Celebration of Learning 2022 Oral Presentations II

Oral Presentations II will run from 11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m.

Sociology and Anthropology Olin 305 (Session B)

The Future of Social Work: An Interdisciplinary Study on the Affects of Sexual, Domestic, and Substance Abuse

Presented by Madeleine R Garcia; advisor Dr. Adam Kaul

The research takes a social work approach in conjunction with sociological and psychological theories applied to families that statistically have Department of Human Services (DHS) involvement and require social work services. By utilizing library-based resources on sociological and psychological theories, the goal is to apply said theories to these families to identify the situations that led to DHS involvement, analyze how the individual children are currently affected, and ultimately determine what policy implication measures are most effective and which ones are missing. Although the three families are fictional, the details of their lives follow situational and behavioral patterns observed throughout actual families throughout the social work field. Each of the fictional families' stories will represent a sexual abuse, domestic abuse, and substance abuse case.

Towards a New Disabled Sexuality Model: A Critique and Response to Social and Relational Models of Disability

Presented by Kirsten Lancaster; advisor Dr. Adam Kaul

This research project reviews social, relational, and queer models pertaining to the experiences of individuals with intellectual disabilities and their sexual and romantic relationships. There are two main research questions that I aim to pursue. Firstly, how do popular disability models shape the boundaries of full participation in sexual and romantic relationships for those with intellectual disabilities. Secondly, how can models be changed in order to improve the sexual and romantic outcomes of those with intellectual disabilities? In order to build on existing literature, this study looks at how the experience of one's sexuality is often shaped by societal norms and mores, particularly if those societal expectations are at odds with individual goals. In particular, how do individuals with mild to moderate IDs come to understand their own sexuality in a cultures in which they are often seen as asexual (Retznik et al. 2020: 422) or childlike?

Conflict, Absence, and (Re)Affirmation: The Black Identity in the United States

Presented by Corbyn Monson; advisor Dr. Adam Kaul

Texas Medical Center Olin 209 (Session C)

Medical Illustration

Presented by Lindsey Johnson; advisor Dr. Heidi Storl

Last summer I  studied medical illustration at the Texas Medical Center in Houston Texas. I spent 10 weeks working in Baylor ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø of Medicine's cardiology research department. I studied under renowned illustrator Scott Weldon. I was able to learn the process of creating a medical illustration. I spent time studying aortic anatomy to prepare for my official assignment of the internship. Once prepared I was assigned a specific patient case to illustrate. The case was a unique case that was chosen to be illustrated with intentions to eventually publish to educate further on the patients medical situation. Once complete with all illustrations, my final task of the summer was to present my research and the work I did through Baylor. 

Identification of Transcriptional Dependencies in Ependymoma

Presented by Lauren Licursi; advisor Dr. Heidi Storl

Current interventions for Ependymoma, the third most common pediatric malignant brain tumor, include radiation and surgical intervention. Disease recurrence occurs in all patients despite intervention and is the cause of death in 90% of diagnosed patients. The RelaFUS1 subtype defines 70% of ependymoma tumors, 80% of which are pediatric. Pediatric ependymoma arises in developing brains, suggesting that dysregulated gene expression drives tumorigenesis. Developmental transcription factor (TF) networks are essential for specifying cell identity and participate in both neurodevelopment and glial tumorigenesis. Prior studies have already identified 4 TFs that drive the progression of ependymoma - that being ETV5, LHX2, LHX4, and KLF12 - for which only ETV5 overexpression increased mortality in a mouse in utero electroporation (IUE) RelaFUS1 model. The goal of this study is to determine the underlying disease mechanisms regulating RelaFUS1 ependymoma tumorigenesis, particularly concerning the downstream regulators of the ETV5 TF. I will specifically validate the upregulation of ETV5, KLF12, LHX2, and LHX4, as well as validate the downstream targets of ETV5 in the mouse RelaFUS1 model. Using the piggybac transposon and CRISPR/Cas9 systems, the lab developed an IUE mouse model that leads to neoplastic growth by inducing tumorigenesis in parental mice possessing complete immune systems that alludes to high fidelity to pediatric ependymoma tumorigenesis. I next validate if these candidates, ETV5, KLF12, LHX2, and LHX4, are sufficient for promoting RelaFUS1 ependymoma progression by individually overexpressing them in mouse RelaFUS1 tumors.

Differential Molecular and Behavioral Consequences in PTEN-Deficient Rodent Models

Presented by Walid Alzein; advisor Dr. Stephanie Fuhr and Dr. Heidi Storl

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder clinically defined by social communication deficits and repetitive sensory-motor behaviors. Although hundreds of genetic loci associated with syndromic ASD may contribute to increased ASD risk, the gene encoding the phosphatase PTEN continues to emerge among the genes of significant interest for efforts focused on mechanistic insight and therapeutic development. In the canonical role of PTEN as a negative regulator of cell growth and signaling, mutations that disrupt normal PTEN function are commonly associated with tumor growth owing to hyperactive signaling in the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway. However, while the role of PTEN in the pathogenesis of cancer is widely acknowledged, the link between germline PTEN variants, abnormal brain (over)growth and features associated with ASD remains poorly understood. Together, with an estimated prevalence of PTEN variants in approximately 10-20% of ASD cases, it is conceivable that there may be a major role for PTEN and its downstream effectors in ASD risk. Moreover, given that hundreds of pathogenic PTEN mutations have been reported to date, we hypothesized that the differential effects of PTEN variants that result in either absence of full length or truncated protein may further delineate key PTEN domains that may confer risk for select phenotypic manifestations associated with ASD more broadly.

Gestational Diabetes and Group B Streptococcal Virulence

Presented by Madelynn Marunde; advisor  Dr. Stephanie Fuhr

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a bacterium that lives in the gastrointestinal and vaginal tract. In most cases, GBS causes no harm to its human host. However, if GBS ascends to the uterus during pregnancy, complications such as preterm birth or stillbirth can occur. Moreover, women with gestational diabetes (GDM) have a 20-50% increased risk of invasive infections in the mother and sepsis in the newborn. However, the mechanism that turns GBS into an invasive pathogen in gestational diabetes is unknown. We hypothesize that host immunity is compromised in gestational diabetes and that GBS adapts to the GDM environment to become more virulent. To test this hypothesis, we performed two experiments. First, we used a diet-induced mouse model of GDM in which half of the mice are on a high fat, high sucrose diet while the others are on a control diet. The mice are impregnated after one week on their diet. After two weeks of gestation, we inoculated the mice with GBS. Three days post-challenge we removed uterine, cervical, and vaginal tissues and analyzed their GBS burden and cytokine levels. We expect an impaired immune response in gestational diabetic mice compared to pregnant controls reflected by decreased cytokine levels. We suspect that gestational diabetes inhibits host immunity, thereby allowing increased GBS colonization and dissemination to the uterine-fetal space. Next, utilizing an in vitro GBS infection model, we assessed bacterial adhesion to and invasion of human vaginal epithelial cells in both diabetic and nondiabetic conditions. We propose that GBS adapts to the diabetic host by increasing the expression of genes needed for colonization and virulence.

TMC-SIRP: Research, Professional Development, and Self-Growth

Presented by Brooklynn Schelling; advisor Dr. Heidi Storl

Analyzing the Interaction Between Ascaris suum and the Intestinal Epithelium

Presented by Katie DeJulius; advisor Dr. Heidi Storl

Ascaris lumbricoides, the most common of all soil-transmitted helminths (parasitic worms), currently infects over 500 million people globally. Ascaris infection is associated with a high level of morbidity, with recent studies describing symptoms of abdominal pain, intestinal blockage, and acute airway disease. Following ingestion of infectious Ascaris eggs from contaminated soil, eggs hatch in the intestines and release early-stage larvae that move through the host to complete their life cycle. It is hypothesized that Ascaris larvae and their excretory-secretory (ES) products modulate the host immune response to permit larval transfer across the intestinal barrier. To test this, monolayers of T84 cells were transfected with early-stage Ascaris suum. Supernatant and cellular components were collected for Luminex and qPCR trials to identify cytokine concentration and gene expression. Additionally, BALB/c mice were infected with Ascaris eggs to evaluate the intestinal mucosa, liver, esophagus, and stomach by histology (H&E stain). Analysis of Luminex results demonstrated that larvae-challenged T84 cells had higher IL-33 (9.420 vs. 1.49, p=0.0079), TSLP (10.99 vs. 1.950, p=0.0079), and IL-8 (796.6 vs. 425.9, p=0.0079) concentrations compared to controls. Histological analysis of mouse intestines infected with Ascaris did not exhibit evidence of intestinal damage or inflammation. Despite the increased concentration of cytokines associated with allergic inflammation in Ascaris-challenged T84 cells compared to controls, the histology data suggests that Ascaris either has the ability to cause no significant damage as it moves across the intestine or does not transverse the intestine at all and instead reaches the liver in a different manner.

Hanson 102 (Session D)

Benefits of Higher Education in Prison

Presented by Annelisa Burns, Dr. Jason Mahn, Onaffia McFadden '25, Dr. Jake Romaniello and Dr. Sangeetha Rayapati

This session features the experiences of faculty and students teaching and taking ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø classes at East Moline Correctional Center. Starting with a brief national overview on benefits of college in prison, this session centers the lived experience of the ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø Prison Education Program in its inaugural year.

French Old Main 117 (Session E)

La Lib¨¦ration du Soi: Finding Freedom from Colonialism through Homosexuality in the Autofictional Novels of Abdellah Ta?a.

Presented by Jouwana Bzal; advisor Dr. Kiki Kosnick

The effects of colonization remain present until today. Abdellah Taia, in his auto fictional novels, narrates the life of his Moroccan protagonists from their early stages of development, with a focus on their sexual development, until their migration to the West where they experiment love of same-sex. These relationships seem to be affected by the history of colonization in a way in which the western lovers are occupying the Moroccan.  In this article, I analyze closely the letters written by the protagonists to their lovers before leaving them: Abdellah in L'Arm¨¦e du Salut (2009) and Ahmed in Celui qui est digne d'¨ºtre aim¨¦ (2017). I focus on the freedom aspect of these two letters by doing a literary analysis of the words used to describe these colonized relationships while highlighting the protagonists' effort on getting freed from colonization, language, and love through homosexuality. Finally, I compare the stories of both protagonists to conclude that they are the same person and that colonization exerts its effects, even after many years of independence, in many forms including love. 

Contemporary Life Writing in French

Presented by Sabrina Duran; advisor Dr. Kiki Kosnick

Finding the Self: Nina Bouraoui's Discovery of Identity

Presented by Alyssa Twilbeck; advisor Dr. Kiki Kosnick

Wallenberg (Session F)

Jenny Lind presents PT Barnum - Responding to Vocational Crises

Presented by Dr. Shelly Cooper and Michelle Crouch

When Jenny Lind came to America, to tour with "The Greatest Showman," P.T. Barnum, she witnessed a nation torn apart over slavery. She embarked on headline-grabbing tour that shared the spotlight with a political maelstrom. This one-woman opera show fact-checks The Greatest Showman, and that the real reason Jenny Lind (also known as the "Swedish Nightingale") quit the tour. Lind was uncomfortable with Barnum's relentless marketing of her and his questionable moral compass, or lack thereof. Eavesdrop on Lind's final, brave confrontation of Barnum and enjoy some operatic gems from Jenny Lind's concert tour.