FY 2023 Awards

Khusbu Adhikari | Sophomore | Major: Biomedical Computation
Faculty Mentor: Dr David Stevenson (Pediatrics)
Project Title: Predicting preterm birth using AI and machine learning approaches

Gwendolyne Aguilar | Freshman | Major: Human Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Anisha Patel (Pediatrics)
Project Title: Healthy Drinks, Healthy Futures

Wendy Angeles | Freshman | Major: Human Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Anca Pasca (Pediatrics)
Project Title: Identification of neuroprotective compounds for hypoxic brain injury

Norah Asemota | Sophomore | Major: Bioengineering
Faculty Mentor: Dr Elizabeth Egan (Pediatrics)
Project Title: Host-pathogen interactions in malaria

Luciana Bridges | Sophomore | Major: Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Thomas Robinson (Pediatrics)
Project Title: Wise Social Psychological Interventions to Improve Outcomes of Behavioral Weight Control in Children with Obesity

Senay Dani | Sophomore | Major: Human Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Bereketeab Haileselassie (Pediatrics) 
Project Title: The role of extracellular mitochondria in pediatric cases of sepsis

Binta Diallo | Sophomore | Major: Human Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Ruth Lathi (Obstetrics and Gynecology)
Project Title: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Frozen Embryo Transfers performed in Modified Natural versus Programmed Cycles (NatPro)

Richzeska Ann Fandino | Junior | Major: Human Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Gary Darmstadt (Pediatrics)
Project Title: Use of system dynamics to improve low-dose aspirin uptake and adherence among women in California at high risk for preeclampsia and preterm birth

Paw Mar Gay | Junior | Major: Human Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Virginia Winn (Obstetrics and Gynecology)
Project Title: Identification of bacteriophage in umbilical cord blood

Constantia Georgiou | Sophomore | Major: Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Jennifer Frankovich (Pediatrics)
Project Title: Neurobiologic and Immunologic Markers in Youth with Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS)

Arturo Hernandez | Sophomore | Major: Bioengineering
Faculty Mentor: Dr Sean Wu, (Medicine – Cardiovascular Medicine)
Project Title: Donor-derived cell free DNA in heart transplant rejection

Monserrat Hernandez Escobar | Sophomore | Major: Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Laura Simons (Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine)
Project Title: Signature for Pain Recovery in Teens and Journey in Pain Care

Isis-Kohle Jackson | Sophomore | Major: Fine Arts Practice, Human Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Sruti Nadimpalli (Pediatrics)
Project Title: Durability of immune response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in pediatric solid-organ transplant recipients

Olivia Ledbury | Sophomore | Major: Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Valerie Chock (Pediatrics)
Project Title: Tissue oxygenation in the newborn at risk for brain injury

Jongmin Lim | Freshman | Major: Bioengineering
Faculty Mentor: Dr Justin Annes (Medicine – Endocrinology)
Project Title: Developing An Effective Treatment for SDHB-Defficient Tumors

Xochilt Lorenzo | Junior | Major: Human Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Michael Rosen (Pediatrics)
Project Title: Epithelial Dysfunction in Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis

Nathalie Moreno | Sophomore | Major: Undeclared
Faculty Mentor: Dr Christin Kuo (Pediatrics)
Project Title: Molecular identification of lung glial progenitors

Melody Moua | Junior | Major: Human Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Gary Darmstadt (Pediatrics)
Project Title: Use of system dynamics to improve low-dose aspirin uptake and adherence among women in California at high risk for preeclampsia and preterm birth

Nina Yen Nhi Nguyen | Sophomore | Major: Undeclared
Faculty Mentor: Dr Vittorio Sebastiano (Pediatrics)
Project Title: Dissecting the role of TBX1 during pharyngeal apparatus development

Sofia Pesantez | Junior | Major: Human Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Heidi Feldman (Pediatrics)
Project Title: PRELUDES: Predicting language development in preterm children

Ariyanna Wesley | Sophomore | Major: Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Bonnie Halpern-Felsher (Pediatrics)
Project Title: Understanding and Reducing Adolescent Vaping:  From Research to Prevention to Policy

Angeline Yu | Sophomore | Major: Science, Technology and Society
Faculty Mentor: Dr William Giardino (Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences)
Project Title: Neurobiological Mechanisms of Maternal Separation Stress Effects on Anxiety Behavior and Binge Alcohol Drinking

FY 2022 Awards

Eyerusalem Alemu | Sophomore | Major: Undeclared
Faculty Mentor: Dr Clea Sarnquist, Pediatrics
Project Title: HIV, Violence, and Mental Health Challenges: Triple threats to adolescent girls in Western Kenya

Pedro Ambriz | Sophomore | Major: Undeclared
Faculty Mentor: Dr Justin Annes, Endocrinology
Project Title: Developing A Regenerative Therapeutic for Diabetes

Aiyana Austin | Sophomore | Major: Undeclared
Faculty Mentor: Dr Gary Darmstadt, Pediatrics
Project Title: Emollient therapy for improved survival and growth of very low birth weight infants in Zimbabwe

Jessica Balbin | Sophomore | Major: Chemistry
Faculty Mentor: Dr Hayley Gans, Pediatrics
Project Title: Immune response to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine in immunocompromised pediatric patients

Emelin Cabrera | Sophomore | Major: Undeclared
Faculty Mentor: Dr Anisha Patel, Pediatrics
Project Title: Examining Communication and Marketing Strategies to Reduce Food Insecurity among Latino Children in California's San Joaquin Valley

Mario Gonzalez Ramirez | Sophomore | Major: Computational Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Elizabeth Egan, Pediatrics 
Project Title: Host-pathogen interactions in malaria: Uncovering the function of an essential erythrocyte host factor

Tracy Ha | Sophomore | Major: Human Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Virginia Winn, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Project Title: Defining the Human Trophoblast Stem Cell Niche

Clarissa Jaime Gonzalez | Sophomore | Major: Undeclared
Faculty Mentor: Dr Henry Lee, Pediatrics
Project Title: Conversation Circles

Kelly Huang | Sophomore | Major: Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Sean Wu, Cardiovascular Medicine
Project Title: Understanding the mechanism of heart defect in single ventricle congenital heart disease

Fatima Lopez | Sophomore | Major: Undeclared
Faculty Mentor: Dr Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, Pediatrics
Project Title: Understanding and Preventing Adolescent and Young Adult Vaping

Jadess Lowrey | Sophomore | Major: Undeclared
Faculty Mentor: Dr Thomas Robinson, Pediatrics and Medicine
Project Title: Wise Social Psychological Interventions to Improve Outcomes of Behavioral Weight Control in Children with Obesity

Marte Geana | Sophomore | Major: Undeclared
Faculty Mentor: Dr Anca Pasca, Pediatrics
Project Title: Studying the effects of hypoxia on human brain development using organoids derived from stem cells

Shriti Parajuli | Sophomore | Major: Human Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Anoop Rao, Pediatrics
Project Title: Wearable non-invasive continuous blood pressure sensing in neonates

Amanda Rodriguez | Junior | Major: Biomedical Computation
Faculty Mentor: Dr Thomas Robinson, Pediatrics and Medicine
Project Title: Discovering Adolescents' Smartphone Food Environments

Tania Rojas | Sophomore | Major: Human Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Tulio Valdez, Otolaryngology
Project Title: Diagnosis and treatment of pediatric infections with bacterial probes

Chanpichiny Ros | Sophomore | Major: Undeclared
Faculty Mentor: Dr Ruth Lathi, Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Project Title: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Frozen Embryo Transfers Performed in Modified Natural vs Programed cycles (NatPRo)

Belem Salgado | Sophomore | Major: Undeclared
Faculty Mentor: Dr Jiangbin Ye, Radiation Oncology
Project Title: Targeting the pediatric cancer epigenome with metabolic therapy

Diana Sanchez | Sophomore | Major: Undeclared
Faculty Mentor: Dr Dennis Wall, Pediatrics and Biomedical Data Science
Project Title: AI for child health and education

Tuananh Tran | Sophomore | Major: Undeclared
Faculty Mentor: Dr Lee Sanders, Pediatrics
Project Title: Population Health in Schools

Sydney Vaughn | Sophomore | Major: Biomedical Computation
Faculty Mentor: Dr Dennis Wall, Pediatrics and Biomedical Data Science
Project Title: AI for child health and education

Jordan Vedelli | Sophomore | Major: Undeclared
Faculty Mentor: Dr Kanwaljeet Anand, Pediatrics
Project Title: Biomarkers for Risk and Resilience in Preschool Children

Olivia Viruet Quintero | Junior | Major: Undeclared
Faculty Mentor: Dr Virginia Winn, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Project Title: Modeling Human Placenta Using Organoids

Audrey Xu | Junior | Major: Human Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr Kara Meister, Otolaryngology
Project Title: Cell Free DNA Sequencing for the Diagnosis of Head & Neck Infections in Children

FY 2021 Awards

Sangam Sharma
Faculty Mentor: Thomas Robinson, MD, MPH, Professor of Pediatrics
Project: Wise Social Psychological Interventions to Improve Outcomes of Behavioral Weight Control in Children with Obesity

Elisa Rivas
Faculty Mentor: Henry Lee, MD, Professor of Pediatrics
Project: Family engagement in the NICU for preterm babies

Monica Pena-Aguilar
Faculty Mentor: Lee Sanders, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Project: Immigrant Families and Children’s Health: The Intergenerational Health Impact of Federal and State Immigration Policy

Devin Moua
Faculty Mentor: Kanwaljeet Anand, MD, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics
Project: Biomarkers for Risk and Resilience in Children of Socially Disadvantaged or Minority Families

Ahmed Moutwakil
Faculty Mentor: Rishi Mediratta, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Project: Newborn health in humanitarian settings

Olivia Mendoza
Faculty Mentor: Stephanie Chao, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery
Project: Screening for PTSD among children after traumatic injury

Rojie Hajjar
Faculty Mentor: William Collins, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine
Project: Remote Monitoring of Respiratory Health

Camryn Franke
Faculty Mentor: Tanja Gruber, MD, Professor of Pediatrics
Project: Delineating the Role and Immunogenicity of CBFA2T3-GLIS2 in Pediatric Acute Megakaryoblastic Leukemia

Juan Espinal-Mejia
Faculty Mentor: Heike Daldrup-Link, MD, Professor of Radiology
Project: Cancer Imaging Techniques Mini-Fellowship for the Underserved Students

Crystal Chidume
Faculty Mentor: Anisha Patel, MD, MSPH, MSHS, Associate Professor of Pediatrics 
Project: Water First Intervention