MERI Hilldale Fellows
Everett Higa
Undergraduate
Depts. of Biology and Dance
Mentor:
Celia Bisbach
Project:
“Characterizing the Interaction of Usher Syndrome Protein MYO7A and RIPOR1 in the Retina”
Pranav Venkit
Undergraduate
Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
Mentor:
Raunak Sinha
Project:
“Neural architecture and connectivity across primates within the retina’s first synapse”
Samuel Rafferty
Undergraduate
Dept. of Neurobiology
Mentor:
Timothy Gomez
Project:
“The Role of TSC2 in EphA-mediated Axon Guidance in Retinal Ganglion Cells Independent of TSC1 and mTORC1”
Samay Inampudi
Undergraduate
Depts. of Biology and Spanish, L&S
Mentor:
Christine Sorenson
Project:
“Impact of Diabetes on Choroidal Integrity and Function”
Alex Huang
Undergraduate
Dept. of Computer Science, CDIS
Mentor:
Yin Li
Project:
“Towards Computational Emotion Theory: A Data-driven Approach to Reevaluate Facial Expression Categories”
Rainy Jin
Undergraduate
Dept. of Psychology, L&S
Mentor:
Shawn Green & Karen Schloss
Project:
“Assessing human performance in dynamic color mapping systems”
Ngawang Namru
Undergraduate
Dept. of Integrative Biology, L&S
Mentor:
Timothy Gomez
Project:
“Investigation of Downregulated Motility-Associated Genes in Mature Human Photoreceptors”
Mckenzie Schmidt
Undergraduate
Dept. of Neurobiology, L&S
Mentor:
Mrinalini Hoon
Project:
“Understanding retinal connections underlying visual dysfunction in night blindness”
Melina Mueller
Undergraduate
Dept. of Psychology, L&S
Mentor:
Karen Schloss
Project:
“The Category Extrapolation Hypothesis and Verbal Interference: What Happens When We Interrupt Color Naming?”
Haoshen Zhai
Undergraduate
Dept. of Neurobiology, SMPH
Mentor:
Raunak Sinha
Project:
“Regional Variation in the Organization of Cone Photoreceptor Synapse across Primate Retina”
Lillian Li
Undergraduate
Depts. of Neuroscience & Computer Sciences, SMPH/L&S
Mentor:
Ari Rosenberg
Project:
“Biologically Inspired Convolutional Neural Networks for 3D Visual Processing”
Lily Houtman
Undergraduate
Dept. of Cartography, L&S
Mentor:
Rob Roth
Project:
“Mapping Presidential Elections: An Empirical Analysis of Effective Design Techniques”
Tae Ji Lee
Undergraduate
Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, CoE
Mentor:
Mrinalini Hoon
Project:
“Role of Visual Input for Formation of Inner Retinal Synaptic Connections”
PJ Derr
Undergraduate
Depts. of Neurobiology & Psychology, SMPH/L&S
Mentor:
Raunak Sinha
Project:
“Rod Pathway Sensitivity in the Developing Control and rd1 Mouse Model”
Julie Wallin
Undergraduate
Dept. of Neurobiology, SMPH
Mentor:
Mrinalini Hoon
Project:
“Mapping the Switch of Chloride Gradient in Developing Retinal Bipolar Neurons”
Andrew Suscha
Undergraduate
Dept. of Biochemistry, CALS
Mentor:
Nader Sheibani
Project:
“Diabetes Mediated Temporal Changes in Retinal Vasculature”
Nathan Gruenke
Undergraduate
Dept. of Genetics, SMPH
Mentor:
Aki Ikeda
Project:
“Investigating the Impact of Inflammation on Age-related Retinal Degeneration”
Katherine Schleck
Undergraduate
Dept. of Biology, L&S
Mentor:
Christine Sorenson
Project:
“Bim Expression Affects Retinal Astrocytes Adhesion and Migration through Altered Production of ECM Proteins”
Kiersten Haffey
Undergraduate
Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, CoE
Mentor:
Kristyn Master
Project:
“Design of a Tissue-Engineered Retinal Model for Age-Related Macular Degeneration”
Anna-Lisa Doebley
Undergraduate
Dept. of Medical Genetics, SMPH
Mentor:
Akihiro Ikeda
Project:
“The Role of TMEM135 in Cellular Stress Response”