Virginia Tech® home

2020 GSA Research Symposium Winners

the logo for the 36th Annual Graduate Student Assembly Research Symposium is a multi-colored light bulb, exploding with possibilities, on a white background with teal text

Winners are organized by categories within each type of presentation

Research Oral Presentations (15 minutes)

1st Place

Muchin Bazan

Women in STEM: The Role of Role Models

2nd Place

Harsh Sanghavi

Measuring the influence of anger on takeover performance in semi-automated vehicles

3rd Place

Esha Dwibedi

Trust and Economic Freedom: A Multi-country Study

1st Place

Ernie Osborn

Forest disturbance has long-term effects on soil bacterial and fungal communities in Appalachian ecosystems

2nd Place

Sarah Kuchinsky

Assessing susceptibility to Usutu virus in avian models

3rd Place

Holly Morrison

Redness, swelling, and heat, oh my! – Inflammation Results in Cancer Development

1st Place

Bronson Weston

A Novel Methodology to Extend Our Understanding of the Microbiome in Human Health and Disease

2nd Place

Madeline Bruce

Multisensory Integration in Social and Nonsocial Events and Emerging Language in Toddlers

3rd Place

Christina Devine

Development of a Standardized Scaling Test Protocol for Evaluation of Scale Reduction Devices and Technologies

1st Place

Akshay Jain

Converting waste heat using thermoelectric generator to power microbial electrolysis cell for sustainable wastewater treatment

2nd Place

Michael Holden

Investigating Changes in Population Size of Virginia Bog Turtles (Glyptemys muhlenbergii)

3rd Place

Lauren Bochicchio

Understanding the Harmful Effects of STING-Mediated Neuroinflammation in TBI

1st Place

Alison Cash

Insights into a novel regulator of blood brain barrier dysfunction following traumatic brain injury

2nd Place

Chris McCullough

Ticks in the Pollinator Mix

3rd Place

Joelle Martin

Identifying dynamic regulators of glutamate transport in glioblastoma multiforme

Flash Talk Presentations (5 minutes)

1st Place

Christian Heryakusuma

Thioredoxin-based Stabilization of Methyl Coenzyme-M Reductase (Mcr), a Tool for Bioconversion of Methane to Liquid Fuel

2nd Place

Margaret Nagai-Singer

Destination Mitochondria: The roadmap to understanding NLRX1 as a tumor suppressor

3rd Place

Jessica Resor

Parents and Children Negotiating Family Interactions with Alexa

1st Place

Joanna Reinhold

Mosquitoes and Frogs: Discovering the factors underlying this unusual relationship

2nd Place

Danny Fritsch

Breaking the Sound Barrier: Understanding the Physics of Aerodynamic Noise

3rd Place

Chloe Moore

Does commonness confer connectivity? A genomics case study of a backyard frog

1st Place

Christina Mounzer

From Stem Cell to Mini Organ: Cultivating Organoids to Better Understand Cancer Development

2nd Place

Abdelaziz Alsharawy

Risk Aversion: Arousal, Attention and Incentive Effects

3rd Place

Yirui Chen

Mathematical modelling gliding motility control and coordination in Myxococcus xanthus

1st Place

Parul Sharma

Strain-level identification of tomato pathogens from metagenomic sequences obtained with the ONT MinION

2nd Place

Tawni Paradise

Understanding Habits of Engagement in Engineering Thinking Among Parent-Child Dyads

3rd Place

David Scherr

Characterizing Algae using Raman Spectroscopy and the generating reducing equivalents using photosynthetically active algal extracts

Poster Presentations

1st Place

Tyler McFayden

Measurement-Based Care to Evaluate Psychological Treatment Outcomes in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2nd Place

Alexandra Russell

Physical and Chemical Characterization of Rare Earth Elements in Coal Refuse

3rd Place

Renata Carneiro

Check-If-Apply: A Sensory Approach to Improve Communication Between Consumers and The Drinking Water Industry

1st Place

Alexandra Kaloss

Improving blood flow through EphA4 inhibition as a novel stroke therapy

2nd Place

Hazem Sharaf

Novel field-based interactions between soybean and symbiotic root nodule bacteria

3rd Place

Hanna Kiryluk

Brucella abortus is recognized by the negative regulator NLRX1 of the innate immune system

1st Place

Joseph Sarver

Linking Plastic Behavior at High Pressure to the Development of Commercial Products: From Laboratory Benchtop to Tennis Shoe

2nd Place

Lauren Buttling

Maternal residential proximity to Central Appalachian surface mining and adverse birth outcomes

3rd Place

Bradford Stucki

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in Central, North Central, and South Central Appalachia - An Examination of Local Service Types and Availability

1st Place

Morgan Roth

Sampling Varroa destructor and Screening for Acaricide Resistance

2nd Place

Sarah Power

Remote characterization of Antarctic microbial mat communities

3rd Place

Allison Zeher

Investigating Changes in Immune Cell Populations in Pancreatic Tumors After Novel Treatments