Virginia Tech Class of 2023 (BS)

Marshall University Class of 2027 (MD)

Mentors: Carl Stafstrom, Lirong Shao

Project: Effect of 2-Deoxyglucose and Fructose-1,6-Bisphosphate on Pilocarpine-Induced Status Epilepticus: Metabolites that Control Neonatal Seizures

Campbellsville University Class of 2022 (BS)

Mentors: Matthew Bush, Amanda Lauer

Projects: Melanocytes and Lipofuscin in the Stria Vascularis in Juvenile and Aged Mice; Melanin and Lipofuscin in Aged-Noise Exposed Mice

Mississippi State University Class of 2022 (BS)

Mentor: Dwight Bergles

Projects: Various Strategies with Electroporation Enhance Pre-Onset Hearing Cochlea Transfection; Utilization of Public Databases to Explore Differential Gene Expression in Cochlear Cells

Fordham University Class of 2021 (BS)

Mentors: Vikram Chib, Philip Wong

Projects: Decision Making: Effort Optimization Within a Gig Economy; Validating Virus Expression after 18 Months Delivery to the Brain

Johns Hopkins University Class of 2022 (BS)

Mentors: Divya Rao, Jung Soo Suk

Projects: Cytotoxic Gene Therapies for the Safe and Effective Induction of Tumor Killing for the Treatment of High-Grade Gliomas; Brain Penetrating Nanoparticle Gene Delivery for Robust Exendin Production for The Potential Treatment For Alzheimer's Disease

Macalester College Class of 2022 (BS)

Mentor: Paul Fuchs

Projects: Neuronal Expression of HA-tagged Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor 𝛼9 in Mice; Inner Ear Gene Therapy and its Potential in Enhancing the Medial Olivocochlear Pathway

Cornell University Class of 2021 (BS)

University of Michigan Class of 2026 (MD)

Mentor: Jesse Goldberg (Cornell)

Project: Vocal Learning and Memory in Song Birds

Stevenson University Class of 2022 (BS)

Mentors: John Krakauer, Adrian Haith

Project: Executive dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease and Functional Role of the Basal Ganglia During Conflict Resolution

University of Maryland College Park Class of 2021 (BS)

Mentors: Kwame Kutten, Tilak Ratnanather

Projects: Dynamic Programming Tractography of Meyer’s loop in Subjects with Normal Hearing and Hearing Loss; Improved Dynamic Programming Tractography of Meyer’s Loop in Subjects with Normal Hearing and Hearing Loss

University of Minnesota Class of 2021 (BS)

Medical College of Wisconsin Class of 2025 (MD)

Mentor: Kathleen Cullen

Projects: CIB2 Mutant Mice; Quantifying Circling Behavior in Mice

California State University San Marcos Class of 2023 (BS)

Mentors: Thomas Lloyd, Kristin Mauldin

Project: Examining the Relationship Between Wnt Signaling and Neurodegeneration in C9orf72-ALS

Howard University Class of 2023 (BS)

Mentors: Valina Dawson, Ted Dawson, Liana Rosenthal

Projects: DAMPs: “Understanding the Connection Between Neuroinflammation and Parthanatos in Relation to Parkinson’s Disease ; A Review of Parkinson’s Disease Imaging and Biomolecular Biomarkers with Potential for Distinction from Atypical Parkinsonian Disorders; The Neuroprotective Effects of FGL1 On Parkinson’s Disease Model

University of Florida Class of 2022 (BS)

University of Florida Class of 2023 (MS)

Mentors: Cynthia Moss, Shinichi Someya

Projects: Quantification of flight behaviors in relation to echolocation and wing morphology; Neural response to social behavior in the Big Brown Bat; Investigating the roles of sex chromosomes in the development of hair cells and auditory function in mice

University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Class of 2021

Mentor: Nitish Thakor

Project: Identification of impaired cerebrovascular autoregulation in cardiac arrest rat model

University of Maryland Baltimore County Class of 2023 (BS)

Mentor: Jeremias Sulam

Project: Tracing Branching Neurons in Three-Dimensional Space with Deep Reinforcement Learning

University of California Davis Class of 2023 (BS)

Mentors: Diasynou Fiorante, Wenshen Duan

Projects: Impairments in the Glymphatic System and Disruptions of AQP4 Polarization in a Mouse Model of Huntington’s Disease; - Investigating Behavioral Effects of CHD8 in Mouse Models of Autism

Johns Hopkins University Class of 2024 (BS)

Mentors: Amanda Lauer, James Kneirim

Projects: The Effect of Aging and Memory Impairment on Experience-Dependent Plasticity of Hippocampal Place Cell; - Auditory Brainstem Response Thresholding Algorithm Using Cross-Correlation Coefficients of Adjacent Sound-Pressure Levels; Contextualizing Mid 20th Century Efforts to Alleviate Pediatric Hearing Healthcare Disparities in Baltimore

University of Alabama Class of 2021 (BS)

Oxford University Class of 2020 (MS)

Mentors: Yuri Agrawal, Dominic Padova

Project: An exploratory analysis of brain atrophy rates and volumes in impaired vs. unimpaired vestibular systems

Davidson College Class of 2024 (BS)

Mentor: Mark Wu

Projects: mWAKE mutant mice as a potential model for ADHD; Identification of Distinct Physiological States in Fly Sleep

Lafayette College Class of 2024 (BS)

Mentor: Marco Grados

Projects: Inflammation: Asthma, Obesity, and Psychiatric Disorders in Pediatric Patients; Obesity and Psychiatric Disorders in a Youth Inpatient Sample

Temple University Class of 2023 (BS)

Mentor: Ronald Schnarr

Projects: Gangliosides Interactome Project; Siglec Ligand Affinity

Johns Hopkins University Class of 2024 (BS)

Mentor: Cherie Marvel

Projects: Brain Function and Cognition in Lyme Disease: Examining Motor Function in Control Participants; Measuring cerebellar gray matter volume using MRI scans in healthy controls

Pomona College Class of 2023 (BS)

Mentor: Tilak Ratnanather

Projects: Volumetric Reconstruction of Feline Auditory Cortex from Histology; Histological validation of Gray-White Boundary in Feline MR Images

University of Nebraska Omaha Class of 2024 (BS)

Mentor: Gregory Carr

Projects: General Overview of Opioid Use Disorder, Addiction, and Further Research; Applying DeepLabCut to rodent continuous performance test to assess changes in sustained attention and task engagement ; Assessing Real-Time Dopamine Release in the Prefrontal Cortex in Mice During a Food Acquisition Assay

Southwestern Community College Class of 2024 (BS)

Mentor: Amanda Lauer

Projects: Consequences of Traumatic Brain Injury on Mouse Cochlear Hair Cells; Structure-function correlation in the auditory system after impact acceleration traumatic brain injury in CBA/CaJ mice

Haverford College Class of 2024 (BS)

Mentor: Haris Sair

Project: Automating Tortuosity Calculations in Cerebral Blood Vessels

College of New Jersey Class of 2024 (BS)

Rutgers University Class of 2028 (MD)

Mentor: Yuri Agrawal

Project:

University of Maryland Baltimore County Class of 2024 (BS)

Mentor: Kelly Mills

Projects: Quantification of Parkinson’s Symptoms Using Wireless Motion Sensor; Amide Proton Transfer (APT) imaging of protein aggregation in Parkinson's disease

Fisk University Class of 2025 (BS)

Mentor: Ernst Niebur

Project: Intracranial sEEG recordings of Cerebral Cortex Activity in Humans Performing a Multi-Attribute Decision Making Task

University of Maryland College Park Class of 2024 (BS)

Mentor: Xingde Li

Project: 2-Photon Fiber Endoscopy – Neural Activity Analysis

University of Toronto Class of 2024 (BS)

Mentor: Raul Chavez-Valdez

Project: Human ApoE4 haplotype increases risk of mortality, seizures, and brain inflammation in mice following neonatal hypoxia-ischemia

Wesleyan College Class of 2024 (BS)

Mentors: Jeffrey Rothstein, Alyssa Coyne

Projects: Inducing nuclear pore complex injury in primary mouse neurons by knockdown of POM121 expression; Downstream effects of CHMP2B on the nuclear pore injury cascade of ALS/FTD

University of Maryland Baltimore County Class of 2026 (BS)

Mentor: Anja Soldan

Project: Sleep and Physical Activity Practices and its Effects on the Synaptic Protein NPTX2

Amherst College Class of 2025 (BS)

Mentor: Alex Kolodkin

Project: Mef2C knockout induces long-range innervation defects in L2/3 neurons

Brown University Class of 2026 (BS)

Mentor: Paul Fuchs

Project: Developmental Expression of HA-tagged Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Along the Length of the Cochlea

Fisk University Class of 2024 (BS)

Mentors: Eran Shorer, Raha Dastgheyb

Project: Mental Health and Sleep in Women with HIV

Johns Hopkins University Class of 2026 (BS)

Mentor: Michael Kornberg

Project: Exploration of Effects of Nitric Oxide on Apolipoprotein E Function in Neuroinflammation

Boston College Class of 2026 (BS)

Mentor: Brett Morrison

Project: Impact of adoptive cell transfer of macrophages engineered to upregulate MCT1 on peripheral nerve regeneration after sciatic nerve injury in mice

Harvard College Class of 2027

Mentor: Amanda Brown

Project: Osteopontin Ligand and CD44 Receptor Interactions on Astrocytes

Johns Hopkins University Class of 2027

Mentor: Amanda Brown

Project: Osteopontin Ligand and CD44 Receptor Interactions on Astrocytes

Dillard University Class of 2026

Mentor: William Gray-Roncal

Project: Bridging the Knowledge Gap: AI-powered Patient Education and Mitigating Bias in Clinical Tools

University of Delaware Class of 2025

Mentor: LiRong Shao

Project: Determination of GABA Equilibrium Potential in Neocortical Neurons in a Humanized Mouse Model of Down Syndrome (TCMAC21)

North Carolina Central University Class of 2025

Mentor: Lomax Boyd

Project: The Ethics of Neuroengineering a Mouse Model of Human Speech and Language

Morehouse College Class of 2027

Mentor: Kevin Frick

Project: Mentoring of neurodivergent individuals: A Literature Review on Costs and Effects

Xavier University of Louisiana Class of 2025

Mentor: Monica Lopez-Gonzalez

Project: AI and Social Media users: Ethical implications and Effects on Mental Health