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2007-2008 Presidential and Boeing Scholars
Presidential Scholars
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Alevtina Gall
Research Faculty
Mentor: Professor Kevin B. Urdahl
School of
Medicine/Pediatrics-Division of Infectious Diseases
Research Project
Title---Does the Suppressive Function of Regulatory T cells
Contribute to the Establishment of Persistent Mycobacteria
tuberculosis Infection?
Tina is a fifth year senior majoring in Cell, Molecular and
Developmental Biology and International Studies. Her research
interests include immunology of infectious diseases and health and
politics in Africa. Most recently she spent five months conducting
research at the Medical Research Council in The Gambia, West Africa
studying immune responses to infection with the ocular strain of
Chlamydia trachomatis. Currently she is working in the laboratory
of Dr. Kevin Urdhal and studying the role of a specific subset of
immune cells to infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. She
hopes to combine her passion for immunology and international
health by pursuing an MD/PhD degree and devote her career to
serving neglected communities in the United States and abroad.
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Ismenia Gaviria
Research Faculty
Mentor: Professor Sarah Bryant-Bertail
School of Drama
Research Project
Title---“Resistiendo el Secuestro” Performing resistance to
kidnappings, through normativity, in contemporary Colombia.
Ismenia is a senior double majoring in Drama and Spanish. Her
major research interests include U.S theatre and performance,
performance and politics, cultural studies, and Latin American and
Caribbean literature. Most recently, she spent her summer at
Columbia University researching and analyzing contemporary
adaptations of William Shakespeare's Macbeth. Ismenia plans on
pursuing a Ph.D. in performance studies. |
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Rachel Gillum
Research Faculty
Mentor: Professor Anthony Gill
Department of
Political Science
Research Project
Title---Allies or adversaries?: an examination of anti-American
sentiment in Turkey and Iran
Rachel Gillum is a senior pursing a Bachelor
of Arts degree in Political Science. Rachel’s research interests,
broadly defined, focus on the Middle East and American Foreign
policy. In the fall of 2006, Rachel completed an internship at the
Department of Defense Near East South Asia (NESA) Center in
Washington D.C. In an environment similar to that of a think-tank,
she was able to work with NESA professors, government officials and
security specialists from around the world as a research assistant
as well as participate in various seminars and roundtables
analyzing foreign policy issues. In the summer of 2007, Rachel
completed the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute at Duke University,
sponsored by the American Political Science Association (APSA). At
Duke, she took graduate courses in political science, quantitative
methods, and statistical analysis. Rachel later presented the
paper she produced at Duke, related to the question of democracy in
the Middle East, at the 2007 APSA Conference in Chicago. For her
honors senior thesis, Rachel is currently looking at Turkish and
Iranian public opinion and anti-Americanism. Rachel is a member of
Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society, and
has maintained Dean’s List status during her time at the University
of Washington. Rachel hopes to obtain a Ph.D. in Political Science
at a major research institution.
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Adam Hamilton
Research Faculty
Mentor: Professor Laura Chrisman
Department of
English
Research Project
Title--- The Red Question: Exploring Wright’s and Ellison’s Black
Marxist Literary Aesthetic
An active spoken word poet, Adam Hamilton has always made words
his
primary mode of expression. Now, Adam spear-heads the editing
process
of interSections 2007 and 2008, an on-campus literary journal, and
tackles textual semiotics in critical theory. Adam seeks to
integrate
philosophical argumentation, literary analysis, and the history of
ideas in his academic career. After graduating from all three
majors
this June (Phil, Engl, and CHID), Adam plans to go on an
international
mission for his church and embark on a rigorous PhD program in
critical theory upon his return.
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Vi L.Nhan
Research Faculty
Mentor: Professor Susan H. Whiting
Department of
Political Science
Research Project Title--- Press Openness in China: A
Comparative Analysis of Newspaper Coverage of Labor Disputes
Vi is a senior double majoring in Political Science and
International Studies, focusing on China studies and Foreign
Policy. In the near future, she plans to obtain a degree in
International Affairs. Her primary career goals are to work in the
field of international public policy and, later on, the field of
academia. Originally from China, her family spent the past several
generations in Vietnam but now resides in the States. She speaks
some Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and some very, very
elementary Arabic. Her interest in the interactions of cultures
allows her to immerse in diverse cultures and countries in her
travels. She spent two quarters abroad in Morocco and South Africa
taking classes on history and cultures of the host countries and
interning with a South African governmental department on substance
abuse issues. Her many academic interests include the legacy of
colonialism, especially colonial languages, history and
relationships of traditionally disadvantaged regions of the world,
the politics and recent economic ascent of China, and visual street
propagandas in China and Vietnam. She is a Gates Millennium
Scholar, a UNCF Institute for International Public Policy fellow,
and has been honored on the Dean's List. She is also involved with
the Jackson School Student Association as the VP for Academic
Affairs.
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Josephine("Josie") Quitugua
Research Faculty
Mentor: Professor Susan Brockerhoff; Professor Owen Lawrence;
Professor Alaron Lewis.
Department of
Biochemistry
Research Project Title---Cloning of Fluorescent Proteins for
Expression in the Retina
Josie is a senior pursuing a Bachelor of
Science degree in Psychology. Her passion for service and
improving the health of others has a large impact upon her dream of
becoming a doctor. Biomedical research has taught her the value
and importance of continuously exhibiting a high level of
motivation in patient care and improving the lives of others, of
being an active participant in her community, and of continuously
asking questions and actively investigating ways to progress toward
a brighter future in healthcare. This past summer, Josie was
selected to perform research through the Stipends for Training
Aspiring Researchers (STAR) Program. A Mary Gates Leadership
Scholar and an EOP Endowed Recognition Scholar, Josie’s research
interest primarily lies in improving eye health. Through the
mentorships of Dr. Susan Brockerhoff and Dr. Owen Lawrence, she has
studied the phosphodiesterase 6 (pde6c -/-) mutation, which
disrupts the phototransduction cascade and energy metabolism.
Josie continues to do ophthalmologic research in the Brockerhoff
lab through gene cloning of fluorescent proteins and subsequently
inserting them into zebrafish embryos containing these mutations in
order to visualize cone photoreceptor cell death. Through her
experiences as a volunteer at the Refractive Eye Surgery Center,
the president of the Micronesian Islands Club, a mentor through the
Pacific Islanders Partnership in Education program and OMA, a
student liaison to the UW Diversity Council and the OMA Student
Advisory Board, and the treasurer of the Minority Association of
Pre-Health Students, Josie has truly learned the strong need to
raise awareness regarding health education and promote increased
educational and healthcare opportunities among minority and
underserved communities.
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Michael Albert
Schuleze-Oechtering
Research Faculty
Mentor: Professor Enrique (Rick) Bonus
Department of
American Ethnic Studies
Research
Project Title---Fighting for Transnational Justice: The Activism of
the Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP)
Michael Schulze-Oechtering is a double major
in American Ethnic Studies and History. For the past three year
Michael has been a mentor and co-director of the EMPOWER Program at
the University of Washington. EMPOWER is an outreach program that
engages high school juniors and seniors in discussions of social
justice while helping them apply to college. Michael has also been
an active member in MEChA de UW, serving as recruitment officer,
high school outreach officer, and political education officer. A
community organization Michael is a part of is the People’s
Institute for Survival and Beyond. His work with the People’s
Institute revolves around community organizing work in Seattle
geared toward undoing racism. Michael’s main research interest is
studying the history of people of color in the United States,
particularly their history of struggling for justice. Other
research interests that Michael has are the Philippine Diaspora,
revolutionary international solidarity, post-colonial studies, the
repression of political activists, the role of art in social
justice movements, and the culture of US imperialism. |
Boeing
Scholars
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Susan Massey
Research Faculty
Mentor: Professor Kristin Rae Swanson
Department of
Pathology
Research Project
Title---Parameter Sensitivity Investigation of a Mathematical Model
of Glioma Tumorigenesis Mediated by Platelet-Derived Growth Factor
Susan is a fifth year student working toward
her B.S. in Mathematics. While she enjoys math, she desires to
apply her acquired skills in logic and problem solving to studying
neurological disorders. Susan has worked with children having
special needs through Seattle Parks and Recreation Specialized
Programs for 2 years, as a summer camp counselor and supervising
teens with higher levels of functioning on outings once a month
during the school year. Having thus gained perspective on the more
human side of disorders such as autism, she hopes to use her
passion for science research to investigate causes and
interventions for pediatric neurological disorders, as well as put
them into practice, by pursuing an MD/PhD degree. Additionally,
Susan hopes to teach and pass on the insight she gained from taking
part in doctor-patient-family interactions while caring for her
mother and 10 year old brother throughout her mother’s bone marrow
transplant (and the associated work-up and follow-up) during the
2005-06 school year. In spring of 2007, Susan did research under
Dr. Stephanie J. Lee, at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center,
investigating the effectiveness of comprehensive follow up visits
one year post bone marrow transplantation at Seattle Cancer Care
Alliance. This past summer, she was an Amgen Scholar and worked in
the lab of Professor Kristin Swanson, developing a mathematical
model for glioma growth and tumorigenesis mediated by
platelet-derived growth factor in rat models. She continues to work
in the Swanson lab, further refining the model and using new ways
for testing the sensitivity of the model. Outside of school, Susan
enjoys reading, music, hiking, contemplating the wonders of life,
and performing with Clean Slate Improv.
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Rosalie McGurk
Research Faculty
Mentor: Professor Zeljko Ivezic
Department of
Astronomy
Research Project
Title---Developing Automatic Methods for Measuring Metallicities
from Stellar Spectra
Rosalie had always
wanted to be some type of scientist, but when she discovered
astronomy at an observatory on the East Coast a few years ago and
did some research, everything became clear: ASTRONOMY RULES!!!
Since she has done research every year and two summer internships.
She is now a junior double-majoring in Astronomy and Physics. Her
main research project is breaking down the spectra of stars into
major components and attempting to find correlations between the
strength of those components with physical properties such as
metallicity, pressure, and color. Her view on life is summarized
by the following quote from Eden Phillpotts: "The universe is full
of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper."
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Laura Pina
Research Faculty
Mentor: Professor Gaetano Borriello
Department of
Computer Science and Engineering
Research Project
Title---Classification of Human Activity
Laura is a senior majoring in Computer Engineering. She was born in
Havana, Cuba and moved to Oakland, CA at the age of 19 five years
ago. Her current research project involves recognizing human
physical activity based on information retrieved from a wearable
multi-sensor platform. The reason for such as project is because
currently our country (and the developed world) leads a sedentary
life and thus the obesity epidemic is rapidly increasing. With a
physical activity recognition system which would eventually be
embedded in other devices such as cellular phones, users will be
aware of what physical activities they have been engaging in and
educate them on when they need to increase physical activity in
order to maintain a long and healthy life style. Aside from
research she enjoys reading, dancing and listening to world music,
and being involved in projects that encourage underserved students
to continue their education through college. She hopes to continue
research in graduate school the next academic year.
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Nelson David
Robles
Research Faculty
Mentor: Professor Fumio S. Ohuchi
Department of
Materials Science and Engineering
Research Project
Title---Na doped V2O5 Thin Films Prepared on Kapton Tape for
Flexible Thermoelectric Energy Conversion Devices
Nelson is a senior in Material Science and
Engineering. He is a Gates Millennium Scholar as well as the
recipient of the UW College of Engineering Intel Research
Experience for Undergraduates (REU). Nelson is currently the
president of the Society of Hispanic Engineers (SHPE) and an intern
at Boeing. His current research includes thermoelectric materials
as a source for electric power. He plans to pursue a Masters and
PhD in Mechanical Engineering and work in the aerospace industry.
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