Summer Undergraduate News

2012 Summer Undergraduate Research Programs in BioSciences & Bioengineering Poster Symposium Winners

The Rice University Summer Undergraduate Research Programs in Biosciences and Bioengineering 2012 Summer Poster Symposium included forty-six poster presenters displaying their summer Rice research projects.  Held in Rice University's Grand Hall on August 3rd, there were five different programs represented at this symposium:

NSF REU Summer Research for Undergrads in Cellular Engineering (Jennifer West, PD); Summer Research Experience for Teachers (Jennifer West, PD); NSF REU Summer Research Experience for Undergrads in Multi-Scale Biomolecular Networks (George Bennett & Joff Silberg, PDs); Biochemistry & Cell Biology Summer Research Experience in the Summer Research Institute (Janet Braam, PD); and CPRIT 2012 Summer Undergraduate Program in Computational Cancer Biology (B. Montgomery Pettitt, UH, PD). 

The Abstract Book for this poster symposium can be found here. Poster Winners for this event include:


NSF REU in Cellular Engineering

Michael Lam, from Rice University and working in Dr. Junghae Suh's laboratory, won for his poster "Temperature-based Control Switch of Transgene Expression in Adeno-associated Virus Utilizing Nanoshell Hyperthermia."

Aline Yonezawa, from the University of Florida and working in the laboratory of Dr. K.Jane Grande-Allen, won for her poster "Modulation of Valvular Interstitial Cell Activity by In-vitro Culture using Biomimetic Poly(ethylene glycol) Diacrylate Hydrogels."




NSF REU in Multi-Scale Biomolecular Networks

Taylor Birk, from the University of Texas at Austin and working in Dr. Amina Qutub's laboratory, won for her poster "Quantifying Actin Fiber Orientation in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells."

Esteban Pimentel, from Rice University and working in the laboratory of Dr. Junghae Suh, won for his poster "Characterization of SCHEMA-Guided Recombinant Adeno-associated Virus."





Summer Research Institute

Rebecca Organ, from Rice University and working in Dr. Daniel Wagner's laboratory, won for her poster "Models and Mechanisms for Pediatric Pulmonary Valve Replacement."

Ruchit Rana, from Rice University and working in the laboratory of Dr. Janet Braam, won for his poster "Discovering Conditional Activation of JA-Regulated Genes with opr3 Arabidopsis Mutants."




CPRIT 2012 Computational Cancer Biology

Noah Kessler, from the University of Houston and working in the laboratory of Dr. Ioannis Kakadiaris, won for his poster "Development and Validation of Computational Tools for Zebrafish Image Analytics."

Ryan Rightmer, from Rice University and working in Dr. Eva Sevick's laboratory, won for his poster "Determining a Wide Range of Optical Properties in a Tissue-Simulating Phantom Using the Analytical RTE Model with Time-Dependent Measurement."

2011 Summer Undergraduate Research Programs in BioSciences & Bioengineering Poster Symposium Winners

The Rice University Summer Undergraduate Research Programs in Biosciences and Bioengineering 2011 Summer Poster Symposium included sixty-one poster presenters displaying their summer Rice research projects.  Held in Rice University's Grand Hall on August 4, there were seven different programs represented at this symposium:

• HHMI Summer Undergraduate Program in Bionanotechnology (Jennifer West, PD); IBB Summer Research Institute (Janet Braam, PD); NSF REU Summer Research for Undergrads in Cellular Engineering (Jennifer West, PD); Summer Research Experience for Teachers (Jennifer West, PD); NSF REU Summer Research Experience for Undergrads in Multi-Scale Biomolecular Networks (George Bennett & Joff Silberg, PDs); NSF REU Summer Research Experience for Undergrads in Theoretical & Computational Neuroscience (Harel Shouval, PD); and CPRIT Summer Undergrad Program in Computational Cancer Biology (B. Montgomery Pettitt, UH, PD).

The Abstract Book for this poster symposium can be found here. Poster Winners for this event include:

HHMI in Bionanotechnology  

Michael Lee, from Princeton University and working in the laboratory of Dr. Jeff Hartgerink, won for his poster, "Electrostatic Interactions Lead to Selective Formation of High Stability ABC Heterotrimers."

Matthew Kofoed, from Clemson University and working in the laboratory of Dr. Jennifer West, won for his poster, "Modified Poly(ethylene Glycol) Gels Control and PromoteCTX0E03 Neural Stem Cell Adhesion and Proliferation."

NSF REU in Cellular Engineering

Mykel Green, from Morehouse College and working in the laboratory of Dr. Jennifer West, won for his poster, "Biomimetic Strategies in Hepatic Tissue Engineering."

Michelle Feole, from the Univ. of Florida and working in the laboratory of Dr. Junghae Suh, won for her poster, "Mutant/Wild-type Dynamics in Laboratory Directed Evolution."

NSF REU in Multi-Scale Biomolecular Networks

Brittani Horn, from Grambling State University and working in the laboratory of Dr. Bonnie Bartel, won for her poster, "Elucidating components of the peroxisome-associated degradation pathway in Arabidopsis."

Alicia Capps, from Texas A&M and working in the laboratory of Dr. Laura Segatori, won for her poster, "Using Split GFP Complementation to Analyze the Aggregation of α-synuclein." 

IBB Summer Research Institute

Aurelia Fu, from Rice University and working in the laboratory of Dr. Joff Silberg, won for her poster, "Selecting for Split Methionyl-tRNA Synthetases Dependent on Covalent Attachment to Interacting Proteins."

Kristie Lou, from Rice University and working in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Gustin, won for her poster “White-opaque Switching in Candida albicans Under Physiological Stress.” 

NSF REU in Theoretical & Computational Neuroscience

Avani Amin, from Gettysburg College and working in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Raphael, won for her poster, "FLIM FRET Measurements of Prestin Activity in HEK Cells."

Wayne Mitchell, from Loyola Univ. and working in the laboratory of Dr. Anne Sereno, won for his poster, "Modeling Attention."

CPRIT Summer Undergrad in Computational Cancer Biology

Wenyuan Liu, from Washington Univ. St. Louis and working in the laboratory of Dr. Ching Ching Lau, won for his poster, "High Throughput Computing with Condor."

Alen Lukic, from Rice University and working in the laboratory of Dr. Luah Nakhleh, won for his poster, "Using Petri net modeling to simulate metabolic and signaling network dynamics."