2026 VURF RECIPIENTS
| Student Name: | Faculty Sponsor: | Sponsor Department: | Project Title: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hannah Nguyen | Dr. Brian Grant | Accountancy | Does the tone and length of risk factor disclosures in 10-K filings predict future stock volatility? |
| Archer Yang | Dr. Matthias Fabry | Astrophysics and Planetary Science | Surveying the stability of mass transfer, including the effects of rotation |
| Ava Monteleone | Dr. Kelly Hambleton (Prša) | Astrophysics and Planetary Science | Investigating Tidally Tilted Pulsations in the Close Binary TIC 406798603 |
| Kamilya Thaxter | Dr. Theodore Kareta | Astrophysics and Planetary Science | Outer Solar System Comet Mysteries |
| Chase Krisanda | Dr. Opulente and Dr. Povelones | Biology | Effects of Isolation and Sex-Specific Feeding on Yeast Persistence and Mosquito Survival |
| Edvin Qinami | Dr. Sarah Fritz | Biology | Role for a Conserved Arginine Residue in the UPF1 RNA Helicase in RNA Decay Target Selection |
| Elise DeJan | Dr. Adam Langley | Biology | Does Soil Microbial Functional Potential Vary Across Ecosystems? |
| Isabella Mirarchi | Dr. Dana Opulente | Biology | From Soil to Nectar: The Impacts of Community Composition of Yeasts in Plant–Pollinator Systems |
| Nustifafa Gyane | Dr. Troy Shirangi | Biology | Investigating sex differences in 𝛂-synuclein neurotoxicity in a Drosophila model of Parkinson’s Disease |
| Peyton Gibbs | Dr. Shelby Ziegler | Biology | Influence of increased temperature and predators on the intraspecific interactions of Atlantic mud fiddler crabs |
| Matthew Capelle | Dr. Jacob Elmer | Chemical and Biological Engineering |
Silencing the Silencer: Disruption of IFI16 Driven Repression |
| Sophia Petrucci | Dr. Christopher Kitchens | Chemical and Biological Engineering |
Production of Activated Carbon from Brewery Spent Grain via Hydrothermal Carbonization and Pyrolysis |
| Trigal Rosario Taveras | Dr. Gabriel Rodriguez Rivera | Chemical and Biological Engineering |
Engineering Reversible Microgels to Enhance Regeneration in Volumetric Muscle Loss |
| Evan Sage | Dr. Jen Palenchar and Dr. Scott Kassel | Chemistry and Biochemistry | Structure–Reactivity Relationships of Ru(II) Polypyridyl Complexes for Photodynamic Therapy: Effects of Ligand Substitution and π-Conjugation on DNA Photocleavage |
| Federica Zazzali | Dr. Daniel Kraut | Chemistry and Biochemistry | Do STI1 helix interactions mediate proteasomal degradation? |
| Kerry Meng | Dr. Aimee Eggler | Chemistry and Biochemistry | Determining the roles of KEAP1 residues on C151 pKa and catalysis impacting C151 sensor ability for electrophiles |
| Laila Neely | Dr. Arash Tavakoli | Civil and Environmental Engineering | Beyond the Stoplight: A Virtual Reality Framework for Safer Intersection Design |
| Abigail Kim | Dr. Arash Tavakoli and Dr. Nathaniel Chodosh | Civil and Environmental Engineering; Computing Sciences |
Lightweight Multi-Sensor Lane Detection and Obstacle Avoidance for an Autonomous F1/10 Vehicle |
| Alexander Grosh | Dr. Mauricio Gruppi | Computing Sciences | Mapping Habitats using User Reported Observations |
| James Vo | Dr. Maurício Gruppi | Computing Sciences | Are Structural Linguistic Indicators of Media Bias Stable Across Time and Topic? |
| Noah Taylor | Dr. Nathaniel Chodosh | Computing Sciences | Quantifying Course Management Ability In Golf |
| Ambyr Baker | Dr. Christa Bialka and Dr. Sarah Cooney | Computing Sciences; Deaf and Disability Studies |
Dorm Room Accessibility: Student-Informed Design of Sensor-Based Supports for Independent Living |
| Zachary Corjuc | Dr. Jiafeng Xie | Electrical and Computer Engineering |
Hardware Implementation of a High-Performance ML-KEM Scheme for Resource-Constrained FPGA Platforms |
| Federico Diaz-Santana Gaytan | Dr. Steven Goldsmith | Geography and the Environment | The Dirt on Microplastics: An Investigation of the Darby-Cobbs Watershed |
| Catherine Nearpass | Dr. Steven Goldsmith | Geography and the Environment | Storm-Driven Mobilization of Anthropogenic Litter in Urban Stream Systems |
| Natalie Murphy | Dr. Gina Talley | History | Surviving the Silences: Black Lesbian Resistance and Solidarity during the AIDS Epidemic, 1980-2000 |
| Nicole Wood | Dr. Cara Sulyok | Mathematics and Statistics | Beyond Hospital Walls |
| Noah Cady | Dr. Cara Sulyok | Mathematics and Statistics | Using Sensitivity Analysis to Compare Mitigation Strategies to Limit Disease Transmission in Healthcare Settings |
| Eileen English | Dr. Stephen Napier | Philosophy | Philadelphia's "Double Desert" phenomenon - investigating barriers that prevent pediatric dental providers in Philadelphia County from screening for food insecurity and closed referrals |
| Sean Monteith | Dr. Farshid Baghai | Philosophy | Dispelling Illusions of the Self-Other Relation Through the Concept of Intersubjectivity |
| Devin Delyani | Dr. Rebecca Phillipson | Physics | Using Recurrence Analysis to Decipher Blazar Variability |
| Katherine Giletta | Dr. Becka Phillipson | Physics | Modeling Nonlinear Dynamics in Black Hole Accretion via the Duffing Oscillator |
| Kourtney Warren | Dr. Georgia Papaefthymiou | Physics | Nanomechanical Studies of Engineered ferritin Heteropolymers via Atomic Force Microscopy |
| Dakshta Arora | Dr. Lance Kenney | Political Science | Situating eviction courts within broader political science debates about exclusion, state power, and access to legal protection |
| Ianna Lee | Dr. Bradley Hughes | Psychological and Brain Sciences | Belonging in Brother- and Sisterhood: Studying Conformity and Senses of Belonging in Panhellenic and Multicultural Greek Life |
| Kaitlyn Leicht | Dr. Benjamin Sachs | Psychological and Brain Sciences | Long-Term Effects of NMSEW on Adult Dentate Gyrus Neurogenesis |
| Keoni Andrews | Dr. Caitlyn Yantis | Psychological and Brain Sciences | Fostering Diverse Friendships Among Black College Students |
| Marlene Ulrike Blanke | Dr. Benjamin Sachs | Psychological and Brain Sciences | Assessing the Impact of Antibiotic-Induced Microbiome Depletion on Gene Expression in the Vagal Nerve, NTS, and Central Amygdala in Mice |
| Thomas Bork | Dr. Benjamin Sachs | Psychological and Brain Sciences | Differential gene expression following sub-chronic stress in mice |
| Caitlyn Baker | Dr. Caitlyn Yantis | Psychological and Brain Sciences | Monosexism Norm Expression & Identity Invalidation Among Bisexual Individuals |
| Ellery Derenzo | Dr. Muhammad Qadri | Psychological and Brain Sciences | The Role of Sleep in Memory Processes in Pigeons |
| Sophia Saleeby | Dr. Drew McLaughlin and Dr. Joseph Toscano |
Psychological and Brain Sciences | Nova Café: An Innovative English Proficiency Test |
| Sofia Polanco | Dr. Adriano Duque | Spanish | The Role of Masculine Identity Formation in Contemporary Latin Music and Art |