STEM DIVERSITY PROGRAMS

Ariel Anders

MARC Student- Senior

Lab Group: Professor Jacob Rosen Lab 

Major: Computer Engineering

Research: We are developing a system for autonomous dental procedures: dental crowning preparation and dental implants. Using Computer Aided Design (CAD), Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM), and a process called "Dynamic Registration" we strive to improve the accuracy of the dental procedures than the current non-automated methods allow using in an autonomous robotic arm.

Presentations:

Dental Robotics: CAD/CAM Applications in Dentistry. The University of California, Santa Cruz Undergraduate Research Symposium. June 2, 2011.

SpecialMeritinResearchAward,DentalRobotics:CAD/CAMApplicationsinDentistry. 2011CAMP Statewide Symposium, University of California, Irvine. February 25, 2011.

StudentPresentationAward,DentalRobotics:CAD/CAMApplicationsinDentistry. 2010

Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, Charlotte, North Carolina. November 10-13, 2010.

Best Poster Design, A Prototype of Automating the Drilling of a Tooth, Ariel Anders, UCSC, mentored by Professor of Computer Engineering Jacob Rosen. SURF-IT. August 20,2010

MARC/IMSD/CAMP Summer Research Experience. University of California, Santa Cruz. Summer 2011.

SURF-IT Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Information Technology. Jack Baskin School of Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz. Summer 2010.

Awards:

UC REGENTS SCHOLARSHIP, Fall 2010-graduation PATRICK MANTEY UNDERGRADUATE LEADERSHIP AWARD, Spring 2011 SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATE COMMUNITY SPIRIT AWARD, Spring 2011. ARGV SCHOLARSHIP, SPRING 2010.

SCIENCE LEARNING COMMUNITY GPA AWARD, SPRING 2009. TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT FOR SACNAS CONFERENCE, FALL 2008.

Ippolito Caradonna

MARC Student - Senior

Lab Group: Professor Kamakaka Lab 

Major: Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology

Research: His project focuses on the role of Histone H4 in gene silencing in S. cerevisiae. This is a mutational study, and what is observed in relation to these mutants is the gain of a silencing function in the absence of a regulatory protein called a silent information regulator (SIR proteins). After integrating the mutated genes into the genome and verifying viability in the absence of a duplicate wild type copy, Ippolito is excited to see that silencing has been restored in the mutant strains. His future directions include assays regarding histone and SIR interactions. 

During this past summer, Ippolito, through the Amgens Scholars program and the Summer Research Training Program, was fortunate enough to do research at the University of California San Francisco in the Madhani lab. In this lab his project involved the discovery of novel mediators involved in RNA interference (RNAi) in C. neoformans. Using the Madhani lab knockout collection of 1500 different mutants he screened for knockouts that exhibited a phenotype in siRNA abundance. Future directions for this project will involve building assays to find out what role each protein plays in the RNAi mechanism. 

Internships/Presentations/Awards:

THE ROLE OF HISTONE H4 IN VIABILITY AND SILENCING IN BUDDING YEAST: A MUTATIONAL STUDY. Ippolito Caradonna, Jacob Kirkland, Rohinton Kamakaka. The University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA. 2010 Undergraduate Summer Research Symposium. Aug. 20, 2010. University of California, Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz, CA. Poster Presentation.

MARC/IMSD/CAMP Summer Research Experience. University of California, Santa Cruz. June 25 - August 21, 2010.

Ashley Chacon

MARC Fellow - Junior 

Lab Group: Scott Lokey Lab Group

Major: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research: Developing  an optimized synthetic scheme for heptadepsipeptide cotransin. Like the fungal-derived natural product, HUN-7293, cotransin has high pharmacological potential because it selectively and reversibly represses VCAM-1 expression.  We propose an alternate method that will alleviate the three main problems in the current synthetic scheme for cotransin.  In the previously reported synthesis, Fmoc deprotection caused the N-terminal amine to initiate diketopiperazine (DKP) formation in large quantity.  Here, we decreased propensity for DKP formation by adjusting which residue is bound to the resin, thereby never placing a free amine six atoms following the ester bond. Previous synthetic efforts employed a solution-phase cyclization that produced poor yields.  We addressed this problem by attaching the peptide via tyrosine side chain phenol, using orthogonal protecting groups on the N- and C-termini, thus effecting cyclization on-resin. Finally, N-methylated amino acids previously induced a decrease in the overall percent yield because of the difficulty in coupling to a sterically hindered secondary amine. We will avoid this problem by N-methylating after cyclization. Our research could lead to a time and cost effective method for synthetically accessing the myriad challenging scaffolds represented by N-methylated cyclic depsipeptide natural products.   

 Presentations/Internships/Awards: 

MARC/IMSD/CAMP Summer Research Experience. University of California, Santa Cruz. June 2011 - June 2013.

Tanya Cohen

MARC Fellow - Senior

Lab Group: Professor Phillip Crews Lab 

Major: Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (emphasis in Chemistry)

Research: Working towards the discovery of potential therapeutics to treat cancer, immune disorders, and neglected tropical disease using a wide variety of both biological and biochemical assays. Identification and purification of new and known bioactive secondary metabolites isolated from crude myxobacterial extracts.  Dereplication of known metabolites and characterization of novel compounds from myxobacterial strains and marine sponges with biological activity.   Purification and identification of bioactive compounds using HPLC and LCMS-ELSD analysis.  Structure elucidation using advanced spectroscopic techniques including high-resolution mass spectrometry, 1D (¹H, ¹³C) and 2D (HMQC, HMBC, COSY) NMR. 

Presentations/ Internships/ Awards:

14^th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA.  

 “Anti-Inflammatory Leads from Myxococcus Virescens.”  Tanya Cohen,  Angela Becerra, Helena Vervoort, Phil Crews

2011 Undergraduate Summer Research Symposium, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA.

“Anti-Inflammatory Leads from Myxococcus Virescens.”  Tanya Cohen,  Yvette M. Vaske,  Angela Becerra, Helena C. Vervoort, Phil Crews.

MARC/IMSD/CAMP Summer Research Experience. University of California, Santa Cruz.

Darrel Deo

MARC Student- Senior

Lab Group: Professor William Dunbar Lab 

Major: Computer Engineering

Research: I work with Dr. William Dunbar in the Dynamics and Control laboratory where we look at DNA-Protein interactions via an alph-hemolysin nanopore. My duties are to create and integrate analytical algorithms, for captured data, with graphical user interfaces to gather statistics and information regarding conducted experiments. Translocation of DNA through a nanopore via voltage driven threading yields changes in measured current. We work to analyze these variations in current in order to gain a more firm understanding of what is taking place on the DNA-Protein interaction level.

This past summer I was a part of the MIT Summer Research Program in Cambridge Massachusetts. I worked under Professor Seth Teller of the Robotics, Vision, and Sensor Networks Group of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratories at MIT.

 The RVSN Group at CSAIL has designed a vest to aid the blind or cognitively impaired in a natural manner. This vest, also known as the Vidation Assistant, is fitted with sensors and output components including a Microsoft Kinect, Lidar, a mobile phone and a text-to-braille SyncBraille device. In conjunction with the Carroll Center for the Blind, we have settled on the notion of user trials in order to gather data regarding the main types of capabilities vital for the user. A subset of the Videation Assistant was designed in order to be lighter and simpler in the sense that it can relay audio and visual data and output buzz tones for feedback. The subset system is interfaced remotely with a GUI operated by the human assistant or 'wizard'. This GUI allows the assistant to view multiple video feeds from the vest cameras, hear audio transmitted from the blind user's microphone, and toggle the left and right arrow keys that send their respective tones to the device. This system will be used in trials with blind individuals to gather data pertaining to the future capabilities that may be implemented on the device. 

Publications:
”Portable Nanoparticle Quantization using a Resizable Nanopore Instrument – The IZON qNano”. 2010. Edolfo Garza-Licudine, Darrel Deo, Samuel Yu, Asma Uz-Zaman, William B. Dunbar.

Internships/Presentations/Awards:

ANALYZING DNA-PROTEIN COMPLEXES USING A ALPHA-HEMOLYSIN NANOPORE. Darrel R. Deo, Edolfo Garza-Licudine, William Dunbar. The University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA. 2010 Undergraduate Summer Research Symposium. Aug. 20, 2010. University of California, Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz, CA.

Poster Presentation. Best Interdisciplinary Poster award.

MARC/IMSD/CAMP Summer Research Experience. University of California, Santa Cruz. June 25 - August 21, 2010.

MIT Poster Session
Title: Wizard-Of-Oz Prototype of a Videation Assistant for Blind User Trials
Authors: Darrel R. Deo, Cristina Lozano, Seth Teller
Date: August 4th, 2011

MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP)
from: June 5- August 6
Where: Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts

The Baskin Scholars Award, June 1st 2011
Recognizes undergraduate students with outstanding academic achievement and demonstrated financial need. Recipients are selected by a Faculty committee.

UCSC Campus Merit Scholarship, September 22 2011
For notable academic achievements and other accomplishments which place you among the top current UC Santa Cruz students.

Andrew Guzman 

MARC Fellow-Senior

Lab Group: Bill Sullivan Lab 

Major: Neuroscience

Research: I am currently characterizing a temperature sensitive mutant that shows defects in the formation of structures called metaphase furrows located in the drosophila embryo. These structures are important for proper development and the formation of actin structures that help nuclei divide.

THE VIRTUAL FISH PROJECT: BEHAVIORAL INTERACTION WITH A VIRTUAL CICHLID FISH. Andrew Guzman, Catherine Harrell, Russell Fernald. Stanford University, Department of Biology. 2011 HBREX Undergraduate Summer Research Symposium. Aug. 5, 2011. Stanford University. Palo Alto , CA. Poster Presentation.

VIRTUAL FISH PROJECT. Andrew Guzman, Catherine Harrell, Russell Fernald. Stanford University, Department of Biology. 2011 Stanford Summer Research Program Symposium. Aug 10, 2011. Stanford University. Palo Alto , CA. Oral Presentation.

CORTICAL ACTIN ORGANIZATION IN THE EARLY EMBRYO REQUIRES FOLIC ACID METABOLISM. Andrew Guzman, Justin Crest, Jian Cao and William Sullivan. University of California, Santa Cruz Department of Biology. 2011 52nd Annual Drosophila Research Conference. March 30-April 3, 2011. San Diego, CA. Poster Presentation 

Kyle Lakatos

MARC Fellow - Senior

Lab Group: Professor Russ Flegal Lab 

Major: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research: My research deals with tracing the movement of heavy metals in aquatic systems. Understanding where they came from and how they continue to progress through the environment. Using proper analysis techniques to check the concentrations, allowing us to address the toxicology of trace elements in ecosystems and therefore in humans. Currently I am looking at the concentrations and isotopic ratios of lead and cadmium in mussels in the Monterey Bay.

Presentations/ Internships/ Awards:

CHARACTERIZATION OF THE REDUCTIVE PROPERTIES OF CYTOCHROME P450-BM3. Kyle Lakatos, Rüdiger Kaspera², Rheem A. Totah. University of Washington, Seattle, WA. University of Washington AMGEN Scholars and HHMI EXROP Presentations, August 18^th, 2011. Oral Presentation.

CHARACTERIZATION OF THE REDUCTIVE PROPERTIES OF CYTOCHROME P450-BM3. Kyle Lakatos, Rüdiger Kaspera², Rheem A. Totah. University of Washington, Seattle, WA. University of Washington Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium, August 17^th, 2011. Poster Presentation.

AMGEN Scholars Program. University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Summer 2011

TITRIMETRIC DETERMINATION OF CLACIUM AND MAGNESIUM. Andrew Guzman, Kyle Lakatos, Margarita Gonzales, Genevieve Halpenny, Pradip Mascharak. The University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA. 2010 Undergraduate Summer Research Symposium. Aug. 20, 2010. University of California, Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz, CA. Poster Presentation.

MARC/IMSD/CAMP Summer Research Experience. University of California, Santa Cruz. June 25 - August 21, 2010.

Paloma Lopez

MARC Fellow- Senior

Lab Group: Professor Raimondi Lab 

Major: Biology

Research: The focus of my project is to create a protocol to restore mussel populations in damaged intertidal communities. In the current experiment, 1000 mussels were collected from the Santa Barbara pier and then transplanted into the intertidal zone at two sites on Vandenberg Air Force base. The mussels were transplanted in clumps with different population densities to determine if there is an effect of mussel patch size on transplant success. Tuffy™ dish scrubbers were placed around mussel populations to measure potential mussel recruitment. Monitoring of the experimental sites has taken place once a month since January 2010. Results will be used to determine whether transplanted mussels have the potential to successfully repopulate damaged areas in the intertidal zone.

Internships/Presentations/Rewards:

Characterization of a novel red-pigmented bacterium isolated from a large hailstone. Paloma Lopez, Alex Michaud, John Priscu. Montana State University, Bozeman, MT. Summer Research Internship. June-August 2011. The Leadership Alliance National Symposium. July 29-31, 2011.

Restoration of intertidal zones in marine ecosystems affected by oil spills. Paloma Lopez, Kristin de Nesnera, Pete Raimondi. University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA. Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium. June 2, 2011.

Does maternal size or population density influence dispersal dimorphism in the local sea slug Alderia willowi? Paloma Lopez, Zar Phyo, Patrick Krug. California State University Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA. Bridges to the Future Summer Research Program, Pasadena City College-CSULA. June-August 2010. Poster Presentation.

Mapping the genomic sequence flanking the siRNA insertion of LTP3 and LTP4 in Arabidopsis thaliana genome. Paloma Lopez, Rosie Alvarez, Robert Vellanoweth. California State University Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA. Bridges to the Future Summer Research Program, Pasadena City College-CSULA. June-August 2009. Poster Presentation.

Analysis of LTP3 and LTP4 (Lipid Transfer Protein) Gene Expression Patterns in Arabidopsis thaliana. Paloma Lopez, Irene Ramos, Robert Vellanoweth. California State University Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA. Partnership of Research and Education in Materials (PREM) Summer Program. June-August 2008.

Michelle Quintero

MARC Fellow - Junior 

Lab Group: Rita Mehta Lab 

Major: Marine Biology 

Research: Research conducted at ELVER is focused on understanding morphological, physiological, and behavioral evolution. We have a special interest in studying the mechanisms guiding diversification in vertebrate clades whose members have evolved an elongate and limb-reduced (or complete loss) body plan such as snakes, anguilliform fishes, and other eel-like vertebrates.

Presentations/ Internships/ Awards:

2011 UCSC MARC/MBRS Summer Research Institute

Lab Group: Sullivan Lab

Major: MCD Biology (B.S.), Chemistry (B.A.)

Research: Mechanisms & Cell Biology of Wolbachia-Host Interactions

Presentations/ Internships/ Awards:

Santiago Salazar

Lab Group: Professor Lindsay Hinck Lab 

Major: Molecular, Cell, Developmental Biology

Research: SLIT expression is reduced in majority of cancers, establishing a correlation between SLIT and deregulated cell division. In the mammary gland, SLIT acts as a signaling molecule through ROBO receptors, ROBO1 and ROBO2. Preliminary data show that serial transplantation of Slit2-/-;Slit3-/- mammary gland tissue results in enhanced longevity. Moreover, we see the opposite effect in vitro, by treating mammospheres with SLIT2. Together these results suggest that SLIT functions as a non-renewal factor for mammary stem cells. Given these data, my project is to determine which receptor, ROBO1 or ROBO2, is responsible for SLIT signaling. My investigations in the Hinck lab will involve immunohistochemistry analysis and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Internships/Presentations/Awards:

TEMPORAL PATTERNS AND FUNCTIONAL REDUNDANCY IN MARINE BACTERIA. Santiago Salazar, Stephen Hatosy, Dr. Adam Martiny. 2010 Minority Science Programs (MSP) Bridges Symposium August 13, 2010. School of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine. Irvine , Ca. Oral Presentation.

SLIT/ROBO SIGNALING IN MAMMARY STEM CELLS. Santiago Salazar, Dr. Gwyndolen Harburg, Dr. Lindsay Hinck. University of California, Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz, Ca. 2011 Undergraduate Research Symposium June 2, 2011. University of California, Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz, Ca. Poster Presentation.

FLUORESCENCE RECOVERY AFTER PHOTOBLEACHING (FRAP) ANALYSIS SHOWS RPA PHOSPHORYLATION MODULATES RECRUITMENT OF THE TUMOR SUPPRESSOR PALB2.  Santiago Salazar, Michael Fitzgerald, Dr. Anar Murphy, Dr. James Borowiec. The Sackler Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY.  Leadership Alliance National Symposium, July 29 - 31, 2011. Hyatt Regency Greenwich, Old Greenwich, Connecticut. Oral Presentation.

IMMUNOFLUORESCENCE ANALYSIS OF PALB2 AND NBS1 HAS AN INCREASED RESPONSE TO GENOTOXIC STRESS. Santiago Salazar, Michael Fitzgerald, Dr. Anar Murphy, Dr. James Borowiec. NYU Summer Undergraduate Research Program Poster Presentation, August 5, 2011. The Sackler Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY. Poster Presentation.

2010 Bridges to Baccalaureate Summer Program at the UC Irvine School of Biological Sciences. June 7 - August 8, 2010.

Summer Undergraduate Research Program. The Sackler Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY.  June 5 - August 6, 2011.

CBSE Research Mentoring Institute Fellowship. University of California, Santa Cruz. January – June 2011.

2011 SURP Summer Research Early Identification Program (SR-EIP) Leadership Alliance affiliated student.

Abram Handly-Santana

MARC Fellow - Senior

Lab Group: Professor Phillip Crews Lab 

Major: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research: Isolating secondary metabolites from marine derived fungi with the aim of discovering novel compounds or derivatives with chemotherapeutic potential.

Presentations/ Internships/ Awards:

THE SEARCH FOR MITOTIC INHIBITORS FROM MARINE DERIVED FUNGI. Abram Handly-Santana, Wayne Inman, Walter Bray, Phillip Crews. The University of California Santa Cruz,

Abegail Tadle

MARC Fellow - Senior

Lab Group: Professor Pradip Mascharak Lab 

Major:  Chemistry

Research:  Prohibiting Growth of Candida Albicans using Nitric Oxide I make [Mn(Papy3)(NO)](ClO4) which is a three step synthesis. I encoat them in xerogels to make patches that I place on top of a solid agar medium with C.albicans inoculated. The Manganese complex is light activated so the agar plates are placed in light for x-hours and allow as much NO release. We observe how much C. albicans are eliminated in x-hours with x-amount of compound used.The reason the experiment is conducted is because C. albicans overgrowth can be very harmful for people especially to those who are immunocompromised.

Presentations/ Internships/ Awards:

WOLBACHIA, A NATURAL FORM OF INSECT PEST-CONTROL. Abegail Tadle, Annalyse Bigatti. The University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA. 2010