Examples of Student Research 2019-Present
Summer 2019
Antibiotic Resistance Gene Transfer Between Group A Streptococci
Student: Idan Lavian
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Debra Bessen
Effects of Enhanced Late Sodium Current on the Heart
Student: Bridget Faltas
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Marcello Rota
Hypothalamic expression of MRAP2 protein after prenatal betamethasone exposure
Student: Joseph Khafi
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Libo Velisek
The effect of traumatic stress with TBI on the susceptibility of developing PTE
Student: Aakash Raav-
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jana Veliskova
Role of Pannexin Channels in Neuropathic Pain-Induced Alterations in Cortical Spreading Depolarization
Student: Betzalel Krasnow & Peretz Rapoport
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Patric Stanton
Impact of Akkermansia muciniphilia Administration on Induced Periodontal Inflammation and Alveolar Bone Destruction
Student: Akiva Maresky & Tara Miller
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Salomon Amar
LactORN effects on Porphoryamonas gingivalis induced cytokine release from human PBMCs
Student: Joseph Pomper & Corinne Dennis
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Carl Hamby
Summer 2021
Improving Diagnostic Tests for Lyme Disease
Student: Andrew O’Kula
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Paul Arnaboldi
Babesiosis, an emerging tick borne disease
Student: Shaaf Rezaee
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Dana Mordue
STAT4 regulates the development of AD-like synaptic pathology in the conditions of T2D and atherosclerosis
Student: Xinyuan Yang
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Patric Stanton
Infantile Spasms
Student: Jawad Tamimi
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Libor Velisek
UCHL1, a potential target for improving response rate of Lung Cancer’s Anti-PD1/PDL1 therapy
Student: Pei Hung Shen
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Dazhong Xu
The additive effects of acute severe stress and traumatic brain injury on post-traumatic stress disorder and post-traumatic epilepsy
Student: Rachel Sebastian
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jana Veliskova
BMPR2 Stabilization by MMP9-COMP in Pulmonary Hypertension
Student: Eric Davis & Jonathan Espinosa
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Michael Wolin
Gut Microbiota as a potential regulator of Anxiety-like behavior in the Single prolonged stress animal model of PTSD-March 2023
Student: Christopher Arens & Anish Cheriyan
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Esther Sabban
Summer 2022
Acetate Ameliorates SPS Induced Behavioral Impairments in Male Rats
Student: Jordan Sahawneh
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Esther Sabban
November 2023
Heart Rate Variability in an Experimental Model of Metabolic Syndrome
Student: Kash Ghadirian
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Rota Marcello
Genetic deletion of the inflammatory transcript factor STAT4 protects long-term depression from the effects of a high-fat diet
Student: Xiaoqing Gan
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Patric Stanton
Summer 2023
Optimizing parameters for traumatic brain injury
Student: Veean Chen & Andrew Sahawneh
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jana Veliskova
Mapping Brain Structures involved in Epileptogenesis through C-fos Expression Analysis
Student: Ingrid Chen & Esther Chu
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Libor Velisek
Effect of A. muciniphila on P. gingivalis-induced Periodontal Inflammation-
Student: Joanne Cheng
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Saloman Amar
Metabolic Syndrome Affects Cardiac Function by Altering Sympathovagal Balance
Student: Asha Ezzati
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Marcello Rota
Targeting histone lactylation in prostate cancer
Student: Wei Guan
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Gao Shuai
The Role of the 20-HETE Receptor, GPR75, in Diet-Induced Obesity, Diabetes and Cardiometabolic Disease
Student: Natalie Habaybeh & Alicia Sawyers
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Victor Garcia
Mobile Genetic Elements and Biofilm formation in Group A Strep
Student: Emma Tetelbaum
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Debra Bessen
Summer 2024
Impacts of HSF1 in Histone Acetylation in Prostate Cancer Cells-
Student: Mikayla Dawes
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jian Li
Metabolic Syndrome and Heart Rhythm Disturbances
Student: John Jung
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Marcello Rota
20-HETE Receptor (GPR75) and its Therapeutic Indications
Student: David Kim
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Victor Garcia
20-HETE Receptor (GPR75) and its Therapeutic Indications
Student: Julia Morales-Barboza
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Victor Garcia
20-HETE Receptor (GPR75) and its Therapeutic Indications
Student: Sophia Tache
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Victor Garcia
Infantile Spasms and the Involvement of Inflammatory Cytokines in the Arcuate Nucleus
Student: Monica Mourad
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jana Veliskova
Role of UHRF1 in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Student: Jessica Tolve
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Mark Bisserier
Summer 2025
The Pol𝛿4 P12 Switch and Homology-Directed Repair (HDR) Deficiency in Lung Carcinogenesis: Immunohistochemistry Analysis
Student: Zhenxun Xu
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Dazhong Xu
Group A Streptococci Antigen Testing for Vaccine Development
Student: Devin Wrobel
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Debra Bessen
Micro-CT Imaging and its Application on Brain Visualization
Student: Justin Kwak
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jonathan Fisher
Micro-CT Imaging and its Application on Brain Visualization
Student: Lisa Lo
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jonathan Fisher
c-Fos Expression in NMDA-Induced Infantile Spasm Model
Student: Kexin Tan
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Libor Velisek
Metabolic Syndrome Activates Beta-adrenergic Receptors Concealing Defects in Cardiac Performance
Student: Robin Li
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Marcello Rota
Integrative Transcriptomic Analysis for the Identification of Novel Gene Targets in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Student: Daniel Aronov
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Mark Bisserier
Understanding Systemic Diseases Using Transgenic Hypertensive Mice Models
Student: Shatila Quader
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sudhir Jain
Preventing and Reversing Obesity via GPR75 Blockade
Student: Henry Shemet, Nina Wang, Leqi Zhao
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Victor Garcia
