Photovoice is an innovative, visual research method that aims to capture more nuanced aspects of caregiving and family relations through photographs and storytelling. This study seeks to better understand the cultural, emotional, and practical aspects of caregiving in families affected by HIV. The project involves six semi-structured focus group discussions – three with mothers and three with fathers. Participants are trained in ethical photography and asked to take photos inspired by specific caregiving questions such as “What does being a parent mean to you?” The images captured serve as discussion prompts during group discussions, helping illuminate family structures, caregiving roles, and the challenges faced in raising HIV-exposed but uninfected children. Discussions are transcribed, and the qualitative data are analyzed using inductive thematic analysis to explore common caregiving patterns and the impact of parental HIV on caregiving dynamics. Preliminary findings are expected to highlight the critical roles of fathers in caregiving and identify strategies to better support families in nurturing child development. These findings inform future interventions and policies designed to support HIV-exposed children and their caregivers, with a focus on the unique caregiving challenges in high-HIV-prevalence contexts. As a research team member, I contribute by developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for study methodologies, managing qualitative data, coordinating team communication, and assisting with data analysis and dissemination.

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are used in a wide range of applications, including portable electronics, electric vehicles, and grid-scale energy storage. The material composition of the electrodes and electrolyte play a critical role in determining LIB performance. In the cathode, a lithium-containing active material known as LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 (NMC-811) has attracted growing interest to its high specific capacity, high energy density, and reduced cobalt content. However, at high voltages NMC-811 reacts with the liquid electrolyte to form a cathode-electrolyte interphase (CEI) on the surface of the particles. If the CEI is unstable, it can lead to performance degradation as cycling continues. The mechanism of CEI formation remains unclear but is influenced by the NMC-811 particle morphology, cathode structure, voltage, and current density. To better understand these relationships, we are using 3D printing methods to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) NMC-811 cathodes for more fundamental CEI macro-scale characterization work. By producing 3D cathodes with controlled variations in porosity and internal cell pressure, this study investigates how these factors impact, CEI formation, current density profiles and overall NMC-811 cathode performance. My contribution to this research is focused on developing fabrication procedures for the 3D cathode structures, characterizing the cathode structures with optical profilometry and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging, and analyzing the electrochemical behavior of CEI formation during cycling with incremental capacity (IC or dQ/dV) analysis. By using 3D printing techniques to support electrochemical characterization, this research aims to provide insight into the contributing factors of CEI formation in NMC-811 cathodes for LIBs. This work was supported in part by the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Vehicle Technologies of the US Department of Energy (DOE) through the Cathode–Electrolyte Interphase (CEI) Consortium.

Epilepsy is among the most common neurological diseases worldwide. Over 30 anti-seizure medications (ASMs) are available to treat seizures; however, one-third of people with epilepsy are resistant to their treatment options. The mechanisms behind these pharmacoresistant seizures are not fully understood, but experimental models like the 6Hz or MES mouse seizure models are useful for investigating contributing factors. Recent findings from our lab demonstrate that different brain regions are activated in response to distinct seizure-types, but treatment with ASMs does not alter this activation, regardless of ASM efficacy. Our previous studies used cFOS as a marker of neuronal activity, but since this is not specific to the type of neuron activated, this project focused on calbindin (CALB), a calcium binding protein commonly found in interneurons. We hypothesize that the cFOS immunoreactivity seen in mice who were protected from seizures would be a result of the activation of inhibitory neurons as indicated by increased colocalization between cFOS and CALB-positive neurons. Adult male CF-1 mice were treated with 3 mechanistically different ASMs: cenobamate, levetiracetam, and phenytoin, before being challenged with a focal (6Hz) or generalized (MES) seizure at the time of peak pharmacological effect. Brains were collected 90 minutes after each stimulation and processed for immunohistochemical labeling of DAPI, cFOS, and CALB. Preliminary data suggests that the number of activated CALB cells (e.g., cFOS+CALB cells) did not differ between protected or unprotected mice across brain regions or following certain seizure types. This indicates that the activation of inhibitory neurons might not be a major factor in seizure protection. However, further testing is needed to identify and quantify all inhibitory neuron subtypes to better understand the mechanisms contributing to pharmacoresistant seizures. 

Epilepsy is a brain disorder characterized by spontaneous seizures. Many people with epilepsy treat their seizures with antiseizure medicines (ASMs), which must be taken daily, even through major life milestones such as pregnancy. However, there is little evidence on how these medicines, particularly when taken together, influence long-term brain development in children born to mothers taking ASM therapy. Understanding these consequences is crucial, especially for newer ASMs and drug-resistant epilepsy patients that require multiple medications. Therefore, this experimental study investigated how epilepsy therapy impacts birth and developmental outcomes in rodent offspring born to mothers taking multiple ASMs.
Timed-pregnant female rats were orally administered one of the four epilepsy treatments at therapeutically relevant doses during gestation and lactation. Treatments included: placebo, lamotrigine, levetiracetam, or combined lamotrigine and levetiracetam. General characteristics of birth outcomes were monitored, including gestational length, offspring growth rate, and major developmental milestones. No differences were detected in gestational length for our first cohort (22–23 days). Maternal weight gain varied between 78g to 115g, or 30–39% of their baseline weight. No significant differences were detected in litter size (9–15 pups), date of fur development (postnatal day 10, PND 10), or the average date of eye opening (PND 14), with some pups ranging from PND 13 to PND 15. The average mass for offspring was inversely correlated with litter size, but not treatment. These preliminary findings are inconclusive about the impact of ASMs on early developmental outcomes in offspring. Future studies will replicate each cohort and evaluate the long–term cognitive and behavioral effects. Grasping these impacts can guide safer therapeutic approaches for epilepsy patients during pregnancy.

Inbound tourism plays a crucial role in the global economy by promoting expenses, job opportunities, and creating international connections. In this study, I focus on the impact of China's visa-free transit policy on the labor markets across major entry-exit cities, especially on the employment dynamics in the tourism sector. Using panel data from cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, etc, I plan to employ a Staggered Difference-in Differences (DiD) model with multiple periods to assess the causual effects of the policy. The control variables are Gross Regional Product (GRP) and domestic tourism activity. My project is still in progress and my anticipated result is that the visa-free transit policy will lead to an increase in employment within the tourism sector as well as have positive spillover effects in related sections.

This research project is my English Honors thesis. I am researching Asian American history and feminism, taking stock of current Asian American depictions in media, drawing off existing Asian American literature, and theorizing and practicing comedy as a way forward. I want to push past the Model Minority stereotype and the current sad, intergenerational conflict heavy tone of Asian American literature. To do so, I’ll draw off sources like the UW Press published Asian American Feminism and Women of Color Politics book and employ Asian American feminism and comedy to bring a lighter tone to Asian American Literature. Asian American Feminism is characterized by an “invisible” yet active praxis of mobilizing the diverse, heterogenous Asian American community and constantly occupying and pushing to improve conflicting perceptions such as the submissive, assimilated female caretaker and the threatening yet sexualized foreign agent. I am textually analyzing books like Interior Chinatown (Charles Yu) and Minor Feelings (Cathy Park Hong). I am analyzing how raunchy and unconventional comedians like Ali Wong layer their jokes into a stand-up comedy special form. All of this will come together in a scrapbook. Drawing together book arts and the resilience of Asian American identity against fragmentation driven by oppressive laws, I will dive into prejudiced legislature and significant Asian American novels. My scrapbook will chronicle uncovering Asian America together and look towards the future. The scrapbook will serve as a meeting place to first condense historical context, then honor existing Asian American works, and put them in conversation with each other across time and medium. After my scrapbook facilitates these scraps becoming something new together as a whole, I will shift to comedy. I will theorize what makes Asian American comedians like Ali Wong so effective at reaching wide audiences, and I will write comedic bits myself.

Self-splicing domains, called inteins, are part of a class of selfish genetic elements that are present in highly conserved regions of unicellular eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Our research investigates the self-splicing behavior of two different algal inteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the competitive advantages they may confer. We have found that inteins can affect cell viability and plasmid retention in their yeast host over time, and the intein with an enzymatic domain causes different effects than the one without. To identify whether these inteins undergo cleavage, we will construct Leu2 proteins with a 3’ 6xHis tag to be assessed by Western blots. Our set of plasmids contain the LEU2 gene, with or without an intein, and the URA3 gene for double selection. Using PCR and cloning, we are adding the 6xHis tag to the 3’ end of the LEU2 gene in these plasmids. Future research will provide deeper insights into the evolution of inteins as selfish genetic elements and their impacts on protein biology.