I spoke with our project partners and had the opportunity to interview them over Zoom about the work they were doing with Advance Access and Delivery and the Zero TB Initiative in the Durban, Karachi and the Mongolia sites. I was able to learn about the progress they were making on providing greater access to high quality care for treatments ranging from drug addiction to tuberculosis to diabetes to COVID-19 in vulnerable communities during this pandemic. The Mexicali project that I was originally focused on was delayed and… read more about Accessible TB and COVID screening »
Summer 2020 Remote Research This summer, I worked with the Dictionary of Art Historians at Duke to catalog, profile, and uncover various Spanish-speaking art-historians. I started by looking into and creating a profile for the art historian Rafael Doménech. I also researched Manuel Toussaint, José Gestoso y Pérez, Agustí Duran i Sanpere, and Julián Gallego. The profiles include basic facts, like where these art historians were from and when they were born, and also delve into bibliographies of their works and separate… read more about Uncovering Spanish-speaking art-historians »
Summer 2020 Remote Research My independent remote project in the Bohórquez Laboratory, “Deep Learning Analysis of Gut Nutrient Stimulation on Mice Pose” was funded by the URS. Our lab discovered synaptic communication from gut sensory epithelial cells, known as neuropod cells, to the vagus nerve in response to nutrient stimuli. But, the behavioral response induced by different macronutrients on this synaptic gut-brain circuit is not yet understood. To explore these responses, Dr. Laura Rupprecht and Winston Liu conducted… read more about Deep Learning Analysis of Gut Nutrient Stimulation on Mice Pose »
Ashleigh Smith, Class of 2020: "I presented on my senior honors thesis, which focused on black women’s self portraiture. The opportunity to connect with and present my research to major scholars in the field was an amazing experience! As a budding academic myself I’m grateful for the professional development experience and networking opportunity." read more about Ashleigh Smith '20 Presenting Research at the College Art Association Annual Conference »
Degree Political Science and History ’22 Project Team Making Young Voters: Policy Reforms to Increase Youth Turnout (2018-2019) I grew up on a wave of student activism. In my senior year of high school, it was just as common to see a 17-year-old leading a rally as a presidential candidate. When I came to Duke, I wanted to see if those calls for change manifested into actual change. Bass Connections gave me the pathway to do so, investigating whether this push for youth civic engagement… read more about Bass Connections: Carlee Goldberg '22, Making Young Voters: Policy Reforms to Increase Youth Turnout (2018-2019) »
Jules is intrigued by the theories behind “how and why people form governments.” Yet, beyond her participation in various theatrical performances, commitment to several social and living-learning communities, and multiple campus jobs — from being a tour guide to editing Twitter and the Medium blog for DukeStudents — Jules also brandishes the role of undergraduate researcher in the Wired! Lab. Duke’s Wired Lab is dedicated to digital art history and visual culture. The group – facilitated by Olga Grlic and Bill Broom… read more about Undergraduate Research in Duke's Wired! Lab »
2019 DSRF Award Winner Corinne Mayle I conducted qualitative, open-ended interviews in Puerto Rico of patients, physicians, policymakers, and activists to investigate the status of the reproductive healthcare system for modern Puerto Rican women. Puerto Rico experienced a mass sterilization campaign led by mainland United States physicians in the mid-twentieth century, but there has been little research on how the healthcare system for women transitioned in the wake of that program, and how the modern colonial system… read more about Structural Inequality and Reproductive Health in Puerto Rico »
2019 DSRF Award Winner Freddie Xu This past summer, I conducted research on the nature of sexual selection using Drosophila simulans as a model organism. Males of this species possess “sex combs” on their forelimbs utilized in mating; it is reasonable to think that these features would experience sexual selection via female preferences during copulation. Based on a project of mine from last year, I found that virgin females exhibited no preference for tooth number on male sex combs: my project this summer… read more about Effects of Sexual Selection on Sex Combs in Previously-Mated Drosophila simulans »
2019 DSRF Award Winner Elena Puccio My research focuses on the synthesis of a novel compound that will inhibit advanced enzymes that confer antibiotic resistance to bacteria. This compound will restore activity of once-effective drugs that are degraded by these highly-evolved enzymes. Thanks to the DSRF this past summer, I successfully synthesized my compound and developed assays that can be used to assess its properties after purification. read more about Developments of a Prochelator as a Strategy to Inhibit Metallo - β - Lactamase »
2019 DSRF Award Winner Ethan Ready I went to Grenoble, France this summer to do research with Dr. Jim Clark, a Duke professor currently stationed at IRSTEA, France's environmental and agricultural research institute. I conducted tree surveys of forest plots in the Alps to track tree reproduction. For my senior thesis, I will use the data that I collected, along with local climate data, to analyze if tree reproduction in the Alps has changed in response to climate change. read more about Investigation of the Effects of Climate Change on Tree Fecundity and on Associated Consumers in the French Alps »
2019 DSRF Award Winner Lingrong (Karen) Jin The goal of my study is to investigate the impact of saltwater intrusion on soil microbial communities in coastal wetlands and how association with plant root affects microbial response to salt stress. In the past summer, I traveled to my field site in the coast of North Carolina to collect soil and plant samples and spent a few weeks in lab processing samples, running chemical analyses and doing DNA extraction. This semester I have been analyzing my data and preparing to present… read more about Interactive Effects of Salt Stress and Plant-Association on Soil Microbial Communities in North Carolina Coastal Wetlands »
2019 DSRF Award Winner Helena Guenther This summer I traveled to Charleston, South Carolina and conducted research for my Senior Honors History Thesis at the South Carolina Historical Society Archives. I accessed several collections of the papers and records of prominent South Carolinian plantation families to further my study of the Charleston slave market as well as South Carolinian planation culture. read more about White, But Colored: The Emancipated Slaves of New Orleans »
2019 DSRF Award Winner Olivia Simpson This summer I spent a month in Southwestern Arizona investigating the way proximity to militarization and other border enforcement strategies has affected residents. I interviewed community members and shadowed those involved in desert aid work to contextualize the interviews. This research is the basis of my Sociology Honors Thesis. read more about Examining the Relationship Between Border-infrastructure/Enforcement and Border-adjacent Community Members »
2019 DSRF Award Winner Lexi Kadis This summer, I had the opportunity to visit Edinburgh, Scotland and London, England to conduct research for my senior thesis on the role of women travel authors in the Victorian publishing industry. At the British Library in London, I read through correspondence sent by Mary Kingsley, a famous ethnographer and travel writer, to her publisher George MacMillan. read more about Victorian Women Travel Authors: Recruitment and Development,1830-1900 »
2019 DSRF Award Winner Jessica Chen This summer, I traveled to Berlin, Germany and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to view installations and interview artists for my thesis research. Seeing artwork in person provided new lines of inquiry for my research, and I'm excited to incorporate the interviews into my thesis. read more about Traumatic realism and the art of migration: Nadia Kaabi-Linke and Tiffany Chung »
2019 DSRF Award Winner Annika Sharma Dr. Nicholas Grebe and I are working to quantify the distribution and density of oxytocin receptors in the brains of 7 Eulemur species, some of which mate promiscuously while others mate monogamously. This summer we travelled to the University of California, Davis to perform specialized techniques in oxytocin and vasopressin receptor autoradiography, and processed 3,000 slides in just over two weeks! read more about Neuroanatomical Distribution of Oxytocin Receptors in Eulemur »
2019 DSRF Award Winner Conan Juan Our sense of smell is the result of a cascade of events that occurs when an odorant binds to an olfactory receptor (OR) in the nose. The goal of my project was to identify and demonstrate ORs capable of discriminating between enantiomers, which are isomers that have identical physical properties but are perceptually distinct. During my time in DSRF, I have been able to identify many ORs capable of discriminating between enantiomer pairs in vitro. read more about Olfactory receptors for the discrimination of specific enantiomers »
2019 DSRF Award Winner Selin Ocal Selin Ocal is a senior majoring in Biology and minoring in History, with a particular interest in the health of the incarcerated population. Throughout her summer, she aimed to elucidate the current implications of the Hepatitis C epidemic behind bars in North Carolina, and in correctional settings around the United States. She hopes her research will ultimately influence health policy decisions in Duke’s home state, and also inspire others to advocate for equity in this area of… read more about Addressing Hepatitis C in the American Prison Population: Strategies for Nationwide Elimination »
2019 DSRF Award Winner Gino Nuzzolillo “This summer I used archives in Atlanta and New York City to investigate urban development in Atlanta at the turn of the 20th century. Interested in the consequences of events like the 1906 Atlanta race riot, I collected hundreds of letters, government documents, photos, and newspaper articles that detailed the stories of Atlanta’s most vulnerable residents and their efforts to assert a right to live and thrive in the emerging Southern metropolis.” read more about The New South: The 1906 Atlanta Race Riot and Southern Urban Development, 1880 – 1930 »
The only thing missing from a new digital humanities exhibit in the entrance of Perkins Library about the glories of Venice is the present-day sight and smell of the canals that carry people throughout this remarkable floating city. Otherwise, the exhibit produced by four Duke undergraduate students working with Professor Kristin Huffman and an international team of digital storytellers immerses visitors so they can experience the city as European visitors did in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. “I knew Duke was a place… read more about Senses of Venice: Lavish Parties, Great Conversations and Lots of Canals »
So now you are at Duke — one of the world’s best research universities — but now what? You might be taking cool classes, but how can you take advantage of the world-class research happening here? Roughly 50 percent of Duke undergrads do so at some point. Getting involved in research as a freshman might sound intimidating (I know it did to me!), but a little luck and perseverance can get you off to a strong start. Find out more. read more about How To Get Your Foot In The Door At A Research Lab »
Jasmine Thompson is advancing the Di Giulio lab’s work to understand the environmental impacts of a former wood treatment facility that, for decades, discharged creosote and other chemicals into the nearby river. Over the summer, she used technology to evaluate how swimming performance in adult killifish is affected by early embryonic exposure to contaminated water from the site. Read the full story here. read more about An Unexpected Direction »
From whales to lemurs, senior Cassidy Pomeroy-Carter is using animal research experiences at Duke to prepare her for a future in veterinary medicine. As a pre-veterinary student interested in working with exotic animals, Pomeroy-Carter is a biology and German double major from Vienna, Austria. She is currently working on two research projects -- one involving lemurs at the Duke Lemur Center and a second with whales at the Duke Marine Lab. Read the full story here. read more about Studying Creatures Great and Small »
Paul Ziquan Yang is using mathematical techniques to eliminate errors in computer hardware. Read the full story here. read more about Math Junior Flips for ‘Bit Flips’ »
Before biologists can understand the role of specific genes, they have to be able to determine whether those genes are "on or off." Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Fellow Mitchell Lee is looking to make take process easier. Read the full story here. read more about Student Studies New Processes for Gene Expression »
Senior biology major and chemistry minor Rachel Shenker is working as a Dean’s Summer Research Fellow, trying to figure out how certain proteins affect wound-healing in flies. Read the full story here. read more about A Summer In The Lab, Wounding Flies »
Goldman Sachs Summer Research Fellow and physics major Cathy Li is using optical systems to enhance machine learning. Read the full story here. read more about A Better Approach to Machine Learning »
Ben Schwartz and Amalia Cong, past Howard Hughes VIP participants, are studying enamel evolution in the Wall and Wray labs. Read the story on the Duke Research Blog. read more about Duke Undergrads Sink Their Teeth into Evolution Research »
Duke Psychology Undergraduates Study How Young Children Learn to Label Emotions. Read the rest of the story at Duke News. read more about How do Children Learn Emotions? »
Duke junior Anirudh Saraswathula studies immune-system therapy for glioblastomas. Read the rest of the story at Duke News. read more about Blasting away glioblastomas »