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Our next fall deadline is October 15, 2023 11:59pm PT. Apply today to lock in your spot!

10-session deep dive into a research topic of your choice

6-week research project with an expert and peers who share your passion

A career discovery experience with 3 expert mentors in your chosen fields

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The field of tissue
engineering and regenerative medicine has seen great advances in the last two
decades. The overall implementation of these synthesized structures is still
greatly limited, however. One of the major contributors to this stagnation is
the lack of functional vasculature within these structures. Given the role that
vasculature plays in the distribution of oxygen and nutrients within the body,
in vitro organs must also have this network of blood vessels to function
properly. Herein, we review state-of-the-art bioprinting techniques and propose
the best viable method amongst them for the creation of vascular structures.
The three methods we analyzed are extrusion-based, jetting-based, and
stereolithography. Information on specific bioinks and the overall process for
each method is provided, sourced from primary and secondary scientific
literature. While our findings indicated extrusion-based bioprinting is the
most popular bioprinting method used for printing vasculature, accounting for a
majority of the papers reviewed it was determined stereolithography bioprinting
holds the greatest potential in the creation of functional in vitro
vasculature. This decision was made given its high resolution, affordable cost,
and high cell viability percentage.  

Tissue Regeneration, Stem Cell Biology and Ethics, Cardiac Tissue Engineering

The Intricacies of Bioprinting Vascular Structures

Synthetic immunology is a field in which researchers to design constructs that will help T-cells in the immune system battle pathogens, such as cancer cells. This can take place using synthetic receptors for better recognition of pathogens so that T-cells can execute more precise functions in the body. In this project, I hope to write a literature review regarding papers in this field and have it be published in a journal. Additionally, I hope to have a blog where I talk about a subset of these papers geared towards the general public to help them better understand this field. After the completion of this project, I hope to have learned (a) more about the advancements in this field and how they can potentially impact future patients (b) how to read scientific literature (c) improve my scientific writing and (d) learning to present and explain papers. 

Cell signaling, cancer biology, mathematical modeling of biochemical networks, cancer immunotherapy

A compilation of information regarding the field of synthetic immunology

special interests in cardiovascular disease, eye disease, health policy, and innovations in medicine

Treatments and Prophylaxis of Covid-19 - A Literature Review

There are thousands of golf balls in the ocean and water hazards. These golf balls pose a major environmental risk as they degrade and release microplastics and chemicals into the water. Golf balls are likely ending up in natural water hazards around the world. However this problem has been documented and confirmed in the Carmel area of California along the coastline that Pebble Beach golf course and Cypress Point golf course border. Modern golf balls are made of a polyurethane elastomer shell typically filled with synthetic rubber. Chemicals such as zinc acrylate, zinc oxide, and benzoyl peroxide are added to the rubber core to add flexibility and durability. Zinc oxide and zinc acrylate are poisonous in marine environments and zinc oxide has been shown to create stress reactions in fish, crustaceans, and algae. 

The goal of this project is to create an autonomous robot to remove golf balls from water hazards. This robot could be modified to remove other types of plastic debris, however for now I will start with golf balls. The robot consists of a number of systems including a movement system, a buoyancy system, an intake system, and a control system. The movement system is responsible for the movement and navigation of the robot. The bouyancy system is responsible for the bouyancy of the robot, and ensuring that the robot has the appropriate bouyancy with a load of golf balls. The intake system is responsible for collecting golf balls, and the control system manages and coordinates all the systems of the robot.

This project is intended to create a system that is capable of removing golf balls from water hazards safely and efficiently. By removing golf balls from natural water hazards we are removing a substantial environmental threat. The robot also has the possibility of generating money for golf courses as they can sell collected golf balls. This provides incentive to use the robot to clean up water hazards.

Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotics

What an effective design for a robot to remove golf balls from the ocean/water hazards?

Robotics, Systems Engineering; Control Systems; Automation; Aerospace Engineering; Physics; Mechanical Engineering

Analysis of Aircraft Wing Design

I am looking to understand some of the ways life is abstracted, simulated, and measured quantitatively. I want to understand some of the math behind computational biology, including measuring properties related to life such as complexity, structure, and entropy. I hope to deliver a research paper, containing information I learned from other papers, as well as a summary of my own research through my simulation. My simulation will be a cellular automata, because it is simple to calculate and manipulate but very flexible. It is also easier to measure quantitatively, because this simulation consists of concentrations of various chemicals as a set of numbers in each cell. I will collect data in these simulations over time (generations), and with different setups: energy sources in one part of the grid and different sets of reactions. Hopefully complex structures are able to emerge from noise under these conditions. Here is the abstract:
The Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction is a family of oxidation reactions that exhibit an oscillating pattern. These reactions are of particular interest in studying life because they exhibit life-like properties, such as complexity, growth, and long-term stability. By researching these reactions, science hopes to uncover simple systems that may be similar to early forms of life on Earth. This paper presents a novel method of including energy gradients in the BZ reaction, and measures the resulting complexity of the reaction using local average entropy. The addition of an energy gradient is promising for studying the life-like properties of the BZ reaction, because energy gradients are present throughout nature and especially in living systems.

bioengineering, computational biology, computer science, physics, biology

Life Like Simulations Using Cellular Automata

Growth mindset is the concept that intelligence and abilities are not fixed traits, but they are something that can be grown through running towards difficulty and challenging yourself. In her work, Carol Dweck, a Stanford University psychologist and the founder of the concept of growth mindset, has shown that growth mindset is applicable to a variety of contexts, such as school, work, sport, and arts. Growth mindset has been extensively explored in laboratory contents, for example through games, stories, lectures, and workshops.  However, these materials often never leave the lab setting and are not created with the purpose of use in the real world. Given the known value of developing a growth mindset, there is a need to create research-backed stories, games, and other materials that can be used in children’s day-to-day lives. The creation of these materials also provides the opportunity to weave in concepts related to growth mindset. For example, cultural intelligence is the measure of a person’s ability to adapt to settings with people from different cultures to be able to communicate and collaborate efficiently with one another.

For this project, I will create a book full of stories utilizing metaphors about growth mindset to help children develop their own growth mindset and therefore improve outcomes in their life. The final stories have not been decided yet, but a possible story would be a child challenging themselves throughout the span of a week and as he or she challenges themselves something grows (e.g., plant, height, muscles) to represent the growth of their growth mindset as well as their cultural intelligence. I will also create an accompanying one pager about the research motivating these stories as well as a lesson plan with potential discussion questions for teachers to discuss with their students. The ultimate goal for this project is the use of these stories in schools.

developmental psychology, young children's social-emotional development, preschoolers' understanding of learning and teaching, and studying how children and teenagers learn from mistakes

Title: How to Grow your Growth Mindset

In the lives of modern children, television is a large component of their psychological development as their minds are the most impressionable. With television becoming increasingly aimed at younger viewers in modern day, it has given children incentive to choose their favorite TV programs over playing outdoors. But what effect do these shows and movies have on the youth, and their perception of themselves and the world around them? Many have already researched the impressionability of children, referring to them as “sponges” who absorb everything around them. Using this methodology, children are also absorbing everything that these programs are perpetuating, both good and bad. Media - like everything else in America - is controlled by the white population from producers to writers. These shows are written through the guise of white privilege and historical supremacy, which our youth is absorbing. Through basic observation you can follow a pattern through all major children’s programs: a white savior lead who can do no wrong, and minority sidekicks who all follow harmful racial stereotypes. Through extensive research I wanted to see where these stereotypes came from, how frequent they were in youth media and their effect on the youth’s development and social awareness. I studied several different television programs from a broad range of networks to classify how many different characters fell into popular racial stereotypical categories of the Black, Latinx and Asian communities. Extensively, I also researched the effect these characters would have on young viewers of the same racial identities, in terms of how they viewed themselves and how they fit into society. With the powerful effect of the media, it was clear that negative reflection of minorities was related to low self-esteem issues in younger children. These shows are presented to children as the perfect realities they should want to live in, but although impressionable, the youth of america is not stupid. Minority children have made the connection that in this idealistic world, they are not the main character. They are background characters who trip over themselves to make the white main character look better. We as a society need to recognize that although these programs are entertaining, they are mentally detrimental to our youth.

Psychology History, Poverty and education, Positive Psychology, Social Mobility, Health disparities, racial discrimination, wage gaps, adverse childhood experiences, child mental health, intersectionality, ADHD/ODD, social media

Research Question: How does the presence of racial stereotypes in popular TV Culture reflect the structure of society and negatively impact our youth?

Although the casual factors of diabetic nephropathy are well understood, it is not clear how these etiologies are associated with the histological abnormalities observed in the kidneys of diabetic patients. Griffin is very much interested in filling this knowledge gap. In the coming months, Griffin will familiarize himself with the anatomy and physiology of the kidney while simultaneously becoming well-versed in the various pathologies derived from diabetes. The ultimate goal is for Griffin to formulate a research question upon which he writes a proposal on how to provide an answer for that inquiry.

Cancer Metabolism, Impact of Nutrition on Disease, Toxicology

Connecting the Pathogenesis of Diabetic Nephropathy with Clinical Phenotype

Sakina's research has gotten her really excited about a few open questions in the CRISPR field right now that are in fact hot topics in academia as well. One is specificity: how scientists can control how likely a Cas protein is to accidentally edit an unintended site. Another is DNA repair: how the DNA repair proteins in a cell affect the outcome of the edit. She hopes to synthesize some of these ideas into a model that explains how Cas9 works while also conveying some of these key concepts. Importantly, she also wants her model to "unlock" things for others -- highlighting key concepts that may be particularly transformative for someone's understanding of this field.

neuroscience, stem cells, gene editing, CRISPR-Cas9

Factors affecting the efficiency and specificity of CRISPR gene editing?

The health of our atmosphere has displayed a steady decline following the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s. Since then, several new innovations, including but not limited to transportation, factories, cellular devices, and plastic have been major factors in the continuation of this trend. Consequently, much of the planet has experienced harsh, life threatening natural disasters, ranging from wildfires to heavy floods which has acted as evidence of the impact of this global disaster. However, those who are not impacted by such events are not aware that such incidences are occurring, and it is due to the actions of humans. Therefore, by examining the data from governmental organizations such as the EPA and the UN, as well as reports from major news outlets, it is evident that the complexity and scientific nature of the climate crisis makes it inaccessible to much of the public. Many are in search for research which utilizes broader aspects of the climate crisis, which are broader than science; these aspects include the media, government, and the public themselves. Hence, this paper devotes its attention to the portrayal of the climate crisis by the media, such as who is responsible, why one or two degrees matters, and how the public can help to mitigate the impacts. This paper aims to define climate change, its effects, and the role of media in the improvement or deterioration of this crisis; it further develops a connection with the public, allowing for the realization that climate change is not just the concern of large corporations, but the people as well.

Creative Writing (poetry/short story/novel-length fiction/creative nonfiction), International Studies, English Literature, Climate/Sustainability, International Relations

How does the media shape the public opinion on climate change and its effects

The goal of this project was to create a tool that anyone can use to understand just how many different factors there are that can affect our reaction to an artwork. By moving beyond your first impression of an art piece and taking the time to ask questions, you may uncover stories and details that can radically change your perspective on the work. This project provides examples of different types of questions and what information they can reveal about an artwork in order to encourage people to explore those lenses and enrich their understanding of any piece of art. I ended up fulfilling this goal through making my own website from scratch, with each type of perspective that I identified receiving its own page and a detailed analysis. Each circle on the home page represents a "lens", a specific perspective to explore an artwork through. Exploring each lens will give you its title, definition, an example of how this lens can be used to look at a specific piece of art, and questions to ask yourself about these topics. This website is not meant to tell you exactly how you must think about art, but to give examples of different ways of seeing. You are encouraged to combine these lenses, create your own, or to disregard the categories entirely. Think of the site as a toolbox rather than an authority—it is yours to use and explore as you wish. In the end, this project is meant to be a educational resource to inspire curious minds to think deeper about the artworks they interact with, and I hope to be able to spark a different type of appreciation for art in those who use my site.

Graphic design, data science, sustainability, participatory design, information design, sound design, film making, photography, creative writing, user experience design

Lenses

The largest whales have thousands of times more cells than do humans. Paired with long life spans, this should hypothetically increase the incidence of cancer proportionally as the probability of any single cell failing to perform a cellular function, such as apoptosis, increases. This has been observed in humans, where tissues with higher rates of cell division have experienced cancer at higher rates [1]. As is observed empirically, however, rates of cancer in whales are generally consistent if not lower than the rate of cancer in humans despite more cell division, while smaller organisms such as mice may experience incredibly high cancer incidence[2]. This trend of disproportionately low cancer rates in large organisms forms the basis of the trend known as Peto’s Paradox.

To investigate a potential novel explanation for this trend in whales, we will rely on observations and hypotheses of the functionality of the Warburg effect in humans to justify the role that 3 hypoxia-tolerant aspects of whale metabolism may play in reducing cancer risk and growth. Specifically, we will rely on observations of more efficient anaerobic and aerobic cell metabolism under hypoxic conditions as a capability of whales [3], the ability to rely on lipid and protein reserves as alternatives to glucose for energy [4], and specialized characteristics among hypoxia inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) enzymes in whales [5]. We will then discuss the ways that these specialized metabolic characteristics may limit first the ability of cancer to use carbon as a metabolic byproduct to duplicate [6], and secondly impede the ability of cancer to alter HIF-1 enzymes and force anaerobic energy production [7]. In doing so, this paper will provide the first instance of synthesizing information related to the Warburg Effect in humans and observed information regarding hypoxic metabolisms in Wales to form a comprehensive analysis of how whale’s fight cancer.

Evolution, Zoology, Genetics, Genomics, Cancer, Computational Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Marine Biology, Microbiology

Metabolism as a cancer-suppressive mechanism in whales

Students with neurodivergence have a tendency to struggle with academics and independent work. For example, children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been found to score lower on achievement tests (Frazier et al., 2007), while autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with a lack of motivation in academic tasks (Koegel, Singh, & Koegel, 2010). This long-term difficulty with the academic environment has never been sufficiently addressed and accommodations are lacking. In this paper, I will analyze which strategies most effectively support neurodivergent students’ (specifically, those with ADHD and ASD) independent work abilities. The three techniques that will be reviewed are the Pomodoro technique, parallel working aka body doubling, and mindfulness. The Pomodoro technique is a method developed to improve time management by doing work in manageable intervals separated by short breaks (pioneered in the 1990s by Francesco Cirillo). Body doubling is a method of working in which two individuals work on the same task side by side (based on the discovery of mirror neurons by Di Pellegrino et al., 1992). Mindfulness is the practice of reflecting on oneself and can be practiced before work to improve productivity (popularized in the Western world by practitioners such as Deepak Chopra and Jon Kabat-Zinn). By reviewing and synthesizing existing research from the fields of psychology and neurobiology, this paper will analyze the strengths and weaknesses of these existing strategies to inform the best learning methodology for neurodivergent students. This research will support neurodivergent students in their academic endeavors by determining how and why these methods work for them.

developmental psychology, early cognitive development, early language acquisition, gesture and communication, theater and performance studies

Optimizing strategies to support neurodivergent students’ independent work abilities

Snowfall in Texas, floods in China, and heat waves in Europe are indicators of anthropogenic climate change. Substituting fossil fuels with renewable forms of energy will reduce emissions and therefore reduce warming. Over the last few decades we have made progress towards this goal. Different forms of energy-wind, solar, and biogas-all represent low-emission alternatives to fossil fuels. Here, we analyze how the use of different sources of energy (renewable versus different forms of fossil fuels), in various proportions, can affect annual global mean air temperatures. It seeks to answer the question-how can using renewable resources limit the global mean temperature change to under 2 degree celsius. 
 

Climate science, geology, oceanography, limnology, environmental chemistry, paleoclimate / paleoceanography

A Model to Analyze the Impact of CO2 Emissions on Global Temperature Change

This project will be a guide for people in late high school through college who are interested in becoming a therapist.  The guide will be in a "magazine" format.  It will include information on the different types of therapists, the different degrees you need, and what each type of therapy looks like. It will also have information about things to study in college and experiences that would be helpful to move them towards being a therapist.

Psychology, Public Health, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Neurodevelopment Disabilities, Access to Mental Health Services

What information should be known when looking into becoming a Therapist

Nicotine addiction has been a problem in the US since ___ and has contributed to increased rates of lung cancer. ___% of the US population is currently addicted to nicotine, and yet, there are no viable treatment options that work to subside symptoms greatly. While over half of adult smokers will attempt to quit in their lifetime, only (%) actually succeed. Understanding the brain changes associated with nicotine use is crucial to better support those who have the means to quit, but in the end, are unsuccessful. When attempting to quit, nicotine users can experience sometimes severe withdrawal systems, including irritability, difficulty concentrating and more. In order to understand what causes people to become so dependent on nicotine, we need to better understand how the brain’s reward pathway works, and more specifically, how the dopamine system changes with routine nicotine use. Once we gain this understanding in the field, we will be able to find better methods to treat nicotine addiction.

Neuroscience, Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Learning & Memory, Biology, Pharmacology, Molecular Biology, Sleep

Understanding nicotine addiction and dependence

Using two urban centers which are diverse in location and demographics as case studies, identify which influences (including, but not limited to social, psychological, economic, environmental, operational) were most important for increasing the percentage of trips taken through sustainable transportation. Proposals for changes to other urban centers will be identified for the most impactful influences. These findings will be summarized in a research paper which will be submitted to an online journal with a summary graphic as part of the abstract. The journal chosen will be decided on at a later date. 

Environmental Engineering, Air Quality and Atmospheric Chemistry, Sustainability, Environmental Chemistry, Environmental Justice

What are the influences in a sustainable urban center that increased the percentage of trips taken through sustainable transportation?

To accurately diagnose Parkinson's Disease using image data, we are going to gather datasets from PPMI and BioFIND. The data will be plugged into a Convolutional Neural Network as that has been found to have the highest accuracy with regard to image data. PPMI and BioFIND both have thorough quantitative data and image data, so it is possible to make a second model that processes quantitative data. Therefore, the user is given the ability to chose which type of data they would find easiest to input.

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