The Undergraduate Research Program acknowledges the generous support from donors that allow students to immerse themselves in the research experience through our Summer Scholars Program.
During the Summer of 2023 recipients of these named awards were able to spend their summer conducting research under the guidance of faculty mentors as well as showcase their work in the Symposium for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity
The list of 2023 Awards and Recipients can be found here:
2023 Unidel-Roselle Award
Eligibility Requirements: This award if for students who have a high GPA at the time of application.
The 2023 Unidel-Roselle Award recipients are:
- Ethan Conway working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Nektarios Tsoutsos. Ethan’s research focused on “Privacy-Preserving Technology Research.”
- Gabriella Urso working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Barbara Ley. Gabriella’s research focused on “The Transgender Experience in Healthcare.”
- Kathleen Medico working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Peter Mende-Siedlecki. Kathleen’s research focused on “Linking Racial Bias in Pain Perception to the Out-Group Homogeneity Effect.”
- Vasudev Tangry working under the direction of Faculty Director Norman Wagner. Vasudev’s research focused on “Spontaneous phase separation, emulsification, and colloidal stability of acylated peptides-”
- Ryan Wolynetz working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Zubaer Hossain. Ryan’s research focused on “Research in Alternative Materials for Prosthetics.”
- Pamela Zader working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Charles Bartlett. Pamela’s research focused on “Surveying the Distribution of Local Parasitoid Wasps For Spotted Lanternfly Control.”
- Khalei Dewberry working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Steve Hegedus. Khalei’s research focused on “Measuring and analyzing solar cells at the Institute of Energy Conversion (IEC)”
- Helen Dotchel working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Deborah Delaney. Helen’s research focused on “The Impact of Beneficial Soil Microbes on Floral Rewards and Insect Visitation.”
- Elizabeth Nelson working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Joseph Fox. Shelby’s research focused on “Developing molecules through organic synthesis based on tetrazine ligation for applications in chemical biology.”
- Zachary Waterman working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Deni Galileo. Zachary’s research focused on “Glioblastoma Stem Cell Research.”
- Aaron Oster working under the direction of Faculty Mentor. Aaron’s research focused on “Enzyme Commision Number Production ML.”
- Megan Tarr working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Mark Blenner. Megan’s research focused on “The Cloning and Transformations of Plastic Degrading Enzymes from the Gut Microbiome of Mealworms.”
- Emma Catherine Guzzetti working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Emily Day. Emma’s research focused on “Targeting Bone Marrow Stem Cells Through Delivery of Biomimetic Nanoparticles.”
- Makana Rodney Steinmetz working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Dawn Elliott. Makana’s research focused on “MRI Analysis of in Vivo Human Intervertebral Disc.”
- Owen Bruce Donnelly working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Eric Wommack. Owen’s research focused on “DNA polymerase from a lytic phage of Vibrio parahaemolyticus: how does biochemistry of replication enzymes impact viral infection?”
- Moire Hedri Gervay working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Katie Leech. Moire’s research focused on “Exploring Typography Abroad.”
- Elise Marie Ruggiero working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Matthew Mauriello. Elise’s research focused on “Music for Young Listeners with ASD.”
- Vincent Michael Tucci working under the direction of Faculty Mentor James Butkiewicz. Vincent’s research focused on “PyShares.”
- Dylan Ngo working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Jason Gleghorn. Dylan’s research focused on “Stability and surface characterization of an enhanced drug delivery medium to the lymph node.”
2023 Psychology UG Summer Scholar
Eligibility Requirements: Created in 2018, This award is restricted to Psychology majors to who will participate in Undergraduate Research through the Summer Scholars Program.
The 2023 Psychology UG Summer Scholar recipients are:
- Nadia Eman Sheikh working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Timothy Fowles. Nadia’s research focused on “Diverse Minds: Collecting and Comprehending Culture for Clients.”
- Jenna Loquercio working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Roberta Golinkoff. Jenna’s research focused on “Understanding the Effects of Surgical Masks on Children’s Gender Classification.”
- Leah Grace Alexander working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Anjana Bhat. Leah’s research focused on “BrainyAct Intervention Study.”
2023 Research & Creative Works Fund
Eligibility Requirements: This award is designated for students conducting research in areas within social and behavioral sciences, arts or other and humanities
The 2023 Research and Creative Work fund recipient is:
- Isabella Hue-Ching Lam working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Haihong Yang. Isabella’s research focused on “The World on Stage: Queer Themes in China’s Shakespeare.”
2023 Seshadri Family STEM Studies
Eligibility Requirements: Created in 2021, this award is designated for students studying in STEM fields who may have financial need, or are first generation and underrepresented. The minimum GPA requirement is 2.75 for students in their sophomore year and 3.0 for students in their junior year.
The 2023 Seshadri Family Stem Studies award winners are:
- Lily Walton working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Xi Wang. Lily’s research focused on “Broadband Photodetection based on Graphene.”
- Christian Newman-Sanders working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Tingyi Gu. Christian’s research focused on “Direct laser lithography with phase change materials.”
- Brendan Lewis working under the direction of Faculty Mentor John Aromando. Brendan’s research focused on “Automated Feedback For Autograding Systems with NLP.”
2023 STEM Studies Support Funds
Eligibility Requirements: Created in 2022, this award is designated for students studying in STEM fields who may have financial need, or are first generation and underrepresented.
The 2023 STEM Studies Support Funds award winners are:
- Tom Minhu Le working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Brian Kwee. Tom’s research focused on “Engineering Microvasculature in Vitro in Biomaterials.”
- Caleb Lawson working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Mark Blenner. Caleb’s research focused on “Utilizing Large Serine Integrases in Yarrowia Lipolytica.”
2023 Northeastern Chemical Association
Eligibility Requirements: This award is for students who are chemical engineering majors.
The 2023 Northeastern Chemical Association award recipients are:
- Grace Azvedo working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Emily Day. Grace’s research focused on “Stability of 4T1-NS (nano-shells) in different settings.”
- Jake George working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Norman Wagner. “Optimization of BP-q lunar regolith planet polymer material properties for lunar construction.”
2023 Hellen-Pattison Student Population Research
Eligibility Requirements: This award is for students who are working on areas of research specifically focusing on issues involving human population topics.
The 2023 Hellen-Pattinson Student Population Research award recipients are:
- Savannah Lopez working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Christine Visher. Savannah’s research focused on “Behavioral Health Support for Men and Woman with Justice Backgrounds.”
- Catherine Osinubi working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Edward Hartono. Catherine’s research focused on “Revolutionizing Low-Income Communities with MIS.”
- Destiny Spivey working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Roderick Carey. Destiny’s research focused on “African and Asian American Parenting: The Strive to Perfectionism.”
- Fanta Barry working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Laura Field. Fanta’s research focused on “Financial Literacy in the Black Community.”
2023 Orr Family Research Fund Award
Created in 2018, this gift is being made in memory of Bettye Barton Orr, the beloved wife of James E. Orr Jr, and in honor of three generations of Orr men who found their life partners at the University.
Eligibility Requirements: Students need to be conducting research in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields.
The 2023 Orr Family Research Fund award recipients are:
- Migachelle Romano working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Chi Keung Lam. Migachelle’s research focused on “Assessing the cardiotoxicity of Chemotherapy.”
- Brian Barrett working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Dion Vlachos. Brian’s research focused on “Optimization of Food Waste Extraction.”
- Kimberly Motz working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Erica Selva. Kimberly’s research focused on “Role of WIs in the Wnt Signaling Pathway.”
- Manju Sivasankar working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Fabrizio Sergi. Manju’s research focused on “Validation of StretchFingers Device.”
- Alexandra Zurzolo working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Jason Gleghorn. Alexandra’s research focused on “Developing a modular microfluidic platform to study mucus production under flow conditions.”
- Patrick Flaherty working under the direction of Faculty Mentor X. Lucas Lu. Patrick’s research focused on “Micro-Indentation Mechanical Testing of Cartilage.”
- Nathan Manning working under the direction of Faculty Mentor Pak-Wing Fok. Nathan’s research focused on “Tracking cyclic features of neural coding using topological data analysis.”