Student Showcase by School/College

John Archilla, Peter Bua and Antonio Vargas

This project focused on the development of an interactive mixed-reality (MR) workflow for the ad-hoc assembly and form-finding of a wooden gridshell enclosure. Often, mixed-reality fabrication uses static holograms that visualize the intended outcome or part without much allowable variance, and often, is dependent on tight tolerances. This research seeks to facilitate an instinctive, conversational workflow between manual assembly and design intention, as the digital and physical outputs are created simultaneously to the liking of the user(s).

Lydia Diboun

Nestled along the tranquil banks of Tonawanda Creek in North Tonawanda, my 23,000-square-foot boat museum stands as a beacon of innovation. Inspired by the success of our Ghost Boat concept, which reimagined traditional rowboats, our project sought to encapsulate life's essence and organic beauty within expansive spaces. This endeavor birthed a remarkable head-like structure suspended above the museum's first floor, imbuing the upper levels with grandeur while freeing the central core for private areas and serving as the primary circulation hub. Surrounding this core are meticulously designed pathways and exhibition spaces, celebrating North Tonawanda's profound connection to the majestic Niagara River and its aquatic life and history. Each corner of the museum bears witness to the intertwining of nature and human endeavor, honoring the city's maritime heritage and highlighting the enduring bond between architecture, nature, and the human spirit. The building's exterior envelope, comprising transparent glass, sturdy structural layers, and captivating paneling, harmonizes form and function, welcoming visitors to glimpse its inner workings while embracing the surrounding beauty.

Peter Fillion, Christian Frank and Joseph Tripi

This project aimed to investigate the dynamics and limitations within the communication of instructions from designers to fabricators. The central question revolved around the level of explicitness required in drawing sets to guide the fabricator's actions effectively. A key consideration was exploring the potential for designers to leverage the expertise and insights of fabricators. To address this inquiry, we employed the Microsoft HoloLens, an augmented reality (AR) device, as a platform to showcase the instruction set. We developed a graphic style that functioned as a flexible guide, allowing for adaptability. The intention was to empower fabricators to make nuanced adjustments in response to unforeseen challenges. 

Joseph Glatz and Andrew Reiter

Terra Firma aims to help ground incoming refugees in a home where they are able to continue practicing the agriculture they would in their original home. This is achieved in the apartment complex with the winter garden space that is formed with a south facing shared corridor; this also helps to encourage a social environment between the tenants. Units are primarily double heighted (80%) with every unity having access to the shared garden terrace. The units are sandwiched between the corridors to help provide a weather barrier from season to season. The terrace is able to be closed for the winter months and open during the summer months. Public space is also achieved in the project through three satellite buildings located south of the apartment complex and connected through a planted pergola.

Rylee Gollogly and Megan Wysocki

A housing project on Buffalo's West Side provides the growing refugee population with affordable housing, while cultivating connections to Buffalo's existing community. This is achieved by creating a cycle of growing, selling and educating; all of which occur on site in the project's indoor and outdoor gardens, market spaces, and classrooms. Residents must travel through the courtyard spaces and enter the vertical garden cores before ascending to their units. Circulation is reimagined as one experiences the several stories of indoor garden spaces before arriving at their own, which is shared with their immediate neighbors.

Alex Hoover and Sofia Pasquarella

Buffalo has been shaped by its diverse range of refugees. Stack Exchange as cooperative housing, expands on this heritage: first in the assimilation of refugees as vital members of a diverse city; second as a multi-valent development that fosters the high percentage of refugees that become vibrant entrepreneurs. The refugees' businesses and micro-entrepreneurial activities integrate their new lives and homes, connect them to their community, and unite them with others who share similar experiences. As such, how might a live-work community amplify social interaction at different scales? We answer this question by designing housing with a community market linking refugee businesses back to the city, community gardens for the residents, social towers as hubs for cooperation, and a dynamic facade that shows liveliness within the building.

Yau Wai Lam, Huiying Tan and Emily Vollo

The research outlined in this paper has a dual focus: first, to investigate hybrid asymptotic structures made from GFRP rods and tensioned membranes, and second, to develop a mixed reality (MR) workflow to assist in the assembly of the structure and to enhance the end user experience . Drawing inspiration from the elegance of Frei Otto's music pavilion at the 1955 Bundesgartenschau, we reimagined the tensioned membrane to rely on a stable bending-active asymptotic frame. Instead of cables and masts, the hyperbolic surface is autonomously formed as the frame reacts to its internal bending forces. The placement of nodes along curved cylindrical beams, calibrating bending behavior to a predictive simulation, and the shaping of a custom textile are proposed as a useful case study for mixed reality fabrication.

Jessica Renn

The design for this riverboat exhibition center, situated at the entrance to the Erie Canal in North Tonawanda, New York, offers space for displaying historical materials and digital media related to wooden hydroplanes and powerboats. The main structure utilizes a four-by-four square grid, and the building is shaped using a series of interlocked block forms. This interlocking creates spatial connections between the programs on each floor. Strategically placed social stairs on varying sides of the building encourage circulation throughout all spaces, with a series of exhibition areas located on the upper floors. The site provides boat docking for historical riverboats, which are accessible by a series of ramps that connect block platforms extruding at varying heights from the landscape. The design of this riverboat exhibition center acknowledges the importance of preserving antique riverboats and educating the public about their history for the benefit of the local community.

Hannah Ruth

As an extension of SoilWorks research and study abroad programs (Winter 2023), my work brings new life to international earth block practices by introducing visual, technical language that supports a comprehensive iteration-based construction process with our NGO partner, CLAO, and their Water Tank Project in Mwanza, Tanzania. The Community Life Amelioration Organization (CLAO) produces soil-stabilized compressed bricks as part of their initiative to support local women in need (Rians Women Empowerment Center) which are then used to build structures throughout the local region that address critical needs for clean water, sanitation, and education. I'm specifically researching the water tank design built at local schools to collect rainwater for the vulnerable high-elevation communities of Mwanza and plan to support its development through technical documentation and a Summer 2024 return trip.

Rishabh Chopra and Satya Swaroopini Gangupati

This study employs geospatial analysis to assess cyclone vulnerability, exposure, and mitigation capabilities along the Tamil Nadu coastline, one of India's most cyclone-prone regions. By integrating data from various sources, including the Indian Meteorological Department and GIS mapping, we delineate high-risk zones, analyze infrastructure resilience, and evaluate community preparedness against the backdrop of increasing cyclone frequencies and intensities due to climate change. Our findings pinpoint critical vulnerabilities in population density, infrastructure, and emergency response capabilities, highlighting the urgent need for targeted mitigation strategies and improved early warning systems. Validation against Cyclone Gaja's 2018 impact confirms the model's effectiveness in predicting cyclonic damage risks. This research underscores the imperative for a proactive disaster management approach, combining structural and non-structural measures to enhance the resilience of Tamil Nadu's coastal communities against future cyclones.

Phuong Nguyen

This research focuses on the public park systems in Buffalo, NY to analyze how segregation can prevent people from benefiting from green space. Through presenting previous research, we will further analyze the history of the Olmsted Park System in Buffalo, NY, the causes of racial segregation, and the importance of green parks in urban settings. Segregation in the community has been associated with a lack of access to public facilities and negative health impacts on the residents with lower incomes (Razani et al, 2018). Green space is often overlooked in urban design; however, it plays an important role in people's physical and mental well-being. The neighborhood I studied is on the East Side of Buffalo and the census tract is 166, Erie, NY. 

Liliana Visca

This portfolio is a collection of research done on the topic of food access, specifically in Tract 61, a low-income, relatively dense and diverse census tract on the westside of Buffalo, New York. In this area, I examine whether the various dimensions of food access are met. Four methods are used to make this determination: site analyses, a qualitative interview, a literature review, and an investigation of census data. I relate my firsthand observations to the relevant academic literature and census data, which greatly expands the scope and applicability of my findings. From there, I am able to find solutions to improve food access and present the most realistic and well-developed one in the form of a policy memo. Lastly, I present eight sketchbook entries from my census tract of interest and beyond. The final reflection summarizes my findings and serves as a conclusion to my work.

Dalya Alani and Zacchariah Apolito

In studies of primates, the geometry of joint articular surfaces is suggested to reflect the potential mobility. However, subtalar joint geometry may reflect other factors, such as the ability to resist large forces due to weight bearing, which is largely determined by body mass. Here, we investigate whether the subtalar joint geometry more strongly reflects body mass than the specific mobility demands of locomotion. We used a quadric fitting algorithm to collect the articular curvature from 61 specimens across ten primate species with varying locomotor behaviors and body sizes. Our linear regression analysis reveals that overall joint curvature correlates negatively with body mass. These results reveal that among primates, subtalar joint curvature is primarily dependent on body mass, and contrary to previous assumptions does not reflect mobility requirements of different locomotor behaviors. These results have important implications for interpreting joint surface morphology in fossil primates.

Matt Cunningham

Historically, slow lorises (Nycticebus and Xanthonycticebus) have been housed alone based on the misconception that they were solitary in the wild and rarely engaged in social behaviors. Following an expansion of field and captive studies we now know that slow lorises thrive when socially housed, but our understanding of the breadth of social and reproductive behaviors is still limited. In this study we sought to document the behavioral repertoire of a breeding pair of pygmy lorises at the Cleveland Metropark Zoo. We collected data on behavior, posture, and substrate use at 15-minute intervals using an instantaneous scan sampling method. The most observed social behavior was play (6% male and 18% female). The most frequent substrate type was branches and the most frequently used posture was sleeping ball. The results of our study offers a baseline for the types of social behaviors and space use a successful breeding pair may display. 

Juliana D'Orazio

Ancestral reconstruction is a tool for studying the evolutionary pathways for various traits across primates. This method requires researchers to populate their models with known information to simulate how primates diversified or conserved the ancestral condition. It is generally understood that nocturnal primates may share more traits with ancestral primates than diurnal primates, but whether they are the best model for early primates is an ongoing discussion. We hypothesize that extant nocturnal primates are a good model for ancestral primates. We predict that nocturnal primates will reflect the most internal node more often than diurnal primates in studies that conducted an ancestral reconstruction. To test these predictions, we completed a comprehensive literature review using Google Scholar and the Web of Science of studies that performed an ancestral reconstruction, including primates. For each paper included in our analysis, we recorded whether or not the ancestral state matched the state of the nocturnal primates.  We also recorded the number of nocturnal primates included in the study compared to diurnal primates, as well as what outgroup they included. If nocturnal primates are the best representation of early primates, we must conserve and expand our understanding of this important group of primates to help create more comprehensive reconstructions in the future. 

Daniel Johnson

This research looks at a region of Thailand to see how different types of species interact in the area. Specifically, what niches are present and how they overlap. The study complies data from multiple sources to create a data group. This was analyzed to find the patterns necessary to answer the research question. 

Brianna Porter

My research project is an ethnographic analysis of shrimp aquaculture in Thailand. I am especially interested in the practices in which Thai shrimp farmers engage to respond both to the increased market demand for shrimp and to environmental degradation caused by wastewater. The management of environmental challenges is overseen by state bureaucrats, who must abide by internationally accepted standards for seafood ecolabelling. Technocratic solutions are offered as the singular solution for farmers. However, the technology required often has high upfront costs to implement. As one of the world's largest producers and exporters of shrimp, the city of Chanthaburi offers unique insights into how efforts to control food production intersect with efforts to mitigate environmental degradation. My project is significant because it fills a gap in the scholarly literature on the power struggles and complexities surrounding seafood certification and the management of environmental challenges.

Joey Goergen

Anything Can Happen here will be a collection of paintings and prints. Their process and presentation reference punk aesthetics. These modes of expression exist beyond the reach of the public, and are cultivated in vacant spaces left where artists and misfits gather to daydream. 

The prints use photographic imagery of mundane subjects. The photographs are translated using print media such as black and reflective inks that make these images glow under certain conditions. They are a portal for a daydream for those who decide to stare long enough.

The paintings utilize a spontaneous approach. I use gouache to work responsively to patterned forms on paper. These patterns are made of triangular shapes or flannel-shirt plaids that act as a catalog and pay homage to people who have passed from suicides and overdose. The work is a mediation on themes of loss and an attempt to find joy.  

Cristiano Pereira

The series Apotropaic uses images as a form of investigating and express archetypical themes that are present in different cultures throughout history. Apotropaic comes from Ancient Greek and it means "to turn away". It is the basis of belief systems that use amulets and symbols to protect against "evil" and it has a historical relation with the representation of sex and gender.

Examples of Apotropaic magic are the Greek herms or termini, sheela na gig figures in medieval churches or Hindu lingan sculptures.

The series consist of paintings, prints and objects produced with mediums like encaustic, acrylic or oil painting. The images are based on photographs appropriated from the internet or Al generated. The artworks make reference to designs and geometric patterns used as decorative and/or protective in temples or domestic spaces. Apotropaic is a queer Latinx Art series that intends to contribute to counter balance hegemonic and colonizing aspects of history, questioning notions of originality and authority through appropriation and exploring the use of sexuality and gendered symbols in Art History.

Cameron Weber

 The goal of this User Experience Research and Design project was to improve customer dining experience by empowering the service staff to operate in an environment with streamlined communication and efficient use of technology. In my personal experience serving in both family-style and fine-dining restaurants, one aspect never changed: the burden of dealing with poorly implemented technology and the difficulties/downfalls that come with the transition to new digital services. The ServiceHUB paging application prototype attempts to find a solution by centering the users - the service staff - thus improving the customers' dining experience. The project involved researching the usability of the most prevalent services used in the local restaurant industry, and analyzing the positive and the negative aspects from both the customer and server perspective. Through an iterative process of research and design, the most useful aspects from current industry applications were integrated into an application mock-up that aims to make the dining experience for everyone more customizable, accessible and efficient.

Ziv Cheng

I did a project on the impact of the Columbian Exchange on Persian cuisine and culture in India. The Columbian Exchange was the movement of plants, animals, diseases, and people across the Atlantic Ocean after 1492. I used a 15th-century book of recipes as my primary source and cooked a three-course meal using its recipes. I also researched the history and culture behind these dishes and recorded a video of myself cooking and explaining them.

Emily Carroll

The foxglove plant, Digitalis lanata, produces an important heart medication, digoxin. This medication is currently produced solely from extracts of dried foxglove leaves. Digoxin is produced in a 11-step pathway and only 2 of the 10 enzymes that catalyze the steps of the pathway were identified. Our group assembled a transcriptome and a pseudochromosomal level genome of D. lanata to identify the pathway enzymes. The transcriptome identified genes that were correlated with digoxin production and the genome revealed a biosynthetic gene cluster that contained possible digoxin pathway genes. We used tobacco transient expression system and yeast heterologous gene expression to test the genes and see if they produced intermediates of the pathway. Two genes, a cytochrome P450scc and a UDP-glycosyltransferase, were shown to be part of the digoxin pathway. Knowledge of these enzymes will allow researchers to improve the production and structure of digoxin to make it safer for patients.    

Richoo Davis, Aishwarya Kanchi Ranganath and Anushka Supakar

Prion-like domains (PLDs) are intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) found in several DNA and RNA-binding proteins involved in transcription and RNA processing such as the FET (FUS, EWSR1, TAF15) family of proteins. PLDs drive the self-interaction of these proteins resulting in the phase separation and formation of functional biomolecular condensates. In certain pediatric cancers, chromosomal translocations are found that cause the PLD of the FET proteins to fuse to DNA-binding domains of various transcription factors resulting in the formation of FET-fusion oncoproteins (FOs). While their prevalence in different cancer subtypes is well established, the molecular mechanisms underlying their oncogenic properties are lacking. In our study, we show that the PLD drives the phase separation of FUS-DDIT3, a canonical FET-oncofusion. These oncofusion condensates enrich coactivators such as BRD4 and chromatin remodeller mammalian SWI/SNF (mSWI/SNF) complex which are necessary for their oncogenic activity. We have identified multiple subunits of the mSWI/SNF complex that contain long disordered domains with prion-like sequences and can undergo robust phase separation. Importantly, the PLDs of the mSWI/SNF complex interact with the PLD of FUS-DDIT3 to drive their recruitment. Such sequence-specific heterotypic PLD interactions lead to the co-condensation of mSWI/SNF complex with FET-FO condensates. 

Richoo Davis and Anushka Supakar

Prion-like domains (PLDs) are intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) found in several DNA and RNA-binding proteins involved in transcription and RNA processing such as the FET (FUS, EWSR1, TAF15) family of proteins. PLDs drive the self-interaction of these proteins resulting in the phase separation and formation of functional biomolecular condensates. In certain pediatric cancers, chromosomal translocations are found that cause the PLD of the FET proteins to fuse to DNA-binding domains of various transcription factors resulting in the formation of FET-fusion oncoproteins (FOs). While their prevalence in different cancer subtypes is well established, the molecular mechanisms underlying their oncogenic properties are lacking. In our study, we show that the PLD drives the phase separation of FUS-DDIT3, a canonical FET-oncofusion. These oncofusion condensates enrich coactivators such as BRD4 and chromatin remodeller mammalian SWI/SNF (mSWI/SNF) complex which are necessary for their oncogenic activity. We have identified multiple subunits of the mSWI/SNF complex that contain long disordered domains with prion-like sequences and can undergo robust phase separation. Importantly, the PLDs of the mSWI/SNF complex interact with the PLD of FUS-DDIT3 to drive their recruitment. Such sequence-specific heterotypic PLD interactions lead to the co-condensation of mSWI/SNF complex with FET-FO condensates. 

Maura Dungan

Post-translational modifications (PTM) are an important molecular switch for many cellular processes. One such type of PTM is protein arginine methylation, which is catalyzed by the enzyme family protein arginine methyltransferase (PRMT) and is evolutionarily conserved from yeast to human. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Hmt1 is the major PRMT that is responsible for the majority of protein arginine methylation in yeast cells. Previous work has identified a number of phosphorylation sites on this enzyme but whether and how these phosphorylation events impact its function has yet to be elucidated. To answer this key question, we have generated site-specific phospho-mutant proteins of Hmt1 (either abolishing phosphorylation or mimicking phosphorylation) to test their effects on the activity and levels of Hmt1, as well as their impact on the overall yeast growth fitness under different carbon sources.

Jasmin Gill

Despite numerous studies on racial/ethnic disparities among patients with breast cancer, there is a paucity of literature evaluating the association between racial/ethnic differences and 21-gene recurrence score (RS) and survival differences stratified by RS risk categories. We performed an observational cohort study to evaluate racial/ethnic disparities in the context of RS. The National Cancer Database (NCDB) was queried for female patients diagnosed between 2006 and 2018 with ER-positive, pT1-3N0-1aM0 breast cancer who received surgery followed by adjuvant endocrine therapy and had available RS. Racial/ethnic groups were stratified by non-Hispanic White (NHW), Hispanic White (HW), Black, and Asian/Pacific Islander (API). To our knowledge, this is the largest study using a nationwide oncology database to suggest that Black women were associated with higher RS, while HW and API women were not. It also suggested that Black women were associated with worse OS among those with RS <26, while API women were associated with improved OS regardless of RS when compared to NHW women

Rodwan Ibrahim, Brendan Louis and Ridham Varsani

These results demonstrate the potential for a simple laser ablative procedure to enable atraumatic tooth extractions. This approach could potentially avoid fractures in frail and elderly patients with high risk for fractures. Further, the minimally invasive process could enable optimal healing and preservation of the bone support, accelerating rehabilitation with dentures or implants in aging populations.   

Julie Ketcher

Sexual selection can facilitate adaptive radiation. However, sexual selection as opposed to natural selection is not a well characterized phenomenon in adaptive radiation clades. To determine the role of sexual selection in adaptive radiation clades, we quantified sexual selection through birdsong analysis in a clade of tropical birds, the Hawaiian Honeycreepers (Drepanididae), which are known for their adaptive radiation in the Hawaiian archipelago. The strength of sexual selection has led to changes in the birdsong for mating calls for mate attraction and male - male competition. The analysis of birdsong through sonograms and waveforms to measure physical characteristics were then visually defined and recorded in a syllable dictionary. Data analytics were used to select the strongest variable influencing sexual selection. The Hawaiian Honeycreepers are an endangered species, and this research is working towards understanding intra-specific communication of Hawaiian Honeycreepers, which will lead to substantial understanding of sexual selection in adaptive radiation. 

Joshua Oken

Invasive growth in fungi occurs in response to external stimuli. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a model organism for invasive growth. Numerous regulators of filamentous growth in S. cerevisiae have orthologs in Candida albicans, a human pathogen. Although S. cerevisiae gene orthologs in C. albicans were assumed to have similar functionality, there have been inconsistencies in the literature regarding their influence in optimal filamenting conditions. Diploid mutants of C. albicans and S. cerevisiae were tested using a modified plate washing assay. In both species, filamentation patterns of invasive growth negative regulator mutants (hog1 and pbs2) and positive regulator mutants (rim101, msb2, ras1, and ste11) were compared in multiple conditions to identify unique roles of invasive growth regulators in C. albicans. Unexpected C. albicans filamentous growth phenotypes resulted from the plate washing assay. Multiple known positive regulator mutants displayed wild-type or hyper phenotypes. Additional data analysis is necessary to confirm observational findings.

Nathan Pfeffer

Splicing of pre-mRNA is an essential process in eukaryotic gene expression, and proper regulation of splicing is critical for the normal cell state. Splicing factors can be regulated via post-translational modifications such as protein arginine methylation. We recently identified Mud2, the budding yeast homolog of human U2AF65, to be methylated by the major yeast protein arginine methyltransferase Hmt1. Nevertheless, the functional role of such on Mud2 remains to be determined. The goal of this project is to dissect the role of protein arginine methylation on the splicing factor Mud2 in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We first identified the location of methylarginines on Mud2 using a combination of site-directed mutagenesis and in vitro methylation assay. Six substitution mutations on potential methylarginine sites were generated in constructs that express His-tagged Mud2 protein, and these constructs were recombinantly purified and their ability to be methylated by Hmt1 in vitro was tested.

Abigail Stressinger and Guangpeng Xu

Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels has amplified the importance of developing high-yield carbon capture technology that is cost-effective and commercially viable. Due to their high photosynthetic efficiency, microalgae can be cultivated for this purpose. To monitor their productivity in real time, a "quantum profile" is created for the algae cultures. Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) are inserted through a Biolistic "gene gun" method and cell electroporation. Cellular uptake of QDs is mapped by transformation of Green fluorescent protein (GFP) into algae cells, which acts as a fluorescent marker for locating QDs. The health status of the algae cultures are then measured with a MultispeQ fluorometer, and coupled to the quantum imaging readings. Preliminary results show successful quantum dot uptake in plant and algae cells. Further research will work on training machine learning algorithms with the collected quantum and health status readings.

Ethan Tong

Eukaryotic gene expression is a complex mechanism with a multitude of regulations. One such mechanism occurs through post-translational modifications (PTMs) on proteins that participate in various aspects of gene expression. One type of PTM that has emerged as an important regulator of protein function is protein arginine methylation.  This type of modification is catalyzed by a family of evolutionarily conserved enzymes called protein arginine methyltransferase (PRMTs). In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the major PRMT responsible for the majority of arginine methylation events in a cell is Hmt1.  Previous works have shown Hmt1 itself contains various phosphorylation sites that may serve to regulate the enzyme level, activity, or both. The effect of these Hmt1 mutants on the fitness of yeast cells will be measured to determine the biological consequences of these mutants. The results obtained will allow us to establish the importance of phosphorylation in the regulation of Hmt1 enzyme.

Lucas Kruse

Monoclonal antibodies represent a powerful class of therapeutics for the treatment of many diseases but are cell impermeable, hindering their therapeutic potential. A class of single-domain antibody mimetics called "monobodies" have shown great promise in binding to specific intracellular proteins implicated in cancer. Studies have shown that mutating residues on a protein surface to positively charged residues leads to increased cell membrane penetration. However, extensive mutagenesis reduces the thermodynamic stability of a protein. Our lab designed an electrophilic Beta-lactam-lysine derivative for site-specific incorporation into supercharged NSa1 variants for subsequent spontaneous, proximity-driven intra-strand covalent cross-linking. Our goal is to develop a thermodynamically stable, cell penetrating NSa1 monobody that selectively inhibits SHP2, a phosphatase inside cells and a validated cancer drug target. The combination of orthogonal crosslinking and protein supercharging could offer a general strategy for the cytosolic delivery of bioactive proteins, opening the door to an exciting new modality of therapeutic. 

LiangZhan Li and Laurence N. Rohde

In organic chemistry, ring strain is usually applied to drive the reaction forward by release of ring strain. In Dr. Diver's lab, we are more interested in how ring strain can be used to facilitate reactions without losing strain in the products. This might be possible by lowering the activation energy to high energy intermediates, which is a more subtle way to employ strain to facilitate catalytic reactions. During my studies, we discovered that these new ene-yne metathesis reactions proceeded with high atom economy. High atom economy means that the reaction is highly efficient and does not have any wasted components. We also found that the reaction of strain-enabled alkenes extended to a Nobel-prize winning reaction called alkene metathesis, which is widely used in organic synthesis. The second part of my poster will describe our efforts developing the ring strain-assisted olefin cross alkene metathesis.

Karoline Garcia-Pedraza

Quantum dots (QDs), visible light-sensitive nanomaterials, have been widely studied for converting solar energy into chemical energy due to their light-harvesting properties, compositional tunability, and size-dependent energetics. However, bare QDs suffer from low selectivity toward the reduction of CO2 . To improve their catalytic activity, we have doped QDs with nickel(II) cations and interfaced them with ternary metal-intercalated vanadium oxide nanowires (NWs). Within the resulting heterostructures, QDs act as charge donors, and the NWs exhibit interactive mid-gap states functioning as charge acceptors. Although our collaborative team has previously studied this type of heterostructure for hydrogen evolution and water splitting in the presence of a nickel co-catalyst, they remain unexplored for CO2 photoreduction. This presentation will cover the preparation and characterization of tunable photocatalytic heterostructures by interfacing cysteinate-capped nickel(II)-doped CdS QDs (cys-Ni:CdS QDs) with β-Pb 0.33V2O5 NWs. 

Karoline García-Pedraza and Nicholas Reilly

Quantum dots (QDs) are photoreactive nanoparticles with size-tunable physical and electronic properties due to quantum confinement. Specifically, their tunable band gaps and band-edge potentials make them flexible photocatalysts. Upon absorbing high-energy photons, valence band electrons are excited to the conduction band, leaving behind a positive "hole." The electron and hole store the photon's energy, which can be used to promote reactions, such as reducing solvated protons to hydrogen gas. This project uses a hole-accepting ligand to separate the electron-hole pair to delay recombination (a deleterious energy-releasing process) to determine whether it enhances QD photocatalytic performance. CdSe QDs are interfaced with 6-(ferrocenyl)hexanethiol, a hole-acceptor surface ligand, on a glass slide, which is submerged in an aqueous electrolyte solution and illuminated to induce excited states. Illumination in a deaerated environment yields significant hydrogen production, higher than a control group. Current results indicate that the presence of the ligand enhances the system's productivity.

Ananya Saju

Single-electron oxidation is one of the most fundamental reactions in chemistry. Oxidation reactions are utilized in important processes of life like respiration and photosynthesis as well as for synthesizing chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Oxidation reagents or 'oxidants' perform these reactions and are usually found to decompose readily if exposed to moisture or air. We discovered a shelf-stable oxidant [Mn(NO3)3(OPPh3)2] (2) with a potential of 1.02 V vs. ferrocene (MeCN) (1.65 vs. NHE), which is one the highest known among readily available redox agents used in chemical synthesis. 2 exhibits stability toward air in the solid state, can be handled with relative ease, and is soluble in most common laboratory solvents. These properties make 2 a very useful, powerful, and selective one-electron oxidation reagent which can serve as a powerful tool for all synthetic chemists.

Stephanie Gillis

Menstrual cups provide a range of benefits over traditional single-use menstrual products but are underutilized in the world of menstrual management options. Identifying perceptions about the benefits and drawbacks of menstrual cups may help explain this incongruity and serve as the foundation upon which strategic, educational messages about menstrual cups can best be developed. The current study employed inductive, open-ended questions using CloudResearch to survey participants who had previously menstruated (N=330) regarding their perceptions surrounding menstrual cups. Latent content analysis was used to ​​determine thematic categories among participants' answers, followed by manifest content analysis to determine the frequency with which specific answers were given.

Stephanie Gillis and Yi Yin Leong

Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) rates among women who have sex with women (WSW) have been increasing in recent years. Yet, the risk of getting an STI among WSW is still presented as "rare".  Drawing on the Health Belief Model, we conducted five qualitative online focus groups to understand how WSW perceive their risk of STIs and the role of emotions in risk-related decisions. Participants were recruited through email to universities rated high in inclusivity and through Reddit. Thematic analysis was engaged to identify themes in our dataset. Although participants were divided on whether STIs are a risk for this population, most agreed that the use of protection is uncommon and unnecessary. Developing trust and building an emotional connection with their sexual partner(s) was of greater importance for our participants. Our data demonstrates the interplay of trust and emotions in influencing WSW's perceptions of sexual health risks and sexual behavior decisions.

Tahleen Lattimer

Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) are chronic, terminal neurological disorder(s) considered to be one of the most underrated health crises of the 21st century. Although minority groups face unique challenges that can exacerbate the effects of ADRD, they are continually overlooked, as research predominantly focuses on homogenous, primarily white, English-speaking populations. This lack of diversity impedes effective diagnosis, treatment, and caregiving methods. Among them, the Deaf community, despite being one of the largest at-risk groups, has received minimal attention. For these reasons, the current study critically examines Deaf experiences related to ADRD. Through focus groups, discourse among community members is analyzed to understand how barriers and care are managed. Findings contribute to broader discussions on health equity, accessibility, and community resilience. Results provide both theoretical and practical implications, and recommendations for scholars, practitioners, and those looking to engage with this community are provided. 

Madison Neurohr

Studies have demonstrated facial expressions to be significant predictors of deceit. In fact, higher stake studies reported negative facial expressions, such as contempt, disgust, and fear, can predict deception about one's past actions. To build upon this research, this study examined facial expressions of contempt, disgust, and fear, as well as gaze aversion as clues to predict intentions to commit a future mock theft. 

Gavin Raffloer

This study tests whether narrative transportation, enjoyment, appreciation, identification, engagement, and perceptions of creativity differed from each other in AI written versus human written stories depending on the actual content of the story versus the perceived author, and across two genres: science fiction and romance. 2x2x2 ANOVA results indicate that there were no differences between conditions for transportation, engagement, or identification. However, main effects emerged for the real author manipulation on enjoyment (AI content was perceived as more enjoyable than human content), appreciation (human content was more appreciated than AI content), and perceptions (human content was perceived as more creative and better writing style than AI content). An interaction for enjoyment suggested that participants enjoyed AI written stories more than human stories in the science fiction condition with no differences occurring in the romance condition. 

Rui Wang

Centering on social media's public- and profit-oriented nature, this study theorizes how social media users are empowered and constrained when participating in platform governance. The empirical analysis focuses on user responses before and after Elon Musk's official acquisition of Twitter, utilizing cluster analysis and topic modeling to examine the volume and content of related discourses among Twitter user groups. Our results point to user constraint in platform governance. Though a diverse set of users, such as partisans, bots, and cryptocurrency enthusiasts, participated with diverging objectives, partisans dominated the conversations. There was an upsurge in user volume and activity level post-acquisition among liberal users, whose critical voices on platform governance might have bolstered platform business. Potential bots also increased in volume and amplified political topics. Our findings shed light on the challenges of user-driven platform governance, underscoring the complex interplay between platform users, economy, and governance.

Jenna Crowell

This project utilized electroencephalography (EEG) as a measure of auditory system processing to investigate novel speech perception tests' sensitivity to auditory physiology. Many adults with normal hearing experience difficulties understanding speech in background noise. Yet, commonly used speech-in-noise perception assessments were developed for use with individuals with hearing loss and thus have low diagnostic power for listeners with normal hearing thresholds. Further, because speech perception involves high-level cognitive processes, a low-level, basic auditory sensory deficit could go undetected on commonly used test of speech perception. 

Kelly Gates

Improving speech intelligibility is a primary goal of managing communication disorders. Therefore, it is critical to accurately interpret changes in intelligibility. The minimally detectable change (MDC) estimates the smallest amount of change in an outcome measure that is not likely due to variations that could occur by chance. To calculate the MDC, a measure of reliability is needed. Three different reliability measures have frequently been used to calculate the MDC, but these measures have not been compared to each other. Two hundred speakers with existing audio recordings (including healthy speakers and speakers with dysarthria secondary to neurodegenerative diseases) were included. Thirty non-expert listeners participated in two sessions and orthographically transcribed the speech of 20 speakers. Transcriptions were analyzed to determine percent intelligibility. Three reliability measures and MDCs were calculated using standard formulas. Results indicated that MDCs vary based on factors including the reliability measure, level of speech impairment, and population. 

Noah Jenkins

Medicaid is one of the most expansive public health insurance programs, traditionally targeting low-income individuals, covering about twenty-five percent of the American population. The literature on Medicaid well documents its effectiveness in increasing coverage and access. However, the effect of Medicaid on other important spillover effects remains understudied. I study the impact of Medicaid on crime rates, one of many important positive spillover effects Medicaid brings. By understanding the relationship between Medicaid expansions and crime, we can better inform policymakers surrounding the benefits of Medicaid. This work extends the time horizon and modifies the earlier work of He and Barkowski (2020). Specifically, I extend the difference-in-differences model used in He and Barkowski and estimate the effect of Medicaid expansion on burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, homicide, robbery, and aggravated assault. Additionally, I implement an alternative identification strategy to better understand the dynamic effect of Medicaid expansion on crime. In states that expanded Medicaid after 2014, I find no evidence that Medicaid expansion reduced violent or property crime rates. The new results may suggest that the initial impact of Medicaid on various forms of crime may have plateaued over time.

Rebecca Ortiz

Previous studies have indicated a negative correlation between organized crime and GDP per capita, primarily due to decreased private investments resulting from increased violence (Pinotti 2015). Additionally, research suggests that increased ethnic diversity in government leads to decreased spending on public goods, primarily due to increased disagreement and gridlock (Beach and Jones 2017). Building upon these findings, we seek to explore how the strength of organized criminal gangs in 1920s Chicago influenced the distribution of resources and public spending across urban neighborhoods. We create a novel measure of organized crime activity by digitizing a historical map of 1,313 gang hideouts.  We further combine this map with ward and district-level measures of crime and public spending and document a strong correlation between juvenile crime and gang activity. This research seeks to contribute to the understanding of the complex dynamics between organized crime, ethnic diversity, public goods provision, and crime outcomes to inform future policies and strategies aimed at combating organized crime and improving public goods allocation.

Andrew Laurita

Here, I present the extent to which spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) effectively utilize visual communication to complement olfactory and auditory signals to overcome environmental hurdles as well as to maintain their sophisticated social structure. I've synthesized 58 peer-reviewed journal articles and research papers to comprehensively examine the importance of visual communication in this species, and how conspecific social communication and behavior differs between captive and wild populations. I offer potential justifications for variable communicative repertoires (especially visual) between captive and wild populations, and avenues for future research opportunities are explored. I delve into the unusual combination of environmental pressures driving the evolution of the social system in extant spotted hyenas, and how conspecific communications are used to maintain it. I compare the social dynamics of cercopithecine primates and spotted hyenas, along with assessing how spotted hyenas have evolutionarily overcome fitness constraints to demonstrate the magnitude of their social cognition.

Ronnie Hernandez Holmberg

 This project is meant to explain and understand the psychological benefits of fandom by examining different types and numerous examples of participation in fan communities organized around subjects and figures such as sports, music stars, comic books and their respective films, Star Trek, and various other areas of interest.  This project will go on to discuss specific examples of several benefits across these fan communities while also examining possible negative drawbacks of these fandoms. Fandom is often portrayed in a negative light, seen as obsessive or used to other certain members of the population,  but this project will discuss the numerous ways that fans benefit from their participation in fan communities.

Lauren Doherty

Slow lorises are small, arboreal, nocturnal primates with a wide geographic range across Southeast Asia. An amalgamation of information has contributed to their taxonomic classification. Included in this, is cranial morphological data. Previously, this data was collected with size-included linear measurements. Advancements in technology have allowed for shape-based three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to play a role in morphological studies. In this study, we investigated if slow loris species are distinguishable via shape-based morphometrics. We applied 33 fixed landmarks and 15 curve landmarks to 36 cranial surface scans across 5 slow loris species and unknown species of pygmy slow loris (genus Xanthonycticebus). We found that some slow loris species are distinguishable through this shape-based analysis (Nycticebus javanicus, N. bengalensis, and Xanthonycticebus spp.) but not all. For species that are distinguishable, shape-based analysis may help inform future researchers about the taxonomic classification of unmarked specimens within museum collections and their evolutionary history. 

Collin O'Connor

Anaplasmosis is a tickborne disease caused by the bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum and is spread to humans from the bite of an infected blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis). In New York State (NYS), incidence of anaplasmosis has increased rapidly in recent years. There exist multiple genetic variants of A. phagocytophilum, some of which are maintained and spread to hosts via different enzootic cycles. Here, we use functional connectivity modeling to create least-cost paths for white-tailed deer between forest patches surrounding 778 tick sampling sites in NYS. We then use a novel metric for forest connectivity to describe the relationship between the prevalence of genetic variants of A. phagocytophilum and forest connectivity. Statistical modeling implicates forest connectivity as influencing the spread of each variant. These results may aid in describing the future of anaplasmosis case geography and may also provide guidance for forest and land-use planning for the prevention of anaplasmosis cases.

Jared Alianell

Peristaltic pumps find wide application in scientific applications where precise control of fluid flow rates is required. Here, we present a low-cost, feature-rich peristaltic pump design that is suitable for both laboratory use and long-term field deployment. Features of this pump design include a menu-based user interface, calibratable flow control, programmable dosing at specified intervals, operation logging with real-time clock, selectable battery and AC mains power supplies, low-power standby mode, and weatherproof housing.

Kurt Lindberg

Human-induced global warming is causing Arctic permafrost to thaw rapidly, releasing ancient carbon into the landscape and additional greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. The Early Holocene, a previous, natural warm period in Earth's history from 11.7 to 8 ka (thousands of years ago), may be analogous to current Arctic climate change. In this study, we use geochemical tools to determine the age and source of carbon stored in sediments spanning the past 12.5 thousand years from Lake CF8, northeastern Baffin Island. We use that information to model the rate of carbon storage in the lake sediment, which reflects the rate of permafrost thaw and accumulation in the lake catchment. We find that permafrost thaw was greatest between 11.8 and 9.0 ka, coinciding with regional peak Early Holocene temperatures. Our results show that past Arctic warming caused more permafrost to thaw, similar to modern observations.

Fiona Serrano

In 1936, the Soviet Union overturned the 1920 law that legalized abortion to promote pronatalism and a new moral code for its citizens. The criminalization of abortion continued for nearly two decades, despite its unpopularity among Soviet citizens. Using interviews from the Harvard Project on Soviet Social Systems online archive, and letters from Soviet newspapers like Izvestiia, I examine the citizen's initial and post reactions to the bill. The essay focuses on the Stalinist period and centers on the opinions and experiences of the Soviet citizens who wrote letters and interviewed for archives. Among the Soviet population, abortion was rarely seen as a virtuous decision, but few believed it should be criminalized or inaccessible. 

Dana Hunt-Locklear and Max Wilde

An abstract, moody game about a soul exploring the universe of emotional experience.

Carter-Beau Benson

Ontologies interconnect disparate data sources for unified understanding and use, enhancing data integration, retrieval, and analysis across domains. When done well, ontologies allow users with distinct goals and interests to work together under a common lexicon and architecture. When done poorly, ontologies replicate the very same problems that they are designed to solve, namely, data siloing.  Basic Formal Ontology was invented at UB to help solve such problems and has been adopted by members of the Biomedical, Defense, Manufacturing, and Technology Industries. It has not yet been adopted by the Professional Athletics Industry. The Football Ontology is an attempt to remedy this. Many of the issues that caused the adoption of BFO are present in all sports, but football presents an interesting set of problems. The amount of leagues, the fluidity of the game, and the variety of data types makes it a strong candidate to be ontologized. 

Giacomo De Colle

The aim of this work is to provide an ontological model of resource allocation in cities, with a specific focus on charitable organizations. Given an urban landscape divided in areas with different needs, are charity organizations operating in an efficient way, covering the areas which have higher needs, or are there other rationales driving their choices? The hypothesis we are going to test in this paper is that charities, at least in some cases, operate in wealthier areas rather than the ones that are more in need of their attention. What we will focus on are then four elements: economic power, social need, charitable organizations and the way in which allocation of the resources of charitable organizations is decided. This is part of a wider project at the intersection of the disciplines of PPE and ontology, which tries to create resources for data sharing in city administration, and specifically in Buffalo.

Jeff Carvalho, Nalin Cooper-Sherrow and Chiran Wijesundara

Quantum light is a specific type of light that cannot be described using classical physics. It has many applications in Quantum technologies such as Quantum sensing and communication. Currently, one of the biggest challenges to generate Quantum light sources is to develop efficient data analysis schemes that allow the Quantum properties of the emitter to be determined. Modern data algorithms based on machine learning and specialized hardware recently allowed for the Quantum state of light to be determined in quasi-realtime. This project aims to combine Quantum light detection with a machine learning data analysis.

Thomas McEntire

Quantum computers have the potential to solve Hamiltonians that are currently intractable on powerful classical computers. Simulating a Hamiltonian approximation of lattice gauge theories on a quantum computer requires circuits containing many gates, accumulating aggregate errors, and limiting the size of any lattice problem. A possible solution is to use tailored pulse-level control of a quantum computer, combining multiple gates into single physical operations, and minimizing the sources of errors. We created an algorithm to simulate lattice gauge theories with minimal pulses rather than discrete gates. We utilized the variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) in PennyLane with pulses to prepare the ground state of the Schwinger model, a (1+1) dimensional U(1) gauge theory. The Schwinger model exhibits color confinement and chiral symmetry breaking, similar to Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). We will compare the runtime of the pulse VQE to circuits with pulse gates, assessing error accumulation.

Erin Sass

Beginning in the latter half of the twentieth century and continuing onwards, foreign military training programs for military personnel have become widespread across the globe. As a form of human capital, most popular has been U.S.-run programs, in which foreign military personnel will train under U.S. generals through programs specifically curated for that country. Contrary to what would be expected from the focus these programs place on creating a 'well-rounded soldier', little to no impact is shown of U.S. training programs lessening the rate of civilian fatalities within a recipient country. Rather the role these programs play is one of diplomatic relations offered primarily to "friends" of the U.S. The U.S. is not training foreign troops as a way to assist in reducing possible military brutalities on civilians abroad, but rather using these programs as a show of friendship to already democratic nations and those of geostrategic importance. 

Bidushi Bhowmik

Ethical wills, personal documents conveying moral values to loved ones, have ancient roots and are gaining interest. However, the link between trauma history and their creation remains unexplored. This study examines how trauma affects the process of crafting ethical wills. Participants' trauma status (high vs. low) is gauged by lifetime adversities. Difficulty in creating the wills is measured by negative affect and a novel measure, the Ethical Will Challenge Rubric. The participants (n = 10) are nine females and one male of which all ten are Caucasian with a mean age of 68.42 years. It's hypothesized that those with high trauma history will have more difficulty in the process of creating an ethical will and show increased negative affect post-intervention than those with low trauma history. This research sheds light on how trauma may influence individuals' engagement in activities that may require talking, writing, sharing or thinking about past trauma.

Ya-Hui Chang

Previous research has shown that people guard against messages forewarning the messages with attempts to seek to persuade them or to force them to change their attitudes. Yet, little has systematically examined people's inferences of a source's intentions or the impacts of the intention inferences on persuasion outcomes. This study first demonstrated that people infer sources' persuasion intentions during communication. Specifically, when being exposed to messages with controlling (vs. neutral) language, people reported that the source was communicating with higher persuasion intention. Further, people might have ambivalent perceptions of sources when they infer sources' persuasion intention. Specifically, when people infer a message source's persuasion intention, they would perceive the source to be confident and biased, which would predict opposite effects on attitudes. That is, when the perceived confidence (vs. bias) increases, people tend to have positive (vs. negative) attitudes toward the advocated position.

Joseph Cook

Sexual minority groups report elevated alcohol misuse when compared to their heterosexual counterparts with bisexual women being especially elevated. Additionally, bisexual women are at a disproportional risk of experiencing traumatic events when compared to other sexual orientation groups, and this may be a driving factor in elevated drinking. However, gaps remain in the literature assessing trauma as a variable that may play a role in bisexual women's drinking. 

Reilly Diemond

College provides students the freedom to determine the amount of effort they wish to invest in academics; however, students may experience tension when not fully rewarded for these efforts by way of cognitive dissonance. The present study will investigate the consequences of cognitive dissonance from unrewarded voluntary efforts. Student participants will be assigned to reflect on past academic challenges where they voluntarily chose to invest a high (vs. low) amount of effort. Following this induction of dissonance tension, participants will be assigned to either a self-affirmation or control condition as a method of dissonance reduction. I hypothesize that when reflecting on a high voluntary investment of effort in academics, students will report higher levels of personal growth, academic entitlement, and self-serving bias without self-affirmation in comparison to being self-affirmed. This effect should occur as students are motivated to receive returns for high effort investments in academics. 

Rachel Fan

Salivary amylase is an enzyme that breaks down starch in the oral cavity and is encoded by the AMY1 gene. Research suggests that variation in salivary amylase expression is correlated with the oral perception of starch. However, a causal role of salivary amylase in taste has not yet been identified. This study investigated the taste-driven behaviors of AMY1 knockout (no salivary amylase), heterozygous (medium expression salivary amylase), and wild type mice (high expression salivary amylase). Subjects were presented with several taste qualities in a series of taste tests where the number of licks to each concentration of solution was measured. No differences were seen between genotypes in licking behavior to long-chain maltodextrin, but heterozygous and knockout mice licked more compared to wild type mice in response to high concentrations of medium-chain maltodextrin. This suggests that the effects of salivary amylase are specific to some starches.

Elizabeth Goldstein

The connection between music and emotion has long been of interest to psychologists. The influence of emotion on singing accuracy, however, has not been investigated to our knowledge.  This is a preregistered study that investigates the effect of emotional communication on singing accuracy. Previous studies of singing accuracy have used emotional neutral items, thus leaving it unclear how the need to imitate an emotional message via singing would influence accuracy.  We recruited 64 college students from the University at Buffalo to imitate recordings sung phrases with differing emotion types and intensities. 

Sonny Hsia

Bitter tastes are often avoided, but some bitter-tasting foods are important to maintaining a healthy diet. The proteins in saliva play a role in the intensity of bitter taste. In previous studies, it has been demonstrated that exposure to bitter foods alters salivary protein profiles, and these proteins then alter the taste of the bitter foods. In order to determine a causal relationship, researchers have delivered donor saliva mixed with the bitter compound quinine to the oral cavity of bitter-naïve animals. Oromotor behaviors specific to bitter taste were reduced when the donor saliva contained salivary proteins compared to saliva with no proteins. However, this work was all done in males and no studies have examined female salivary proteins, which differ from those of males. This study investigates the effect of female salivary proteins on modulating bitter taste perception. Using a taste reactivity paradigm, I delivered donor saliva collected from males and females to twelve male bitter-naive rats. Rats were orally infused with quinine dissolved in either male donor, female donor, or artificial saliva.

Jake Lis

This study seeks to investigate how first-generation college students are affected by hearing the story of another student who experiences success or failure and if such effects are moderated by seeing the other student as similar or different than the self. Participants will be first-generation college students. The dependent variables that will be assessed are anticipated learning effort (effort needed to succeed), perceived academic ability and anticipated success, belongingness/fitting in at college, and belongingness/fitting in with people from home. This study will be a 2 (assimilation/contrast prime) x 2 (success/failure outcome) between-subjects experimental design. I hypothesize that when first-generation college students are exposed to an assimilation prime (vs. a contrast prime) and observe another student succeed, they should report higher anticipated learning effort, perceived academic ability, anticipated success, and belongingness/fitting in at college, as well as lower belongingness/fitting in with people from home.

Amy Maslin

This study tested the mediating role of hostile attribution bias (HAB) in associations between heart rate (HR) and anxiety symptoms in preschoolers. We hypothesized higher HR will lead children to be more aroused in ambiguous social situations, increasing the likelihood they will view them as threatening (i.e., higher HAB), which will in turn lead to increases in anxiety. The study used a subsample of preschoolers (N = 81, M = 45.64 months, 53% female) who were measured at three time points over the course of a year. Regression models were conducted using SPSS and indirect effects were tested using the PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2022). Results provided preliminary evidence for a hypothesized positive association between HR and anxiety (b = 48.90, p = .06), but mediation by HAB was not supported. This is the first known study to show a positive relation between HR predicting increases in anxiety symptoms in early childhood.

Cara Michno

The vast majority of research on belongingness has examined strong-tie relationships, characterized by high-intimacy connections. Recent research has investigated weak-tie relationships, characterized by low-intimacy connections with people including strangers and acquaintances. Studies have only explored these ties in isolation, but our study directly compares these ties. We utilized a mixed-model factorial design in which participants completed a questionnaire measuring baseline levels of belonging. Afterwards, they completed social activities over one week with strong or weak ties, and concluded with a final questionnaire. Between and within-participant analyses revealed that belongingness with broader society increased significantly regardless of type of tie participants did activities with. However, the most robust finding of our study was that wellbeing, a composite measure of all dependent variables, increased significantly. We challenge researchers to further examine the unique impacts of strong versus weak ties on belongingness. 

Matthew Preisigke

Pathological motivation underlies the development of disorders such as overeating and substance use disorder, yet few treatments exist to successfully address these problems. Liraglutide is an anti-diabetic and weight loss medication that has shown anti-addictive like properties in animal models, suggesting ameliorative effects across different reinforcing stimuli. Despite these impressive outcomes, the effects of liraglutide on healthy reinforcement processes, such as social interaction, are unknown. In the current study, 24 rats were administered either liraglutide or saline vehicle in the context of discrete food-social choice and progressive ratio procedures. Liraglutide induced weight loss as expected, but only caused an initial reduction in food reinforcers earned in choice sessions. Progressive ratio testing did not reveal any significant differences between liraglutide and saline vehicle. Together, these results confirm that liraglutide reduces body weight and can reduce food choice, although this latter effect may be transient and subject to tolerance development.

Esther Turay

Following the May 2022 mass shooting in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, nearly 40% of 200 residents identified mental health as their most unmet need. This study explored generational differences regarding perceptions of mental health and perceived community needs among members of the Black community in Buffalo. Utilizing a mixed-method design, quantitative data were collected from participants of various age ranges (N = 162) through community mental health needs assessment surveys. These responses informed the development of focus group questions (qualitative data) with participants ranging from late adolescence to older adulthood (N = 54; ages 18-91). We investigated the relationship between age group (18-34, 35-54, 55+) and perceptions of mental health (e.g., stigma), the perceived barriers to treatment access, and overall community mental health and practical needs. The focus groups highlighted participants' poor experiences with healthcare providers, diverse perceptions of mental health, and recommendations for community support.

Angelia Venezia

Conversations are everyday occurrences that do not always have positive outcomes. But past research has found that receiving high-quality listening predicts greater well-being and sense of connection (Weinstein et al., 2021). However, facilitating high-quality listening without the use of trained research assistants has been challenging. The current study aims to facilitate high-quality listening among naïve participants without formal training by giving participant listeners a learning goal. Participants are randomly assigned the role of speaker or listener in a six-minute conversation. The listener's interaction goal is manipulated, with half randomly assigned to the non-verbal listening (control) condition and half in the learning goal condition. I hypothesize that listeners with a learning goal will be perceived as higher quality listeners than listeners in the control condition. In addition, when listeners have a learning goal (vs. non-verbal listening), speakers will report higher levels of psychological safety and self-disclosure and lower levels of self-censorship. 

Om Acharya

Since its founding in 2011, the initially all-volunteer and largely UB student-led Tool Library has grown from a handful of members and a tiny rented storefront to almost 1,500 members and 5,000 tools. The Tool Library's exponential growth has brought about ambitious changes, including the move to a larger, more accessible location, the hiring of full-time employees, and the expansion of its community service efforts. The new storefront is already a community hub: in 2023 alone, the Tool Library saved its members over $700,000 and offset over 1 million pounds of carbon. In this presentation, I will share my experiences as a volunteer and committee member in order to showcase the Tool Library's value to the Western New York community. Additionally, I will explore the functional relationship between the burgeoning sharing economy and its relative impact on local communities, using the Tool Library as a case-study.

Zanaya Hussain

This ethnographic research study explores the experiences of Bengali immigrant women navigating the city of Buffalo, New York. This research studies how this community of women claim space in the city, and how they in-turn shape the cultural landscape. Despite studies on the socialized and conditioned fear women have within the urban space such as Gill Valentine's, "The Geography of Women's Fear" and Hille Koskela's, "'Gendered Exclusions': Women's Fear of Violence and Changing Relation to Space," it is seen that this group of women still approach urban structures in stride. Through interviews of four Bengali immigrant women living in Buffalo, NY across age; job description; and duration in the United States, this research seeks to understand not just how this group of women became part of the urban environment, but how they make changes to it.

Tari Civerolo

Last spring, I conducted research on how failure can disrupt hierarchies in Argentine tango and American ballet. My research considered how queerness subverts longstanding traditions in these dance forms, or how queerness envisions new traditions by failing to meet heteronormative expectations. Broadly, the notion of failure inside dance inspired me to create a piece for Emerging Choreographers Showcase questioning how failure is framed in ballet today. I was interested in contrasting the intense, stressful, competitive, ballet classes I grew up in where failure doesn't feel like an option with a ballet class founded in humanity and difference that allows for messiness. I developed choreography through a formulaic approach, overlaying movement with emotional intent to illustrate an emotional arc and using choreographic tools to support my message. Ultimately, Ensemble is a story about a group of dancers who find joy and connection in a competitive space.

Nathan Eck, Mario Liguori and Grace Wythe

Kerry's work, Forging, demonstrates the process of heating metal into a shape with fire. The dance piece is centered around a metal structure which illustrates the human body and it's various capabilities in shape making. Malleability and strength are two ideas of the human body shown through the movement and design.

Sophia Fino

"Where Are You?" is a piece created in three sections that reflects a dramatic change from perfection to destruction through the lens of maladaptive daydreaming. Section one establishes a dream world, with dancers moving lightly in a joyous state. Section two builds the destruction entering into the maladaptive dream state, with dancers moving through each other in chaos. Section three represents the total loss of oneself to the daydream. Removing oneself ffrom reality and only existing in daydream, all relationships including the one they have with themselves are affected. The gentle partnering from section one is reprised yet the entire quality of movement has changed. Shapes are abstracted and movement becomes more abandoned. In the final moments two dancers are left on stage suggesting an out of body experience to dream oneself back into reality. This creative process allowed me to let go of the expectation that the audience must understand every detail of the piece. "Where Are You?" allowed me to create moments that had deeper underlying meanings to me and my cast that the audience may not fully understand in a fleeting moment, yet it still moves a message through. I used moments from my life to inspire movement and connect with the work. 

Abigail Hankinson, Joshua Ikechukwu, Olivia Lopez, Delia Mandik, Mya Tran, Nina Tucker, Kelly Quinn and NJ Wingo 

Zam Ekpele is an African (Nigerian) Dance and Drum piece that explores the existence of a supernatural being. it shows the connection between Africans and the supreme being. The dance showcases movement vocabularies of The western and eastern parts of Nigeria, signifying the act of worship and thanksgiving, coined from the words of Chinua Achebe which states, "A man who pays respect to the great paves way for his own greatness".

Zam Ekpele was selected to represent the University at Buffalo at the American College Dance Association regional conference held at the University of Rochester on the 7th to 10th of March and it was selected to close the Anchor performance on the final day which was significant because it was chosen from professional adjudicators and peer institutions.

Fritz Mora and Parisa Tadi

This study investigated in-vitro the variations in root canal length (RCL) during endodontic instrumentation when utilizing ProTaper Gold and ProTaper Ultimate files combined with two different functions of an Endodontic motor. Overall, ProTaper Ultimate resulted in less changes compared to ProTaper Gold. The variation in root canal length across the different stages highlights the importance of constant monitoring gate apical extent of root canal preparation

Mahmud Amin, Adhav Narayanan and Anya Wansha

Regenerative dentistry aims to promote directed differentiation of stem cells. While the predominant focus of these efforts has been regarding genetic manipulations, the role of the extracellular matrix has been poorly investigated. This project aims to dissect the cellular responses of odontoblasts to matrix mechanics by replicating a wound-like environment. Varying stiffness polydimethylsiloxane matrices were created through differing ratios of elastomer and curing agent. These samples were degassed and cured in 12-well plates for cell culture. Experiments showed that under softer environments and starvation conditions, odontoblast cells die out. However, through photobiomodulation (PBM) treatments with a 10mW 810nm red laser, the cells can be 'rescued.' The results from this study suggest that precision engineering of biomaterial mechanical properties and PBM treatments can synergistically promote directed differentiation for optimal dentin regeneration. These findings will be extended to in vivo animal models for human clinical translation as a novel endodontic regenerative therapy.

Mahmud Amin, Jonathan Kaj, Adhav Narayanan and Anya Wansha

By incorporating Indocyanine Green (ICG) and Methylene Blue (MB) as chromophores in electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) fibers, this research aims to develop a "smart" bandage for chronic wound detection and therapeutics. PCL beads were first dissolved in a mixture of Chloroform and Dimethylformamide. Later, varying concentrations of MB and ICG were added to these solutions. The solutions were spun using an Electrospinning unit (Model MSK-NFES-3LD) for 8 minutes with incremental adjustments to flow rate and voltage. Resulting spun sheets were analyzed for their reactivity to pH levels using fluorescence detection via spectrophotometry and shortwave UV exposure. Inclusion of MB within these nanofibers served as a pH indicator, exhibiting increased fluorescence and color change in basic conditions akin to acute wound scenarios. Additionally, an increased excitation wavelength was observed for ICG, suggesting the potential for infection-responsive therapeutic applications at 810nm. Our results present a promising approach for advanced, responsive wound care technologies.

Selin Arnavut and Bhavika Sethi

A common dental ailment is tooth sensitivity. In clinical cases, photobiomodulation (PBM) has been noted to relieve tooth pain. Among the most popular theories of tooth pain, odontoblasts are believed to be the end-organ receptors of pain signals.  This work aimed to examine the ability of PBM to mitigate odontoblast neural perception. Utilizing the odontoblast cell line, MDPC-23, we seeded them in 35 mm dishes and performed whole cell voltage clamps. Cells were visualized with an inverted microscope and viewed on a video camera and recorded with glass pipettes. PBM treatments were performed with a 660 nm LED light for 5 min. Our preliminary results using voltage steps from -100 to +40 mV showed odontoblasts express several voltage gated channel currents (potassium, calcium, and calcium activated potassium). This suggests odontoblasts contain excitable channels sensitive to PBM that could mediate the analgesic clinical effects noted with PBM treatments. 

Anshu Chopra, Jonathan Kaj, Victoria Oliveira, Nimisha Rawat and Alexis Tensfeldt

Supportive cancer care is crucial for reducing morbidity and mortality, with directed energy methods gaining traction for managing oral mucositis. This study aims to investigate the effects of photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy and static-electricity-emitting devices (SEED) on normal and cancer stem cells. 

Karis Concepcion Cortes, Maxwell Hansen, Jonathan Kaj, Dr. Moiz Khan, Dipti Kalshetti and Ridham Varsani

This study aimed to enhance the Photobiomodulation (PBM) protocol for clinical applications in wound healing, utilizing an in vitro keratinocytes wound healing model. Human keratinocytes were subjected to various PBM wavelengths at discrete doses, and wound closure was assessed over time. Treatments with 810 nm demonstrated significant improvements over controls, while adjusted doses for 450 nm and 560 nm wavelengths also showed enhanced wound closure. Other wavelengths exhibited moderate changes without statistical significance. Mechanistic studies are underway to explore PBM signaling pathways, including ATP, ROS, and TGF-β1, using gain-of-function and loss-of-function approaches. The findings suggest that tailored, wavelength-adjusted PBM treatments can effectively promote keratinocyte migration, holding promise for clinical translation. The non-invasive, cost-effective nature of PBM presents a sustainable approach with significant potential to impact healthcare positively.

Kaitlin DeLoria

This project investigates the effects of various substratum elastic moduli on lung progenitor specification from human pluripotent stem cell (PSC)-derived anterior foregut endoderm. Based on previous findings, the mechanical properties of the cell culture environment are shown to significantly affect lung progenitor cell fate in murine systems (Ikonomou et al., 2020). This experiment uses an NKX2- 1GFP reporter line to examine the effects that variations in substratum elasticity have on the specification of lung progenitors through changes in GFP expression. To control substratum elasticity, we utilized CytoSoft 6-well silicone gel plates with elastic moduli ranging from 0.2 to 64 kPa to mimic a spectrum of mechanical environments encountered by cells in vivo. A comprehensive directed differentiation protocol for pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) was developed to induce lung progenitor identity. An NKX2-1GFP reporter line was used as the primary tool for monitoring lung progenitor emergence. 

Mariadela Demoura

Mds1 (Mecom) is a transcription factor with little information about its role in lung development. We will use a conditional Mds1Cre mouse to identify the competence of Mds1+ respiratory progenitors at various stages of lung development, starting with the embryonic stage. Our data will begin by using Mds1 lineage-labelled, paraffin and cryo-embedded lungs after tamoxifen injection before specification. Then we will apply immunohistochemistry staining techniques on the lineage-labelled lungs to identify various markers of proximal and distal lung fate. Finally stained lung sections will be imaged using an epifluorescence microscope and image tiling. Results of our immunostaining so far show distinct co-staining patterns for proteins such as NKX2-1, EPCAM, SOX2 at anatomical areas of the lung such as the airways and epithelial tissue. That correlate with positive epithelial lineage tracing following a tamoxifen pulse at E8.75 (pre-lung specification). These immunostaining images of lineage-traced lungs provide the first piece of evidence on multipotency of early Mds1+ lung progenitors during embryonic development. Extended lineage tracing studies will be conducted to track the developmental fates of such progenitors, and their competency. 

Dayron Leyva Rodriguez

Periodontitis (PD) significantly affects the US population, is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and is associated with the prevalence of multiple Treponema spp including T. denticola (T.d). Oral bacteria are found in the vasculature during CVD and may promote vascular inflammation via endothelial cell (EC) interaction, or indirect interactions (inflammatory mediators). T.d-exposure promotes secretion of the cytokine Oncostatin M (OSM) from neutrophils, elevated during PD and CVDs. T.d-specific virulence factors to promote inflammation remain understudied, thus we aim to define how Treponema spp modulates neutrophil OSM production and the role of T.d-protease dentilisin in mediating EC changes. ECs and neutrophils co-infected with bacteria (24hrs or 3hrs), respectively. RT-PCR, immunoblot, and ELISA were used for evaluating gene, protein, and cytokine levels. T.d-dentilisin is associated with decreased EC integrity. Oral-Treponema species promote OSM secretion from neutrophils. T.d-dentilisin contributes to EC activation and impairment, which may contribute to CVD progression.

Theresa Wrynn

Organogenesis relies on dynamic cell-cell communication (CCC) between diverse cell populations. We have mined scRNA-seq datasets representing distinct stages of the developing mouse embryonic salivary gland (eSG) to examine CCC that underlie branching morphogenesis and cell fate choices. Our CellChat based studies reveal intricate signaling crosstalk between subtypes of epithelial and the myriad support cells that ebb and flow during eSG maturation. This is characterized by stage-specific enriched pathways and the identification of endothelial cells as a major source of HSPG signaling. Additionally, we found intriguing differences in KIT and NRG signaling that operate in the saliva-generating proacinar cells. Finally, we discovered and experimentally validated a novel role for Midkine signaling in the generation of the arboreal cellular network of the eSG. Collectively, our study showcases the power of bioinformatics-based analyses of scRNA-seq to decipher CCC-driven developmental programs that can be exploited for tissue regeneration purposes.

Natalie Anselmi and William Meyer

Objectives: Periodontitis is characterized by dysbiosis of the oral biofilm, including the well-characterized species Treponema denticola, along with the less-studied species Treponema maltophilum and Treponema lecithinolyticum. T. denticola major outer sheath protein (Msp) is one of its most prominent pathogenic factors.  T. maltophilum and T. lecithinolyticum have membrane proteins similar to Msp: MspA and MspTL respectively. Previous laboratory analysis of sequences obtained from saliva has revealed consistent variation in potential surface exposed regions of MspA and MspTL. Our objective is to characterize mspA and mspTL gene variation in subgingival dental plaque samples.

Julianna Casella and Dylan Harrison

Some children and adolescents who have experienced bullying victimization may also be perpetrators, while others may defend their peers, although moderators of these relationships have rarely been examined. The current study examined the potential moderating effects of affective and cognitive empathy in the relationship between bullying victimization and perpetration and defending. A sample of 788 students from two high schools in a suburban school district in the Northeastern US (M = 15.5 years old, 80.2% White) participated in this cross-sectional study. The Bullying Participant Behaviors Questionnaire was used to assess participant roles in bullying behavior. The Interpersonal Reactivity Index was used as a measure of empathy. Path analysis indicated that as affective empathy increased, the relationship between victimization and perpetration became less pronounced and the relationship between victimization and defending became more pronounced. These findings contribute to our current understanding of bully-victims and victim-defenders. 

Preston Martin

Urban Teacher Residency programs (UTRs) have gained attention as promising avenues for increasing the diversity and quality of America's urban teachers. Existing evidence offers inconclusive evidence about the associations between teachers trained through UTRs and their students' academic achievement as compared with similar teachers with traditional training. Using anonymized data from a school district in the northeast United States, researchers examined the effect of participating in a one-year UTR on student academic outcomes during the first year of independent teaching for UTR teachers as compared with comparable non-residency trained district teachers. Using a two-level multilevel model, UTR teachers were associated with 2.07-point higher student GPAs than comparison teachers (β = 2.07, t = 3.24). Our findings underscore the importance of high-quality teacher training and the need for further empirical investigations of teacher residency programs as a viable alternative to alleviate the current teacher shortage in the United States.

Gabriella Martinez

Prior research has demonstrated that CBPR can cultivate empowerment and societal change for oppressed communities. However, few studies explore whether CBPR mitigates undocumented immigrants' limited access to mental health services. This study will utilize an ethnographic approach to investigate the experiences of community members and undocumented immigrants collaborating on a community-based project to address mental health inequities. A CBPR intervention will be utilized to collaborate with community members to assess their mental health needs, how they want to address the problem, and uplift the resources and strengths they already possess to address their concerns. Data will be collected from focus group interviews, field notes, and reflexive memos. A thematic analysis will be utilized to provide a deep reflection and understanding of the community member's time during the duration of this project. Ideally, through this study, the mental health field will become more knowledgeable on making mental health care services more culturally applicable and accessible for undocumented immigrants. 

Alexandra Smith

Seeking to advance the field of ED, our pilot study is designed to address these gaps by providing a school-based 8-week universal prevention program called Leadership in Motion. The Leadership in Moton program is derived from a foundation of theoretical and empirical research on positive body image and positive embodiment (Cook-Cottone, 2020). The program is intended to support female-identifying individuals within four primary objectives: (1) to enhance positive body image through a positive connection with the body through yoga and mindfulness practices (i.e., positive embodiment); (2) to improve interoceptive awareness; (3) cultivate positive embodiment related constructs including mindfulness, self-compassion, embodied self-regulation, mindful self-care, loving-kindness, joy in movement and, belonging and; 4) develop embodied leadership practice (i.e., whole body engagement and communication). Our study aims to examine whether the Leadership in Motion program is found effective in (1) increasing known correlates of positive embodiment which include; mindfulness, body appreciation, positive body image, self-compassion, emotional regulation, and mindful self-care; (2) preventing and reducing ED risk and; (3) to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the program for middle school students who identify as female. 

Iman Lathan

This qualitative case study aims to elucidate the internal mechanisms shaping the Division-I educational pathway and its role as a secondary diasporic conduit for Black female Division I basketball student-athletes. In so doing, I aim to unravel how the neoliberal intercollegiate sports model engages, exploits, and disposes individuals descended from the African Diaspora to sustain its operations. The research delves into the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a neoliberal structure, akin to a secondary diasporic vessel, directing Black female student-athletes-descendants of the Black Atlantic Diaspora-to predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Employing Black feminism and a queer diasporic lens, this study seeks to comprehend how Black female ball players, coaches, and parents perceive their roles, positions, and experiences within the confines of the NCAA's neoliberal structures. Black feminism and a queer diasporic framework inform the research design and data interpretation of this study as this project seeks to contribute to a nuanced understanding of how the NCAA's systems and capitalist structures perceive, treat, and utilize Black female athletes

Julian Livingston and Kubra Say

Due to the large gap between first-generation and continuing-generation college students, many universities have created resources specifically for first-generation students. One such example is first-generation peer mentoring programs. When using a traditional model of peer mentoring, first-year first-generation students are paired with an upperclassman with whom they meet regularly throughout the academic year. Many first-generation peer mentoring programs pair mentors and mentees randomly and being a first-generation student is the only experience they share in common. Our current research investigates the role shared demographics and identities play in peer mentoring relationships, which will allow us to determine how it affects the success of the peer mentoring program as a whole. Because first-generation students are a diverse population, tailored mentoring could be extremely beneficial as a resource and may allow students to more comfortably share their college experiences. 

Erin MacDiarmid

This study looked at the enrollment patterns of four-year public, four-year private, and two-year public community colleges in New York State across a period of ten years (fall 2011 to fall 2020).  A linear regression analysis showed a significant negative relationship between the first-time full-time enrollment at four-year public institutions to that of four-year private institutions in New York State indicating that the Excelsior scholarship might have an impact on where students are choosing to enroll.  Further analysis of this study will be conducted using a fixed effects analysis, controlling for time, to see if there is a significant relationship between the enrollment trends in the time when the scholarship was introduced and the years following. 

Jules Orcutt

This study investigates differences in the ways that doctoral students interact with their advisors and other faculty across disciplines-and who makes a difference in their trajectories. The research team will conduct 9 focus groups with doctoral students in a college of arts and sciences to understand features and people in programs that both support and hinder their journeys. Differences in participants' experiences will be interrogated across race, gender, sexuality, and international student status. Data collection is ongoing, but it is our hope that findings can be used to ameliorate the doctoral student experience across universities.

Lianzi Ouyang

Although numerous textbooks and scholarly articles illustrate the racial discrimination against black Americans, few research studies examine other minority groups who also experience injustice during tremendous disasters. Major global crises like a war or a pandemic puts certain minority groups in jeopardy, such as the Japanese Americans during World War II, the Muslim groups during the 9/11 crisis and Chinese and other Asian groups during the COVID-19 crisis. Using the ongoing Coronavirus crisis (COVID-19) as a case study, this paper illustrates racial discrimination experiences of Chinese international students. Drawing on a qualitative study among ten Chinese international students in X university, this study shows: 1) Chinese students became a stigmatized group and suffered physical and mental assaults; 2) US mass media reacts to negative images of Chinese people after the COVID-19 outbreak; 3) numerous Chinese international students changed their job orientation due to the economic setback and COVID-19 psychological trauma.

Ryan Taughrin

Social mobility programs that put low-income students of Color from urban environments in high-achieving, predominantly white institutions aim to offer educational opportunity; however, they may not always recognize the resources that youth and their families bring to these programs and their schools. Drawing upon data from 37 interviews with program participants, we find that youth and their families utilize familial capital to gain information and resources. This assisted in providing access to the program, transitioning, and succeeding in it. Results of this study provide a more in-depth understanding of how youth make use of familial capital to pursue social mobility.

Emma Teresa Booth

Embodied forms of communication like gesture have been shown to play an important role in how learners conceptualize phenomena in physics, however we know little about how students use gesture to capture the idea of instantaneity. In this study, we examine how undergraduate physics students use representational gesture to make sense of instants or single moments in time while modeling energy dynamics. Our analysis demonstrates how students use four different forms of representational gesture to capture instantaneity: These include (1) looping and replaying a physical action, (2) showing a tiny subinterval on an imaginary timeline, (3) freezing a frame of an action, and (4) marking a boundary location on an imaginary timeline. Implications for STEM learning and teaching are discussed.

Aminah Raysor

Buffalo-Niagara is one of the most racially segregated regions in the nation. The majority of students in Buffalo city schools are Black while the employees are predominantly white. Black communities in Buffalo live in constant fear exacerbated by a deteriorating quality of life and mass shooting. K-12 schools have the potential to become sites for healing regimens, self-care, and protection led by Black educators trained in Healing Justice practice based curriculum.

Sanaz Ahmadzadeh Siyahrood and Yaxin Xing

Adapting the "productive multivocality" approach (Suthers et al., 2013), we engage an interdisciplinary team, which designs AI tools for children with speech and language challenges, in developing a framework for ethical AI development. In the initial phase of this 5-year study, we investigated ethical concerns about AI in general and the AI tools being designed in particular within the team's varied disciplines. Employing thematic analysis, descriptive statistics, BERT topic modeling, and WordCloud tool, we analyzed survey data and focus group interviews of 13 researchers in Speech-Language Pathology/Learning Sciences, Human-Computer Interaction, Multimodality Learning, and Core Technology. Our analysis uncovered prevalent unease about AI, along with nuanced and varying degrees of concerns regarding the AI tools under development across different disciplines. The findings inform our broader study and highlight the potential role of productive multivocality in fostering responsible and equitable AI development and its eventual implementation.

Changchieh Hsu

Exosomes are cell-secreted, nanosized vesicles that have emerged as potent biomarkers for cancer liquid biopsy. However, most of the current exosomal biomarkers are not cancer-specific. Here, we discovered a cancer-specific exosomal marker, Thomsen-Friedenreich glycoantigen (TF-Ag-α; Galβ1-3GalNAc alpha), which is a carbohydrate antigen arising from aberrant glycosylation found in malignant cells but not in normal tissues. To translate our findings to clinical cancer liquid biopsy, we first developed a unique monoclonal antibody, JAA-F11, with high specificity to TF-Ag-α and a surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based biosensor on detecting exosomal TF-Ag-α in as low as 10μL serum. We successfully distinguished breast cancer (accuracy:97%) and lung cancer(accuracy:95%) from normal controls using exosomal TF-Ag-α as the biomarker. We detected significantly higher levels of exosomal TF-Ag-α in sera from cancer patients (n=110) than normal controls (n=57). These results suggested that exosomal TF-Ag-α is a specific and potent liquid biopsy biomarker for cancer diagnosis.

Adele Lopez

Colloidal gels are composed of a network of colloidal particles which aggregate to form a gel. The unique properties and advantages of colloidal gels, such as their microstructural morphology and mechanical properties, has led to them being explored as drug

Kaitlynn Mau and Shanjidah Sarker

Trypsinization is the gold standard for cell harvesting. However, it can damage cell membranes and disrupt the extracellular matrix, affecting key cellular functions. This study aims to develop thermoresponsive cell culture surfaces that can easily separate into sheets. A thin film of poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (pNIPAAm) was applied to polystyrene culture dishes, enabling separation via a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) phase transition. Two coating formulations, pNIPAAm alone and with collagen were assessed for biocompatibility. Contact angle and surface release were assessed, and cytotoxicity evaluated with MDPC-23 cells. Increasing temperature enhanced surface hydrophobicity and separation from the plastic surface. Both formulations exhibited minimal cell toxicity, indicating excellent biocompatibility. Collagen-coated surfaces showed enhanced sheet release. Future studies aim to utilize these surfaces for tissue regeneration, potentially with human keratinocytes. This work highlights the utility of poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) in cell sheet engineering, preserving native cell-matrix interactions, and showing promise for clinical regenerative applications.

Angela Aguirre, Jinhui Li and Seth Thomson

Cell membranes are comprised of diverse lipid species, varying in concentration across cell types and functions. Molecular Dynamic (MD) Simulations have emerged as a valuable tool for investigating the structural and dynamic properties of lipid membranes. Here, we sought to determine how the size and cholesterol concentration affect the membranes' properties. Previous studies have primarily focused on simple lipid compositions, while this study examines membrane patches with a more complex constitution. All-atom molecular dynamic simulations were conducted on patches containing five different lipid species based on breast cancer cell lines, with two cholesterol concentrations for 300 nanoseconds. Based on these simulations, we found that for the general properties, compared to the larger bilayer size, the area per lipid for smaller bilayer is lower. Consequently, the membrane thickness is higher than that of the larger membrane sizes. Membrane area compressibility, while exhibiting some fluctuations, remained consistent. 

Muhammad Alber Aqil and Saiful Islam

Gene duplication networks represent the relationships between duplicated parts of genomes, and analyses of them aim to capture the evolutionary history of gene duplication events and the relationships between the duplicated parts. In this study, we analyze gene duplication networks of 119 species from actinopterygii, mammalia, reptilia, aves, asteroidea, and chondrichthyes classes. The data are generated by using BISER algorithm. To construct the duplication network, we consider a constant-size segment of chromosome as a single node. A weighted edge between  two nodes indicates the strength of the sequence alignment  between the two segments of chromosome. We examine several network and non-network properties. 

Richard Ciora

CO2 hydrogenation has gathered increased attention in recent years as a pathway towards CO2 utilization via synthesis of carbon-neutral fuels and chemicals.  However, these reactions are thermodynamically limited and kinetically hindered by the production of H2O as a by-product.  In this work, a water conducting Na+-gated membrane was incorporated in a bifunctional membrane reactor for direct CO2/H2 conversion to liquified petroleum gas (LPG).  The membrane reactor consisted of a bifunctional CZZA/Pd-β-zeolite catalyst packed on the shell side of a tubular Na+-gated zeolite membrane.  The influence of reactor pressure, W/F, temperature, H2/CO2 ratio, and sweep gas flow rate were systematically investigated to determine their influence on CO2 conversion, CO yield, methanol yield, hydrocarbon yield, and LPG yield.  The membrane reactor demonstrated excellent performance stability over >150 hours of cumulative operation at 300oC from 6-30 bar.  CO2 conversion and LPG productivity higher than any single reactor system found in literature were achieved at 90.2% and 60.5%, respectively.

Christine Singh

Cancer cells have different abilities to migrate away from a primary tumor based on internal chemical and genetic transitions to more metastatic cell types. Additionally, the movement of cells is influenced by the presence of external chemicals called chemokines. Our lab is building detailed computational models for tumor cell migration in response to external signals. So far, we have not yet included intracellular effects. My project focuses on connecting models for intracellular effects to the cell migration simulations using a computational modeling approach called agent-based modeling that treats each cell as a discrete object moving in a spatial environment subject to probabilistic rules for interacting with internal and external cues. 

Sydney Swedick

Mitochondria, dominant energy producing organelles, propel most biochemical reactions and regulate metabolic activity and cellular homeostasis. Mitochondrial dysfunction is regarded as an aging hallmark. Research in c-elegans or yeast models have shown that supplementation of proline can promote longevity. We extended this to mammalian cells and investigated the effect of proline on mitochondrial function in replicative senescence of human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) and DNA-damage (etoposide) induced senescence models. Mitochondrial function was severely compromised, evidenced by significantly reduced mitochondrial membrane potential and mitochondrial respiratory capacity. RNA sequencing observed that the proline biosynthesis pathway was downregulated in aged cells. Treatment of senescent stem cells with proline restored mitochondrial function after 7 days by inducing mitophagy. After 14 days, mitochondrial rejuvenation was observed, including restoration of the myogenic capacity and amelioration of aging hallmarks. Improving mitochondrial function may be a preventative measure for diseases with abnormalities in mitochondria and severe age-associated diseases.

Jinhui Li

The enzyme phospholipase A2 (PLA2) is a protein family that can hydrolyze the Sn-2 fatty acid of membrane phospholipids. Various studies show that the regulation of PLA2 activity is related to inflammatory diseases and corresponding therapeutics, and many anti-inflammatory drugs (AIDs) have been recognized as modulators of PLA2. Our experimental collaborators characterized the effects of nine AIDs on bilayer structural properties during PLA2 cleavage and found some AIDs could inhibit the PLA2 activity, while other AIDs promoted PLA2 activity. Here, we used molecular dynamics simulations to probe the atomic-level interaction details of these AIDs with DMPC bilayer. Simulation results showed that AIDs presented different behaviors in the bilayer because of their varied chemical structures. However, the impact of AIDs on the membrane core plays a key role and a more ordered membrane can prohibit the PLA2 cleavage. Taken together, these results increase our understanding of AID-lipid interactions that may be relevant in the regulation of PLA2 cleavage.

 John Michael Aguilar, Md. Arafat Ali, Jonathan Antle and Ehsan Ul Hoque Tanim

Graphene and zero-valent-iron based nanohybrid (rGO-nZVI NH) with oxidant H2O2 can remove perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) through adsorption-degradation in a controlled aquatic environment. In this study, we evaluated how and to what extent different environmental and operational parameters, such as initial PFAS concentration, H2O2 dose, pH, ionic strength, and natural organic matter (NOM), influenced the removal of PFOS and PFOA by rGO-nZVI. With the increase in initial PFAS concentration (from 0.4 to 50 ppm), pH (3 to 9), ionic strength (0 to 100 mM), and NOM (0 to 10 ppm), PFOS removal reduced by 20%, 30%, 2%, and 6%, respectively, while PFOA removal reduced by 54%, 76%, 11%, and 33% respectively. In contrast, PFOS and PFOA removal increased by 10% and 41%, respectively, with an increase in H2O2 (from 0 to 1 mM). Overall, the effect of changes in environmental and operational parameters was more pronounced for PFOA than PFOS. Most importantly, our study confirms that rGO-nZVI in the presence of H2O2 can degrade both PFOS and PFOA to some extent by identifying important by-products such as acetate, formate, and fluoride.

Kat Curry and Tazim Khan

The effects of waterborne diseases on low resource communities is a devastating global issue. An accessible solution to the treatment of drinking water in these communities is through the use of Ceramic Water Filters (CWFs). CWFs are made from firing a mixture of clay, water, and waste organic materials. The burning of the organic material during the firing process creates tunneling that converts the pottery into a water filter. This study analyzes the effectiveness of the use of the organic material bagasse, a sugarcane waste product, compared to the commonly used material, sawdust. Lab scale CWFs were created using sawdust, bagasse based paper plates, and locally sourced clay. Testing was done using a constant head apparatus. Measured parameters included flow rate, porosity, turbidity removal, and removal of microorganisms commonly present in wastewater. Water tested was wastewater from the town of Amherst. The effectiveness of removal of microorganisms and turbidity, as well as the relationship of removal and flow rate will be presented.

Matthew Gonzalez

In unreinforced concrete, cracks are likely to develop quickly under tension, as concrete has a relatively low capacity to resist tension and deformation. This research will incorporate microfibers into concrete, aiming to increase its strength, crack resistance, and overall durability. This will result in increased structural safety, reduced maintenance costs, and enhanced flexibility. Concrete mix proportions and aggregates were provided by two companies, allowing for the production of test specimens. Four-point bending, three-point bending, and compression tests were conducted to determine flexural strength, fracture toughness, and compressive strength respectively. The stress tests revealed up to a 50% increase in flexural strength, a 30% increase in fracture toughness, and a 40% increase in compressive strength. Incorporating microfibers led to a 40% improvement in the mechanical properties of the concrete specimens. Further research is warranted to explore the long-term performance of reinforced concrete structures and the influence of other parameters.

Victoria Pimenta Reyes

Wildland Urban Interfaces (WUI) are regions where human development meets unoccupied land. These areas are more at risk for wildfires due to highly available vegetated fuels. The purpose of this research project was to study the correlation between community layouts and the fire spread rate in WUI areas. This study was conducted by collecting and analyzing data from national databases and results of fire spread simulations for past wildfires to characterize the effects of risk, house density, and construction type on the fire spread rate.

Vidhi Rasik Solanki

Substations, being part of the power grid, play a vital role in society's energy system. IEEE 693 and 1527 ensure functionality of standalone grid components post-earthquakes via seismic qualification. However, these provisions do not account for the effect of equipment interconnection by flexible bus conductors explicitly. Current provisions rely on excessive slack and moment amplification factors (MAF) or equivalent terminal forces (ETF), leading to overly conservative requirements. In the current study, shake table tests of interconnected equipment show that although large terminal forces occur, they do not correlate with higher base moments or conductor tautness and can be explained by a phenomenon known as auto-parametric resonance (pony-tail motion). Further experimental validation is crucial for revising codal provisions to accurately reflect these dynamics. Model-in-the-loop testing offers a cost-effective alternative, where a virtual substructure (computer model of equipment) interacts with a physical one (conductor) in real-time, facilitating testing of various equipment-conductor combinations.

Cheng-En Chuang and Grant Iraci

We develop a session types based framework for implementing and validating rate-based message passing systems in Internet of Things (IoT) domains. To model the indefinite repetition present in many embedded and IoT systems, we introduce a timed process calculus with a periodic recursion primitive. This allows us to model rate-based computations and communications inherent to these application domains. Programs which type check enjoy the standard session types guarantees as well as rate error freedom - meaning processes which exchange messages do so at the same rate. We prove type preservation and rate error freedom for our system, and show a decidable method for type checking. We implement a prototype of our type system via an embedding into the type system of Rust. This implementation supports an example application of the heart rate sensing feature running on a smartwatch

Keyan Guo and Isabelle Ondracek

Online hate is an escalating problem that negatively impacts the lives of Internet users and is also subject to rapid changes due to evolving events, resulting in new waves of online hate that pose a critical threat. Detecting and mitigating these new waves present two key challenges: it demands reasoning-based complex decision-making to determine the presence of hateful content, and the limited availability of training samples hinders updating the detection model. To address this critical issue, we present a novel framework called HateGuard for effectively moderating new waves of online hate. HateGuard employs a reasoning-based approach that leverages the recently introduced chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting technique, harnessing the capabilities of large language models (LLMs). We tested HateGuard using tweets from recent significant events and found it significantly outperforms current tools, showing 22.22% to 83.33% better detection of new hate waves. 

Vasilisa Ignatova

Biological systems utilize various communication forms like auditory, visual, and tactile. Tactile communication is crucial in the insect world due to the limited vision and sound perception abilities of many insect species. Inspired by insect antenna communication, the following project replaces traditional transmitter-receiver systems with singular channel communication in a robot. The project uses the Buffalo Nibble, a small(25 mm x 20 mm x 15 mm) robot platform enhanced with metallic antennas controlling a switch that enables the robot to sense collision with its environment and other robots. The work attempts to establish a communication protocol for sending and receiving binary messages through tactical sensing, as well as, demonstrate the successful transmission of a binary message from a robot to its robot counterparts. The work provides avenues of simplistic communication in environments where other methods, such as infrared or wifi communication aren't viable. 

Manaswi Mancha

Multi-document summarization, a complex task in natural language processing, requires synthesizing information from multiple texts. Despite the focus on pre-training in recent research, the role of fine-tuning has been underexplored. We introduce SynText, a model that builds on the PRIMERA model for multi-document summarization through momentum calibration fine-tuning. Our results show that SynText surpasses the current state-of-the-art on the MultiNews dataset across all major ROUGE metrics. This work highlights the importance of not taking fine-tuning strategies for granted.

William Otoo-Mensah

Roughly 8% of children in the U.S. suffer with speech difficulty issues. The application of reinforcement learning (RL) techniques is used to assist Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) in determining optimal intervention techniques for children with speech difficulties. An intelligent RL agent assessed each child's unique traits and offered tailored recommendations on the most effective intervention. It completed this via interactions with simulated environments and gradually developed its ability to make decisions based on input. An RL framework incorporating speech therapy-specific state representation, action choice, and reward assignment was engineered. Based on advancements in the targeted children's speech and language abilities, the agent's effectiveness was evaluated based on the advancements. By delivering a cutting-edge tool that helps SLPs make data-driven decisions, speech-language pathology and effectiveness of intervention strategies may improve.

Chengzhe Sun and Riky Zhou

In the rapidly evolving digital media landscape, AI-generated content (AIGC) proliferation presents revolutionary potential and significant challenges. Among these challenges, distinguishing between authentic and synthetic media emerges as a critical issue, posing risks of misinformation and disinformation. Addressing this concern, we introduce DeepfakePedia, a pioneering learning platform designed specifically for teenagers. DeepfakePedia seeks to empower this vulnerable demographic with a foundational knowledge of generative AI technologies and their implications for media integrity. The platform offers an immersive educational experience through a public web-based interface encompassing a comprehensive introduction to prevalent AIGC tools and methodologies. It further provides essential guidance to enable users to identify and discern between real and fake media. DeepfakePedia incorporates interactive elements such as quizzes and games to enhance engagement and reinforce learning, making the learning process informative and enjoyable.

Biswajit Kumar Dash and Sureel Shah

Smart grid applications heavily rely on communication infrastructures that offer flexibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness to enable bi-directional information exchange across geographically distributed grid elements. Wireless cellular networks, such as LTE cat-M, provide extensive coverage at a reduced cost, both in terms of installation and power consumption. This paper presents a multi-node testbed to assess the suitability of LTE cat-M technology for a variety of smart grid applications, with distributed nodes collecting and transmitting data at a variable rate, from 0.25 to 100 frames per second (fps). Based on field experiments, an extensive performance analysis is presented with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), such as delay, jitter, and frame loss. The impact of the number of smart grid nodes and propagation quality are also considered in the analysis. Finally, a calibration method to optimize the packet transmission time is presented with a 33.91% delay reduction under different conditions.

Md Abdul Kaium Khan

Gallium-based liquid metals (LMs) are renowned for their application in flexible and soft electronics. Despite their promising electrical and optical properties, the high surface tension of these LMs poses a challenge in forming nanostructures via conventional techniques, limiting exploration in LM-based nanoelectronics and nanophotonics. This study presents a simple yet effective method for deterministic fabrication of LM nanopatterns with high yield and ultrahigh density. With critical feature sizes down to ~100 nm, this technique boasts the highest resolution of any LM fabrication technique developed to date. Furthermore, the LM nanopatterns exhibit exceptional long-term stability under ambient conditions, offering promising prospects for diverse LM technologies and applications at the nanoscale.

Katelyn Churakos and Jayden Mitchell

This research project examines the student perception and experience of solving open-ended modeling problems (OEMPs) through an autoethnographic account of the student-authors' personal reflections about an OEMP completed during an introductory level statics course. Currently, the student perspective is not represented in literature about engineering problem solving. This is significant as the student perspective is integral to understanding how students learn and develop an engineering mindset. By incorporating the student voice through autoethnography, this study can begin to fill this gap and provide meaningful insights about the student experience and perceived benefits surrounding an OEMP.

Shea Lape and Danielle Usinski

The purpose of this research study is to analyze the impacts of an open makerspace on the development of students' engineering identities. Makerspaces are open workshop spaces where students can create. By reading through student interview transcripts, we analyzed how heavy of an impact the Makerspace has on the further development of a student's ability to recognize themselves as an engineer if they came into college with an initial interest in making. This development of identity in turn causes students to see themselves as engineers when experiencing recognition from being in the Makerspace. These results will aid in the creation of effective intervention methods that universities can implement as a part of their first year engineering curriculum to build identities and increase retention rates.

Sean Mackay

Computer Science Education has traditionally focused predominantly on supporting students during their first year, particularly in their first course, CS1. This is due in part to concerns over the difficulties students face during this first year and the subsequent attrition rates during this year. What has not been historically considered are the difficulties faced by students beyond this first year. This work aims to try and determine what difficulties students face after their first year of study as they move into more difficult courses. The work involves a large-scale survey of students across a multitude of US institutions, as well as a series of one-on-one interviews with students. These interviews and the survey have been used to determine areas where students have faced particular difficulties within upper-division computer science in an effort to build a concept inventory of known troublesome concepts, to help facilitate the development of interventions.

Lorna Treffert

In this preliminary study, I took an ethnographic approach to explore the research culture and power dynamics of an engineering education research team. I focused particularly on how and when undergraduate students engage in research activities and what actions by the faculty encourage or impact this engagement. My data consists of five recorded team research meetings. I used Spradley's Developmental Research Sequence (1980) to guide my ethnographic observations and used Amy Allen's conception of Power to inform my analysis. I found that faculty members can use their authority over undergraduate researchers to supplement their knowledge and build their research skills.  I also found that faculty members can share power-with undergraduate researchers by legitimizing their efforts. Finally, I found that researchers are also able to share power-with the team by contributing meaningfully to the team's project.

Zehua Dong

Intraoperative hypotension leads to increasing postoperative mortality. Accurate forecasting can enable clinicians to take timely actions. However, implementing machine learning (ML) methods in hypotension inference has both clinical and statistical challenges:1. uncertainty quantification is less emphasized; 2. the hidden association between binary and continuous responses is less studied; 3. different health group patients should follow different distributions. This research aims to forecast hypotension while addressing three key research gaps. We propose to use three parametric models and one non-parametric model to predict diastolic and systolic blood pressures (continuous) and hypotension events (binary) of patients in different American society of anesthesiologists (ASA) groups. The data was collected from 562 hysterectomy surgeries performed on patients (≥ 18 years) between June 2020 and July 2021. Research findings include: (1) uncertainty quantification enables trustworthy decision-support; (2) quantified hidden association can enhance ML performance; (3) different ASA physical status classes significantly impacted the ML performance.

Mohana Siva Sai Yasodhar Golleru

The interdependency between government policies and the actions of private entities in wildfire mitigation is complex and underexplored. Addressing this gap, our research utilizes a game-theoretic lens to examine the sequential interactions that dictate prescribed burning decisions. We have developed a sequential game model to analyze strategies in prescribed burning practices. Our research elucidates how varying levels of government incentives impact the willingness and capacity of private landowners to undertake prescribed burns. Our findings offer policymakers a quantitative basis for structuring cost-sharing programs that encourage effective wildfire risk reduction, potentially revolutionizing the approach to ecological conservation and property protection in wildfire-prone regions.

Nina Gomez

Public school districts in the United States remain highly segregated due to racial residential segregation. This leads to an unequal distribution of resources across schools which have direct impacts on student success. I will be applying a spatial optimization model to redraw school district boundaries in order to minimize segregation. I will also be analyzing the tradeoffs between more racially diverse classrooms and increased transportation costs.

Laura Schultz

This research evaluates the effectiveness of the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP) in the United States, focusing on its impact on readmission rates among individuals with dementia and other comorbid conditions. The study entails a thorough analysis of hospital readmission trends for dementia patients, involving data preparation, re-coding to include dementia cases from 2010, 2015, and 2019, and compiling summary statistics. Furthermore, the research includes survival analysis to explore relationships between categorical and continuous variables. By examining trends and outcomes associated with HRRP implementation, the study aims to provide insights into the program's efficacy in reducing readmissions among individuals with dementia. Ultimately, the findings will be consolidated into a research paper, offering a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics between HRRP and readmission rates for this vulnerable population.

Tawsif Siddiqui and Walter Towery

Installed a new system for the manufacturing company Silipos that manages production and inventory. To make this system work properly the team had to identify problems and come up with solutions to reduce machining times and standardize the process. The newly installed system dramatically decreased the lead times and work-in-progress inventory for all workstations on the assembly line.

Zhiyuan Wei

Unequal access to essential services (e.g., healthcare, food) is a pressing issue impacting communities worldwide. Particularly, socially vulnerable populations often experience greater disparities in service access, leading to the emergence of healthcare deserts and food deserts. This project focuses on characterizing, predicting, and improving people's access to essential services, leveraging large-scale mobile phone data. Specifically, a fine-grained human mobility network is constructed to describe the footprint of people from large-scale mobile phone data, through an entropy-based nonlinear optimization model. Then, a two-stage forecasting framework is developed to predict spatiotemporal mobility patterns in service access, integrating data decomposition and multivariate time series analysis. Lastly, an equity-based optimization is proposed to improve equitable mobility access to essential services.  This project offers a novel perspective on promoting equitable access through the lens of human mobility.

Md Tohidul Islam

High-entropy ceramics present a promising material class but represent a design challenge due to the massive compositional design space. Through the use of machine learning approaches, design rules linking compositions, for example of CeO2, Y2O3, and Eu2O3 components, with mechanical properties for accelerated selection of compositional refinement.  These machine learning techniques identify optimal compositions and reveal underlying relationships by capturing the intricate multidimensional relationships between composition, processing conditions, microstructure, and mechanical performance. Our findings present a set of promising compositions that exhibit enhanced mechanical properties, ideal for extreme environment applications, such as hypersonic applications.

Alison Casson, Katelyn Churakos, Osuman Gimballa, Alaina Herman and Bryan Rambo

"The Lorenz Attractor" is the UB Theme Park Engineering Club's submission for a National Ride Engineering Competition that occurred on April 13th, 2024. The competition required participating teams to design, plan, and manufacture an exciting and innovative 1:50 scaled section of a roller coaster that incorporates real-world engineering practices and meets all specified safety, design, and operational requirements. Fifteen students were split into mechanical, controls, and documentation sub-teams, working together to create a function model roller coaster. "The Lorenz Attractor's" track and vehicle design adhere to specified ASTM-F24 guidelines and the Systems Engineering Report includes both mechanical and controls system design packages, and a full risk analysis with mitigations in order to proceed. 

Rami El-Hindi, Isabella Kollar, Omar Mohammad, Michael Scher and Christipher Sexton

This project aims to develop an exoskeleton for the human forearm with primary focus on recovery through support and assistance. I'm meticulous research and design process allow us to reach an ergonomic model that incorporates features so just movability and comfort in order to optimize rehabilitation process without compromising day to day functionality. Pneumatic actuators are a significant piece and this is designed to through prototyping and modeling stages. We developed the lightweight design that mimics natural arm movements suitable for all types of injury every senior time project, promote innovative strategies, and designs of rehabilitation through many lenses of engineering. 

Joseph Marziale

The purpose of this study is to extend current state of the art methods for sharpening the interface between two immiscible fluids into unstructured simplex meshes. Existing phase field representations of these two-phase flows conserve the mass of both phases, appropriately bound the volume fraction, and are accurate, but rely on structured quadrilaterals for the calculation of interfacial numerical fluxes. Unstructured meshes, which can fit complicated domains and provide more accurate solutions to conserved variable fields, nonetheless demand a more nuanced approach towards the computation of gradient variables. This study describes a formulation in which gradient/divergence fields are found by integrating along boundaries of dimension-agnostic control volumes. These fields inform an interface regularization term that significantly counteracts artificial numerical diffusion. With this method, evolving fronts can be sharpened regardless of the embodied structure or dimensionality of the computational grid. The proposed method is conservative and simple to implement.

Joseph Marziale and Jason Sun

A manufacturing-driven ICME framework is proposed to model short fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) via direct ink writing. Currently, there lacks efforts to investigate the effects of properties of short fiber reinforced CMCs due to fiber alignment variance. A multi-scale modeling approach is presented to use representative volume elements to capture the homogenized mechanical behavior at various fiber aspect ratios and volume ratios. The orthotropic material properties are mapped to model the printing process. A series of tensile tests simulations show that with 20∘ standard deviation in fiber alignment, the fracture plane has the maximum local tensile stress range at a printing angle of 30∘ and has the minimum local tensile stress range at 90∘. When the standard deviation increases from 20∘ to 40∘, the average tensile strength across the fracture plane decreases by 2%, but the stress variations increase 27.6%.

Tyshawn Searight

Acoustic metamaterials are artificially engineered materials that have been structured to exhibit unique wave propagation properties. The main function of metamaterials is to manipulate sound waves through the creation of 'frequency band gaps.' Within these band gaps, waves are prevented from propagating and heavily attenuated. This allows the metamaterial to absorb incident vibrations and excitations which can damage the structure. An acoustic metamaterial consists of a host structure and an array of local resonators. A 2-D locally resonant beam has been designed to model metamaterial behavior. This beam will be tested using a Scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometer (SLDV) which can measure and extract small deformations at any spatial location. Generally, the resonators will be equidistant and distributed uniformly along the length of the beam. This uniformity, along with other variables such as the number of resonators and tip mass ratio, will be varied to evaluate there effect on band gap location. The experimental setup and obtained data will provide support behind the theory of needing more resonators to achieve a stronger band gap. Examining the effects of resonator quantity, location and tip mass ratio will help demonstrate how different design parameters can be used to exhibit specific mechanical properties.

Sunny Chen, Rachel Iavicoli, Kristina Jiang and ZengZeng Mu

In response to socioeconomic disparities discouraging local middle and high school students from pursuing higher education, our team conducted a series of classroom visits to share beneficial college and financial-related resources. Additionally, we identified the need for talent in the "accounting pipeline" and destigmatized the career alongside professionals from EY. Entrepreneurship was another topic discussed with the help of UB's Blackstone Launchpad. Other volunteering events that coincided with the visits included food drives, hosting a college tour, and assisting the schools in facilitating their events. These culminated into a prolonged relationship with the students and faculty. It also left a lasting impact on participating members who cultivated new perspectives, improved their public speaking skills, and made an impact on their community. These efforts were presented at an international Beta Alpha Psi "Best Practices" Competition sponsored by Deloitte and won its category of "Reimagined Community Service.

Hoon Ki Ha

Inconsistent ESG ratings from different rating agencies, also known as ESG rating disagreement problem, may negatively impact a firm. We predict that auditor's ESG profile, assessed by their clients' ESG ratings, helps to alleviate the ESG rating disagreements. By utilizing a change model design, we find that increase in auditor's ESG profile is associated with a decrease in their client's ESG rating disagreements. Furthermore, this effect is more pronounced for larger auditors, as measured by auditor office size, particularly in situations where clients encounter information or governance deficiencies, as measured by bid-ask spread and the percentage of independent board members. In summary, our findings indicate that auditors gain valuable ESG expertise from engagements with highly-rated ESG clients, thereby enhancing their capacity to positively influence clients' ESG reporting.

Julie Danko

This project challenged students to organize a presentation in the format of a TedTalk; to be communicative, educational, and effective. We were encouraged to consider topics that we felt strongly about. When my sister lost her short battle with melanoma in 2020, our hearts were shattered as our minds filled with shock and misunderstanding. Educating myself on the complexities of skin cancer has since caused me to recognize myself among the majority of people who underestimate the dangers of the disease. This task was an opportunity to stimulate change, and encouraged me to shed light on the unpopular conversation about skin cancer risk. 

Yiyang Li

Our research goal is to construct a multi-dimensional "Political Index" capturing the extent to which firms are "connected" to the political system in general and to specific parties in particular. The Political Index can help investors, managers, etc. to make better investment decisions. Political Index is a relatively new concept to the public. It is like an integrated indicator to the political connected events to the firms such as lobbying expenditures, political contributions, revolving door, shareholding by politicians, and affiliates.

Blake Humphrey, Chris Munoz, Matt Persampieri and Ava Woo

The "Global Programs: Costa Rica" project discusses the work students participate in during MGG302: Social Innovations & Leadership in Latin America course in partnership with non-for-profit organizations in Costa Rica. This year students worked with two organizations; Codece and EcoFuturo who operate within the communities of the Escazú Hills outside of Costa Rica's capital of San José. Codece and EcoFuturo seek to promote sustainable business practices and environmental education, and engage in political advocacy, conservation efforts, and environmental tourism within the area. Students this semester were split into six teams which worked on three different projects (two teams for each project). The projects included updating the organization's current web domains to draw in more foreign visitors, presenting fundraising ideas to secure increased foreign investment, and creating a database to store and organize pertinent information to our business partners. 

Julia Damore

As apart of the Jodan Daniels NonProfit Fellowship, I was assigned to work with the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western New York as a non voting board memeber. Over the course of an academic year, fellows assume the role of non-voting board members within local nonprofit organizations and attempt to build a project for the organization that makes them better off. For my project I am conducting a data analysis on their past donor information data as well as past donation data in order to find any trends, mistakes, and areas of risk/improvement for the organization that would otherwise be hidden within that data. 

Sunny Chen, Gabriella Soccia, Hui Song, Chris Kirsch and Lauren Pollock

Disney outlines a unique approach to leadership development through a workshop held at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Combining professional development with leisure, participants engage in leadership training while immersing themselves in the magical ambiance of Disney's renowned attractions. The workshop offers structured sessions focusing on leadership principles, team dynamics, and innovative strategies, complemented by hands-on experiences within the park. Networking opportunities with University at Buffalo alumni enrich the experience, fostering lasting connections and knowledge exchange.

Julia Damore and Seika Dingle

Displaying our data analytics research projects from fall 2023 and spring 2024. These projects were in coordination with UB departments, digging into data that requires more time dedicated to unearthing certain patterns and trends. Data Analytics is a relatively new department that doesn't have as many research opportunities for students yet, thus this is displaying the growth and improvements we made in our field with these research opportunities.

Josh Evans and Lauren Taips

Our project will focus on presenting the ideal attributes a Major League Baseball hitter should have based on the ballpark they play in. The goal is to develop a predictive model that will represent what skillsets a hitter may possess that will benefit them the most under specific conditions (at their home field). An MLB general manager may use this model to explore how various factors play into how hitters are expected to perform if they were to play for their team (for around 81 home games in a season). The example we chose to present our data is Fenway Park. Fenway Park is one of the most unique stadiums in the MLB with its fence heights and field dimensions tailored to fit on a street corner. 

Victoria Gonzalez, Chitral Patil and Sai Teja

Fraudulent financial reporting encompasses deliberate misstatements or omissions in financial statements, aiming to mislead stakeholders and regulators, resulting in a breach of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). This research introduces a novel predictive model for detecting accounting fraud, leveraging publicly available financial data extracted from 10-K filings. Specifically, a Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) is constructed with Random Under-Sampling (RUS) (called RUS MLP) which has comparable performance to traditional machine learning algorithms designed for fraud detection such as logit and probit models. 

Yuhui Zhang

We explore how eLearners' engagement and performance can be influenced by digital nudges. We examine how personalized nudges with self-reference content and social comparison content encourage eLearners' engagement and performance. We perform an experiment with 515 students in a hybrid undergraduate course, randomly assigning participants to receive one of five types of digital nudges for certain course assignments. We examine how these nudges affect proactive assignment activity, assignment performance, as well as self-reported motivation, self-comparisons and perceived usefulness of nudges. We will model between-group differences and pre-post differences to examine the effect of personalized nudges on user engagement and performance, comparing participants who received different types of personalized nudges with participants who received generic (i.e. non-personalized) nudges. Our study extends existing nudge research to user engagement in eLearning environments. We also contribute to theories of self-reference, social norms, and social comparison on personalization of the learning process through digital nudges.

Seo Yoon Kang

I introduce and systematically investigate a visualization technique commonly employed in product advertising - vector illustration. Vector illustration is added graphic elements to represent a core medium that is normally invisible to the naked eye but which is affected by the product when it is used (i.e., an ad depicting heatwaves released by a space heater). Specifically, it aims to capture a hypothetical movement of the medium during product usage. We show that this visualization technique is an effective advertising tool that increases product valuation as vector illustration elicits operation simulation (i.e., visual simulation of how a product operates to deliver desired outcomes). I empirically show that vector illustration increases product judgment (Studies 1A and 1B) via operation simulation (Study 2). 

Max Benesh, Allison Merchan, Yariel Pacheco and Iman Priestley

Step into the heart of our research where we dissect the recent surge in narcotrafficking in Ecuador. It's more than just facts and figures - we're peeling back the layers to reveal the hidden patterns and societal influences. By combining insights from law enforcement, conversations with those on the ground, and a deep dive into socio-economic factors, we're painting a human picture of this complex issue. Our poster isn't just a presentation; it's an invitation to join the conversation, to better grasp the problem, and together advocate for strategies grounded in real understanding.

Kate Chan and Bryan Thng

Our project aims to explore the interconnected environment of nations through the lens of Costa Rica. Through this exploration, we seek to understand business, sustainability, culture, and socio-economic practices in Costa Rica. Our project will delve into the history, culture, food, practices, language of Costa Rica, and we will engage in cultural exchanges with natives to understand their personal views on Costa Rica's environment, business, and sustainability practices. Additionally, we will contribute to a non-profit organization by developing a variety of business solutions. As an optional component, we will immerse ourselves in Costa Rican culture through a week-long visit. Our poster will serve as a comprehensive guide to our learning experience over three months, providing a visually dynamic yet concise representation of our journey. Through this project, we aim to educate and inform students about global programs offered at UBSOM and encourage their participation in future related programs and events.

Seika Dingel

Through my participation in the Jordan Daniel's Nonprofit Board Fellowship, I've learned about board governance and servant leadership within local nonprofit organizations. At the United Way of Buffalo & Erie County, I focus on data analysis related to Housing and Urban Development Programs. This study aims to explore case studies involving cash transfers to disadvantaged populations, and the services and resources that allow these initiatives to be successful. 

Desy Farmaciawaty

This research studies how effective government health policies or hospital regulations are in improving health outcomes by reducing in-hospital death discharge and hospital length of stay. Econometric Panel Data with OLS Regression Fixed Effect and Time Fixed Effect Method was used to analyze data in Indonesia and The United States from 2015 to 2020. As the Dependent Variable, we use life expectancy to represent health outcomes. Meanwhile, the Independent Variable is hospital capacity efficiency, represented by the in-hospital average length of stay (ALOS) and in-hospital death discharges (IHDD). From the results, we found that there is a positive relationship between hospital efficiency and health outcomes in both Indonesia and the US. In addition, in Indonesia, insurance coverage, smoking behavior, and the number of hospitals are associated with health outcomes. However, in the US, the study only finds support for the relationship between smoking behavior and life expectancy. 

Karina Pan and Lai Ching Tseung

Often overlooked, but the secret to long term retail clothing success comes from not having an online shopping presence. That comes from 3 main reasons, increase in store traffic, fewer environmental harm, and less returns. "On average, 5-10% of purchases made in store are returned, while purchases made online are returned at a rate as high as 40%." Also, through personal experience in working in successful retail clothing store chains like Primark and Marshalls, we realize that their in-store traffic is remarkably successful. Most companies nowadays prioritize the importance of an online store to maximize the sales, but for clothing companies in particular, they lose millions of dollars due to return shipping and processing fees. Using data analytics and future projections, we will showcase the cost of the website maintenance, return shipping, and supply chain impacts of having an online shopping presence.

Namratha Pulluru and Ankita Sinha

This study investigates the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the travel and tourism industries' Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria. Using structural equation modeling, the research examines how changes in travel patterns, such as commercial flight volume, travel costs, infrastructure expansion, and employment rates, influence ESG performance. Initial findings suggest that increased commercial flight activity and growth significantly affect employment, subsequently impacting the 'Environmental' and 'Social' components of ESG. The study also evaluates the 'Governance' aspect, considering the alignment of industry responses and recovery strategies with sustainable and responsible business practices. By analyzing the pandemic's repercussions through the ESG lens, this paper provides valuable insights for stakeholders aiming to prioritize sustainability and resilience during the recovery phase. The study highlights immediate ESG challenges and discusses long-term strategies for enhancing sustainability and governance post-COVID-19, ultimately contributing to a more robust and ethical industry framework.

Ananya Singh and Simran Yadav

The primary objective of the case was to assume the role of PwC consultants and devise a solution proposal for Z Commerce aimed at mitigating the low company morale following a company-wide layoff. Our poster project aims to illustrate the journey from forming the solutions to emerging victorious in the competition, highlighting the insights and lessons learned along the way. 

Hector Cedeno, Majda Kassem-Lopez, Sergio Sandoval and Abigail Wilczak

This research poster explores strategies to increase diversity in clinical trials conducted by AbbVie, a leading biopharmaceutical company. It highlights the underrepresentation of certain ethnic groups in US-based trials compared to the general population, emphasizing the need for building trust among these communities. The poster presents growth projections for immunology, oncology, and ophthalmology, identifying them as high-priority disease areas for enhancing diversity. It proposes targeted approaches, including decentralized clinical trials, site selection in diverse locations, partnerships with advocacy groups, and a cultural competency program. The goal is to improve trust, recruitment, and trial execution across various demographics, ultimately boosting revenue potential in these rapidly growing therapeutic areas.

Sara Hoseingholizade

Narcissism has recently garnered significant interest among management scholars. Up to this point, however, narcissism has been assessed as a continuous, stable, and unidimensional construct, which may have contributed to a limited and sometimes inaccurate view of narcissistic employees. We integrate the trifurcated model of narcissism with whole trait theory to identify narcissism sub-groups based upon (a) the levels of three narcissism characteristics (grandiosity, vulnerability, and antagonism) and (b) the amount of variability in the three characteristics over time. Using experience sampling data, we delineate four narcissism profiles that exhibit distinct relationships with emotional responses, interpersonal tendencies, deviant behavior, and motivation to lead. Overall, our study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of employee narcissism, shedding light on how people can be narcissistic in unique ways that have distinct organizational implications.

Natalie Karmazyn

Just Build It is a yearly service trip to the Dominican Republic, which I've been attending since 2018. It involves many capital improvement projects within the town of Bani. The Elizabeth Seton Nutrition Center, The Bani Young Women Orphanage run by Rotary, and medical centers throughout the community are just some of the centers we provide aid to. It is run in tandem with the local high school and an independent organizer in which about 10 high school students are taken to experience service abroad.

Sarah Bukhari

The MutS homolog, Msh2-Msh3, is a heterodimeric protein complex that plays a critical role in the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) pathway, through the recognition of errors that occur during DNA synthesis. Msh2-Msh3 recognizes and directs repair specifically of insertion/deletion loops (IDL) of up to 17- nucleotides, as well as a subset of mispairs. A second Msh complex, Msh2-Msh6, recognizes and directs repair of mispairs and small (1-2 nucleotide) IDLs. Msh2-Msh3 also recognizes and binds a variety of distinct DNA loop, flap, and quasi-hairpin structures to play important roles in other DNA metabolic pathways that promote and compromise genome stability. In particular, Msh2-Msh3-mediated MMR has been strongly implicated in trinucleotide repeat (TNR) expansions that lead to neurodegenerative diseases. The specific mispair binding domain (MBD) for each Msh complex resides in Msh3 or Msh6, respectively, and although the overall structure of Msh2-Msh3 and Msh2-Msh6 is similar, the mode of mispair binding by Msh2-Msh3 is quite distinct from that of Msh2-Msh6. Several key residues in the Msh3 MBD, including S201, R206, and H210, are highly conserved across all Msh3 homologs, and are not present at the equivalent positions in Msh2 or Msh6 homologs. There is currently a lack of a robust mechanistic understanding of how these conserved residues contribute to the specific functions of Msh3. We hypothesize that these conserved residues contribute to Msh2-Msh3's interaction with a broad range of DNA structures, and that mutation in these specific residues predicts a pathogenic conformation and will compromise Msh2-Msh3 function within different repair pathways. By identifying the extent to which these conserved residues affect the functionality of the Msh3 MDB, we aim to further characterize the mechanistic significance of the Msh3 MBD in regulating Msh2-Msh3's DNA metabolism pathway selection. 

Anthony Curione

Our lab discovered a mitochondria-to-nucleus signaling pathway mediated by small a non-coding RNA, mmu-mito-ncR-LDL805, which seems to play a large role in response to stress of smoking. This signal is thought to serve as a mechanism in response to mitochondrial stressors to restore homeostasis within the organelle. The objective of these studies the determine relative levels of mmu-mito-ncR-LDL805 within Mouse Lung Epithelial Type 2 cells (MLE-12) cells during an acute exposure of cigarette smoke extract (CSE) using RT-PCR and in-situ hybridization. The results of this experiment are expected to show the presence of mito-ncR-LDL805 localized into the nucleus from the retrograde signaling of the mitochondria during adaptation to stress, and dispersion of the non-coding RNA after cells have recovered from stress. The findings of this hypothesis could further our understanding of the regulation of mitochondrial function that help stem cells to survive stressful challenges when other cells succumb to apoptosis. 

Luke Hess

To complete DNA replication, deoxyribonucleotide triphosphate (dNTP) levels must be sufficient to prevent fork stalling and collapse. At the same time, elevated dNTP pools are mutagenic, increasing the rate of misincorporation events and, especially, the rate of frameshift mutations during replication.  Elevated dNTP pools are observed in cancer cells, presumably to support their active proliferation. We were intrigued by the observation that altered levels/ratios of dNTP pools lead to increased frameshift slippage events and the possibility to affect the rate of trinucleotide repeat (TNR) expansions. TNR tracts are both a major component of the nuclear genome and the cause of over 40 neurodegenerative diseases. Our goal is to uncover the effects of defined alterations in dNTP pools on TNR tract expansion to understand their potential role in TNR disease pathogenesis. We used our in vivo TNR reporter system, to determine the rate of TNR expansions under skewed and balanced elevations in dNTP pools. Our data indicates that elevated dNTPs fundamentally altered the fidelity of the replication fork in vivo at TNR substrates. 

Olivia Cannizzaro

Our goal is to quantify the liposomal composition of NP-01, a chemophototherapeutic drug being developed to treat liver and breast cancers. We are developing an HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) method coupled to UV-Vis and CAD (Charged Aerosol Detector) detectors. Our current technique to measuring doxorubicin and porphyrin-phospholipid concentrations utilizes fluorescence measurement and is unable to detect lipids.  HPLC is able to separate these analytes and CAD is able to measure the lipids.  The advantage of NP-01 over the commercial agent Doxil, is the ability to use red laser light (665nm) to trigger the release of encapsulated doxorubicin once the liposome is localized to the tumor.  Current issues include: 1) carry-over between analytical samples, and 2) good separation of all liposome constituents. Currently we have several batches of NP-01 prepared which have been tested in woodchucks with liver tumors. Complete characterization of NP-01 awaits the finalization of our HPLC method.

Jacob Favret

In 2006 New York became the first state to screen newborns for Krabbe disease; a lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations in Galactosylceramidase (GALC). Krabbe primarily manifests in infants and is fatal by the age of 2-3 years presenting with severe demyelination and neuroinflammation. Since 2006 screening has expanded to include 10 states; nonetheless, our understanding of KD pathophysiology and ability to treat it remains stagnant. Our research aims to elucidate the underlying pathological mechanisms to pave the way for novel therapeutic intervention. Prior work has shown that loss of GALC in oligodendrocytes; the myelinating glia of the CNS, is necessary and sufficient to induce Krabbe pathology. Moreover, we have identified the pro-inflammatory NFkB pathway to be dysregulated in these cells. Therefore, current research efforts aim to dissect the role of NFκB in diseased oligodendrocytes preliminarily demonstrating that NFkB inhibition ameliorates oligodendrocyte defects underscoring its potential as a therapeutic target. 

Rayan Masoom

This study investigates the role of lipocalin-2 (LCN2) in Krabbe disease (KD) progression using LCN2-deficient mouse models. KD, a neurodegenerative disorder, results from mutations in the GALC gene, leading to neuroinflammation and demyelination. Immunofluorescent microscopy, western blot analyses, and qPCR were utilized to assess neuroinflammation markers in GALC knockout and LCN2 knockout mice. Results show a significant reduction in microgliosis and astrogliosis in LCN2-deficient KD mice, indicating decreased neuroinflammation compared to controls. This suggests that LCN2 deletion attenuates disease severity in KD, potentially through neuroinflammation mitigation. Understanding LCN2's role in KD pathogenesis could lead to novel therapeutic targets for inflammation reduction. This study underscores LCN2 as a potential candidate for mitigating neuroinflammation and improving clinical outcomes in KD patients.

Delaney Doubrava, Melissa Patino, Leah Patterson and Emily Van Pelt

The project aims to develop a wearable neurorehabilitation system integrated into clothing, which allows for real-time monitoring and remote neurostimulation by medical professionals. This will enhance post-clinical care for stroke patients through discreet, comfortable, and independent management of their recovery.

Anuwat Pengput

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a critical public health problem in Thailand. This work integrates and analyzes data related to CCA to investigate risk factors and develop prediction models using the Cholangiocarcinoma Ontology (CCAO). Datasets from Thailand were annotated with CCAO and analyzed using ontology-based term enrichment methods. The results confirmed that indicators for CCA include dilated bile ducts, periductal fibrosis, and hepatic mass, based on ultrasound findings of several years prior. Our analysis also revealed demographic and lifestyle risk factors such as male gender, having no education, alcohol consumption, smoking, being a farmer, and having diabetes. We seeded a random forest classifier with the term enrichment results and predicted CCA patients with 0.96 precision-recall curve score with age, dilated bile ducts, periductal fibrosis, suspected CCA, and hepatic mass as the top five important features. These findings can be used to focus and monitor populations at risk for CCA.

Addison Yam

Understanding mechanisms in genomic regulatory sequences allows us to delve deeper into the biological mechanisms between chromosomal data and cell development (or specified traits). The utilization of our laboratory's SCRMshaw software aids in discovering relevant transcriptional cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) or enhancers in insect species. Enhancers play a role in regulating transcription of genes via a combination of transcription factors binding to the enhancers to activate expression of a specific gene. SCRMshaw identifies these enhancers by using sequenced insect genomes and CRMs training sets. This outputs predicted CRMs as it employs statistical models comparing characteristics of sequences with similar function in contrast to characteristics of sequences with different function. We hypothesize that focusing the search space only on regions of accessible chromatin will improve the specificity of the SCRMshaw results. To test this hypothesis, we will run SCRMshaw on regions of only open chromatin and compare this with the whole genome. 

Jaivarshaan Rajkumar

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disorder impacting predominantly women, at a ratio of 9:1. Existing therapies though effective, carry significant risks due to toxic side effects. Thus, there's an urgent need for innovative treatments. Despite SLE's recognized impact on the brain, underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood, forming the crux of this research. Melatonin, diminished in lupus patients and correlating with disease severity, presents a promising avenue. Our study investigates melatonin's role in alleviating central nervous system (CNS) pathology associated with SLE, focusing on its therapeutic benefits. MRL/lpr lupus mice supplemented with melatonin exhibited improved wellness, bone density preservation, reduced complement activation and cytokine levels, and enhanced brain architecture. This study highlights the importance of integrating lifestyle interventions like melatonin supplementation into SLE management, paving the way for future investigations into optimal administration timing, gender-specific variations, and its impact on different organs. Such efforts hold promise for advancing SLE understanding and refining therapeutic strategies.

Namrata Deka

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common infections worldwide and leading causes of morbidity across all ages. Urinary catheters increase UTI risk and lead to severe complications including kidney infection, renal damage, urosepsis, and death. Proteus mirabilis is among the most common UTI pathogens and persistently colonizes patients with long-term catheters, even after antibiotic treatment and catheter changes. Using our longitudinal collection of 110 weekly P. mirabilis isolates from catheterized individuals, we found that the persistence of P. mirabilis within the urinary tract results in the accumulation of genetic changes and variability in virulence-associated phenotypic traits. Additionally, these adaptations alter the pathogenic potential of the bacteria, specifically their ability to cause disseminated infection. This study will help ascertain the adaptive evolution of P. mirabilis in the urinary tract, identify predictive factors for the development of urosepsis, and identify therapeutic targets during long-term colonization of P. mirabilis.

Alexsandra Lenhard

Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is an asymptomatic colonizer of the nasopharynx but can progress to disease causing pathogen upon influenza A virus (IAV) infection, especially in aged individuals. Host factors controlling this are not well defined due to lack of animal models that recapitulate this transition. We established a model where mice are intranasally colonized with biofilm-grown pneumococci, followed by IAV infection of the nasopharynx and lungs. This results in bacterial dissemination and lethality, which is dependent on bacterial strain and host factors. Old mice displayed higher clinical score and succumbed to disease more frequently than young mice. Viral infection impaired the ability neutrophils antibacterial responses, in a type I interferon (IFN-I) dependent manner, while bacterial colonization impaired innate antiviral responses blunting Natural Killer cells and -T cells. In conclusion, this novel model allows the study of pathogen and host factors and is well-suited for studying immune responses to polymicrobial infections.

Katherine Sortino

Mitochondrial transcripts in Trypanosoma brucei require extensive uridine insertion/deletion RNA editing to generate translatable open reading frames. The RNA editing substrate binding complex (RESC) serves as the scaffold that coordinates the protein-protein and protein-RNA interactions during editing. RESC broadly contains two modules as well as organizer proteins. How the protein and RNA components of RESC dynamically interact to facilitate editing is not well understood. Here, I examine the roles of organizer proteins, RESC8 and RESC14, in facilitating RESC dynamics. High-throughput sequencing of editing intermediates reveals an overlapping RESC8 and RESC14 function during editing progression. Blue native PAGE analysis demonstrates that RESC14 is essential for incorporation of RESC8 into a large RNA-containing complex, while RESC8 is important in recruiting a smaller ribonucleoprotein complex to this large complex. Together, our data support a model in which RESC14 and RESC8 cooperate to mediate necessary protein and RNA rearrangements during editing progression.

Hongjoo An

Myelination of the central nervous system (CNS) by oligodendrocytes (OLs) is indispensable for the function and the development of the CNS. Oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) differentiate into OLs that generate myelin in the CNS, highlighting OL differentiation is a key event in CNS myelination. Myrf (myelin regulatory factor, previously known as Mrf or Gm98) is a master regulator of OL differentiation. In light of the significance of accurate Myrf expression for OL differentiation, we have explored how Myrf expression is triggered in OL lineage cells. Our principled strategy has found two OL enhancers for Myrf (referred as Myrf-E1 and Myrf-E2). Silencing Myrf-E1 or Myrf-E2 by CRISPR interference (CRISPRi), a state-of-the-art epigenome editing technique, significantly downregulated Myrf expression, which was correlated with the impaired differentiation of mouse OPCs in vitro and in vivo.

LadieJocelynn Shabazz

The retina houses photoreceptor cells that transform light into our visual perception and engages in active glucose metabolism. Retinal degenerative diseases like diabetic retinopathy entail photoreceptor loss. X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1) governs genes crucial for cellular functions, notably glucose metabolism. This study delves into XBP1's influence on rod photoreceptor integrity and glucose metabolism. Wild-type (WT) and XBP1 conditional knockout (cKO) mice aged 1, 3, 6, and 9 months were studied. Optical coherence tomography (OCT), Image J, and Mitochondrial/Glycolysis Stress tests evaluated structural and functional impacts of XBP1 deletion. At 1 month, WT and cKO retinas showed no thickness or glycolytic differences. However, by 9 months, XBP1 cKO mouse retinas displayed a significant decrease in outer nuclear layer thickness compared to age-matched WT. This exploration enhances comprehension of XBP1's role in regulating glucose metabolism in rod photoreceptors, shedding light on neurodegenerative diseases.

Serenity Capella

Pulses are dry seeds of specific legumes (beans, chickpeas, peas, and lentils). Maternal diet before and after conception is essential to the health of a fetus in utero, and for years postpartum. Examination of the associations of maternal pulse consumption during pregnancy is needed to determine child growth and health at birth. This research can aid in assessing a potentially protective role that dietary pulses may have on maternal and childhood health. We will use secondary data from a U.S. longitudinal birth cohort study that tracked mother-child pairs from pregnancy to toddlerhood: Infant Feeding Practices Study II (IFPS II, 2005-2012, N=3,033 newborns). This data includes measurements of birth/pregnancy outcomes and exposure to pulses (dried beans, chili, and bean soup). We will conduct a longitudinal data analysis on child health outcomes at birth. This research will help further our understanding of what form of pulses yield the most health benefits on maternal and child health. We anticipate finding that high pulse consumption will lead to more favorable birth outcomes. If our anticipated results are correct, pulses should be frequently consumed by expecting mothers and young children to reduce risk of disease and promote overall well-being. 

Maymuna Akter

Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) is the most common form of atypical Parkinsonism, characterized by motor function impairment and dysexecutive dementia. Its hallmark pathology includes tau aggregation, extensive loss of cholinergic neurons in the pedunculopontine tegmentum (PPTg) and loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN). Unfortunately, the development of pharmacological treatments is hindered by the lack of suitable animal models. Previously, our lab examined the PPTg cholinergic neurons by selectively expressing human wildtype Tau (hTau) in the cholinergic neurons. This resulted in motor deficits, significant reduction in PPTg cholinergic and dopaminergic SN neurons and abnormal tau deposits, consistent with PSP symptomology and pathology. However, the integrity of non-cholinergic PPTg neurons has not been analyzed. Consequently, we induced hTau generally in the PPTg cholinergic, GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons, via stereotaxic surgery, followed by a series of behavioral tests, and immunohistochemistry analysis to determine the effects caused by this non-selective overexpression of tau. Although we cannot form any conclusion at this point due to the lack of data, we expect to see PSP-like behavioral deficits, abnormal tau accumulation within the PPTg, as well as an extensive loss of cholinergic neurons. This research will further our understanding of the development of PSP.

Patrick Mohr and Aidan Powell

Selenium and its biomarker, Selenoprotein P (SEPP1), are implicated in health, neurological function, dopamine signaling, and more. We compared SEPP1 blood serum levels between sedentary (SED), moderately exercised (MOD) [10m/min starting at 10 minutes, increasing to 60 minutes], and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) exercised rats [30 minutes in intervals of 2-minutes followed by 1-minute break, speed progressively increased from 10m/min-21 m/min]. HIIT rats showed significantly higher serum SEPP1 concentrations compared to MOD and SED. MOD rats had greater concentrations compared to SED. Results indicated that increased exercise intensity increases SEPP1 levels. Exercise-induced increases in SEPP1 may indicate an adaptive response to the heightened oxidative stress. Previous studies found a significant increase in dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) binding in these same rats, suggesting SEPP1's role as a secondary messenger in dopamine signaling during exercise. Modulating antioxidants like SEPP1 through personalized therapies, including exercise, has broad implications for health, disease, and addiction.

Daniel Cucinotta, Luke Graser, Emily Hudson, Tyler Rolland and Sumbule Zahra

The spleen's role in the early inflammatory response to whole-body ischemia/reperfusion following resuscitation from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) remains unexplored. Therefore, we used a surgical approach to investigate the spleen's contribution to early post-resuscitation inflammation in a porcine SCA model. Eighteen swine underwent either splenectomy or sham surgery and then experienced SCA induced by electrically-induced ventricular fibrillation. Despite similar resuscitation rates, splenectomy animals required more epinephrine during CPR and took longer to achieve return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). After ROSC, splenectomy animals needed more epinephrine to maintain blood pressure and tended to have higher cardiac injury marker levels. Both groups showed a significant increase in circulating leukocytes and inflammatory markers post-ROSC, with flow cytometry revealing leukocyte infiltration in brain tissues. This observation provides further evidence that, in contrast to rodents, the spleen is not a primary contributor to sterile inflammation following ischemia/reperfusion injury in a translational swine model of SCA.

Luke Graser, Emily Hudson, Samantha Spinella and Arezou Tajlil 

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a prevalent disease that presents with stiffening of the myocardium, but the mechanism by which the heart muscle becomes less compliant is unknown. We hypothesized that increased fibrosis was a primary mechanism underlying the reduction in myocardial compliance. To test this hypothesis, we utilized a porcine model of intermittent hypertension (repetitive pressure overload; "RPO") that recapitulates several pathophysiologic features of human HFpEF including a reduction in heart muscle compliance, fibrosis, cellular hypertrophy. To test the effects of fibrosis on compliance in swine we (1) administered anti-fibrotic agent Finerenone following RPO and (2) assessed how the duration of hypertension may affect fibrosis development. Both studies demonstrated that the myocardial stiffness remained elevated despite a significant reduction in interstitial fibrosis. Collectively, these novel findings suggest that fibrosis-independent mechanisms of myocardial stiffening may be more relevant therapeutic targets for the treatment of HFpEF. 

Stephen Thompson

Mu opioid receptor (MOR) is the most abundantly expressed opioid signaling GPCR in the brain. Despite its widespread expression, functionally it behaves in a heterogeneous manner. Within the dorsal hippocampus, it is known MOR is expressed on several populations of neurons as well as astrocytes. Activation of MOR on GABAergic interneurons results in a downregulation of neurotransmission while on excitatory pyramidal cells, the effect is null. In astrocytes, glutamate release is understood to follow MOR activation. Here we show preliminary behavioral results of astrocyte targeted MOR KD in dorsal hippocampus CA1 using localized, cell-specific AAV-Cre mediated transduction in Oprm1fl/fl mice. Furthermore, we demonstrate future plans to use fiber photometry to detect possible alterations in pyramidal cell signaling involved in behaviors related to different forms of memory and cognition. 

Jacob Gilbert

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose a significant global health threat due to antibiotic misuse. New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM) is an enzyme rendering bacteria resistant to antibiotics, including last-line defenses like carbapenems. Aztreonam with avibactam is a current treatment for NDM, but its efficacy against E. coli is decreasing, necessitating novel strategies like cefepime/zidebactam. Research aims to compare these strategies and predict bacterial activity based on cell wall damage, targeting penicillin binding proteins (PBPs). Knockout strains lacking certain PBPs show increased sensitivity to drugs like aztreonam. Tests reveal strain KO_CS224-2, lacking PBP 1b and 5, to be highly sensitive. The study seeks to understand how drugs interact with PBPs to inform future drug development for highly resistant bacteria, bridging medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical science.

Martha Balthasar

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are a rapidly growing drug class, marked by 162 FDA approvals as of June 2022. The high specificity of mAbs for their therapeutic target poses challenges during development, as pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) behavior in humans is poorly predicted by PK/PD behavior in animal models. We sought to improve clinical predictions of mAb disposition by updating a previously published physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model to incorporate bivalent binding kinetics. Simulations were conducted with use of MATLAB R2023a, and plasma concentration data predicted with the monovalent model and the bivalent model were compared to digitized data. Utilizing root mean squared deviation (RMSD) values, we found the bivalent model improved predictions for four mAbs, while the monovalent model performed better for four, particularly mAbs targeting programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1). This updated PBPK model enhances clinical predictions for select mAbs and guides future research on bispecific ADCs. 

Maya Bybel

Immunogenicity can be either a desired or unwanted immune response by the body against a foreign matter, such as antigens or therapeutic proteins. An unwanted response is often seen in patients receiving replacement therapy of the absent biomolecules due to an autoimmune disorder. In previous studies, our lab observed that oral administration of lysophosphatidylserine (Lyso-PS) has transformed immunogens into tolerogens, enhancing the body's tolerance to several antigens. Lyso-PS is a signaling lipid with variable chain lengths and degrees of unsaturation. The goal of this study is to test whether various structures of Lyso-PS would cause an increase in uptake of the liposome, compared to results from our previous studies. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to evaluate the stability of these various structures. Data from the DSC analysis showed no phase separation, suggesting the components are miscible. The data suggested that mixing dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) with Lyso-PS creates a stable particle.

Chun-Wei Chi, Morgan Clay and Yun I Sang

Emerging CRISPR/Cas9 technology provides new opportunities to treat many intractable genetic disorders. Effective delivery of CRISPR gene editor is key to realizing its full potential. Seeing recent advances in applying the interaction between asialoglycoprotein receptor 1 (ASGR1) and N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNac) to small interference RNA delivery, we are building the HEK293T/Ai9-ASGR1 cell model to validate if the same interaction can be used for CRISPR delivery. Our model includes ASGR1 overexpression cassette to enable ASGR1-mediated endocytosis and the Ai9 (CAG-LoxP-STOP-LoxP-TdTomato) cassette to allow quantification of the gene editing efficiency with a fluorescent readout. The HEK293T/Ai9-ASGR1 line we built showed an ASGR1 expression level >1,000 times higher than in its parental counterpart at the mRNA level, while our immunostaining confirmed the overexpression of ASGR1 on the cell membrane. Both characterizations confirm the successful establishment of our reporter model, and we will use this model for downstream optimization of our CRISPR delivery systems.

Abby Cosentino

This study delves into the intricate relationship between tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and the localization and function of SGLT1, a crucial transporter involved in glucose homeostasis. The research objectives were to assess the influence of TKIs, particularly sorafenib, on SGLT1 localization and to elucidate the functional significance of tyrosine 144 phosphorylation in SGLT1 activity and trafficking. This study examined the potential mechanisms by which TKIs, such as sorafenib, might affect SGLT1 localization, considering inhibition of tyrosine kinases, alterations in signaling pathways, and changes in phosphorylation patterns. Contrary to initial hypotheses, sorafenib was found to have no significant impact on SGLT1 localization, challenging existing notions regarding TKI-induced gastrointestinal toxicity. This study also focused on the functional implications of the tyrosine 144 to phenylalanine mutation in SGLT1, revealing that while the mutant maintained localization to the cell membrane, it exhibited diminished glucose uptake activity. These findings underscore the complex interplay between TKIs and SGLT1 function, suggesting alternative mechanisms beyond altered localization in TKI-induced inhibition of SGLT1 activity. Future research directions may explore phosphorylation-mediated structural changes during substrate transport to further elucidate the underlying mechanisms of TKI-mediated gastrointestinal side effects.

Jacob Gilbert

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose a significant global health threat due to antibiotic misuse. New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM) is an enzyme rendering bacteria resistant to antibiotics, including last-line defenses like carbapenems. Aztreonam with avibactam is a current treatment for NDM, but its efficacy against E. coli is decreasing, necessitating novel strategies like cefepime/zidebactam. Research aims to compare these strategies and predict bacterial activity based on cell wall damage, targeting penicillin binding proteins (PBPs). Knockout strains lacking certain PBPs show increased sensitivity to drugs like aztreonam. Tests reveal strain KO_CS224-2, lacking PBP 1b and 5, to be highly sensitive. The study seeks to understand how drugs interact with PBPs to inform future drug development for highly resistant bacteria, bridging medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical science.

Bao Ly

Small molecule therapeutics have long been an important treatment for many diseases and are still growing strong despite the emergence of protein therapeutics and gene therapies. Among the diseases, cancer is the most notable one with currently very few affordable treatments. In this study, newly synthesized Acridone and Carbazole derivatives were tested for their cytotoxicity on various cancer cell lines to examine their antitumor effect. For experiments, the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) Tetrazolium cell viability assay was utilized on MCF7, Calu3, SCC25, and MCF10A cell lines, and the concentration of tested samples were ranging from 100-0.01 uM. It is found that the semisynthetic compounds show a better cytotoxic effect compares to that of the original compounds extracted. Overall, the new compounds have shown potential for antitumor usage, but they need to be further optimized to be a good drug candidate.

Jonathan Perri

Pancreatic cancer does not benefit from immune-based therapies due to physical and biochemical barriers preventing infiltration of effector T cells. AMD3100, a small-molecule inhibitor of C-X-C motif Receptor-4, has been shown to promote T cell infiltration, but its mechanism is not entirely understood, and patients may experience side effects due to the need for long infusions. We identified a key mechanism for AMD3100 in T cells that alters their migration behavior towards tumor cells, and we developed lipid nanocarriers (liposomes) targeted towards T cells to facilitate cell-specific delivery. This platform provides a safe and effective means to deliver AMD3100 to T cells to influence their trafficking behavior, in order to increase association with pancreatic tumor cells and enable the effectiveness of immune-based therapies.

Taylor Wicks

Metabolic vulnerabilities can exacerbate inflammatory injury and inhibit repair in multiple sclerosis. Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectra were analyzed to obtain concentrations of lipoprotein subclasses, glycated acute phase proteins, and small molecule metabolites including leucine, valine, and isoleucine, alanine, citrate, beta-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate, and acetone. Composite indices for Inflammatory Vulnerability, Metabolic Malnutrition, and Metabolic Vulnerability were computed. The purpose was to evaluate whether blood biomarkers of inflammatory and metabolic vulnerability are associated with multiple sclerosis disability and neurodegeneration.

Ryan Wollschleger

Adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) have become an important vector in modern gene therapy, encoding the host genome to produce a protein it was otherwise incapable of making. In the context of hemophilia A, recombinant AAVs coding to produce blood clotting factor eight (FVIII) are being developed and approved for human use. A key issue regarding the widespread use of these therapies is the mounting of an immunogenic response mediated by the production of anti-AAV antibodies, rendering treatment ineffective. The application of a novel lipid nanoparticle designed to convert an immunogen to a tolerogen, which encapsulates the FVIII-coding AAV, could reduce the production of antibodies and improve transgene expression for a sustained period. This nanoparticle was designed to maximize exposure of phosphatidylserine to tolerogenic receptors, mimicking cell apoptosis to obtain the same silent clearance of an immunogen as typical cell debris receives. This experiment sought to develop a protocol to quantify encapsulation of FVIII-coding AAV within this nanoparticle.

Xinwei Huang and Shuyi Liang

In clinical trials studying paired parts of a subject with binary outcomes, it is expected to collect measurements bilaterally. However, there are cases where subjects contribute measurements for only one part. By utilizing combined data, it is possible to gain additional information compared to using bilateral or unilateral data alone. With the combined data, this article investigates homogeneity tests of risk differences with the presence of stratification effects and proposes interval estimations of a common risk difference if stratification does not introduce underlying dissimilarities. Under Dallal's model (1988), we propose three test statistics and evaluate their performances regarding type I error controls and powers. Confidence intervals of a common risk difference with satisfactory coverage probabilities and interval length are constructed. Our simulation results show that the score test is the most robust and the profile likelihood confidence interval outperforms other methods proposed. Data from a study of acute otitis media is used to illustrate our proposed procedures.

Raktim Mukhopadhyay and Valentina Veronesi

Our study explored the associations between OUD and HCV treatment uptake, cure, substance use, and social factors, using patient data from methadone based opioid treatment programs (OTPs). Analyzing data from 522 participants, we observed improvements in substance use and social factors such as education, employment, and criminal justice over 3-4 years of methadone therapy. Using random forest analysis, we identified key predictors for HCV treatment initiation. Factor analysis and clustering revealed participant subgroups based on basic needs (i.e., food, clothing, utilities, healthcare, phone, and childcare) and other factors. We quantified improvements in substance use and social factors after OUD and HCV treatment integration through telemedicine into OTPs. Our findings underscore the importance of considering demographic, substance use, and social factors in HCV treatment initiation. This work aims to pave the way for specific interventions and policies to enhance health equity and healthcare access for vulnerable groups.

Tiange Shi

Recent advances in single-cell sequencing have enhanced our understanding of the heterogeneous tumor microenvironment but lag in clinical translation and drug discovery. We present a framework integrating Bayesian Network representations of genetic regulatory networks with a constraint-based metabolism model, aimed at overcoming challenges in merging distinct mathematical representations. This integrated model facilitates computational experiments to predict perturbation effects on signaling pathways and downstream metabolism. Applied to glioblastoma single-cell sequencing data, the model assessed 177 drugs and their combinations for their impact on metabolism in the tumor microenvironment, highlighting potential combination therapies. Specifically, combinations such as Niclosamide (a STAT3 inhibitor) and Enzalutamide (an AR inhibitor) specifically suppress anaerobic metabolism in malignant cells while sparing other normal cells, suggesting a promising anticancer strategy. This framework's adaptability extends to various cell types, organisms, and diseases, offering a novel approach for bridging the gap between single-cell sequencing insights and clinical drug development. 

Xueqing Zhang

Medical comparative studies often involve collecting data from paired organs, which can produce either bilateral or unilateral data. While many testing procedures are available that account for the intra-class correlation between paired organs for bilateral data, more research needs to be done on how to analyze combined correlated bilateral and unilateral data. In practice, stratification is often used in the analysis to ensure equal allocation of participants to each experimental condition. In this paper, we propose three Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE)--based methods for testing the homogeneity of differences between two proportions for stratified bilateral and unilateral data across strata under Donner's model. We compare the performance of these methods with a model-based approach based on Generalized Estimating Equations using Monte Carlo simulations. We also provide a real example to illustrate the proposed methodologies. Our findings suggest that the Score test performs well and offers a valuable alternative for the exact tests in future studies.

Caroline Farrell

Pre-exposure prophylaxis, also known as PrEP is a medication used to reduce the chances of contracting HIV. When prescribed, patients can choose to take the medication orally or as an injectable. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted on current PreP patients recruited from Western NY between August 2022 and January 2023 over Zoom or phone. There are many intentions and motivations as to why patients decide to begin taking the medication. Results have highlighted four primary themes: Participating in open relationships, knowing someone who has been diagnosed with HIV, engaging in risky behaviors, and taking sexual health into the patients' own hands. Findings from this study highlight the importance of understanding patients' reasonings for starting an HIV prevention medication. 

Alyssa Juliano

In 2012, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medication to be taken to help prevent HIV in high-risk individuals. In December 2021, The FDA approved long-acting injectable (LAI) PrEP as the first ever injectable medication for HIV prevention. Both forms of PrEP aim to reduce the risk of contracting HIV. People have different preferences on the type of PrEP they prefer, and why. Semi-structured interviews were conducted via phone or zoom August 2022-January 2023 with current PrEP patients in Western New York. Interviews were professionally audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed to explore PrEP usage among participants. There were mixed results for whether participants preferred oral PrEP or LAI PrEP. PrEP has implications to improve sexual health and wellness of the public. Both forms of PrEP are safe. People have preferences on what will work better for their bodies.

Erielle Ortiz

In December of 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved long acting (LAI) pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as the first ever injectable medication for HIV prevention. A study was then conducted that examines the educational training experiences of pharmacy students regarding sexual health. The present study employed cross-sectional online self administered surveys to further understand and determine the extent of the education provided to pharmacy students in regards to PrEP and sexual health.  With regard to the survey results, potential methods for enhancing sexual health education are explored, including the incorporation of more thorough and effective educational approaches. Questions from the survey included HIV transmissions, HIV risk factors, effectiveness of PrEP in preventing HIV. The results highlight how crucial it is to improve sexual health education in the pharmacy program in order to better prepare future pharmacists to handle a variety of sexual health issues that patients may have as well as providing the best possible treatment/ care for the patient. 

Ali Raza

This study explore­s the views of healthcare­ providers-doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants-about pre­venting HIV and using pre-exposure­ prophylaxis (PrEP) in Western New York. The­ researcher talke­d with different providers to be­tter understand their thoughts, knowle­dge, and practices about preve­nting HIV. They focused specifically on how provide­rs use PrEP. By learning about the challe­nges, barriers, and helpful things the­ providers face giving effe­ctive PrEP treatment locally, this study aims to inform making targe­ted and sensitive approache­s to improve using PrEP and preventing HIV in he­althcare settings in Weste­rn New York. These unde­rstandings are crucial for making giving PrEP services be­tter and reducing HIV rates among groups at risk in the­ area.

Saffa Shaikh

Understanding risk and protective behaviors among patients who use Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) is important for public health. The purpose of this project was to explore sexually transmitted infection (STI) diagnoses and substance use experiences among patients who are currently using oral or long-acting injectable PrEP in Western New York. From August 2022 to January 2023, current PrEP patients completed brief surveys followed by semi-structured qualitative interviews (N=34). Data was analyzed by a team of UB researchers where findings demonstrate that a significant percentage of the sample reported past-year diagnosis of an STI, including chlamydia (20.5%), gonorrhea (11.8%), and syphilis (8.8%). In addition, substance use was prevalent among PrEP users specifically, the use of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana was common. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding STI diagnoses, and substance use experiences among current PrEP patients to aid clinicians in effective patient-provider communication.

Liam Yess

This study reviews the educational training experiences regarding sexual health among medical students: using a cross sectional survey of local University at Buffalo Jacobs school of medicine students. The study emphasizes the necessity for a more standardized and comprehensive approach to sexual health education within our medical school curriculum to ensure the stability of knowledge regarding sexual health education of future healthcare providers 

Danelly Rodriguez

Neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) are increasingly prevalent yet underdiagnosed in Hispanic/Latino children, partly due to limited research on environmental risk factors. This study assesses the impact of childhood exposure to inorganic arsenic (As) and pesticides on executive functions (EF) in urban Hispanic/Latinos during adolescence, a critical period for brain development. As and pesticides accumulate mostly in EF-dominated brain regions, thus combined effects may produce greater impacts than individual exposure. Deficits in EF domains underlie NDDs, yet no studies examine the independent and mixture effects of childhood exposure on long-term EFs in adolescence. Leveraging data from the Salud Ambiental Montevideo (SAM) cohort, this research investigates the effects of childhood As, chlorpyrifos, and pyrethroids exposure on EF. Analyzing biomarkers, EF measures, and contextual factors from 421 participants aged 11-18 years contributes to understanding environmental exposures and NDDs in urban communities, informing targeted programs to mitigate exposure and improve outcomes for vulnerable populations. 

Daniel Fakayode

Overweight and obesity pose significant public health challenges, particularly affecting individuals with lower income and education levels, as well as those from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds. Various factors contribute to this disparity such as access to grocery stores, access to recreational facilities, etc. The primary outcome of this research focuses on monitoring changes in body mass index (zBMI) over time, specifically considering the consumption of high-energy density foods during the study. This study aims to correlate food insecurity and sensitization, examining built environment factors that may mediate this relationship. Geospatial mapping will be used to assess the built environment's impact on adolescent nutrition in a subset of UB-EATS study participants. Based on our results, the map indicates more convenience stores than grocery stores near participants' homes. Typically, convenience stores have high-energy dense (HED) and processed foods while grocery stores have healthy fresh produce and meats. Constantly consuming HED can increase obesity rates within the community. Consequently, identifying relevant social determinants of obesity and understanding behavioral profiles among high-risk groups can facilitate tailored interventions that address the unique and specific factors contributing to overweight and obesity in these communities 

Ilsa Kloiber

 Little Is known about the neural mechanisms underlying binge eating behavior. Here, we focus on the central expression of kappa opioid receptors (KORs) and whether this is altered in rats with a history of binge-like eating. Specifically, the objective is to investigate expression in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), a site that has been linked to binge-like ingestive behavior. Overall, although this does not provide evidence of a clear benefit to targeting kappa opioid receptors in pharmacotherapies to treat binge-like eating, the limitations of this study suggest it could still be worthwhile to examine the relationship between KOR and binge-like feeding by analyzing expression in female rats or evaluating KOR expression in other areas of the brain known to mediate palatable food intake.  

Shunlei Win

This study seeks to investigate factors that promote eating-disordered behaviors in adolescents from low to moderate income households who are eleven to fourteen years old . The main focus is the role of sensitization to energy dense foods, with sensitization being an increase in the reinforcing ability of these foods after periods of restriction and repletion. The proposed hypothesis is as follows: Individuals who exhibit sensitization to high energy density (HED) foods will have higher rates of eating-disordered behavior, as measured by the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q). In order to understand this relationship, we will also explore correlations between EDE-Q scores and BMI, as well as household and adolescent food insecurity.

Prince Ankomahjr, Taylor Giacopelli, Grace Link, Trinity Ruckdaschel and Jenna Runge

School-based occupational therapy (SBOT) supports the educational development of children in schools. Massachusetts (MA) Department of Education sponsored trainings were provided between 2007 and 2019 to SBOTPs to support practices aligned with educational laws. This study examined the impact of these trainings on practice patterns. An online survey was emailed to the 309 SBOTPs who participated in these trainings. The survey questions addressed the frequency of reported participation-based intervention methods, in-context services, and interdisciplinary collaboration used by these practitioners. A Chi Square Goodness of Fit Test was performed to determine if there were categorical differences in the frequency of responses. The 29 respondents reported that the trainings were effective and had an impact on how SBOTPs provide services. They reported engaging more frequently in participation-based practice in natural school contexts, and collaborating with educational professionals. This research suggests that professional development courses can impact how SBOTPs practice.

Tanisha FilsAime and Christian Walch

This project is to examine the effects of a single bout of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on heart and brain functions in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Two groups of participants are included: one consists of individuals with SCI with the level of injury at or above the 6th thoracic vertebra (T6), and the other is comprised of age and sex-matched non-injured controls. Heart function is assessed by beat-to-beat heart rate, blood pressure, heart rate variability, and systolic blood pressure variability during face-cooling and sit-up tests. Brain function is assessed through cognitive tests and by measuring cerebral blood flow velocities during cognitive tasks. All tests are performed before and after the HIIT session. Results from the study may help us understand the impact of an acute session of HIIT on blood pressure regulation, heart rate response during physiological tests, and on cognitive function in individuals with SCI. 

Joyce Lamprecht-Carson and Danielle Silverstone

This project involves the analysis of healthy participant's gait within the age range of 20 to 30 years old. Data was collected from 10 male participants and 10 female participants. The data analyzed in this project is a component of a larger study being conducted in the Department of Rehabilitation, entitled Gait Analysis Across the Decades of Healthy Participants. The goal of this study is to establish laboratory norms on gait parameters of healthy participants. This data can then be compared to data captured from those who have pathological gait, such as in spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy or acquired brain injury, in order to  identify potential interventions that may improve gait abnormalities. The notable differences that are of note in this project are differences in kinematics (joint angles) and temporal-spatial gait parameters, such as walking speed and step length, depending on age and sex. 

Calista-Mehitabel Okine

The project focuses on investigating the mechanism of manganese-induced hearing loss and the possible auditory neurodegeneration resulting from prolonged exposure to manganese toxic fumes. The goal of this project is to identify the pathomechanism underlying the neurological sequelae of manganese-induced hearing loss. Our results will help us to understand the mechanisms behind sensorineural hearing loss due to the effects of manganese on cochlear cells. 

Amanda Anderson

Cross-sector collaboration is a crucial strategy for interprofessional care transitions in patients with multimorbidity and social complexity, such as ill-housed persons after hospitalization. Although hospital-to-community care transitions typically involve coordination between health and social organizations, increasing population acuity demands structured interventions that strategically link them. Medical respite is a delivery model with potential for implementation and evaluation of cross-sector collaboration. The literature on cross-sector collaboration in medical respite programs is emergent, however, and less is known about role attributes or coordinating mechanisms within teams. This study's purpose was to examine cross-sector collaboration among members of a network of agencies providing cross-sectional care, focusing on interactions initiated by frontline versus administrative providers. This is the first study that adapted social network analysis to measure cross-sector care coordination. It emphasizes the important role of coordinating mechanisms and highlights differences between program administrators and frontline workers. Future research should examine the impact of individual provider attributes (sector, role, education, licensure) on cross-sector collaboration.

Clare Banigan and Tyler Rolland

Proficiency in epidural placement remains a challenging skill for anesthesia providers, requiring the ability to discern loss of resistance (LOR) when entering the epidural space. Current educational manikins lack the tactile feedback required for realistic epidural training. This descriptive pilot study aimed to compare an ex vivo porcine spine model with the M43B manikin model for simulation of clinical epidural placement. Expert anesthesia providers (n=10) evaluated physical characteristics of each model using a survey comprised of Visual Analog Scale (VAS; 0-100) and qualitative open-ended questions. 

Skylar Bard

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a program found to be effective in reducing mental health concerns. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a mental health disparity was recognized within underserved communities due to lack of resources. This study aimed to examine outcomes of mobile app MBSR on stress and anxiety among members of underserved communities impacted by COVID-19. This project is derived from an ongoing RCT and  included individuals assigned to the mobile app MBSR group. The intervention is a self-paced, 9-week MBSR program. Participants completed a pre/post-assessment; stress and anxiety scores were measured using the Perceived Stress Scale and General Anxiety Disorder-7. Paired t-test used for data analysis. Analysis showed a statistically significant decrease in stress and anxiety. The findings suggest that mobile app MBSR may be effective in decreasing stress and anxiety due to COVID-19 in underserved communities. This app can become an easily accessible mental health resource.

Mengting Chen

This study explored young people's perceptions of e-cigarette cessation interventions. 20 Participants aged 18-24 years were involved in a qualitative study, which showed that peer influence was a key driver of e-cigarette use, whereas health concerns were a motivator for quitting. Smartphone app-based interventions were favored. Tailored feedback and skills to reduce or quit smoking as part of the intervention contents were also indicated to be very helpful in quitting smoking. The findings highlight that the development of smartphone-based interventions with personalized feedback and cessation techniques can be effective in supporting young people to quit e-cigarettes.

Stephanie Durfee

Rates of poor pregnancy outcomes are unacceptably high in the United States. Methods for accessing pregnancy-related health information are limited due to the fragmentation of care and multiple databases with varying degrees of clinical information. To obtain an accurate picture of related factors and levels of outcomes, researchers and clinicians need access to comprehensive patient data. To develop a data definition of pregnancy, the complete list of the CCSR ICD-10 codes was manually reviewed to identify codes that potentially capture pregnancy episodes and pregnancy-associated diagnoses. 3,116 ICD-10 codes were identified as being related to the care of pregnant persons. Code groupings were also created according to specific pregnancy complications. The codes will be used to extract de-identified data for analysis from the HEALTHeLINK database, a health information exchange (HIE) entity encompassing eight Western New York counties. 

Amarjot Gill

This research explores the lived experiences of loneliness among older adults (OAs) residing in residential care facilities (RCFs), utilizing a systematic review to uncover the intricate dynamics of loneliness through a conceptual model. As OAs move into RCFs, they often face separation from significant social ties, leading to distressing loneliness that adversely affects their health and quality of life, highlighting loneliness as a critical public health concern. The research methodology followed PRISMA guidelines, examining articles from key databases published between 2018 and 2023, with ten studies meeting the inclusion criteria. These studies revealed three main themes: relational and individualized loneliness experiences, perception and emotional distress, and the influence of context and cognitive processes in modulating loneliness. The findings underscore the significance of addressing OAs' perceptions and social expectations to alleviate loneliness, pointing to the need for future research to modify these perceptions and improve social connectivity in RCF settings.

Kathryn Ledwin

The purpose of this research is to assess the influence of complexity and social risk on low-value utilization in patients with heart failure (HF) using machine learning approaches.

A retrospective secondary analysis of adult patients with HF in the eight-county region of Western New York for the year 2022 (n = 26,073). Decision tree (DT) and random forest (RF) models were built, validated, and compared for accuracy and interpretability.

The RF model had better performance than the DT, however features were similar in both models, with ADI as the key variable in predicting low-value healthcare utilization. Both models can be used to create clinical tools for identifying and targeting individuals with HF for intervention and follow-up. 

Tajkia Monim

There are ongoing educational and instructional gaps that exist in teaching settings that leaves clinicians without adequate training to treat opioid use disorder. The purpose of our project was to help better equip students with proper knowledge regarding treating patients with opioid use disorder in an interdisciplinary healthcare setting. We collected our information through a fellowship program designed by UB called the Opioid Workforce Expansion Program (OWEP) which required participants to take a pre-assessment that measured their knowledge and confidence in treating OUD patients and their willingness to utilize unique approaches in their treatment plan. After completion of the program, students took a post assessment that measured how their perspectives improved. Upon observing the results of 3 measures, we found that there were significant differences between the pre and post assessments. These results will help to build a sophisticated enrichment program to properly train students in order to treat patients with OUD.

Dylan Pinto

Negative mental health outcomes disproportionally affect LGBTQ+ youth compared to heterosexual youth, however the exact reasons for these disparities remain unclear. LGBTQ+ youth may face parental rejection solely based upon their identities. Parental relationships are an important dynamic in a child's upbringing; therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between parental rejection and negative mental health outcomes among LGBTQ+ youth. 

Erica Smith

Personal patient data is increasingly being used by healthcare organizations to support business and clinical processes. While this presents opportunities for improved operational efficiency and precision, it simultaneously amplifies the risk for patient harm. Failure to implement trauma-informed principles into data driven processes increases the risk for algorithmic bias, perpetuation of health disparities, and broken trust in patient-provider relationships. A literature review was conducted to support a concept analysis aimed at defining the phenomenon of iatrogenic data trauma. 

Bushra Zaman

Research has established that LGBTQ+ individuals have high rates of mental health issues. The current study investigates whether parental care promotes mental well-being via reduced minority stress. The Minority Stress Theory posits that exposure to prejudice results in poor health outcomes specifically in sexual minorities navigating victimization. Data was generated by completion of surveys by LGBTQ+ adolescents. Mediation modeling was used to analyze how parental support had an indirect effect on mental health via reduced minority stress. The analysis shows parental support being negatively associated with minority stress, b = -0.429 (0.118), p < .001, which was positively associated with more mental health symptoms, b = 0.525 (0.129), p < .001. There was a direct effect of caring parenting support on adolescent mental health symptoms, b = -0.404 (0.160), p = .012. Results suggest parental support is linked to reduced minority stress which produces positive mental wellbeing for LGBTQ+ adolescents. 

Megan Battista

At what age does a young person stop needing ongoing, meaningful support?   In Erie County, 30 to 50 young people age out of foster care each year leaving them disconnected from systematic support after being legally separated from their families of origin. Alumni face remarkable disparity and devastating, avoidable outcomes including high rates of arrest and incarceration, homelessness, unemployment, serious mental health needs, and early pregnancy and parenting. These outcomes are disproportionately impacting young BIPOC individuals who are more likely to be harmed while in foster care. To address these severely negative outcomes, age-restricted resources are woefully inadequate and reflect a misunderstanding of the enduring impact of trauma. Our campaign included targeted research, stakeholder interviews, engagement of alumni and advocacy at the county level, leading to an unprecedented commitment of $400,000 of local funding in the 2024 budget to start providing dedicated support to this often-forgotten population.

Ogechi Christine Kalu and EunSook Seong 

Unresolved trauma has the potential to disrupt mental wellness, especially in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Women of childbearing age are at risk of further trauma when PTSD intersects with current stressors and potentially traumatic events. This risk is particularly pronounced among women of color due to disparities in trauma exposure and service access, heightening the likelihood of PTSD development. The perinatal period provides opportunity for breaking cycles of abuse, especially in the U.S., however, PTSD screening and treatment are limited. We partnered with Buffalo Perinatal Network (BPPN) in Buffalo, New York, an organization dedicated to supporting historically marginalized families, to deliver the Survivor Moms' Companion (SMC) intervention. SMC provides perinatally-specific psychoeducation about trauma. It was administered by BPPN's trained community health workers. Results indicate statistically significant improvements in PTSD symptomatology, interpersonal reactivity, and interpersonal sensitivity. Acceptability of the SMC was high, and the SMC was feasible to deliver. 

Meschelle Linjean

Indigenous adoptees' reconnection with biological family, community, and culture is linked with increased senses of connectedness and Indigenous/Tribal identity, though reconnection outcomes vary. The Indigenous Connectedness Framework (ICF) describes mechanisms that help or hinder Indigenous children's development of family, community, environmental, intergenerational, and cultural/spiritual connectedness. To gain insights into the ICF's suitability for describing adoptee (re)connectedness, this study used storytelling and narrative inquiry methodologies to explore experiences and perceptions of reconnection with four Indigenous adults who were adopted by non-Indigenous families as children. Stories about reconnection with family, community, and land/place, including supports and challenges during reconnection, were obtained during conversational interviews, and then mapped onto the ICF. Disconnectedness mechanisms, reconnectedness mechanisms, and themes related to adoptees' internal world and resilience, relational identity development, and intergenerational connectedness contributions were revealed. Suggested pathways to support reconnecting Indigenous adoptees their families, and communities, as well as implications for future research are provided.

Sarah Martin

The rising tide of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and legislation in the U.S. correlates with a negative impact on the mental health of LGBTQ+ youth. Gender Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) are extracurricular clubs in middle and high schools that offer a safe and affirming environment for LGBTQ+ young people and their allies, often facilitated by a school staff or faculty member, serving as the GSA advisor. This study aims to situate the lived experiences of GSA advisors within the broader social and political context of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and rhetoric. Through in-depth interviews with active GSA advisors across rural, urban, and suburban serttings, I intend to examine any the ways in which this hostile climate has impacted GSA advisors, and identify potential areas of opportunity for LGBTQ-serving organizations to support GSA advisors.

Jess Williams

This project analyzes the voting habits of Erie County voters and finds a lower turnout in Erie than national averages. This project uses a Social Work lens to find the key assets of Buffalo and what type of community organizing steps can be taken to increase voter participation. The key assets include human, physical, and social assets. It also gives a brief rundown on how we can continue and strengthen partnerships with community members while achieving voter registration goals. This project integrates social work frameworks with political science research and input from community leaders, creating a well-rounded snapshot of where Buffalo is and how we can grow. Considering input from community leaders and organizations, this project creates an action plan to propel Erie County to the average participation level - if not more! 

Shihan Huo, Min Ma, Shuo Qian, Sailee Rasam and Shichen Shen

For Mass Spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics in pharmaceutical/clinical investigations, achieving in-depth protein quantification is often critical. Carrying with high sensitivity and selectivity, the ion-current-based quantification method with high-resolution MS1 detection holds great promise for quantifying low-abundance features/peptides. However, a considerable proportion of peptides remains unidentified, primarily due to multiple peptide species could be co-isolated by the quadrupole for the following MS2 fragmentation, resulting in a chimeric (mixed) MS2 spectrum that often escapes confident identification. Here we devised a strategy employing the spectrum deconvolution method to precisely identify peptides using chimeric MS2 spectra along with stringent feature-ID matching, enabling a substantial improvement in quantification depth while upholding high quantitative quality. This strategy was then applied to a whole-slice mouse brain protein mapping dataset generated by micro-scaffold assisted spatial proteomics approach, resulting in >800 new protein maps, encompassing novel brain region markers and an expanded repertoire of proteins associated with various brain functions.

Denisha Robinson 

Cancer continues to be one of the leading causes of death worldwide and with limited treatment options it is expected that cancer related deaths will increase in years to come.  Despite advancements in the field, standard- of- care treatment options include surgery, radiation, immunotherapy, and chemotherapy. Anthracyclines a powerful class of chemotherapeutic drugs are among the most effective tools in the arsenal and are widely used to treat cancers. Despite this, the clinical utility of anthracyclines is limited by their long-term adverse event profile (infertility, therapy resistance, irreversible cardiotoxicity, and therapy related malignancies) that limits their use and dose in the clinic. To address this gap in knowledge we established a reliable model system in two models of cancer to investigate the mechanism behind chromatin damage mediated IFN-I signaling and we confirm activation of IFN-I in the presence of chromatin damage occurs without induction of DNA damage providing novel insight on a new mechanism of immunosurveillance by chromatin damage.

Rachel Sanyu

Background: Bladder carcinoma is a common cancer linked to carcinogen exposure, notably from smoking. Men are affected more frequently, while women present with advanced disease and poorer outcomes. In this study we used the BBN model to mimic cigarette smoke carcinogens and induce high-grade invasive tumors in mice. We compared pathology, tumor proliferation, and Trp53-associated clonal expansion in male and female mice exposed to BBN. Results indicate that after 4 weeks, females show less dysplasia than males, and at 12 weeks, both sexes exhibit similar progression. Notably, males have a higher incidence of invasive carcinoma while proliferation patterns and Trp53 staining also differ between sexes. The findings suggest sex-specific responses to BBN, indicating potential mechanisms influencing carcinogen-induced proliferation. Ongoing research involves targeted sequencing to identify sex-specific mechanistic differences and early precancer detection markers in high-risk individuals.

Sarah Athans

High stromal antigen 2 (STAG2) protein expression is associated with worse clinical outcomes for muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) patients. In this study, we sought identify novel targeted therapies for these patients based on STAG2 expression to. We accomplished this by employing a drug screen in isogenic STAG2 wild-type (WT) and knock-out (KO) MIBC cell lines, analyzing drug sensitivity of DepMap bladder cancer cell lines, and performing in vitro dose-response experiments based on our drug screen findings. From drug screen and DepMap analyses, we identified TAK-733 (MEKi), Berzosertib (ATRi), Prexasertib (CHKi), PI-103 (PI3Ki), and Rigosertib (PLKi) as candidate drugs that are differentially effective based on STAG2 expression level. We performed validation studies and found that cells with WT STAG2 expression were more sensitive to PI-103. These findings lay the foundation for further investigation of PI-103 for MIBC patients with high STAG2 who currently suffer worse clinical outcomes.

Grace Aderibigbe, Micaela Aylward-Pigott and Emaan Sohail

This paper presents a cohesive argument for the legalization of physician assisted suicide in the state of New York.  Modeled after Oregon's Death With Dignity Act passed in 1997, this paper proposes adherence to three main standards; the patient involved being of 18 years or older, the patient involved being determined mentally competent and able to communicate for themselves, and the patient involved having 6 months or less to live due to their terminal illness. This paper explores and touches on popular arguments made by critics of PAS, including the moral and ethical implications of the practice. Supported by the idiosyncratic nature of the nation's medical practices, this paper places great importance on the patient's right to bodily autonomy. 

Matthew Boyce and Anna Piwko 

 The school-to-prison pipeline is the social phenomenon wherein a public school student or group of students, due to particular structural factors such as segregation, and tracking and due to the institutional factors such as perceived behavioral incompatibility, racialization processes, gendered processes, and adultification processes is, through a number of law-enforced disciplinary encounters, pushed out of the school that they attend, ultimately leading to incarceration. This problem is exacerbated by the prevalence of poorly implemented "policies and practices" instituted by "administrators, school board members, police and community actors at the district level," and "curriculum vendors" who have political and economic incentives to use market-based tools, reinforcing current institutional practices and behavior models rather than provide effective education, social support or structural change. We analyze current New York policy related to the school-to-prison pipeline and recommend new policy.  

Simone Brock, Arianna Kouassi and Hayley Mundy

The research conducted over the course of this project will be used to substantiate and describe the need for physician training to decrease implicit bias against racial and sex and gender minorities and their care. This will be done with specifically the City of Buffalo and the UB Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (JSMBS) in mind. Research will include interviews with JSMBS faculty and Buffalo community organizations, an evaluation of JSMBS curriculum, and an analysis of existing DEI trainings in outside organizations. Once all of this research has been collected and organized, a recommendation for JSMBS will be drafted and finalized. These recommendations will likely advocate for a specific training outlined via a timeline and description to be implemented some time in a physician's training at the JSMBS.

Aria Grisham and Angela Jiang

Air pollution is a large issue influenced by many factors across the globe. This policy proposal focuses on air pollution in rural Minnesota, which experiences disproportionate levels of air pollution. This is mainly influenced by agricultural systems, a lack of public transportation options, and a lack of access to air quality monitoring and data. Large-scale Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, which emit multiple environmental toxins, are common contributors to air pollution in rural Minnesota. This paper proposes a solution accomplishable through policy change to lessen air pollution in rural Minnesota, taking into account the economic, social, and political factors unique to this area.

Kayleigh Hogan and Alex Olen

The opioid epidemic and its associated symptoms of overdose, death, and addiction have become an increasing threat to our modern-day society, especially in Erie County; within the first seven months of 2023, there have been 245 opioid-related reported deaths. The opioid epidemic has led to increased overdose rates, overworking of healthcare personnel, increased expenditure by the U.S. government, HIV outbreaks, unsafe community conditions, and increased drug-related crime. We propose the implementation of a safe injection site in the city of Buffalo. This site would be modeled off of the two safe injection sites operating in NYC run by the non-profit OnPoint NYC. These sites would provide resources to access mental health and rehabilitation services, harm-reduction supplies, and an area to safely consume pre-obtained drugs. Our ideal partner for this site would be Evergreen Health, a non-profit located in Buffalo that provides resources for those battling addiction. 

Briana Jeffries and Sophia Saleta

This policy proposal seeks to underscore the significance of creating a Disability Cultural Center at the University at Buffalo as this will enhance the experience of higher education for every learner by being seen, heard, and celebrated.

Ishil Kirkhan and Zahra Raisa

In recent years, Western New York has seen a significant increase in foreign-born migrants and refugees due to the numerous opportunities that provide these populations with sustained economic independence. However, many of these individuals cannot adequately communicate in English, rendering multiple challenges for these individuals such as their inability to properly communicate with medical professionals, which leads to various health problems: worsening of symptoms, extended stays at hospitals, and not observing treatment plans. Many healthcare sites lack the funding to provide their patients with trustworthy and on-site translators to help facilitate the necessary conversations. This paper aims to evaluate various methods of strengthening the medical translators within WNY healthcare systems by identifying impactful solutions to improve health outcomes for non-English speakers residing in WNY. The proposed solution that gains the most confidence can further turn into a pilot program within a partnered Western New York Health Center.

Elizabeth Sachar and Yuktha Reddy Vanteru

Improving the well being of inmates and promoting public good. Helping prisoners with their mental health problems can make them better and less likely to do crimes again. It gives them a better chance to fit back into society after they leave prison. Insuring that every prisoner has access to mental health services just to make sure that they can reenter and reincarceration.

Taylor Allen

Reflection on past knowledge allows for the synthesis of connections that can be applied into future life experiences. The UB capstone curriculum allows for the commemoration of UB experiences by making connections between extracurricular activities, reflection on course work and our overall journey to the present. Personally, this capstone focused around taking a slow venture through each individual milestone and emotions behind them from my acceptance to my prominent role in my nursing class. Focusing on the simple connections between my courses and how they will apply to me in my future as an RN and through the tribulations of life. To remember your "why" is of the most importance when submerging myself into my past at this university. 

Philip Heacock

A reflection of my learning experiences at college before and during my time at the University at Buffalo. By connecting courses that were most beneficial in my development as a learner, it is demonstrated how UB helped prepare me to succeed in my career after graduation.

Rebecca Lang

UB Curriculum Capstone is the culmination of my general education at UB. In this course, I worked to create a reflective and integrative Capstone ePortfolio based on my UB Curriculum coursework and lived experiences outside of the classroom. This reflection allowed me to make connections between classes that I wouldn't have normally found anything in common with, such as ASL and Music, and allowed me to find skills or talents within these classes that I can apply to any future plans I may find myself with.

Bryan Renzoni

The UB Capstone Portfolio is a component of the UB Curriculum required by all graduating students upon completion of the majority of their coursework. This project, broken down into several components, allowed me the opportunity to reflect on my academic path at UB by discussing my hobbies and extracurricular activities, memorable courses with valuable lessons, and the ways in which these experiences serve to benefit me in my future career goals and aspirations. Throughout the creation of my portfolio, I found myself writing about memories that resonated with me emotionally more so than academically; learning new material was rewarding, but instances that allowed me to reflect on my personal beliefs and values were invaluable. From research internships to learning medical Spanish and climbing the Adirondack Mountains, I can confidently say that my time at UB has been rich with lessons and mentorship that will guide me for years to come.

Rachel Sanyu

My capstone is a reflection of my academic journey throughout UB and the relationship the UB curriculum components have had with my academic program and my aspirations beyond my undergraduate degree. I took on my capstone by braking down any thoughts, biases and goals I ad prior to starting my program and how those have changed and evolved over the last three and a half years resulting in strong skills and competencies that I hope to carry forward to the next part of my life.