The 2017 STARS Summer Research Program for Students included 52 students from Dallas-Fort Worth and surrounding areas. This eight-week program gave students an opportunity to work side-by-side with a faculty host in a research laboratory. It consisted of activities, seminars, and an individualized research project that contributed to the advancement of science. The students were able to showcase and share these advancements during the end-of-program scientific poster session.

Katelyn Abel
JP II High School
Mentor: Zhao Wang, Ph.D.
Angiotensin II Induced Cardiac Hypertrophy in Neonatal Rat Ventricular Myocytes

Meheret Adera
Harmony Science Academy
Mentor: Xun Jia, Ph.D.
Effect of Patient Size on Scatter-to-Primary Ratio in Cone Beam CT

Mahima Akula
Greenhill School
Mentor: Sherwood Brown, M.D., Ph.D.
The Relationship Between Asthma and Depression in Community Based Sample

Joy Aniede
Rowlett High School
Mentor: Chun-Li Zhang, Ph.D.
Nucleocytoplasmic Transport in Aging and Neurodegenerative Disorders

Katherine Casey
Flower Mound High School
Mentor: Helen Lai, Ph.D.
Motor Neurons Involved in Fine Motor Control Are a Source of Corollary Discharge

David Padron-Castillo
School of Science & Engineering at Townview
Mentor: Xiankai Sun, Ph.D.
HPLC/MS Quantification Method for Determination of Binding Affinity of T807 and Tau

Chastity Chavez
Irma Rangel YWLS
Mentor: Jacques Lux, Ph.D.
Detection of Inflammation with Ultrasound Using Enzyme-Loaded Particles

Jeff Cherian
Sunnyvale High School
Mentor: Matthew Lewis, Ph.D.
Spectral CT Radiomics: Exploring the Feasibility of Classifying Lung Abnormalities Through Segmented ROI Computational Analysis and Information Theory

Caroline Cummings
Richardson High School
Mentor: Jenny Hsieh, Ph.D.
REST Knockout Promotes Aberrant Differentiation of Immature Neurons

Ritika Dendi
Hockaday School
Mentor: Kim Orth, Ph.D.
Mediated Transformation as an Efficient Tool for Fungal Genomics

Akshay Durvasula
Flower Mound High School
Mentor: Yingfei Wang, Ph.D.
Role of PAAN In General Traumatic Brain Injury

Michael Eboh
Timberview High School
Mentor: Weibo Luo, Ph.D.
Expression and Purification of GST-MYND Protein in E. Coli

Morgan Ezell
Byron Nelson High School
Mentor: Kevin Williams, Ph.D.
C-fos Immunohistochemistry Used to Detect POMC Neuron Activity in Response to Adipokines

Gabrielle Gard
Ursuline Academy of Dallas
Mentor: Rashmin Savani, M.D.
The Role of CD44 in Neonatal Inflammation after Hyperoxia Injury

Benjamin Gitzinger
JP II High School
Mentor: Jacqueline Gallet, Ph.D.
Phantom of the Ultrasound: Evaluating Ultrasound Elastography Through Studies on Phantoms

Dustin Heitman
Midlothian Heritage High School
Mentor: Mark Henkemeyer, Ph.D.
Neural Activation in the Brain Following Exposure of Mice to a Sound-Cued Learning Paradigm: Involvement of EphB Receptor Tyrosine Kinases

Peter Hundley
Jesuit College Preparatory
Mentor: Joel Goodman, Ph.D.
Is there a Perilipin in Yeast That is Specific for Steryl Ester-Containing Lipid Droplets?

Hannah Ismail
Duncanville High School
Mentor: Roger Rosenberg, M.D.
Tau and Amyloid-β42(Aβ42) Oligomers in an in Vivo Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

Andrew Kan
Lamar High School
Mentor: Wei Xu, Ph.D.
The Roles of Hippocampal Neuronal Subpopulations in Psychosis

Anvita Kandru
Coppell High School
Mentor: James Brugarolas, M.D., Ph.D.
cGAMP as a Potential Therapy for Renal Cell Carcinoma

Michael Kavas
Woodrow Wilson High School
Mentor: Rajiv Chopra, Ph.D.
Design of Lab Robot and Software for Dosing Studies

Aakash Kothari
Jack E. Singley Academy
Mentor: Chen Liu, Ph.D.
Identification of Unique Transcriptional Regulators in Specific Hypothalamic Feeding Neurons

Ramon Lopez
School for the Talented and Gifted at Townview
Mentor: Sunita Stewart, Ph.D.
Differential Contributions of Depressive Symptoms to Suicide Ideation

Mariana Martinez
MacArthur High School
Mentor: Ben Tu, Ph.D.
Protein Aggregation under Different Metabolic States in Budding Yeast

Wesley McDonald
Harmony School of Nature
Mentor: Esra Akbay, Ph.D.
Characterization of NKG2D Ligand Expression in Kras Mutant Lung Cancers

Cinthya Meza
Irma Rangel YWLS
Mentor: Phil Shaul, M.D.
Effect of Loss of Adipocyte SR-BI on Circulating Levels of Adiponectin in Mice

Cindy Ngo
Wylie High School
Mentor: Matthias Wolf, M.D.
How Does Klotho Overexpression Improve Uromodulin-Associated Kidney Disease?

Darien Nguyen
Irving High School
Mentor: Ivan D'Orso, Ph.D.
The ZASC1/ZNF639 Protein Interacts with the KAP1/TRIM28 Transcription Factor to Potentially Facilitate Gene Activation

Trevor Nguyen
McKinney Boyd High School
Mentor: Genevieve Konopka, Ph.D.
The NR1D1/2-CLOCK Transcriptional Hierarchy in Human Neurons

Randy Nguyen
Poteet High School
Mentor: Raksha Jain, M.D.
Understanding the Effect of Estrogen on Neutrophil Apoptosis in Cystic Fibrosis

Samaya Pattim
Lone Star High School
Mentor: Asaithamby Aroumougame, Ph.D.
The Involvement of DNA Double Strand Break (DSB) Repair Pathways in the Processing of Carbon Particle Induced DNA DSBs

Sorin Pena
Haltom High School
Mentor: Ram Mani, Ph.D.
The Role of dBET-1 in Prostate Cancer Cell Proliferation

Jackson Petroll
Jesuit College Preparatory
Mentor: Gaudenz Danuser, Ph.D.
Use of Blender for 3D Visualization of Blebbing Cell Migration

Joanna Quan
Greenhill School
Mentor: Jennifer Kohler, Ph.D.
The Effects of ABO Blood Types on Cholera Toxin B Binding

Danielle Ramos
South Grand Prairie High School
Mentors: David Corey, Ph.D.
Investigation of RNA Foci in Correlation with Fuchs’ Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy

Courtney Rawitscher
Greenhill School
Mentor: Joachim Herz, M.D. and Shirling Tsai, M.D.
Generation of a Y63F Point Mutation in the LRP1 Cytoplasmic Domain

Mariana Rios
Stephenville High School
Mentor: Dean Smith, M.D., Ph.D.
Mechanisms of DEET Repellency in Drosophila

Jasmine Rodriguez
Booker T. Washington HSPVA
Mentor: Todd Roberts, Ph.D.
Identifying the Effects of Temperature on Virus-Host Relationships

Emily Stein
Hockaday School
Mentor: Kathryn O'Donnell, Ph.D.
Dissecting the Role of PCDH7, an Oncogenic Cell Surface Receptor, in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Yukta Sunkara
North Hills Preparatory
Mentor: Matt Petroll, Ph.D.
Impact of Growth Factors and Topography on Corneal Fibroblast Migration Patterns

Varshini Suresh
Coppell High School
Mentor: Ganesh Raj, M.D., Ph.D.
Protein Expression in the Detection of Autophagy in Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Sasha Thomas
School of Science & Engineering at Townview
Mentor: Vitaly Margulis, M.D.
Effect of Truncated Integrin αV on Integrin Signaling in Renal Cell Carcinoma

Connor Thomas
Jesuit College Preparatory
Mentor: Mike Henne, Ph.D.
Investigating the Link between Inter-Organelle Contact Sites and Aging in Yeast

Miriam Trigo
Irving High School
Mentor: Charlie Khemtong, Ph.D.
Substrate Competition in Perfused Rat Kidneys: Pyruvate vs Fat

Ritu Trivedi
Plano West High School
Mentor: Nancy Monson, Ph.D.
Antibodies from High-risk Multiple Sclerosis Patients Bind to the Brain

Alexandra Vernino
Ursuline Academy of Dallas
Mentor: Peter Tsai, M.D., Ph.D.
Critical Period for Cerebellar Cell Loss in an Autism Mouse Model

Abdi Wakene
Harmony School of Innovation
Mentor: Rajiv Chopra, Ph.D.
Robot Arm Modification to Optimize Heat Induction and Eliminate Biofilms

Nicholas Wilson
Jesuit College Preparatory
Mentor: Chao Xing, Ph.D.
Replicating Results of a Genetic Association Study: TCF4 CTG18.1 Repeat Expansion and FECD

Michael Xie
Highland Park High School
Mentor: Dominika Borek, Ph.D.
Crystallization and Preliminary Studies of RuvB, Holliday Junction ATPase

Jonathan Yang
Plano Senior High School
Mentor: Melanie Cobb, Ph.D.
The Effects of the Bacterial Natural Product Chromomycin A2 on Insulin Secretion from Pancreatic Islet Beta Cells

Zuhair Zaidi
Brighter Horizons Academy
Mentor: Helmut Kramer, Ph.D.
Phosphatases Responsible for Regulating Acinus Stability and Function

Sharon Zhang
Hockaday School
Mentor: Madhukar H. Trivedi, M.D.
Association between Measures of Resilience and Gender in College Students