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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.