Fifty-three University of Alabama at Birmingham students represented the Honors CollegeGroup photo of the 2023 Honors Delegation at NCUR at the annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), April 13 – 15.

Hosted in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the 2023 UAB honors delegation was among more than 3,500 students from various institutions of higher education across the nation to present original research. The annual event is sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) and has been held on different campuses every year since 1987.

“NCUR this year was back in person again, and it was a wonderful opportunity for our Honors College student delegates to support and learn from one another as they prepared for and engaged in events prior to the conference,” said Mark Bevensee, Ph.D., Assistant Dean of the Honors College. “Our students had the opportunity to travel to Eau Claire, Wisconsin to present their scholarly projects, participate in enriching activities, and network with students and faculty throughout the country. Through their participation, they were honored and acknowledged in multiple ways that included awards, exuberant applause, glowing comments, and even a standing ovation. I am so proud of all our remarkably talented and dedicated students who exemplify what it means to ‘Set Your World On Fire!’”

Honors students who applied and submitted abstracts to NCUR received an Enrichment Award from the Honors College that covered registration and fees. This year’s Honors College delegation included research on Parkinson's Disease, burnout, work-family conflict, Cardiac Fibroblast, ovarian cancer, circadian rhythm, gender identity, hypertension, chemotherapeutic drugs, humanity, and eating disorders – among other topics. In addition to research presentations, students networked with other conference attendees through fun activities such as music performances, comedy shows, gaming experiences, museums, movie nights, and even music bingo.

“I am proud of our students for presenting their research in front of peers and faculty from across the country who share the goal of advancing their academic research,” said Shannon L. Blanton, Ph.D., Dean of the Honors College. “Sending our students to NCUR as part of our UAB Honors College delegation is one of our annual enrichment opportunities that allows them to not only learn about different styles of research and topics but enables them to network and build a community with a diverse group of people from different academic and personal backgrounds.”

Anantha Korrapati and Sumedha Bobba (Photo courtesy: SENS Research Foundation)Two honors students, Anantha Korrapati and Sumedha Bobba, won an award from the SENS Research Foundation (SRF) for their research presentations at NCUR. Their selection as recipients speaks to the outstanding quality of their undergraduate research.

Korrapati’s research focused on Heavy Metal Exposure Induces Senescence as a Mechanism of Dopaminergic Neurodegeneration in a Parkinson's Disease Model. “I am very grateful for the opportunity to have attended NCUR with the Honors College,” Korrapati said. “At the poster session, I spoke with a representative of SENS Research Foundation, and we bonded over our interest in research on aging and the effects of cellular senescence. It was amazing to receive a student presentation award from SRF, as it supports my project and encourages my future work with the National Institute on Aging.”

Bobba’s research focused on Mutant GBA1 Mice Show Impaired Contextual Memory and Increased Hippocampal α-synuclein Pathology in a Parkinson’s Disease Model. “The SRF award is meaningful to me because it reinforced the value of collaboration and sharing research with the greater scientific community,” Bobba said. “It is very gratifying to be a part of a circle in which you can give and receive feedback to advance science and medicine.”

Additional students who presented research at NCUR include:

• Sarah Ali 

The Role of miR-135-3p in Chronic Stress Related Disorders

• Sneha Anthony 

The Path of Matrimony: A Comparative Analysis of Indian Arranged Marriages and American Love Marriages

• Rishika Bhojanapalli 

The Neurocognitive Effects of Chemotherapeutic Drugs

• Curdajah Bonner 

The Social Distribution of Direct and Indirect Exposure to Major Discrimination among Black Adults

• Logan Burnett 

Pressure Evolution of the Hubbard U in Rare-Earth Metals via the Linear Response Approach

• Connor Campbell 

The Effect of BMAL1 Expression on Autophagy Activity in Astrocytes

• Harshita Challa 

Impact of ɑ-Synuclein Pathology on Excitatory Synapses in Parkinson's Disease

• Allyson Criswell

Expression of CD44 and SRC through Hyaluronan and Mechanical Stimuli

• Odyssey Crowell

Young Black Mental Health In A COVID-19 Impacted South

• Saidharshana "Darshana" Dhantu

The role of Cry1 in Glucagon-receptor (GCGR) signaling and GCGR-mediated hepatic glucose metabolism.

• Dheeraj Edulakanti

Circadian Rhythm Impact on Blood Pressure Dipping in African American Adults

• Suma Ejantkar

Cardiac Fibroblast GSK-3α Aggravates Ischemic Cardiac Injury by Promoting Inflammation

• Joella Fraser

Retroactivity of Judicial Override Ban in Alabama

• Benjamin Grammer

Gender Diverse Identity in Brazil: Resilience in an Epidemic of Violence

• Julia "Marci" Hall

Gender as a Moderator for Creativity and Risk-taking among Preschoolers

• Jackson Hanle

(1) Mechanism of Conductivity of AlGaN Semiconductors Determined from EPR Spectra

(2) The Days of Man are but as Grass

• Yuvika Harsh

Inhibition of Acid Ceramidase Augments Herpes Oncolytic Virus-Based Therapy in Recurrent Glioblastoma

• Adela Harvey

Evaluation of Aggression throughout the Estrous Cycle

• Noorullah Imran

Dual Function Antibody Conjugates (DFAC) as a Photoacoustic Imaging Probes for Image-Guided Oral Cancer Therapy

• Abhi Kamath

Implications of LRRK2-G2019S Mutation on DARPP32 Phosphorylation and Cortical Physiology in Parkinson's Disease

• Tapasya Katta

Yeast Genetic Screen to Identify Regulators of Numtogenesis

• Suhas Kellampalli

Identification of Beneficial Bacteria Associated with Plants Grown Alongside Birmingham Sidewalks

• Kian Kolahdouzan

The Role of Transcriptional Regulator MeCP2 in Motor Learning and Memory in Mouse Model

• Ashling Landers

Burnout and Work-Family Conflict are Associated with Drowsy Driving Risk in Surgical Residents

• Hyoeun "Esther" Lim

The Effect of Dietary Amino Acids Glycine and Serine on Body Composition

• Janessa Madison

Gender Effects and Peer Influences on Risky Driving

• Haripriya "Priya" Mantraratnam

Humanity, from Life to Death

• Ian Markham

Novel Monoclonal Antibodies Against Influenza N2 Neuraminidase

• Alana "Ali" McDearmond

The Impacts of Access to Food, Healthcare, and Recreation as Barriers to Licensure in Adolescents

• Nikhita Mudium

Characterization of Immune Cell Pathology in Corynebacterium amycolatum Gut Microbiome in the Thy1-SNCA Parkinson's Disease Mouse Model

• Sreekiran Nataraj

BMP4 Stimulation on C2C12 Cells

• Shrey Pradeep & Navaneeth Shibu

When is race a useful variable in research?

• Sachi Patel

SARS-CoV-2 Infection of the Human Brain

• Rohit Reddy

The Effects of Poor Maternal Care on the Midcingulate Cortex and Social Behavior in Offspring

• Molly Reynolds

Investigating Regulatory Mechanisms of Gap Junction Molecule innexin-19 in Neuronal Maturation

• Mikayla Rigsby

Determining the Efficacy of a 4'-Thionucleoside Analog in the Sensitization of Glioblastoma Cells to Temozolomide

• Erica Roach

Postsynaptic Density Changes in the Trisynaptic Pathway in Schizophrenia: A Quantitative Postmortem Ultrastructure Study

• Zachary Roberts

Testing Effects of the Anti-diabetic Agent Acarbose in Mice with Renal Carcinoma: A Diet-Based Approach to Cancer Treatment

• Cameron Rodgers - Johnson

“An American Outcry” - Using Music Composition as a means to discuss gun violence in American Schools

• Justin Ryu

Characterization of Npas1+ Interneurons in the Mouse Dentate Gyrus

• Emma Sautman

The role of daf-12 in the post-embryonic neuronal development of C. elegans

• Rohan Sethi

Cardiomyocyte-specific Deletion of GSK-3β Promotes Ventricular Remodeling and Cardiac Dysfunction

• Jagjot "Joti" Singh & Eshita Yadav

Physiological linkages in eating disorders via the variance in preproglucagon

• Sanjana Sundararajan

Virologic Characteristics of Breast Milk CMV Transmission

• Aniketh Tadepalli

Individual Granulin Domains Cause Differing Effects on Cathepsin D Activity

• James Walts

Mimicking Permanent Phosphorylation of HP1a in Drosophila melanogaster Causes Sterility

• Haley Wells

Grendel and Grief: Grendel’s Sorrow as a Humanizing Agent

• Yancey Williams

Computational Modeling of Endocytic Vesicle Formation imaged by Simultaneous Two-Wavelength Acial Ratiometry

• Krishin Yerabolu

Blood Pressure Trajectories and Genetic Risk of Hypertension