Pinnacle 2025 Presenters

Franke Honors Pinnacle Graphic

PRESENTING!
THE 2025 FRANKE HONORS PINNACLE PRESENTERS

Each year, Franke Honors students have the chance to present their work at Franke Honors Pinnacle. This year, we have more than 185 students presenting work in Bear Down Gym on April 23 from 1:00 - 3:00 PM. 

1:00 - 1:55 pm

Leili Asgharzadeh Falbinan

Identifying Age-Related Brain Morphology Changes in The Female Ferret Using MRI

Faculty Mentor: MISSING NAME

UBRP UROC

EASEL #5

Lindsey Bell

Know Thy Tower, Know Thy Footprint: A Simple Approach to Understanding Site Heterogeneity and Its Impact on Fluxes Using a Flux Footprint Analysis​​

Faculty Mentor: NO NAME

Thesis

EASEL #8

Sawyer Lamey

Exploring the Native Microbiota of Naturally Fermented Vegetables in Southern Arizona

Faculty Mentor: Yonarki Garcia-Varela, Sadhana Ravishankar

EMG Thesis

EASEL #41

Brooke McKalip

PM 2.5 Exposure of Unhoused Individuals in Tucson, Arizona.

Faculty Mentor: Amanda Wilson

Thesis

EASEL #48

Lydia Nguyen

The Influence of Bilingualism on Motor Recovery After Stroke:

Faculty Mentor: Andrew Fuglevand

Thesis

EASEL #56

Ruben Reynoso

Tucson Zines Online: Building a Digital Archive of Tucson Zines; Multimedia Memoir: Exploring Identity through Art

Faculty Mentor: Rich Thompson, Bever, Matt Denney

Thesis

EASEL #68

2:05 - 3:00 pm

Amanda Adams

Effects of Wood Fire Smoke Exposure Duration on Histological and Serum Markers of Ovarian Reserve

Faculty Mentor: Zelieann Craig

EMG

EASEL #1

 

Adeoluwa Ajayi

Incorporating stable monomeric fluorescent proteins for improved imaging in synthetically multicellular Escherichia coli

Faculty Mentors: Ingmar Riedel-Kruse & Ethan Howley

Thesis UBRP

EASEL #2

Gagana Ameneni

Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences in Postpartum Women with OUD and Baby Sleep Location

Faculty Mentor: Alicia Allen

UBRP

EASEL #3

Meera Arunkumar

Interactions of HCMV, Elongase 4, and PERK on Lipid Production

Faculty Mentors: John Purdy, Nate Schmidt, & Rebecca Mokry

Thesis

EASEL #4

Vanessa Atallah

Exploring Socialization Among Neurodivergent High School Students: Strengths, Challenges, & Legal Gaps

Faculty Mentor: Payal Khosla

Thesis

EASEL #5

Jordan Baker

Off-duty sleep and anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) levels in female firefighters enrolled in the Women’s Substudy of the Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study (FFCCS)

Faculty Mentors: Jefferey Burgess & Michelle Valenti

Thesis

EASEL #6

Emmett Bauer

How Local Scale Variation Shapes Communities of Symbiotic Fungi of Lichens and Mosses in Earth's Most Diverse Forests

Faculty Mentor: Betsy Arnold

EMG

EASEL #7

Anjali Bellaire

Navigating Crisis Communication Failures: Analyzing Industry-Wide Challenges and the Potential of AI-Enhanced Strategies

Faculty Mentor: Carolyn Casertano

Thesis

EASEL #8

Ariel Benavidez

Effects of manual lymphatic drainage on cognitive function in a 5xFAD mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease

Faculty Mentor: Mitchell Bartlett

Quest

EASEL #9

Daveena Biswas

Facilitating Lipid Exchange Using Cyclodextrins

Faculty Mentor: Michael Marty

UBRP

EASEL #10

Grady Campbell

Using Student Identification Cards to Vote: Recommendations to the State of Arizona

Faculty Mentor: Xavier Segura

Thesis

EASEL #11

Meena Caputo

Sweet Struggles: A Qualitative Study of Puberty and Menstruation Experiences with Type 1 Diabetes

Faculty Mentor: Jennifer Ravia

EMG Thesis

EASEL #12

Sai Anwita Chintala

The role of β-glucuronidase (GUS) in Estrogen Regulation

Faculty Mentor: John Konhilas

Thesis

EASEL #13

Destany Cole

The History of Stereotypes

Faculty Mentor: MISSING

 

EASEL #14

Maggie Clements

Impact of Therapy Dogs on Community Perception of Law Enforcement Officers

Faculty Mentor: Kerri Rodriguez, Molly Delzio

Thesis

EASEL #58

Ryan Cotter & Griffen Dresbach-Hill

Leveraging the Desert Fungus Podaxis pistillaris for Mine Waste Remediation in Arid and Semi-Arid Environments

Faculty Mentors: Caitlyn Hall & Betsy Arnold

EMG

EASEL #15

Jenica Delaney

Mirth: A Debut Novel Written and Bound in a Year 

Faculty Mentor: Bojan Louis, John Melilllo, Stephanie Permain

Thesis

EASEL #16

Kay Do

Synthesis and Characterization of Metal-Binding Biopyrrin Pigments

Faculty Mentor: Elisa Tomat

Thesis

EASEL #17

Olivia Easton

Finding NEMOS: A Model for Understanding the Psychological Principles and Implications of Moral-Emotional Content Spread Online

Faculty Mentor: Ashley Huggins

Thesis

EASEL #18

Isabel Eshetu

Optimizing Techniques for Imaging Mitochondria in Intestinal Epithelial Cells

Faculty Mentor: VK Viswanathan

Quest

EASEL #19

Noah Fleisher

A new coral record expanding central Pacific ENSO records and bolstering the manganese wind proxy

Faculty Mentor: Diane Thompson

Thesis

EASEL #20

Airen Fortunato

Religion & Spirituality Curriculum in Undergraduate Medical Education - A History and Review

Faculty Mentor: Zoe Cohen

Thesis

EASEL #21

Gabriela Fragozo

Investigating the Role of G3BP1 in the cGAS-STING Pathway

Faculty Mentor: Gaining Zhu

Thesis

EASEL #22

Brandon Friend

Quantum Computing of A Nuclear Lattice Model

Faculty Mentor: Sean Fleming

EMG 

EASEL #23

Sam Gibbon

Exploring Evolutionary Dynamics in Polyploid Populations

Faculty Mentor: Ryan Gutenkunst

UBRP

EASEL #24

Swanuja Godasi

Exploring Bharatanatyam Mudras as a Way to Increase Hand Mobility and Strength 

Faculty Mentor: Mari Ricker

Quest

EASEL #25

Greta Gurdikian

MHC Class II Gene Association with Chytrid Fungus in Populations of Lowland Leopard Frogs

Faculty Mentor: Jessica Rick

Thesis

EASEL #26

Grace Harrington

Executive Orders and Higher Education: The Impact of Federal Policy on Diversity Initiatives at the University of Arizona

Faculty Mentor: Cheree Meeks

Thesis

EASEL #27

Ryan Haymore & Nagasriya Ramisetty

Scoping Literature Review of Social Prescribing Models in the United States and Europe: Themes, Best Practices, and Gaps in Literature

Faculty Mentor: Christine Hoekenga 

 

EASEL #28

Hailey Hein

The Mind-Body Relationship: A Historical and Scientific Perspective

Faculty Mentor: Victor Braitberg & Claire McLane

EMG Quest

EASEL #29

Andrea Hernández

EFFICIENCY ASSESSMENT OF BRD4/PLK1 DUAL DEGRADERS: A PROMISING APPROACH TO CANCER TREATMENT

Faculty Mentor: Wei Wang, Mengyang Chang

UROC

EASEL #30

Daryl Ijaola

The Poets of Tucson

Faculty Mentor: Claire McLane

EMG Quest

EASEL #31

Sally Jabri

Lasting Impressions

Faculty Mentor: Zoe Cohen

Thesis

EASEL #32

Alyssa Johansen

Improving Healthcare Service Design for Undergraduate Students: A Modified Design Thinking Approach 

Faculty Mentor: Kathleen Kennedy, Lance Erickson

Thesis

EASEL #33

Olivia Johnson

Managing Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome in a Division I Athlete: A Case Study

Faculty Mentor: Paul Smith, Carmen Fleming

Thesis

EASEL #34

Kayla Jones

Germline Mutation Spectrum, Demographics, and Outcomes in Patients at the University of Arizona Cancer Center

Faculty Mentor: Sima Ehsani, Lauren Maynard

Thesis  UROC

EASEL #35

Anju Kalya

Microglia in Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia (VCID)

Faculty Mentor: John Konhilas

Thesis

EASEL #37

Shivam Kedia

Deletion of mitochondrial fusion protein OPA1 results in intestinal inflammation and increases susceptibility to chemical injury and bacterial infection 

Faculty Mentor: VK Viswanathan

EMG  Quest

EASEL #38

Ryan Kim

Trash Cats

Faculty Mentor: Zoe Cohen

EMG

EASEL #39

Sheridan Kraus

Rewriting the Textbook

Faculty Mentor: Kristin Doran

Thesis

EASEL #40

Kaitlyn Lai, Catherine Jezerc & Gavin Arnold

Investigating the Potential of Vagus Nerve Stimulation as a Primer for Neural Plasticity

Faculty Mentor: Ying-hui, Mark Sundman

EMG  UBRP

EASEL #41

Ava Lasater

The Role of International Scientific Collaboration on Datasets and Citation Impact: A Scientometric Analysis of Nature Scientific Data (2014-2024)

Faculty Mentor: Sarah Bratt

Thesis

EASEL #42

Sophia Le

The Cultural Dimensions of Health: Exploring How Identity and Social Networks Influence Well-Being

Faculty Mentor: Linda Pallock

Quest 

EASEL #43

Claudia Leidner

Relationship of EPDR1 in Pancreatic Cancer

Faculty Mentor: Nam Lee, Cason Hancock

Thesis

EASEL #44

Maya Leonard

Self-Recognition in Drosophila melanogaster: Tissue Rejection and Implications on Innate Immunity

Faculty Mentor: Todd Schlenke

EMG Thesis UBRP

EASEL #36 

Vijetha Logaprabhu

NEUROFILAMENT H CHANGES IN THE RETINA OF SIX WEEK DIABTEIC MICE 

Faculty Mentor: Erika Eggers, Andrea Wellington

UBRP

EASEL #45

Emily Lopez

EXAMINING THE USE OF SOCIAL AND PRIVATE SPEECH DURING COGNITIVE TASK PERFORMANCE OF CHILDREN WITH AND WITHOUT DEVELOPMENTAL LANGUAGE DISORDERS 

Faculty Mentor: Leah Kapa

Thesis

EASEL #46

Gabriella Mangano

Fear, Stress, and Hormones: How Menstrual Cycle Phase Influences Cortisol Secretion in Response to Stress

Faculty Mentor: Ashley Huggins

EMG

EASEL #47

Tyler Martinez

Optical Monitoring of the Xanthophyll Pigment Cycle in Laying Hens

Faculty Mentor: Katrina Miranda

Thesis

EASEL #48

Brooke McKalip

2.5 Exposure of Unhoused Individuals in Tucson

Faculty Mentor: Amanda Wilson

EMG

EASEL #49

Akshay Menghani

Characterization of Commensal Neisseria Polysaccharide Capsule

Faculty Mentor: Katherine Rhodes, Evy Nguyen

Thesis UBRP

EASEL #50

Mariah Mercer

Investigating Eating Beliefs, Behaviors, and Attitudes and its Correlation to Body Appreciation in Collegiate Dancers: Insights for Nutrition Support 

Faculty Mentor: Ashley Munro

Thesis

EASEL #51

Kylie Midtun

The Effect of Semantic Cues on Word Learning in Toddlers

Faculty Mentor: Rebecca Gomez, Allison Granger

EMG

EASEL #52

Michael Mroz

Investigating the Impact of Microplastics on C. elegans Health and Resilience

Faculty Mentor: George Sutphin

EMG

EASEL #53

Katie Murray

Novel High Throughput Fungicidal Screen against Valley fever

Faculty Mentor: Adam Buntzman

EMG

EASEL #54

Sreyha Nandakumar

Race, Incarceration, and Reproductive Oppression in the United States

Faculty Mentor: Cheree Meeks

 

EASEL #55

Savannah Nelson

Sweat, Strength and Sugar: The Best Exercise for Type 2 Diabetes Body Types

Faculty Mentor: Doug Keen, Dawn Coletta

Thesis

EASEL #56

Carolina Noriega

Examining Ethnic Differences in Social Support Processes and Individual-Level Health

Faculty Mentor: John Ruiz, Amelia Ibarra Mevans, Riley O'Niel 

EMG Thesis

EASEL #57

Kanita Olson & Robert Diel

Enhancing Patient Experience and Health Literacy: Investigating the Effectiveness of Take-home Clinic Bags on the Children’s Post Infectious Autoimmune Encephalopathy Clinic Patient Population

Faculty Mentor: Sydney Rice & Linnette Mayate Ortiz

EMG Thesis

EASEL #59

Jerrett Overland

Beyond The Game: The Legal and Business Impact of NIL on Universities

Faculty Mentor: Michael Fricke

Thesis

EASEL #60

Anthony Padilla

The Purpose of Animals During Slavery 

Faculty Mentor: Cheree Meeks

 

EASEL #61

Pranjal Pawar

Effects of Oxidants on Potassium Channels in Blood Vessels of the Brain

Faculty Mentor: Paulo Pires, Paige Martin

Quest

EASEL #62

Julia Petty

Effective Marketing of Sustainable Products

Faculty Mentor: Jennifer Savary

Thesis

EASEL #63

Emilie Pierzina

Guayule Bagasse Biochar Impact on the Cation Exchange Capacities of Soils from Pinal County

Faculty Mentor: Kimberly Ogden, Harvis Bamidele Saka

Quest

EASEL #64

Lydia Quade

Defining Differences Between Murine and Human Ultrasound: Application to Assess the Effects of Mas R Agonist, PNA5, in a Menopausal HFpEF Model

Faculty Mentor: John Konhilas, Shelby Herrick

Thesis

EASEL #65

Ibrahim Ramadan & Jacob Herbert

Viral Invaders and Host Defenses: ICAM-1 in the Pathogenesis of Rhinosinusitis

Faculty Mentor: Eugene Chang

Thesis

EASEL #66

Taylor Raney

Stanzas, Scraps, and Scribbles: Bridging Connections Through Community Art Workshops

Faculty Mentor: Claire McLane & Christine Hoekenga

EMG Quest

EASEL #67

Maddy Ressel

FBW7 as a Novel Modulator of PIM1 Kinase Expression

Faculty Mentor: Noel Warfel & Hope Lou

EMG Thesis

EASEL #68

Andi Rhys

Allopatric, Chasing Claire

Faculty Mentor: Stephanie Pearmain, Orquidea Morales

Thesis

EASEL #69

Gerardo Rios

Examining the Role of Family on COVID-19 vaccination behavior among Hispanic/Latinx and non-Hispanic/Latinx young adults.

Faculty Mentor: John Ruiz, Riley O'Neil

EMG Thesis

EASEL #70

Yash Rohilla

Efficacy of Surgical Skills Outreach Programs for Underrepresented Groups in Cardiothoracic Surgery

Faculty Mentor: Toshinobu Kazui

EMG

EASEL #71

Emma Romano

The Reality of Prevention vs. Treatment in West Virginia Healthcare

Faculty Mentor: Patrick Baliani

Thesis

EASEL #72

Rohit Sahota

Whey or No Way? Exploring the Effect of Whey Protein on Kidney Health

Faculty Mentor: Dawn Coletta

Thesis

EASEL #73

Ella Salem

Observing Mindfulness Intervention on Disordered Eating Using Ecological Momentary Assessment 

Faculty Mentor: John Ruiz

EMG Thesis UROC

EASEL #74

Vasanth Sathish

The Effect of Intensity and Duration of Exercise on Cardiovascular Health

Faculty Mentor: Zoe Cohen

Thesis

EASEL #75

Erin Schuette

Promoting Embryonic Stem Cell Derived Cardiomyocyte Maturity by Gene Editing Sarcomeric Proteins

Faculty Mentor: Jared Churko, Julien Ochala

UBRP

EASEL #76

Yashika Shaju

The Metabolic Impact of Pharmacological Activation of the Glucagon Receptor in Obese Hypercholesterolemic Mice During an 8 Week Exercise Intervention

Faculty Mentor: Jennifer Stern

EMG

EASEL #77

Sevasti Silvia

What Happens Next? Civil Conflict Termination and Subsequent Peacebuilding Processes

Faculty Mentor: Daniel Arnon

Thesis

EASEL #79

Lauren Spadone

Partially Ordered Logistic Regression for Disease Classification

Faculty Mentor: Joseph Watkins, Taryn Laird

Thesis

EASEL #80

Ruby Stults

Racial Reckoning and Accountability 

Faculty Mentor: Cheree Meeks

 

EASEL #81

Noah Stults

Exploring the Legacy of Slavery Through the Lense of Food

Faculty Mentor: Cheree Meeks

 

EASEL #82

Audrey Sweten

Lettuce Romaine Calm: Utilizing the Pseudomonas 43A Tailocin to Prevent Escherichia coli O157:H7 Killing

Faculty Mentor: David Baltrus

EMG Thesis

EASEL #83

Maddie Tibayan

Foreign Policy in a Partisan Era: U.S. Senate Foreign Relations on Russia and China

Faculty Mentor: Dmitriy Nurullayev

EMG

EASEL #84

Ria Umuhire

Building Bridges and Teaching Black American History Today - A Proposal for adaptable curricula across grade levels

Faculty Mentor: Cheree Meeks

 

EASEL #85

Noelia Urbina

Mass Incarceration & The Coining of the term "Super Predator"

Faculty Mentor: Cheree Meeks 

 

EASEL #86

Cymone Van Marter

A Study of Intergenerational Trauma in Korean Han

Faculty Mentor: Sandra Park, Sunyoung Yang

Thesis

EASEL #87

Valeria Villagrana

Exploring Social Support and Resilience in Hispanics/Latines: Disentangling the Hispanic Health Paradox

Faculty Mentor: John Ruiz

EMG Thesis

EASEL #88

Riley Weber

Transcranial Direct Stimulation Neurorehabilitation in Neural Correlates of Primary Progressive Aphasia Syndromes

Faculty Mentor: Aneta Kielar

Thesis

EASEL #89

Bryce Wilson

Hydroxyl Radicals and Calcium Signaling As Central Regulators In The Cellular Response To Hydrogen Peroxide

Faculty Mentor: Andrew Paek

Thesis UBRP

EASEL #90

Mesa Winder

Setting the Stage for Success: The Development and Implementation of Stage and Theater Management Curriculum

Faculty Mentor: Kendall Phillips

Thesis

EASEL #91

Skyler Yuengling

Exploratory Research and a Comparative Analysis of the Work Culture in Spain and the United States 

Faculty Mentor: Erin Paradise

Thesis

EASEL #92

Mozani Zianti

The effects of ultrasound therapy on astrogluosis

Faculty Mentor: Elizabeth Hutchinson

Thesis

EASEL #93