BSURF 2023

The chalk talk that stuck out the most to me was the one given by Dr. Chantall Evans. Her work includes cell biology with a definitive focus on the mitochondria. Her talk was fascinating and helped shut down some pre-concieved...

When I think of a guest speaker talk from the last eight weeks that has truly fascinated me, I immediately go back to that first week, when Dr. Steve Nowicki gave his talk on categorical perception. Categorical perception is the...

I feel so lucky to have heard from so many different faculty members who have presented their own fascinating research and pieces of advice in addition to their own path in getting to where they are now. With that I...

Although I have never seen a single minute of the Star Trek franchise, Dr. Mohamed Noor still captivated me with his insightful speech about the bridge between science and fiction. I admire his ability to convey concepts of evolution through...

Dorsal closure is a stage of Drosophila embryogenesis in which lateral epidermal cell sheets bordering an eye-shaped dorsal opening ”zip” together to form a seamed and then seamless epithelium. Understanding this process is important because it models cell sheet movements...

Orthopedic injuries often occur while the knee is extended, in a relatively stiff (limited change in angle) position that generates relatively high ground reaction forces (GRF, forces applied to the body from the ground). Modern humans walk with their knees...

Oxidative stress is a pervasive environmental challenge linked to the development and progression of several diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and immunodeficiency. Understanding various cellular responses to oxidative stress is essential in developing therapeutic interventions. The Ubiquitin Proteasome System (UPS)...

​​Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is known to be induced by seizures themselves, although there is much to learn about the mechanisms by which TLE develops and progresses (“epileptogenesis”). Briefly inhibiting BDNF/TrkB signaling induces regression of epileptogenesis, yet this only occurs...

Microfluidic devices are tools used to study cell behaviors and interactions with their microenvironments. Typical in vitro models, like 2D-culture dishes, insufficiently capture the complex structure of the extracellular matrix, whereas in vivo models like animal testing make it difficult...