Cervical traumatic spinal cord injury (TCSCI) is a devastating condition that leads to tetraplegia, severely impairing essential life functions and independence. Individuals with cervical TCSCI struggle with hand function, reaching, eating, grasping, and writing, significantly reducing their quality of life. In the U.S., cervical SCI is the most common type of spinal injury, affecting over 300,000 individuals, with approximately 17,900 new cases annually. The long-term disability resulting from TCSCI often necessitates continuous medical care, rehabilitation, and assistive technologies to enhance functional recovery. Our preclinical study evaluates upper extremity dysfunction in rats following cervical TCSCI using behavioral assessments, specifically the Forelimb Reaching Task (FRT) and the Irvine, Beatties, and Bresnahan (IBB) test. These tests provide valuable insights into motor impairments and recovery over time. FRT assesses shoulder movement and fine motor control by placing the rat in a transparent box with side slits, allowing it to extend its forelimb to grasp a chocolate pellet. The grasping behavior is scored on a standardized scale. This test primarily evaluates digit precision and reaching ability. IBB provides a broader analysis of forelimb function, including both proximal and distal limb recovery. In this test, the rat is placed in a cylinder with food, and its grasping and eating behavior are recorded. Forelimb function is later evaluated based on elbow position, paw support, forepaw placement, and digit movements. By comparing these tests, we aim to determine their efficacy in assessing functional deficits and recovery post-SCI. This analysis is critical for refining behavioral assessments and guiding the development of new therapies to enhance motor recovery and improve the quality of life for individuals with cervical SCI.

America as a whole is facing a housing affordability crisis. The US faces a deficit of 8 million affordable units available for the 18.9 million renter households that earn under 50% of their area median income (AMI). Due to this shortage, 56% of households considered very low-income (30% > 50% AMI) and extremely low-income (less than 30% AMI) are severely cost-burdened, spending over 50% of their annual income on housing and utility costs. Cities across the country engage in different efforts to combat this issue, this project answers one question: how can adaptive reuse, specifically non-residential to residential building conversions, be effectively applied as an affordable housing solution? This report begins with a literature review that compiles the history of adaptive reuse, strategies to produce more affordable housing and how they are being applied to adaptive reuse projects, and outlines a framework for evaluating successful adaptive reuse projects as they apply to affordable housing. This preliminary research is further supported by informational interviews conducted with industry professionals in affordable housing and adaptive reuse, coupled with a series of case studies that measure the effectiveness of several adaptive reuse projects in generating affordable housing. Finally, the results will inform a series of industry best practices that outline optimal building types for adaptive reuse projects, cost-reduction strategies, and recommendations for policy and zoning changes that can better facilitate the application of adaptive reuse. The best practices outlined in this paper will help developers implement adaptive reuse more effectively in affordable housing projects, ensuring the efficient transformation of vacant buildings into livable spaces. Additionally, these guidelines will inform policymakers of the necessary regulations and incentives to support and facilitate adaptive reuse, ultimately contributing to the expansion of affordable housing options and revitalizing underutilized properties.

The prevalence of food allergies in the United States has increased dramatically, affecting 4 in every 100 children under the age of 18. There are 8 main categories of food that make up the most common food allergies. These foods include eggs, fish, milk, crustacean shellfish, wheat, tree nuts, soy, sesame, and peanuts. Together, these foods create the "Big 8" list: a priority list for the US Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA). In this literature review of current treatments for food allergies, we will select the peanut allergy for further research due to the often fatal complications that arise from anaphylaxis following exposure. This review will seek to provide a comprehensive overview of the current types of food allergy treatments and to discuss a cure for peanut allergies. The current solutions available today to treat food-induced allergic reactions include medical treatment (epinephrine), immunotherapy (e.g., "allergy shots'), nutritional support, and simply avoidance. While these solutions are great aids to help alleviate allergic reactions, they do not cure the food allergies themselves. This means that people who have food allergies are not able to consume the foods they want or need. This begs the question, "Is it possible to make a cure for peanut allergies?" The origin of food-induced intolerances stems from the failure of the immune system to ignore, or be tolerant of, food antigens. Previous studies have identified specific peanut antigens that promote allergic responses. Food allergic immune responses are primarily driven by T cells. Potentially, these antigens can be used to isolate peanut-specific T cells in allergic individuals. These T cells could then be analyzed and used to generate cell-based therapies to suppress allergic responses (bystander suppression). This solution could permanently prevent peanut-induced allergic reactions from occurring. 

Spinal cord injury (SCI) affects millions of people around the world, often leading to severe physical, psychological, and social consequences. Understanding how the brain and spinal cord react to injury is important for finding ways to help people recover lost movement. Previous research has investigated c-Fos expression, a protein that shows when nerve cells in the spinal cord are active, as a marker of neuronal activity in response to SCI; however, further investigation is needed to identify new pathways and technologies that could aid in the recovery of SCI patients. I am investigating how c-Fos behaves in the spinal cord of rats through Steve Perlmutter’s lab, part of the Department of Neurobiology and Biophysics at the University of Washington, which focuses on developing neuroprosthetic therapies - therapeutic interventions that restore lost neural function by electrical stimulation of sensory or motor pathways. These prosthetics enhance the nervous system’s ability to promote reorganization of brain and spinal cord connections, which can support improved motor recovery in conditions like stroke, traumatic brain injury, and SCI. In this study, I am investigating how c-Fos behaves in the spinal cord of rats before and after they are injured, and how different types of stimulation affect it. I use a technique called immunofluorescence to look closely at c-Fos activity in the lumbar and cervical areas of the spine, which are critical for motor control. The goal of this project is to further investigate which pathways in the spinal cord help recovery and how stimulation can affect c-Fos expression. Since the research is still ongoing, the study aims to contribute to the broader goal of improving SCI rehabilitation by providing insights into neuronal plasticity and supporting the development of new neuroprosthetic therapies to enhance motor function in SCI patients.

Spinal cord injuries (SCI) affect over 1.2 million people in the United States, resulting in severe motor impairments due to disrupted communication between the brain and muscles. While physical therapy is the standard treatment of rehabilitation, its effect on recovery is limited. The pairing of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) and physical therapy is a promising new improvement for rehabilitation. SCS is thought to work by increasing spinal excitability, allowing more neural input to generate voluntary movement. However, preliminary data have shown that training on one task may interfere with progress in another, raising questions about the mechanisms underlying motor recovery after SCI and how to optimize rehabilitation strategies. In this project, we explore how multichannel, targeted, activity-based spinal stimulation (mTADSS) can enhance functional recovery in a rodent model of SCI. Using intraspinal stimulation, we examine whether training multiple tasks during a therapy period will interfere with the effect of recovery. Our experimental design consists of five groups of rats that first undergo baseline motor assessments, including training to evaluate grabbing ability and measure both grip force and range. Following these assessments, the rats receive a moderate cervical contusion injury, after which they undergo retraining with or without TADSS to assess its effects on motor recovery. I am responsible for operating the stimulation system and ensuring precise stimulation timing during physical training. I also collect and analyze behavioral and stimulation data to assess the impact of different rehabilitation approaches. Based on our preliminary data, we expect to find interference between tasks highlighting the need to develop better task training protocols to induce greater motor generalization. This research aims to contribute to the development of more effective rehabilitation strategies for individuals with SCI, potentially improving their mobility and quality of life.