Howdy! My name is Joseph Chen, and I am a Biology major from Sugar Land (Houston), Texas. Upon graduation, I plan to attend an MD/PhD program focusing on neurology. I hope to continue conducting research throughout my career, and eventually, practice medicine and teach at a medical school. I began researching in Dr. Jennifer Dulin’s lab in December of 2019, working under her postdoc, Dr. Miriam Aceves, investigating how restricting the age of isolation of embryonic Neural Progenitor Cells can aid in the functional recovery of spinal cord injury (SCI). I will be starting a new project that aims to characterize “mini dorsal horns” in the dorsal spinal cord in the Fall of 2022. I spent the summer of 2022 working in the labs of Dr. Carmen Dessauer and Dr. Terry Walters at the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, where I analyzed how chronic pain is propagated and maintained in dorsal root ganglia post SCI. Working in each of these wonderful professors’ labs has been life changing and enlightening to say the least. Outside of the lab, I enjoy playing basketball, tennis, and baseball, and making music with friends. My goal is to release at least one mixtape on SoundCloud with my friends, no matter how good or, more likely, bad it will sound. I also enjoy traveling with my family, and hanging out with my sister, who is also an Aggie (class of 2020).

Howdy! My name is Natalie Coleman, and I recently graduated with a bachelor’s in civil engineering, a minor in hispanic studies, and a certificate in international engineering. Currently, I am pursuing my PhD in civil engineering at Texas A&M University with funding from the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program. For the past three years, I have worked as a research assistant for the Urban Resilience.AI lab. My interdisciplinary research focuses on the complex relationships between natural hazards, infrastructure service disruptions, and the community. For example, I investigated the influencing factors and risk inequalities associated with a household’s susceptibility to service disruptions during Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Florence, and Hurricane Michael. I am also leading an AggiE-Challenge team investigating the mobility patterns and social distancing of different communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I hope to use my education and research experience to promote and advocate for equitable community resilience against natural hazards. In addition to my research, I enjoy mentoring undergraduate students and volunteering with different organizations. I am a former Undergraduate Research Ambassador and a former Executive Officer for the ASPIRE mentoring program. Starting this semester, I am excited to be working on a new international project with Engineers Without Borders for a village in the Dominican Republic.

Hello! My name is Emily Curtis. I am a Biology major with minors in English and Chinese, and I'm from Austin, Texas. I plan to attend medical school for a joint MD/PhD program to contribute to the field of endocrinology in both research and treatment, with a particular focus on type 1 diabetes. My long term goal is to eventually practice and teach medical students. Currently, I am performing both creative research and STEM research in toxicology.

This past summer I began my creative research with the Aggie Creative Collective (ACC). With the guidance of my excellent advisor, Dr. Lowell White, I am developing a thesis exploring the portrayal of eugenics in the fantasy genre, using the American eugenics programs of the 1920s to 1950s as my main reference. My thesis focuses on how eugenics is currently discussed in fantasy, common viewpoints/conclusions, and what aspects are underrepresented. As a STEM major with a love for the arts, I am very grateful for the opportunity ACC provides to combine my interests, and I try to champion research that lies at the intersection of seemingly disparate fields.

Starting last spring, I am also thrilled to be working with Dr. Natalie Johnson at the Texas A&M School of Public Health, where we study the effects of various pollutants on mothers and children. Previously, I worked on a project (culminating in an undergraduate thesis) to determine if prenatal exposure to ultrafine particulate matter (UPM) affected expression of the ACE2 gene in mouse lung tissue. My current project is focused on determining if a filter can be designed to allow nursing mothers with high exposure to PFAS to continue breastfeeding while retaining all the natural benefits.

Outside of academics, I enjoy sketching and reading science fiction and fantasy novels. I am glad to be developing so many of my interests through undergraduate research and programs like ACC, and I'm always looking out for more opportunities to grow and contribute!

Hi! My name is Swapnil Dash and I am a Business Honors major from Austin, TX. After I complete my undergraduate studies, I plan on attending medical school with the hopes of serving as a physician and a leader in improving the service quality of healthcare for patients and their families.

My first experience with research was during the fall semester of my freshman year under Dr. Michelle Hook, in the department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics. Currently, my undergraduate research project focuses on depression and cognitive decline after spinal cord injury (SCI) in a transgenic rat model of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Hundreds of thousands of people live with SCI, impairing the quality of life and providing many physical and psychological challenges post-injury for both patients and their caretaker(s). Up to 60% of people living with SCI develop chronic challenges with learning and memory, executive function, attention, and processing speed. Patients with SCI are also two times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias, which rob them of memory and cognitive abilities, impacting daily functioning and quality of life. By investigating the molecular changes induced by SCI and identifying the causal factor(s), I hope to contribute to the understanding of depression, cognitive dysfunction, and neuropathology after SCI and improve quality of life for people living with this injury, and subsequently, the general public.

Moreover, I hope to begin pursuing research relating to the business of healthcare under Dr. Len Berry. We hope to improve the service quality of healthcare, specifically in end-of-life and cancer care. By engaging with undergraduate research, I have experienced numerous benefits, including the ability to work efficiently with a team, better understand research publications, and explore my clinical areas of interest. Finally, my exposure to research has affirmed my interest in pursuing a medical education. 

When I am not in the classroom or in the lab, you can usually find me reading a good book or exploring new coffee and boba shops! I also enjoy playing tennis and volleyball with my friends and watching movies (La La Land is my favorite)!

Howdy! I am a senior Biomedical Sciences and Entomology major with a minor in Public Health from Katy, TX. Upon graduation, I hope to attend veterinary school at Texas A&M University and pursue a passion for wildlife and exotic medicine. My primary research focus is helping declining honey bee populations through the use of proper nutrition and increasing pathogen tolerance. I also assist research studying the ecological role of sea turtles in Matagorda Bay, TX and the ability of aoudads to contract Mycoplasma spp.

This fall, I will also begin research examining echolocation in bats as it pertains to their neurophysiology. Aside from research, I spend my time as a veterinary intern at Aggieland Safari, representing University Honors as a University Scholar, and serving as a Biomedical Sciences Ambassador for the College of Veterinary Medicine. In my spare time, I enjoy playing volleyball, attending concerts, and reading classic literature. Research has been transformative in my undergraduate experience, and I hope to couple my veterinary background with my newfound passion for conservation in the future.

Howdy! My name is Yilin Li, and I am a junior Economics and Mathematics double major with a minor in Women and Gender Studies. Currently, I am interested in pursuing a career in law or research after graduation focused on promoting gender equality. I was introduced to research by the amazing Claye Epperson in my freshman year. Since then, I have worked with Dr. Samuel Cohn and the Leontief research team for over a year. We analyze industry multipliers created from Leontief matrices to study and compare different nation's economies. Our study examines three types of multipliers that represent different indicators of economic growth, and we run econometric analyses to find relationships with other economic development indicators (GDP, Female Labor Force Participation, etc.). In the summer between my sophomore and junior year, I began working with Dr. Christina Patterson at Booth Business School with the support of the Becker Friedman's Expanding Diversity in Economics Program. I assist in analyzing job posting data to study wage rigidity across the United States with the intention to understand how HR and companies set wages. I aspire to apply the skills I have gained to work on projects focused on gender inequality, gender-based violence, or gender discrimination. Recently, I have started researching the Texas Crime Victim's Compensation Program, which helps survivors of sexual assault with related expenses. Outside of research, I interned with the Department of Justice's Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Office in Washington D.C. through the university's Public Policy Internship Program in the Fall of 2021 alongside historians and lawyers. In the Spring of 2021, I interned with the National Women's Political Caucus, supporting with campaign research. In my free time, I love to boulder, propagate plants, complete paint by numbers, hike, explore libraries and bookstores, listen to musical soundtracks, and order tea in unique coffeeshops. Research and the people I have met through research has completely changed the trajectory of my life and provided me with opportunities I never knew were possible. If anything I have done interests you or if I can help you discover a love for research, please reach out!

Howdy! My name is Brandon and I am a senior psychology major with a minor in neuroscience from Fort Worth, Texas. I first became involved in research my freshman year after joining a project listed on the Aggie Research Programs page. Since then, research has been a central part of my undergraduate experience and given me multiple opportunities to explore broad topics in cognition.

During my sophomore year, I joined the Spatial Thinking and STEM Learning Lab led by Dr. Heather Burte. I worked alongside graduate student Sungjoon Park in investigating the possible connection between spatial perspective taking and mentalizing, as well as individual differences in perspective taking based on personality, anxiety, and visualization factors. Additionally, I was able to work on an interdisciplinary Innovation[X] project with researchers in neuroscience, kinesiology, and psychology to further study the brain processes that enable complex locomotor navigation.
 
I am currently working in the Multimethod Affect and Cognition Lab led by Dr. Annmarie MacNamara researching the relationship between different neural signals and cognitive control mechanisms using psychophysiological measures (EEG). I am specifically looking at how working memory load impacts certain event-related potentials related to error-monitoring. I am also working with Dr. Joseph Orr to better understand how task switching alters representational brain activity.  

Engaging in these experiences has allowed me to strengthen my skills as a researcher and learn how to present cognitive concepts in an exciting and engaging way to a broad audience. It has also shown me how research can foster impactful mentorship and build diverse communities of people. After graduating, I hope to attend graduate school and eventually teach and mentor the next generation of bright minds as a teacher and researcher. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about research and how to get involved!