Graduation with Distinction in Biology

Ayham Abdel, The effects of 1,2-Propanediol on early development of Dayton Grogan, Exploring the nature of drug resistance in C. neoformans
zebrafish (Danio rerio) (Dr. Richard Di Giulio, Nicholas School of the via the FKS1 (1,3)-ß-D-glucan synthase (Dr. Andrew Alspaugh,
Environment) Departments of Medicine and Molecular Genetics and Microbiology)

Robin Michelle Blazing, A neural mechanism for re-learning: The role of Lilly Gu, Discovery of a potent chemical inhibitor of mast cell
LMAN in zebra finch song pitch recovery (Dr. Richard Mooney, degranulation (Dr. Soman Abraham, Department of Pathology)
Department of Neurobiology)
Ryan Henry Guzman, Insights into the genetic basis of early-life
Kristen Buehne, Building Biomaterials: Controlling the self-assembly of starvation-induced germline tumorigenesis in C. elegans (Dr. Ryan Baugh,
polypeptides through linkers and post-translational modifications (Dr. Department of Biology)
Ashutosh Chilkoti, Department of Biomedical Engineering)
Emily Helen Hardgrove, Transfer of Cryptosporidium between mice and
Min Tong (Tannya) Cai, A cortico-striatal pathway in self-stimulation (Dr. lemurs at the Duke Lemur Center (Dr. Anne Yoder, Department of Biology)
Henry Yin, Department of Psychology)
Madison Harman, Adverse effects of climate change induced salinity
Tim Campbell, Interactions of a secreted Pseudomonas aeruginosa increases on freshwater Biomphalaria snails could reduce Schistosomiasis
aminopeptidase with bacterial outer membrane molecules: Characterization infections in humans (Dr. Erika Deinert, Department of Biology)
and implications for bacterial pathogenic phenotypes (Dr. Meta Kuehn,
Department of Biochemistry) Jessica Huang Hennacy, Examining the role of SCHENGEN3 in
Arabidopsis endodermal trans-differentiation (Dr. Philip Benfey,
Alison Chan, Retinal ganglion cell layer as a biomarker of Alzheimer's Department of Biology)
disease: Evaluation of retinal imaging and pathology (Dr. Eleonora Lad,
Department of Ophthalmology) Rosemary Hinson, Growth effects of fungal endophytes interacting in a
shared host: An initial assessment in the model liverwort Marchantia
Rebecca Chen, Genotyping SNPs to investigate association with cranial polymorpha (Dr. A. Jonathan Shaw, Department of Biology)
and spinal neural tube defects in human cohorts (Dr. Allison Ashley-Koch,
Department of Medicine) Noelani Ho, Understanding the chondrocyte mechanome to identify
therapeutic targets for joint diseases (Dr. Amy McNulty, Departments of
*Kimberline Chew, Centromere protein composition and modulation in Orthopaedic Surgery and Pathology)
patient derived and experimentally produced dicentric chromosomes (Dr.
Beth Sullivan, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology) Nathaniel Wade Hubbs, A study on the induction of torpor in the western
fat-tailed dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus medius) (Dr. Peter Klopfer,
*Hellen Chiou, Investigation of the molecular mechanisms required for cell Department of Biology)
sheet morphogenesis using a forward genetic screen in Drosophila dorsal
closure (Dr. Daniel P. Kiehart, Departments of Biology and Cell Biology) *Samantha Huff, Age of maturity of Pacific bluefin tuna (Drs. Andre
Boustany & Andy Read, Marine Geospatial Ecology lab)
Erin Choe, Neural correlates of goal priming in anxious and
depressed individuals: Are there cumulative effects? (Dr. Timothy *Anthony Hung, Identification of genetic loci involved in starvation
Strauman, Department of Psychology & Neuroscience) tolerance through next-generation sequencing (Dr. L. Ryan Baugh,
Department of Biology)
Rebecca N. Culver, The design, synthesis, and evaluation of an
oxazolidinone-based, RNA-targeted small molecule library (Dr. Amanda *Rachel Hurst, Identifying and characterizing novel bacterial pathogens of
Hargrove, Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry) Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans (Dr. Eric Spana, Department of
Biology)
Stephen DiMaria, Investigating the role of the MYB7 transcription factor
in the evolution of novel morphologies (Dr. Mark Rausher, Department of Morgan Irons, The development of ecological and environmental
Biology) mechanisms to drive primary succession in the establishment of a closed
ecological system on Mars (Dr. Justin Wright, Department of Biology)
Ayooluwa Douglas, Variable neutralization sensitivity of infant
transmitted/founder HIV viruses and maternal non-transmitted viruses to Kavita Jain, Bite into this: An analysis of jaw muscle architecture and its
paired maternal plasma neutralizing responses (Dr. Sallie Permar, relation to performance (Dr. Christine Wall, Department of Evolutionary
Department of Immunology; Duke Human Vaccine Institute) Anthropology)

Rory Eggleston, An analysis of avian diversity in western Waorani territory David Alexander Jett, Bladder outlet obstruction mediates muscarinic
using indigenous habitat designations (Dr. Stuart Pimm, Nicholas School of acetylcholine receptor expression in the urothelial layer (Drs. J. Todd
the Environment) Purves & Monty Hughes, Department of Surgery)

Jackson Floum, Exploration of unmanned aircraft systems disturbance in a Simon Jiang, Generation of a chimeric antigen receptor against T cell
coastal environment (Dr. Douglas Nowacek, Nicholas School of the cancer (Dr. Weiguo Zhang, Department of Immunology)
Environment, Duke Marine Lab)
James Wheeler Johnson, Muscle contraction alters hemicentin dynamics at
Jemi Galani, The effect of the TPS1 enzyme on virulence of Cryptococcus the B-LINK: A newly identified basement membrane adhesion system that
neoformans (Dr. John Perfect, Department of Medicine/Division of connects tissues (Dr. David Sherwood, Department of Biology)
Infectious Diseases)
Shaq Junaid, Interactions between benzo(a)pyrene and nicotine in
Shivee Gilja, E-cadherin overexpression in sarcomas leads to anoikis neurotoxicology (Dr. Ed Levin, Department of Pharmacology and Cancer
sensitivity mediated by CREB and TBX2 (Dr. Jason Somarelli, Department Biology)
of Medicine and the Duke Cancer Institute)
*Alcida Karz, DDR1, DDR2-Abl2 signaling axis in breast cancer cell Madison Ann Rogers, Potential debilitating mutations in candidate clock
tumorigenicity and chemoresistance (Dr. Ann Marie Pendergast, genes driving the erythrocytic cycle of lab-adapted Plasmodium Falciparum
Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology) strains (Dr. Gregory Wray, Department of Biology; Duke Center for
Genomic and Computational Biology)
Samantha Kisare, 3D printed models reveal morphological features that
cue mantis shrimp strike locations (Dr. Sheila Patek, Department of Kyle Roter, Knockout of cell-cycle inhibitor p27KIP1 leads to a decrease in
Biology) the threshold of Rb/E2F activation necessary for proliferation (Dr. Bernard
Mathey-Prevot, Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology)
Madison K. Krischak, Quantitative proteomic analysis of EGFR signaling
in glioblastoma using Reverse Phase Protein Arrays (Dr. Madan Kwatra, Cristina A. Salinas, Clearance of cutaneous bacterial infections by a wasp
Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology) venom peptide (Dr. Soman Abraham, Department of Pathology)

Benjamin Kroger, Characterizing the role of macrophages in tumor George Schieder IV, Germination responses to vegetation in maternal and
recurrence: First signs of possible dormant cancer cell-induced M2 progeny environments (Dr. Kathleen Donohue, Department of Biology)
activation (Dr. James Alvarez, Department of Pharmacology and Cancer
Biology) Timothy Shu, The molecular basis of resistance to targeted therapy in
recurrent HER2 breast cancers (Dr. James Alvarez, Department of
Mitchell Lee, Designing a genetic toggle switch for E. coli that uses Pharmacology and Cancer Biology)
sequestration of a eukaryotic repressor as a mechanism for ultrasensitivity
(Dr. Nicolas Buchler, Department of Biology) Lauren Sibley, Making a mouth: Elucidating morphogenetic events of
mouth development in the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus (Dr. David
*Kellie D. LeVine, Modeling Cartilage-Hair Hypoplasia in zebrafish McClay, Department of Biology)
through modulation of the RMRP locus (Dr. Erica E. Davis, Department of
Cell Biology) Keaton Stoner, Intra-source and inter-source variability of cryoprecipitate
dose-response on in vitro clot formation (Dr. Ian Welsby, Department of
Joy Li, Silencing of p63 in esophageal submucosal glands using lentiviral Anesthesiology/Division of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology)
transduction (Dr. Katherine Garman, Department of Medicine)
Melody Su, Cytomegalovirus diversity in glycoprotein B subunit vaccinees
Kathryn Loftus, The top-down effects of keystone grazers on benthic and placebo recipients (Dr. Sallie Permar, Department of Pediatrics)
macro algae in eastern salt marshes (Dr. Brian Silliman, Nicholas School of
the Environment, Duke Marine Lab) Shalini Subbarao, Modeling and morphometric analysis of striatal D2
medium spiny neurons in dopamine transporter knockout (DAT-KO) mice
Donovan Loh, Parasite-induced behavior modification to the circatidal (Dr. Marc Caron, Department of Cell Biology)
rhythm of the Atlantic Mole Crab, Emerita talpoida (Dr. Thomas Schultz,
Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke Marine Lab) Elizabeth Tsui, Understanding drug resistance in B-Raf mutant melanoma:
Transcription factor c-Myc as a novel common effector of diverse resistance
Jade Lu, Patterns of symbiotic associations between Peltigera and Nostoc pathways (Dr. Kris Wood, Department of Pharmacology and Cancer
along a latitudinal transect crossing the circumboreal belt (Dr. Francois Biology)
Lutzoni, Department of Biology)
*Brittany Wenger, Biomarker discovery in host response to viral infectious
Sweet Hope Mapatano, Male hormone may be important in the efficacy of disease (Drs. Ashlee Valente & Geoff Ginsburg, Center for Applied
Pompe gene therapy (Dr. Dwight Koeberl, Department of Pediatrics) Genomics & Precision Medicine)

Ryan Meingasner, The role of G9a in the recurrence of Her2+ breast Maggie Xing, From Local to Global: The role of Ect2 and Rho in the long-
cancer (Dr. James Alvarez, Department of Pharmacology and Cancer range coordination between the cell cycle and the cytoskeleton in
Biology) Drosophila development (Dr. Stefano Di Talia, Department of Cell Biology)

Evan Martin Murray, Mxi1 and Mxi0 create a feedback loop with N-Myc Aiwei Yan, Generation of recombinant antibodies for Ebola diagnostics
in neuroblastoma (Dr. Michael Armstrong, Department of Pediatrics) (Dr. Michael D. Gunn, Department of Immunology)

Quang Nguyen, Distinct SIV envelope gp120 and gp41-specific IgG Catherine Y. Yip, The application of collateral sensitivity to EGFR-mutant
antibody responses in SIV-infected African Green and Rhesus Monkeys lung cancer (Dr. Kris Wood, Department of Pharmacology and Cancer
(Dr. Sallie Permar, Department of Pediatrics) Biology)

Sarah Nuss, Olfactory receptor neuron connection specificity in Drosophila Cassie Jiayi Yuan, Elongating the HIV-1 TAR RNA bulge to seven
melanogaster (Dr. Pelin Volkan, Department of Neurobiology) uridines increases interhelical motions (Dr. Hashim Al-Hashimi,
Department of Biochemistry)
Caitlin Penny, Polymorphic variants of Fc receptors and antibodies derived
from humans and rhesus macaques exhibit differential binding (Dr. Tony Lijia Zhang, Very high levels of misincorporated ribonucleotides increase
Moody, Department of Immunology) Topoisomerase-1 related genome alterations (Dr. Thomas Petes,
Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology)
*Yasminye D. Pettway, Carnitine acetyltransferase deficiency promotes
lysine acetylation and alters the mitochondrial unfolded protein response Alexander Zhu, Mapping lethal mutations that may correlate with a wg
(Dr. Deborah Muoio, Duke Molecular Physiology Institute; Departments of suppressor mutation (Dr. Amy Bejsovec, Department of Biology)
Medicine and Pharmacology and Cancer Biology)

*High Distinction