Symposium 2020

We are delighted to welcome you to the annual Barnard Biology Research Symposium! This symposium is dedicated to showcasing and celebrating the exemplary work of our Guided Research & Seminar and Senior Thesis Research & Seminar students. Under the guidance of their dedicated mentors, both at Barnard and throughout New York City, our students have spent the 2019-2020 academic year working independently on projects ranging from those in cell biology to animal behavior to clinical trials.

This page is your guide to today's event. The morning presentations will be hosted on a 'main' Zoom room as will the poster abstracts after the 1:00 pm lunch break. Then, poster presenters will break out and host individual Zoom rooms where they will discuss their posters and answer visitors' questions. You may open up the posters to view them as you join a poster presenter's room, but we ask that you please do not download them. These posters are the intellectual property of the presenters, their PIs, and their affiliated institutions. Links to all Zoom sessions for today's event are provided below.

Want a copy of today's program? Download it here. Questions can be sent to the department administrator, Melissa Flores (mflores@barnard.edu).

Biology majors enroll in Senior Thesis Research & Seminar to satisfy their senior capstone requirement for the major. This year-long course requires students to work on independent research projects under the guidance of their mentors. It culminates in both a scientific paper and a 15-minute research talk presented in today’s first session. 

(From left to right.) Top: Tasneem Ebrahim, Joy Barrett, Tova Finkelstein, and Kyra Schindler.
Middle: Sophia Liu, Maite Ibáñez de Garayo, Devon Bernsley, and Anastasija Čupić, 
Bottom: Nora McNamara-Bordewick, Iasha Khan, and Nina Tang. 

As you join the meeting, please ensure that your microphone is on Mute. Questions at the end of a presentation will be moderated by Professors Goldstein, Miranda, and Pischedda in the chat (please send questions to 'Everyone', which is the default, rather than to a specific presenter). 

9:30 am Opening Remarks by Professors Jessica Goldstein, JJ Miranda, and Alison Pischedda

9:45 am Tasneem Ebrahim

How do human natural killer cells kill their targets?
Emily Mace (Department of Pediatrics, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University)

10:00 am Anastasija Čupić

LGP2 works as a positive regulator of MDA5-mediated antiviral sensing
Adolfo García-Sastre and Lisa Miorin (Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai)

10:15 am Joy Barrett

Presence of selective constraint on silent substitutions in chloroplast genes of flowering plants
Brian Morton (Department of Biological Sciences, Barnard College)

10:30 am Tova Finkelstein

Hoxa5 and its role in patterning skeletal muscle and brown adipose tissue
Jennifer Mansfield (Department of Biological Sciences, Barnard College)

10:45 am Nora McNamara-Bordewick

Characterizing the effects of pharmacologic proteasome inhibition on honey bees
Jonathan W. Snow (Department of Biological Sciences, Barnard College)

11:00 am Break

11:15 am Nina Tang

Role of CTX-M-15 in cefepime resistance mechanism of piperacillin-tazobactam susceptible Enterobacteriaceae clinical isolates
Anne-Catrin Uhlemann (Division of Infectious Diseases—Department of Medicine, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University)

11:30 am Sophia Liu

Of Mice and Mead: Parsing out the influence of taste and olfaction on alcohol’s flavor in mice
John Glendinning (Department of Biological Sciences, Barnard College)

11:45 am Iasha Khan

Understanding the role of Cathepsin K expression downstream of the CD200-CD200R1 axis in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma metastasis 
David M. Owens (Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University)

12:00 pm Devon Bernsley

Thermal regulation and movement patterns of eastern box turtles
Matthew Palmer (Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University), Suzanne Macey (Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History), and Maria Strangas (Science Research Mentoring Program, American Museum of Natural History)

12:15 pm Maite Ibáñez de Garayo

Targeting BET proteins in herpesvirus-associated cancers
JJ Miranda (Department of Biological Sciences, Barnard College)

12:30 pm Kyra Schindler

Assessing the role of Hoxa5 in muscle vs. brown adipose tissue specification in cultured myoblast cells
Jennifer Mansfield (Department of Biological Sciences, Barnard College)

12:45 pm Concluding Remarks 

1:00 pm Lunch Break

Biology majors enroll in Guided Research & Seminar to satisfy two of three required upper-level biology labs for the major. This year-long course requires students to work on independent research projects under the guidance of their mentors. It culminates in both a scientific paper and the poster presented in today’s second session.

(From left to right.) Top: Amira F. Farid, Talia Boyers, and Abigail I. Gutierrez. 
Middle: Ariana Chuback, Ana Maria Rodriguez Cuadrado, and Vanessa Marie Chirino. 
Bottom: Abigail Schreier, Francess Marie Kamara, and Stefani Shoreibah.

Student Poster Abstracts (2:00 pm to 2:20 pm)

As you join the meeting, please ensure that your microphone is on Mute.

Student Poster Sessions (2:20 pm to 3:00 pm)

Zoom links and PDFs of each poster are available below. These posters are the intellectual property of the students, their PIs, and their research institutions, and are for viewing purposes only. Please do not download or take screenshots of any posters. As you join these rooms, please ensure that your microphone is not muted.

Poster 1 Stefani Shoreibah

Assessing sensitivity of breast cancer cells to chemotherapy
Tal Danino and Dhru Deb (Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University)

 

Poster 2 Abigail Schreier

The Emma Watch: Exploring the efficacy of a haptic wearable watch to improve individuals with action tremor
Lori Quinn (Department of Behavioral Sciences, Teachers College, Columbia University)

 

Poster 3 Ana Maria Rodriguez Cuadrado

Is there genetic variation in male mate choice?
Alison Pischedda (Department of Biological Sciences, Barnard College)

 

Poster 4 Francess Marie Kamara

Identifying genes implicated in touch receptor neuron ensheathment in C. elegans
Martin Chalfie and Matthew Walker (Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University)

 

Poster 5 Abigail I. Gutierrez

The effects of sexual conflict on male fitness in Drosophila melanogaster
Alison Pischedda (Department of Biological Sciences, Barnard College)

 

Poster 6 Amira F. Farid

The effects of pediatric bariatric surgery on thyroid function
Ilene Fennoy and Alyson Weiner (Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Irving Medical Center)

 

Poster 7 Ariana Chuback

Genetic defects in the myocardium predispose children to acute myocarditis
Bruce D. Gelb (Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai), Amy R. Kontorovich (Division of Cardiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai), and Nihir Patel (Department of Genetics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai)

 

Poster 8 Vanessa Marie Chirino

Modulating the enzymatic activity of a thermostable alcohol dehydrogenase (AdhD) via fusion of DNA nanostructures
Scott Banta and Nisha Modi (Department of Chemical Engineering, The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, Columbia University)

 

Poster 9 Talia Boyers

Coding Patient Preferences: What do migraine patients want in an mHealth app?
Mia T. Minen and Sarah Corner (Department of Neurology, New York University Langone Health)

 

Closing Remarks (3:00 pm to 3:15 pm)

Thank you for your support of our students today!