The CURF Undergraduate Advisory Board is a diverse group of students intended to enhance communication and awareness of the opportunities that CURF provides to the Penn student body. In its pilot year, the board aims to reach out to the student community through various events and research fairs, promoting CURF and its programs. By working with students, faculty, and alumni, their goal is to promote the research interests of the student body and also connect students with research opportunities in their given fields.
Emily Kim
Chair
COL ’13, Economics and History of Art
My research interests lie in the Humanities and Social Sciences. I have been a research assistant in the Political Science and History of Art departments. Most recently, I conducted independent research about Maya culture while helping to put together the Maya 2012: Lords of Time exhibition at the Penn Museum. Research has been a pivotal part of my undergraduate career. I would be most helpful to students with a wide variety of academic interests, students looking for research opportunities in my fields of interest, and students who want to conduct research but are unsure of how research will prepare them for non-research professions.
Amy Le
Treasurer
COL/WH ’14, Biology, Healthcare Management, Minor: Chemistry
My research interests lies in the biological sciences and healthcare management. This past summer I did research on the preventative effects of natural compounds like kava on bladder and prostate cancer. Previously, I was a research assistant at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Policy Lab.
Anna Sabo
Vice Chair
COL ’13. Communication; Minors: Cinema Studies, Consumer Psychology, English
My general research interests lie in the humanities and social sciences. I have been doing research on the sociology of religion with Professor Melissa Wilde since 2010, and I also did marketing research with Professor Jonah Berger studying social contagion and consumer decision-making in the summer of 2010. I have conducted independent research in the fields of communication and sociology as well.
Han Shi
Secretary
COL ’13
Han is working with Professor Sangwon Kim in the Dept. of Neurobiology and Behavior at Perelman Medicine. He has done research on identifying Alzheimer’s biomarkers in metabolic pathways and investigating the protein interactions of ACBD3. He is currently studying the role of inositol polyphosphate multikinase in affecting lipid biosynthesis genes.
Kara Brock
COL ‘13
I work at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Department of Endocrinology researching type one diabetes. The main study I am involved in is creating a nationwide database of diabetic patients’ laboratory results and medical information to pave the way for future treatments. I am also involved in a study that measures residual C-peptide production to gain insight into the function of a diabetic pancreas.
Danneile Davis
COL ‘13
For the past two years, I have assisted with research in the Political Science Department, in areas concerning racial and ethnic politics, political protest, and each of the three branches of the federal government. I earned a PURM fellowship last year to research the political impact of President Obama’s racial rhetoric, and upon my return from a semester abroad, hope to investigate how macro-level economic factors have influenced political protest.
Mia Garuccio
COL ’14, Health & Societies and Biology
My first experience with research at Penn was in a plant lab, but for more than a year I have helped with a project in an Emergency Medicine Lab at CHOP. Our lab works in the field of Resuscitation Science, and is testing hemodynamic outcomes in patients under cardiac arrest and asphyxia, using a swine model.
Serena Ghanshani
COL ’13, Biology
My research interest lies in the field of neuroscience. Currently, I am assisting in a research project with a focus on trying to understand the neurophysiological differences among individuals that make them susceptible or resistant to the harmful effects of stress like anxiety disorder and other behavioral and physical problems. I would be most helpful for students interested in biology/neuroscience, and especially those looking to get involved in research.
Lauren Hendrix
COL ’13, Cognitive Science, Minor: Urban Education
I am a senior in the college majoring in Cognitive Science with a concentration in Cognitive Neuroscience. I also have a minor in Urban Education: Policy, Practice and Procedure. While at Penn I have worked as a research assistant in the Infant Language Center, the Sharon Thompson-Schill Lab and I currently in the PENNlincs lab with the Institute for Research in Cognitive Science. When not in the lab, I am involved heavily with CSSP and the Netter Center and enjoy spending time with the elementary and middle school students of Comegys Elementary.
Kimberly Kolor
COL ’15 Religious Studies
I am currently the Research Project Manager for the Netter Center for Community Partnerships Evaluation Team, which focuses on implementing multi-disciplinary and mixed-method approaches for formative and summative research evaluation applied in the Philadelphia community. I have also assisted in research affiliated with the Center for Asian Studies and Religious Studies department concerning Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia.
Urja Mittal
COL/WH ‘14, Political Science, Finance, Economics
I conduct research in political economy and business. In the political science department, I am studying the relationship between income inequality and political polarization in the U.S., as a College House Research Fellow. Separately, I am investigating the development of mobile banking as a tool for economic development in Colombia and Peru, after having visited the two countries on research grants. I would be happy to speak about working as a research assistant, conducting research abroad, and getting involved in research in political science, economics, and/or business.
Gerald Parloiu
COL/WH ‘15 International Studies and Business
I come from Romania and I am a sophomore in the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business. I am targeting Portuguese and spent part of my summer taking Portuguese courses in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I am a research assistant for the Lauder Institute, where I work on difference research projects in the area of business and economy.
Emilce Santana
COL ‘13
My research interests include Latin American migration to the U.S. and Latino children of immigrants life outcomes. Thanks to the McNair Scholars program, CURF’s PURM grant, and the Princeton Summer Research Undergraduate Experience (PSURE), I have been able to explore different questions pertaining to these topics through qualitative and quantitative methods. I plan to pursue a PhD in sociology after I graduate from Penn.
Avin Veerakumar
EAS/WH ’13
My current interests are in neuroscience and synthetic biology. I am researching the mechanism of action of deep brain stimulation, an experimental treatment for treatment-resistant depression. I am also a member of the Penn International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) team; we are attempting to engineer bacteria which selectively bind tumor cells and kill them in response to a light trigger. Previously I have conducted neuroscience research under PURM and Rachleff Scholar fellowships. Feel free to shoot me an email if you have any questions about research or finding a lab position.
Winona Wu
COL ‘14, Molecular Biology
My research interests fall within the fields of immunology and cancer cell biology. Currently, I am conducting research with Dr. Warren Pear at the Abramson Cancer Research Institute, studying the role of Trib2 in Notch signaling and acute mylogenous leukemia. Previously, I have conducted research at the Children’s Hopsital of Philadelphia, where I worked on a project examining the mechanisms of directed secretion of lytic granules at the natural killer cell immunological synapse.
Nikolai Zapertov
COL ’14, Biological Basis of Behavior
Nikolai has been involved in lab research for the past three years, concentrating on repairing spinal cord injuries with the use of stem cell therapy over the last two summers. At Penn, he spends his time in the Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology assisting the Frank lab on studies regarding sleep and synaptic plasticity. Nikolai hopes to pursue a PhD after graduation in Neurobiology, and would like to better bridge the gap between new findings in the field with how they are applied to the legal field.