!

Interested in applying for your own SURE Award funding? Find out more about the application process here!

The following blog post was written by fellow UHPer and Fall 2023 SURE Award recipient, Alex Lucero (Political Science with a Public Policy focus, ’24). Read on about Alex’s research and how he plans to utilize the SURE Award funding to further expand upon his experience!

In 2022, the United States Supreme Court decided Carson v. Makin. Maine had enacted a tuition assistance program for parents who live in areas not serviced by a particular school district. Under the program, parents could choose the school they would like their child to attend, and the state would contribute funds toward the cost of the school’s tuition. Parents could send their child to any accredited private school but were prohibited from using the program toward religious, “nonsectarian” schools. The Court decided that Maine’s “nonsectarian” requirement for an otherwise generally available tuition assistance program violates the First Amendment. In light of this ruling, policymakers and voters are faced with two choices: to either support voucher programs with the knowledge that some families will use public funds at religious private schools or to oppose school voucher programs altogether.

For my senior thesis project, I designed a survey to test whether presenting voting-age Americans with information about the inclusion of religious private schools within a school voucher program affects their attitudes toward state-wide school voucher programs. The survey also aims to test whether the attitudes of voting-age Americans are further impacted by information about the specific religion of a religious private school included within the program. This survey will present respondents with a fictional newspaper vignette about Liam and Dana Bagher, who hope to send their child to an unconventional private school. The survey utilizes a cross-sectional design, where each group is told that the school is either a secular Montessori school, a religious Protestant school, a religious Muslim school, or a religious Jewish school. All four stories emphasize that while these schools meet state standards, the students will receive a non-traditional education in life.

To ensure my results are representative, and my conclusions are generalizable, I will contract with a professional online polling company. With the help of the SURE award and funding provided by the Loeb Institute for Religious Freedom at George Washington University, I hope to gather a survey pool of roughly 500-1000 respondents. Designing this survey has taught me a lot about creating survey questions. Additionally, going through the IRB review process has given me an interesting look into the many important ethical considerations that go into designing a survey. My research will allow policymakers to understand the political feasibility of advocating for school voucher legislation, given that policymakers can no longer exclude families who wish to use these benefits toward religious education.

Interested in applying for your own SURE Award funding? Find out more about the application process here!

The following blog post was written by fellow UHPer and Fall 2023 SURE Award recipient, Lexi Carmine (Biomedical Engineering, ’24). Read on about Lexi’s research and how she plans to utilize the SURE Award funding to further expand upon her experience!

Hello!! My name is Lexi and I am a senior Biomedical Engineering major. I am in Professor Zderic’s Therapeutic Ultrasound Lab and am currently working on a project dealing with the ultrasound modulation of melatonin release. I have always been very passionate about research and I found this lab when I took Professor Zderic’s class and I have loved working with ultrasound ever since. I plan to utilize the award money to continue my work on this project as it has been successful in finding statically significant results. I have learned so much from working on this project and the amount of doors that it has opened for me has been incredible. I have gotten to travel to Seattle to present my work at the BMES conference and network with various companies and schools there. Excitingly, I have also just accepted an offer for the Post Baccalaureate Program at the NIH continuing to work on ultrasound-related research with the Frank Lab. I don’t think that I would have been able to find opportunities such as these without this project, and I appreciate the SURE award greatly in supporting those endeavors. By expanding my work on my current project, I hope to continue finding promising results and present at another conference in the upcoming semester. The next steps in my work are to add a positive control as I did not have that before, and continue to run trials at various frequencies. Research is amazing to me because not only does it allow you to find those answers for yourself, it truly teaches you so much about yourself and it has taught me to be a patient and really built upon my problem-solving capabilities. Not everything always works out like it is supposed to in experiments, and understanding that simple fact has allowed me to become someone that can evolve with any situation. You learn to think critically and make tough decisions and then you can learn from your mistakes. That being said, I am so excited to continue growing from this project in the Spring semester and I am so grateful for the university’s support and support from the Honors program!

Interested in applying for your own SURE Award funding? Find out more about the application process here!

The following blog post was written by fellow UHPer and Fall 2023 SURE Award recipient, Mykala Bledsoe (Sociology, ’25). Read on about Mykala’s research and how she plans to utilize the SURE Award funding to further expand upon her experience!

I began my research when completing a project on drug crime disparities, from access to substance use resources to the role of the criminal legal system. Harm reduction and decriminalization became a large part of my research when developing recommendations for how access to harm reduction programs and materials should be prioritized when addressing the overdose epidemic in DC. This developed into my thesis research which addresses harm reduction in three main parts: local data on disparities in access to harm reduction resources; using international perspectives and examples from Portugal, Switzerland, and the Netherlands; and the implementation of a harm reduction peer educator program. The last of which is a curriculum of harm reduction skills for substance use and nonviolence, interpersonal skills, and drug policy education for students to take and apply directly with community partners. It is also important to note that centering the perspectives and needs of those most directly affected by these disparities in my research is necessary to serve any community most effectively. The award money will be used to directly fund the supplies for the peer educator program that will be provided to serve DC communities. Materials like Narcan, sterile syringes, fentanyl test strips, etc are crucial in preserving the dignity of life for people who use drugs; however, these are incredibly underfunded and underserved to marginalized communities.

Additionally, the next steps for my project are to conduct my research and get approval from the IRB to conduct qualitative interviews in Switzerland and alongside DC community partners. Then I will further develop my recommendations for policy implementation as a multi-faceted program in DC. I would also love to make it to Portugal to do some research too! The SURE award was a wonderful opportunity to explore questions within my thesis without worrying about economic barriers. I am so excited to be able to use the grant to serve my community!

Interested in applying for your own SURE Award funding? Find out more about the application process here!

The following blog post was written by fellow UHPer and Spring 2023 SURE Award recipient, Peri Wivell (Biology -Cellular and Molecular concentration Major, ’23). Read on about how Peri plans to utilize the SURE Award funding to further expand upon her research experience!

Getting involved in research has always been a top priority for me throughout my undergraduate experience. I joined Dr. Maho Shibata’s lab in the GW Cancer Center during my sophomore year. Our lab applies concepts from developmental biology and stem cell biology to prostate cancer research. We use genetically engineered mouse models, explant cultures, and 3D organoid culture systems to study androgen signaling during prostate development, and to identify novel molecular drivers of castration-resistant prostate cancer. Under the mentorship of Dr. Shibata and her team, I learned several techniques essential to conducting effective research and started working on my own research project in spring of 2021.

My research involves studying the role of macrophage populations during development and in diseases of the prostate. Macrophages are specialized cells involved in a host of immune functions and have been known to play an important role in both pro- and anti- inflammatory responses. Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) is a common diagnosis affecting the aging male population with increasing prevalence and although the disease has become progressively common, its cause and mechanism of progression remain poorly understood. Because BPH is a disorder influenced by inflammation and the origin of macrophages in the prostate has not been fully elucidated, understanding the recruitment of macrophage populations could lead to the development of more effective treatments and therapies than those which currently exist.

Over this past summer and academic school year, I have been designing experiments, dissecting and embedding samples, conducting immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence staining on tissue sections to get a better understanding of the role these cells play on a microscopic level. In addition to gaining experience in conducting laboratory research and working with genetic model organisms, I’ve also improved my scientific communication and writing skills. This past summer, I presented my findings on the involvement of macrophages in different mouse models of prostatic diseases at the Summer Program Advancing Research on Cancer (SPARC) poster session. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to share my research with, while simultaneously learning from, other students and faculty working in different areas of cancer biology.

Because my research project requires daily/multi-day time-sensitive experiments, this makes summer an ideal time to make significant progress as I am able to work in the lab full time. With the support of the SURE award, I will continue to work on my project and use my findings to complete my senior thesis. Working in Dr. Shibata’s lab has been an invaluable part of my undergraduate experience and has not only helped me in my academic pursuits, but has also contributed significantly to my preparation for fulfilling my professional goals. I am hopeful that our research will lead to the development of more effective methods to prevent, detect, diagnose and treat cancer along with other diseases.

Interested in applying for your own SURE Award funding? Find out more about the application process here!

The following blog post was written by fellow UHPer and Spring 2023 SURE Award recipient, Anuka Upadhye (International Affairs Major, ’23). Read on about how Anuka utilized the SURE Award funding to further expand upon her research experience!

I used my SURE Award to attend the UN Water Conference from March 22nd to 24th at the UN Headquarters in New York City. As someone who is interested in international environmental issues, specifically water justice and climate change, I was really excited that the UN was hosting its second water conference after 46 years. Thanks to the GW Sustainability Department, a cohort of GW students and faculty were able to attend. Some of the highlights were being able to sit in the General Assembly hall and observe a plenary session, where representatives of member states discussed the future of water security in their respective countries and made voluntary commitments to help other countries finance water projects. This conference was the first time I witnessed international climate change policy in action, and helped me understand how the UN worked. It was also amazing to see so many people who are interested in global water issues under the same roof, and I felt united being near people that understood the stakes of climate change and water. Unfortunately, I left the conference with mixed opinions. Many of the events over-represented global north countries, excluded the voices of marginalized groups, and lacked tangible results. However, I am grateful for the SURE Award and the UHP for giving me the opportunity to step foot in the UN Headquarters and get an inside look on what actually happens behind closed doors. Going to the conference has allowed me to be a more coherent critic of the UN’s current shortcomings, and actively channel the frustrations I felt during the conference into ways to address current gaps in the field. Overall, getting this experience has solidified that I would like to work on climate change and water justice throughout my career because of the urgency to solve these global issues. Without the SURE Award, I would not have found this clarity. Thanks again!

Interested in applying for your own SURE Award funding? Find out more about the application process here!

The following blog post was written by fellow UHPer and Spring 2023 SURE Award recipient, Sana Hafiz (Public Health Major, ’24). Read on about how Sana plans to utilize the SURE Award funding to further expand upon her research experience!

The research I have been participating in this semester is in Dr. Shooks Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine Lab. This lab focuses on the tissue damage that occurs due to inflammation and injury to the skin. By researching the cell variants that are responsible for this process, pharmaceutical advancements are being made. For example, fibroblasts play a critical role in numerous physiological processes, including wound healing, tissue repair, and immune response. The research am conducting this semester aims to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying fibroblast function which is crucial for developing treatments for various related skin, immune diseases, and conditions. My research’s area of interest is the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in fibroblasts, and its role in cellular functions. iNOS takes part in a crucial role in the inflammatory response, therefore, the expression of iNOS and its role in cellular functions are areas of active research, and a better understanding of its regulation and function is crucial for developing treatments for various diseases and conditions.

The goal of this project is to investigate the expression patterns and subcellular localization of iNOS in fibroblasts using Immunofluorescence Antibody Staining. This will provide insight into the role of iNOS in fibroblasts, and its impact on cellular functions such as proliferation, migration, and differentiation. The results of this study will advance our understanding of fibroblast biology, and provide a foundation for future research in this field.

The implications of the research related to skin wound healing are very high, such as using our research in a pharmaceutical means, making each step of the research process very rewarding, even when things feel tedious. Applying my academic knowledge from my classes to research and vice versa also keeps me interested and motivated in my research.

The SURE Award was used to purchase antibodies used in immunofluorescence staining to observe where fibroblasts express iNOS proteins in the skin adjacent to wounds.

The next step of this research is to analyze the stained slides so that we can provide an analysis of iNOS in fibroblasts and its impact on cellular functions. Once completed, the findings of this study will provide a foundation for further investigations into the mechanisms underlying iNOS expression in fibroblasts and its implications in various physiological and pathological conditions.

Interested in applying for your own SURE Award funding? Find out more about the application process here!