Email: Dissertation & Thesis Announcements
Amrita Khakurel, M.S.
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences (GPIBS) PhD Program
“Investigating the function of GARP complex in intracellular membrane trafficking”
Advisor: Dr. Vladimir Lupashin
Monday, October 21, 2024
2:00 PM
Biomed II Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2 & Virtual Via Zoom
Soumiya Pal, MSc
Pharmaceutical Sciences PhD Program
“Mechanism of Lymphatic Contractile Dysfunction in Hypertension”
Advisor: Dr. Amanda Stolarz
Friday, September 27, 2024
1:00 PM
Biomed II Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2 & Virtual Via Zoom
Bailey Cronin
Bioinformatics MS Program
“RNA Sequencing Reveals Chemotherapy-Induced Changes in Genes Associated with Neurogenesis and Neuronal Function”
Advisor: Dr. Antiño Allen
Thursday, July 25, 2024
10:00 AM
Biome I Room 205/207 & Virtual Via Zoom
Tracy Nolan
Biomedical Informatics MS Program
“Two ways context formalization can increase searchability of a public imaging archive”
Advisor: Dr. Lawrence Tarbox
Thursday, July 18, 2024
1:00 PM
Jo Ellen Ford Auditorium Room 1207 & Virtual Via Zoom
Dylan Gilbreath, M.S.
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences (GPIBS) PhD Program
“Characterizing Early Diet’s Effect on the Functional Development of the Infant Brain”
Advisor: Dr. Linda Larson-Prior
Thursday, July 16, 2024
1:00 PM
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2 & Virtual Via Zoom
Sonya Utecht, B.A.
Biomedical Informatics MS Program
Meta-analysis and Systematic Review of Cancer Related Cognitive Impairment in Breast Cancer Patients
Advisor: Dr. Linda Larson-Prior
Thursday, July 11, 2024
2:00 PM
Virtual Via Zoom
Antonije Lazic, MHA
Health Systems & Services Research PhD Program
“Three Essays on Childhood Obesity Based on the Arkansas Childhood Body Mass Index Panel”
Advisor: Dr. Michael Thomsen
Thursday, June 27, 2024
10:00 AM
Rahn Building, Room 8240
Ravi Sun, B.E.
MD/PhD Program
“Genetic and Epigenetic Dysregulation Drive Growth of Cystic Lymphatic Malformation By Activating Pro-Proliferative Signaling Cascades”
Advisor: Dr. Graham Strub
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
9:00 AM
Rayford Auditorium & Virtual via Zoom
Alexa Escapita, M.S.
GPIBS Neuroscience PhD Program
“Neurodevelopment in Children with Critical Congenital Heart Disease”
Advisor: Dr. Tara Johnson
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
12:00 PM
Rayford Auditorium & Virtual via Zoom
Susie Brown
GPIBS Biochemistry & Molecular Biology PhD Program
“Discovery, Characterization, and Therapeutic Potential of G-quadruplex and i-Motif Structures in the Promoter of the MYD88 Oncogene”
Advisor: Dr. Samantha Kendrick
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
2:00 PM
Sam Walton Auditorium (Cancer Institute, 10th Floor)
Samia S. Lira, B.S.
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences MS Program
“Characterization of lung phenotype due to type I collagen alterations in mouse models of osteogenesis imperfecta”
Advisor: Dr. Roy Morello
Monday, April 29, 2024
2:00 PM
Biomed 2, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Saly Abouelenein, M.S.
Biomedical Informatics PhD Program
“A hematological prognostic marker for cardiovascular disease mortality”
Advisor: Dr. Fred Prior
Friday, April 26, 2024
2:00 PM
Rahn G220 & Virtual via Zoom
Alisha Crump, MPH
Epidemiology PhD Program
“Structural Determinants of Cigar Behavior Among Youth and Young Adults”
Advisor: Dr. Benjamin Amick
Friday, April 26, 2024
10:00 AM
Rahn 8240 & Virtual via Zoom
Brooke Alstun, RD, LD
Clinical Nutrition MS Program
“Interventions and Factors Affecting Breastfeeding Initiation, Duration, and Exclusivity in Low-Income Mothers”
Advisor: Dr. Lisa Jansen
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
2:00 PM
Virtual via Zoom
Madison Trujillo, BS
Pharmaceutical Sciences PhD Program
“Effects of Combination Breast Cancer Chemotherapy on Reproduction and Behavior”
Advisor: Dr. Antino Allen
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
2:00 PM
Rayford Auditorium
LaTambria Hampton
GPIBS Master’s of Science
“CD28 signaling upregulates phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase-2 (PCK2) to maintain T cell metabolic fitness”
Advisors: Drs. Brian Koss and Analiz Rodriguez
Monday, April 22, 2024
1:00 PM
Rayford Auditorium & Virtual via Zoom
Matthew Harmon, MSN
Nursing Science PhD Program
“Barriers & Facilitators to Completion of Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity
Conditional Release Programs”
Advisor: Dr. Sara Jones
Friday, April 19, 2024
12:30 PM
Rahn Building, Room 3202 & Virtual via Zoom
Emine Bircan
Epidemiology PhD Program
“Long-term Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Mothers who have Infants with Congenital Heart Defects in Arkansas”
Advisor: Dr. Wendy Nembhard
Friday, April 19, 2024
8:00 AM
Virtual via Zoom
Naiha Ahmad, M.Phil.
Graduate PhD Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
“Understanding the functions of SAMD9 protein as an intrinsic immune component and a stress response element”
Advisor: Dr. Jia Liu
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
2:00 PM
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed 2 (106-2) & Virtual via Zoom
Robert Ray, BS, MBA
Health Systems and Services Research PhD Program
“The Impact of the Repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s Individual Mandate: An Evaluation of Changes in Insurance Coverage and Employment among Medicaid Expansion and Non-Expansion States”
Advisors: Dr. Mick Tilford and Clare Brown
Friday, April 12, 2024
11:00 AM
I. Dodd Wilson (Room 115 A/B) & Virtual via Zoom
Melanie Thomasson, MPH
Health Systems and Services Research PhD Program
“Level of Care in Home and Community-Based Services for Older Adults: A Cross-State Comparison and Development of Consensus Policies”
Advisor: Dr. Holly Felix
Friday, April 12, 2024
1:00 PM
I. Dodd Wilson (Room 115 A/B) & Virtual via Zoom
Steven Chasteen, MNSc.
Nursing Science PhD Program
“A Comparison of Simulation-Based Education with Lecture-Based Teaching to Enhance LGBTQ Cultural Competence in Nurse Practitioner Students”
Advisor: Dr. Martha Rojo
Thursday, April 11, 2024
11:00 AM
Rahn Building, Room G232
Brian Parks, BS
GPIBS PhD Program, PTET
“Effects of Prenatal Opioid Exposure and Early Life Adversity on Adolescent Alcohol and Opioid Abuse Susceptibility”
Advisor: Dr. Lisa Brents
Thursday, April 4, 2024
9:00 AM
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed 2, Room 106-2
Danielle Booth, MPH
Epidemiology PhD Program
“Tuberculosis Elimination in Arkansas: Modeling Incidence And Evaluation Of Screening Strategy”
Advisor: Dr. Wendy Nembhard
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
2:00 PM
Rahn Building, Room 8240 & Virtual via Zoom
Mara Campbell, B.A.
MD/PhD Program
“A Tool and a Target: Extracellular Proteases and Their Regulation as a Means to Understand S. aureus Osteomyelitis and Develop Anti-Virulence Strategies”
Advisor: Dr. Mark Smeltzer
Monday, March 18, 2024
1:00 PM
Biomed II, Rayford Auditorium
Whitney Norris, Ed.S.
Clinical & Translational Sciences Program
“Exploration of factors associated with the implementation of neurofeedback in outpatient mental health treatment”
Advisor: Dr. Martha Rojo
Monday, March 4, 2024
11:30 AM
Rahn Building, 3rd Floor, Room 204
Namarta Kapil, M.S.
GPIBS PhD Program, Neuroscience
“Cerebral Palsy: Early Markers of Clinical Phenotype”
Advisor: Dr. Tara Johnson
Tuesday, December 12, 2023
12:00 PM
Biomed II, Rayford Auditorium and Virtual via Zoom
Jessica Lynn Kelliher
GPIBS PhD Program, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
“Molecular Mechanisms of the Phospho-Ubiquitin Axis in the Response to Double-Stranded Breaks”
Advisors: Drs. Justin Leung and Brian Koss
Monday, December 4, 2023
1:00 PM
Biomed II, Rayford Auditorium
Cilia Zayas, MSF, MHA
Biomedical Informatics PhD Program
“Structural properties of electronic information sharing networks and their impact on ICU readmission risk: A cohort study of adults admitted to an Arkansas medical center”
Advisor: Dr. Mathias Brochhausen
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
9:00 AM
Virtual via Zoom
Mriga Shrikhande, M.S., B.Pharm.
Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy MS Program
“Costs and utilization among SGLT‐2 inhibitor and GLP‐1 agonist users diagnosed with type‐2 diabetes and CVD: A retrospective cohort study of commercially insured patients”
Advisor: Dr. Jacob Painter
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
4:00 PM
Virtual via Teams
Kanishka Manna, M.Sc.
Bioinformatics PhD Program
“Techniques in Multi-Omics Data Integration to Develop a Novel Proteogenomics Framework for Identification of Proteoforms”
Advisors: Drs. Stephanie Byrum & Michael Robeson
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
1:00 PM
Cancer Institute, 10th Floor, Walton Auditorium & Virtual via Zoom
Phuc Tran
Pharmaceutical Sciences PhD Program
“Exploration of Classical Quinazoline Scaffold in Oncology and Anti-Influenza Applications”
Advisors: Drs. Hong-yu Li and Cesar Compadre
Thursday, November 16, 2023
3:00 PM
Biomed 1, B205/207 & Virtual via Zoom
Tammy Webb
Nursing Science PhD Program
“The Impact of Nurse Residency Programs on Patient Quality and Safety Outcomes”
Advisor: Dr. Corey Nagel
Monday, November 6, 2023
1:00 PM
Rahn 2280 & Virtual via Zoom
Xiuqi Wang
PhD Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
“Discovery of Imidazopyridine Analogs as FLT3-ITD Secondary Mutant Inhibitors for the Treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia”
Advisor: Dr. Hongyu Li
Monday, October 9, 2023
1:00 PM
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed Building 2, Room 106-2
Miguel Mercado, B.S.
PhD Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
“Characterization of innate immune effectors and CD4 T cell-mediated protection during Chlamydia muridarum infection”
Advisor: Dr. Lin-Xi Li
Monday, September 25, 2023
2:00 PM
Rayford Auditorium, Biomedical Building 2 & Virtual via Zoom
Christa Corley, M.S.
Pharmaceutical Sciences PhD Program
“Indications of Cognitive Changes Induced by Cyclophosphamide, Methotrexate, and Fluorouracil”
Advisor: Dr. Antiño Allen
Tuesday, September 5, 2023
3:30 PM
Biomedical Building I, Room B205/207
Catherine Shoults
Biomedical Informatics PhD Program
“Reddit as a Pharmacovigilance Tool: Feasibility, Comparability, and Insights Into the use of a Narrative Social Media Website to Complement FDA Reporting”
Advisor: Dr. Corey Hayes
Monday, August 14, 2023
10:00 AM
Virtual via Zoom
Ruchira Mahashabde
Pharmaceutical Evaluation & Policy PhD Program
“Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors use in Older Adults with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Brain Metastasis”
Advisor: Dr. Chenghui Li
Friday, August 4, 2023
2:30 PM
RAHN G228 & Virtual via Zoom
Devin K. Terry
Nursing Science PhD Program
“Clinical Decision Support Tools: Acute Care Nurses’ Perceptions of Usefulness and Ease of Use”
Advisor: Dr. Sara Jones
Monday, July 31, 2023
10:00 AM
RAHN 1202 & Virtual via Zoom
Michael Eledge
GPIBS Microbiology and Immunology PhD Program
“Heartbreaker: Host Factors that Influence Reovirus-Induced Myocarditis in Neonatal Mice”
Advisor: Dr. Karl Boehme
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
12:00 PM
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed II, Room 106-2
Ashley Pike
GPIBS Neuroscience PhD Program
“Neuroimaging Predictors of Longitudinal Cognitive Impairment and Disability Decline in Multiple Sclerosis Patients”
Advisor: Dr. Andrew James
Tuesday, July 25, 2023
1:00 PM
Hospital Lobby Gallery 1030 & Virtual via Zoom
Mika Taylor
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences MS Program
“Investigating the Impact of KIF18a on Virus-Mediated Cell Death in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC)”
Advisor: Dr. Marius Nagalo
Friday, July 14, 2023
2:30 PM
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed II, Room 106-2 & Virtual via Zoom
Sangam Kandel
Biomedical Informatics PhD Program
“Genomic Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 using Long Range PCR Primers”
Advisor: Dr. David Ussery
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
1:00 PM
Virtual via Zoom
Taylor Wadley
GPIBS Pathobiology PhD Program
“Identification of Nucleic Acid Modifications by ONT Sequencing”
Advisor: Dr. Intawat Nookaew
Tuesday, July 11, 2023
9:00 AM
Virtual via Zoom
Hayley Theriot
PhD Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
“Identifying and Characterizing Determinants of the Biphasic Disease Progression of Pneumonic Plague”
Advisor: Dr. Roger D. Pechous
Thursday, July 6, 2023
1:30 PM
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed II, Room 106-2 & Virtual via Zoom
Juchan Lim
GPIBS Neuroscience PhD Program
“Regulation of Musashi-Dependent Translational Activation by Co-associated Proteins”
Advisor: Dr. Angus MacNicol
Thursday, July 6, 2023
12:00 PM
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed II, Room 106-2
Katherine “Katie” Bronson
GPIBS Biochemistry and Molecular Biology PhD Program
“Regulation of Musashi-Dependent Translational Activation by Co-associated Proteins”
Advisor: Dr. Angus MacNicol
Wednesday, July 5, 2023
12:00 PM
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed II, Room 106-2
Jewel Banik
PhD Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
“The Role of Musashi and Regulated mRNA Translation in Pituitary Plasticity”
Advisor: Dr. Angus MacNicol
Monday, June 26, 2023
12:00 PM
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed II, Room 106-2 & Virtual via Zoom
Kalee N. Holloway
GPIBS Neuroscience PhD Program
“Ethanol Effects on the Brain in Animal Models of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and Alcohol Use Disorder”
Advisor: Dr. Paul Drew
Thursday, June 22, 2023
12:00 PM
Biomed I, Room Conference Room 205/207 & Virtual via Zoom
Lance Benson
GPIBS Pharmacology and Toxicology PhD Program
“CD8+ T Cells Mediate the Immuno-Pathogenesis of Salt-Sensitive Hypertension”
Advisor: Dr. Shengyu Mu
Thursday, June 22, 2023
1:00 PM
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed II, Room 106-2 & Virtual via Zoom
Zinia D’Souza
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences PhD Program
“Dismantling the Golgi’s vesicle tethering and Fusion Machinery”
Advisor: Dr. Vladimir Lupashin
Thursday, June 8, 2023
10:00 AM
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed II Room 106-2
Saki Fukuda
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences PhD Program
“Impact of Precision Deuteration on Buprenorphine Pharmacokinetics”
Advisor: Dr. Lisa Brents
Thursday, April 27, 2023
10:30 AM
Virtual via Zoom
Samjhana Shakya
Health Promotion & Prevention Research PhD Program
Cultural Adaptation and Perceived Feasibility Assessment of the “Extended-Hurt, Insult, Threaten, Scream (E-HITS)” Screening Tool in Identifying Interpersonal Violence in the Healthcare Settings in Kathmandu, Nepal
Advisors: Dr. Carol Cornell and Dr. Taren Swindle
Thursday, April 20, 2023
10:00 AM
Virtual Via Zoom
Taiwo Adesoba
Health Systems and Services Research PhD Program
“Impact of Musculoskeletal Disorders on Type II Diabetes Care and Outcomes”
Advisor: Dr. Anthony Goudie
Monday, April 17, 2023
11:00 AM
G225 – Ground Floor of ED II Building
Lauren Clai Morehead
GPIBS Biochemistry and Molecular Biology PhD Program
“Resveratrol Induces MHC-I Presentation through STING Signaling”
Advisors: Dr. Alan Tackett and Dr. Isabelle Miousse
Monday April 10, 2023
1:00 PM
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed II 106-2
LaToya Blanks
Health Promotion & Prevention Research PhD Program
“The Role of Health Literacy, Breastfeeding Knowledge, and Race in Predicting Breastfeeding Intention”
Advisors: Tiffany Haynes, PhD & Latrina Prince, Ed.D.
Friday, February 24, 2023
8:00 AM
Virtual via Zoom
Kaleb Abram
Biomedical Informatics PhD Program
“Unifying Traditional Microbiology and Sequence-based Bacterial Taxonomies”
Advisor: Se-Ran Jun, PhD
Thursday, February 23, 2023
1:00 PM
Virtual via Zoom
Ambrish A. Pandit
Pharmaceutical Evaluation & Policy PhD Program
“Racial/ethnic disparities in patient care experiences and their association with healthcare outcomes among prostate cancer patients: A SEER-CHPS-Medicare study”
Advisor: Chenghui Li, PhD
Friday, January 13, 2023
12:00 PM
RAHN 3/202
Binyam Belachew
Graduate PhD Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
“Biophysical and biochemical methods to determine the ability of hepatitis C virus non-structural protein 3 to unfold viral G-quadruplex RNA structures”
Advisor: Kevin Raney, PhD
Monday, December 5, 2022
1:00 PM
Rayford Auditorium & Virtual via Zoom
Jing Jin
Epidemiology PhD Program
“Tracks of Homozygosity in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer reveal methylation-driven gene expression signatures and provide insight into smoking behavior”
Advisor: Mohammed S. Orloff, PHD
Monday, November 21, 2022
9:30 AM
Virtual via Zoom
Metu Osele
BioMedical Informatics Graduate Program
“Machine Learning for Biological Data: Adding Feature Selection to Naïve Bayes Classifiers for Identifying Microbial Taza”
Advisor: Michael Robeson, Ph.D.
Monday, November 7, 2022
2:30 p.m.
BioMedical Research Ctr Rm 205/207 & Virtual via Zoom
Jon Wilkerson
Health Systems & Services Research PhD Program
“Has productivity improved in the treatment of traumatic brain injury from falls among older adults?”
Advisors: Dr. Mick Tilford & Dr. Clare Brown
Friday, November 4, 2022
1:00 p.m.
Education Building II, G225 & Virtual via Zoom
Marcelle Dina Zita
PhD Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
“Mechanisms of Reovirus-Induced Cardiac Pathology”
Advisor: Karl Boehme, Ph.D.
Thursday, September 8, 2022
9:00 a.m.
Rahn Building, Room 8/240
Kara A. O’Neal
PhD Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
“Bhlhe40 is a key regulator of IL-10 production from CD4+ T cells during P. yoelii infection”
Advisor: Jason Stumhofer, PhD
Thursday, June 30, 2022
10:00 a.m.
Virtual via Zoom
Lauren Russell
Pharmacology and Toxicology PhD Program
“In Vivo Structure-Activity Relationships of Substituted Amphetamines and Substituted Cathinones”
Advisor: William Fantegrossi, PhD
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
9:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed 2, Room 106-2
Virtual via Zoom
Joel Vazquez
PhD Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
“Biomarkers of Drug-Induced Liver Injury: Discovery, Evaluation, and Mechanistic Insights”
Advisor: Mitchell McGill, PhD
Friday, May 20, 2022
9:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed 2, Room 106-2
Victoria Niedzwiedz Massey
PhD Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
“Neuroinflammation & Myelination in Animal Models of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder & Alcohol Use Disorder”
Advisor: Paul Drew, PhD
Thursday, May 5, 2022
9:00 a.m.
Virtual via Zoom – See email for zoom link
Fabio Ntagwabira
Masters in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
“Piperlongumine as a Neuro-Protectant in Chemotherapy Induced Cognitive Impairment”
Advisor: Antino Allen, PhD
Wednesday, May 4, 2022
12:00 p.m.
Virtual via Zoom – See email for zoom link
Francesca LoBianco-Farrar
PhD Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
“Targeting Redox Metabolism for Liver Cancer Treatment”
Advisor: Nukhet Aykin-Burns, PhD
Monday, May 2, 2022
1:00 p.m.
Virtual via Zoom – See email for zoom link
Pilar Simmons
PhD Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
“Differential Effects of Simulated Space Radiation on Hippocampal Function”
Advisor: Antino Allen, PhD
Friday, April 29, 2022
2:30 p.m.
Virtual via Zoom – See email for zoom link
Shelbie D. Stahr
Clinical and Translational Sciences PhD Program
“The Effect of Low-Dose Arsenic Exposure on Obesity Risk”
Advisor: L. Joseph Su, PhD
Wednesday, April 20, 2022
1:00 p.m.
Virtual via Zoom – See email for zoom link
Mary Jane Willard
Nursing Science PhD Program
“Factors Associated with Military Members using Electronic Cigarettes”
Advisor: Claudia Barone, Ph.D.
Thursday, April 14, 2022
9:30 a.m.
Zoom Conference – See email for zoom link
Mrinmayee Lakkad, BPharm., M.S.
Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy PhD Program
“Clinical and Economic Outcomes of Breast Cancer Survivors With Pain”
Advisor: Jacob Painter, PhD
Monday, April 11, 2022
10:00 a.m.
Zoom Conference – See email for zoom link
Christian Cabanlong
GPIBS PhD Program
“Atypical Pharmacodynamic Characteristics of Novel Synthetic Cannainoid Receptor Agonists (SCRAs) 4F-MDMB-BINACA and 5F-MDMB-PINACA: Insight to Toxicity?
Advisor: Paul L. Prather, PhD
Friday, February 18, 2022
9:00 a.m.
Zoom Conference – See email for zoom link
Mahip Acharya
Pharmaceutical Evaluation & Policy PhD Program
“Opioid trajectories, safety and potential opioid misuse among individuals with tramadol, short-acting hydrocodone and short-acting oxycodone therapy”
Advisor: Bradley Martin, PharmD, PhD
Friday, January 7, 2022
2:00 p.m.
Virtual via Zoom – See email for zoom link
Ana Rita Silva Moreira
GPIBS PhD Program
“Translational Control in Pituitary Gonadotropes: Musashi as a Mediator of Female Reproduction”
Advisors: Angela Odle, Ph.D. & Gwen Childs, Ph.D.
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
9:00 a.m.
Zoom Conference – See email for zoom link
Mahanaz Syed
Biomedical Informatics Program
“DeDNER: A Neural Network Named Entity Recognition Model for use in the De-identification of Clinical Notes”
Advisor: Fred W. Prior, Ph.D.
Tues, November 30, 2021
8:00 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Sohrab Syed
Biomedical Informatics Program
“Deep Learning Based NLP Paradigm for Colonoscopy Research and Quality Improvement”
Advisor: Fred W. Prior, Ph.D.
Friday, November 12, 2021
8:00 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Ruiqi Cen
Epidemiology PhD Program
“Maternal Dietary and Supplemental Inositol Intake During the Periconceptional Period and Risk of Congenital Heart Defects”
Advisor: Wendy Nembhard, PhD, MPH
Thursday, November 4, 2021
1:30 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Taurean Brown
Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
“Investigating the Impact of Docetaxel, Doxorubicin, and Cyclophosphamide (TAC) Induced Inflammation on Cognitive Impairment”
Advisor: Antino Allen, Ph.D.
Tuesday, October 5, 2021
1:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Amal Shoeib
Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
“Characterization of Non-Canonical Cannabinoid Receptors in Cancer Cells: Implications for Drug Development”
Advisor: Paul Prather, Ph.D.
Friday, October 1, 2021
9:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed II, Room 106-2 and Virtual
Zoom Conference
Leanna Delhey
Epidemiology PhD Program
“Depressive Symptoms and Cardiovascular Disease among the American Elderly”
Advisor: Robert Delongchamp, Ph.D.
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
1:30 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Joseph Asante, Jr.
Bioinformatics PhD Program
“Potential contributions of xenobiotics to P-glycoprotein clearance of Amyloid β-peptide from the brain”
Advisor: Steven Barger, Ph.D.
Friday, August 27, 2021
12:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Anupreet Kharbanda
Pharmaceutical Science Graduate Program
“Discovery of small-molecule anti-cytokines to improve treatment outcomes in oncology”
Advisor: Hong-Yu Li, Ph.D.
Friday, August 13, 2021
10:00 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Leonie DeClerk, DNP
Nursing Science PhD Program
“Factors Influencing Nurse Practitioners’ Decision to Precept”
Advisor: Corey Nagel, Ph.D.
Thursday, August 12, 2021
9:00 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Portia Carr, M.S.
Communication Sciences and Disorders PhD Program
“Improving Functional Outcomes in Post-Stroke Aphasia via Telespeech: An Alternative Service Delivery Model for Underserved Populations”
Advisor: Dr. Dana Moser
Wednesday, August 11, 2021
1:30 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Seunghyun Jung, M.S.
Physiology and Cell Biology Graduate Program
“Photothermal induced neural stem cell differentiation using nanoparticle-based extracellular matrices”
Advisor: Robert J. Griffin, Ph.D.
Thursday, July 29, 2021
2:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Pankaj Patyal, M.S.
Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biology Graduate Program
“Regulation of Myelin Proteolipid Protein Gene Expression in the Central, Peripheral, and Enteric Nervous Systems”
Advisor: Patricia Wight, Ph.D.
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
11:00 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Ana Castro Munoz, B.S.
Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences (GPIBS)
“Investigating IL-10 as a Protective Mediator of Breast Cancer Risk in Premenopausal Obese Women”
Advisor: Rosalia C.M. Simmen, Ph.D.
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
10:00 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Samantha Crane, B.S.
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program
“Characterization of Bacterial and Host Factors Contributing to Progression of Primary Pneumonic Plague”
Advisor: Roger Pechous, Ph.D.
Monday, July 19, 2021
11:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium: Biomed 2, Room 106-2
Zoom Conference
Lingtian Zhang, B.S.
Pharmaceutical Sciences
“Discovery and Identification of Clinically Relevant RET and FLT3 Mutants Inhibitors”
Advisor: Hong-yu Li, Ph.D.
Friday, July 16, 2021
11:15 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Mary “Allie” Schleiff, B.S.
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program
“Diphenylamine NSAIDs are Bioactivated into Hepatotoxic Quinone-Species Metabolites”
Advisor: Grover Paul Miller, Ph.D.
Monday, July 12, 2021
12:30 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Erin Bush
Nursing Science Graduate Program
“Stimulated Presence for Persons Living with Dementia in Long Term Care”
Advisor: Sara Jones, Ph.D.
Friday, July 9, 2021
11:15 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Kathryn Eaton, M.S.
Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Candidate
Role of Interleukin-10 in Neuron Protection during Staphylococcus epidermidis CNS Catheter Infection
Advisor: Jessica Snowden, MD
Tuesday, June 22, 2021
1:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
David Henry, MPH
Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Candidate
β1-Adrenergic Receptor-Mediated Dilation of Cerebral Arteries during Beta Blocker Therapy, Hypertension, and Ischemic Stroke
Advisor: Sung Rhee, PhD
Wednesday, June 2, 2021
3:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Caitlin Caperton, B.A.
Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Candidate
“The Dichotomous Role of Immune Cells in Thyroid Cancer Pathogenesis”
Advisors: Aime Franco, PhD & Jerry Ware, PhD
Monday, May 17, 2021
3:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Megan R. Reed, B.S.
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Graduate Program PhD Candidate
Mechanisms of DNA damage tolerance of Glioblastoma
Advisor: Robert L. Eoff, PhD
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
10:00 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Andrea Melgar Castillo, B.S.
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences PhD Candidate
“It just stopped”: Veterans’ experiences of Opioid discontinuation
Advisor: Teresa Hudson, PharmD, PhD
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
10:00 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Catheryn Wilson, B.S.
Interdisciplinary Toxicology Graduate Program PhD Candidate
“Cannabimimetic and convulsant effects of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists, AB-PINACA, 5F-AB-PINACA, and 5F-ADB-PINACA in mice”
Co-Mentors: William Fantegrossi, PhD & Paul Prather, PhD
Friday, April 23, 2021
10:30 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Rebekah Langston, B.S.
Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences PhD Candidate
Investigating the role of a common genetic variant in Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis.
Advisor: Mark Cookson, PhD
Thursday, April 15, 2021
1:00 p.m.
WebEx
Andrea Edwards-Azumara, B.S.
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences PhD Candidate
“Unpaired Regions in G-Quadruplex DNA Regulate PARP-1 Enzymatic Activation: Implications for a ROS-Directed Transcription and DNA Repair Event”
Advisor: Kevin Raney, PhD
Thursday, February 18, 2021
11:00 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Duah Alkam
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology PhD Candidate
“Using genome-wide transposon sequencing (TnSeq) to identify osteomyelitis-critical Staphylococcus aureus genes”
Advisors: Mark S. Meltzer, PhD and David W. Ussery, PhD
Thursday, January 28, 2021
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Taylor McElroy
Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences
“Effects of redox modifier MnBuOE on cognition in female mice after Breast Cancer Chemotherapy”
Advisor: Antiño Allen, PhD
Thursday, December 20, 2020
9:00 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Erin Taylor
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences PhD Candidate
“Immune Modulation and Response to Checkpoint Inhibition in Metastatic Melanoma”
Advisor: Alan Tackett, PhD
Tuesday, December 1, 2020
12:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Visanu Wanchai
Biomedical Informatics PhD Candidate
“What is Life? Conservation of Functional Domains in Life”
Advisor: David W. Ussery, PhD
Monday, November 30, 2020
9:00 a.m.
Clay D. Jackson-Litteken
Microbiology & Immunology PhD Candidate
“Characterizing virulence determinants of the tickborne relapsing fever spirochete, Borrelia Turicatae”
Advisor: Jon S. Blevins, PhD
Thursday, November 19, 2020
1:30 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Brian Koss
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology PhD Candidate
“Epigenetic control of Cdkn2a.Arf protects tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes from exhaustion”
Advisor: Alan Tackett, PhD
Wednesday, November 18, 2020
12:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Divyan Chopra
Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy PhD Candidate
“Social Network Analysis of Provider Networks in Arkansas for Management of Pain”
Advisor: Brad Martin, PhD
Monday, November 16, 2020
1:00-2:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Aura M. Ramirez
Microbiology & Immunology PhD Candidate
“Regulation of extracellular protease production and its impact on the Staphylococcus aureus virulence factor repertoire and pathogenesis”
Advisor: Dr. Mark Smeltzer
Monday, November 9, 2020
9:00 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Mikyung Han
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences PhD Candidate
“Lymphatic circulating tumor cells in initiation and progression of tumor metastasis”
Advisor: Dr. Ekaterina Galanzha
Wednesday, November 4, 2020
1:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Elizabeth Cleveland
Communication Sciences and Disorders PhD Candidate
“Working memory processing times in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders”
Advisor: Dr. Gregory Robinson
Monday, November 2, 2020
9:30 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Darla Cathcart
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences PhD Candidate
“Neurophysiological Augmentation of a Behavioral Intervention for Vaginismus”
Advisor: Mark Mennemeier, PhD
Thursday, October 29, 2020
4:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Hannah Simpson
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences MS Candidate
“Constructing and validating a biofidelic infant neurological exam model to train pediatric residents”
Advisor: Tara Johnson, PhD
Friday, September 11, 2020
2:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Dustyn Barnette
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology PhD Candidate
“Determining Metabolic Pathways to Liver Toxicity for Multiple Drug Classes Through Integrated Computational and Experimental Techniques”
Advisor: Grover P. Miller, PhD
Thursday, September 10, 2020
12:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Tiffany Miles
GPIBS PhD Candidate
“Loss of Leptin Signaling: The Impact of Caloric Restriction on Neonatal and Adult Mice”
Advisor: Gwen V. Childs, PhD
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
2:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Stephen Shrum
Pharmacology & Toxicology PhD Candidate
“The Mitochondrial BK Channel as a Novel Therapeutic Target During Renal Cold Storage and Transplantation: Its Role as a Mitochondrial-protective Factor”
Advisors: Lee Ann MacMillan, PhD & Nancy Rusch, PhD
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
1:30 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed 2, Room 106
Zoom Conference
Skylar Connor
Bioinformatics PhD Candidate
“Towards a Better Resolution in Microbial Taxonomy: 16S rRNA Trees vs Ribosomal Protein Trees”
Advisor: David Ussery, PhD
Thursday, July 30, 2020
Zoom Conference
Laura Ewing
GPIBS PhD Candidate
“Determinants of radiation-induced gastrointestinal toxicity”
Advisors: Igor Koturbash, PhD & Annie Lumen, PhD
Monday, July 20, 2020
Zoom Conference
Gina Qualls
Nursing Science PhD Candidate
“Barriers and Facilitators to the use of Delirium Screening in Medical-Surgical Settings: A Pre-Implementation Study”
Advisor: Leanne Lefler, PhD
Friday, July 17, 2020
10:00 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Joseph Rom
Microbiology & Immunology PhD Candidate
“Prioritizing Staphylococcus aureus regulatory elements for therapeutic exploitation”
Advisor: Mark Smeltzer, PhD
Thursday, June 25, 2020
9:30 a.m.
Zoom Conference
John T. Sherrill
GPIBS PhD Candidate
“Advancing the Biomechanical Understanding of the Cervicothoracic Junction of the Human Spine”
Advisor: Erin Mannen, PhD
Thursday, June 11, 2020
8:00 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Shana Owens
Microbiology & Immunology PhD Candidate
“Gammaherpesvirus Interactions with Host Germinal Center Responses During Latency”
Advisor: Craig Forrest, PhD
Friday, May 29, 2020
1:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Keisha Cawley
GPIBS PhD Candidate
“Osteoprotegerin in bone biology: Investigation of cellular sources and mechanisms of regulation”
Advisor: Charles O’Brien, PhD
Thursday, May 28, 2020
2:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Joseph W. Levy
MD/PhD Candidate
“Biallelic and multiallelic copy number variants and their association with obstructive congenital heart defects”
Advisor: Charlotte Hobbs, MD, PhD
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
9:00 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Ryan Chase Ransom
MD/PhD Candidate
“Mechanoresponsive Dynamics of Skeletal Stem Cells in the Mammalian Jaw”
Thursday, April 30, 2020
3:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Amanda Dragan
GPIBS Ph.D. Candidate
“Defining Coxiella burnetii Human Alveolar Infection and Activation of Host Nrf2 Signaling”
Advisor: Robert McGehee, PhD
Monday, April 20, 2020
9:00 a.m.
Zoom Conference
Katelynn Doiron Brann
Microbiology & Immunology Ph.D. Candidate
“Characterizing the Human Macrophage Response to Diverse Bacterial Pulmonary Pathogens”
Advisor: Daniel Voth, PhD
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
2:00 p.m.
Zoom Conference
Natalie Capps
Nursing Science Ph.D. Candidate
“Smoke Exposure and Cervical Cancer: Analysis of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey”
Advisors: Claudia Barone, EdD, DNP & Sarah Rhoads, PhD, DNP
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
10:30 a.m.
Rahn Building, Room 3202
Joseph Jimmerson
Nursing Science Ph.D. Candidate
“Bedside Shift Report: Nurse Perceptions”
Advisor: Patricia Wright, PhD
Tuesday, April 6, 2020
10:00 a.m.
Jamie Jones
Nursing Science Ph.D. Candidate
“A Different Point of View: The Lived Experiences of Registered Nurses as Family Caregivers”
Advisor: Claudia Barone, PhD
Friday, April 3, 2020
1:30 p.m.
Rahn Building, Room 3202
Kelly Urban
Nursing Science Ph.D. Candidate
“Facilitating Implementation of Fall Prevention in Primary Care Practice”
Advisor: Patricia Wright, PhD
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
10:00 a.m.
Rahn Building, Room 3202
Leah Horn
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. Candidate
“The Impact of ICOS on Murine Plasmodium Infections”
Advisor: Jason Stumhofer, PhD
Friday, February 14, 2020
3:00 p.m.
Biomedical Building II, Rayford Auditorium
Ashley Davis
Nursing Science Ph.D. Candidate
“The Effects of Web-Based Mindfulness Meditation on Stress and Depressive Symptoms in Undergraduate Pre-Licensure Nursing Students: A Pilot Study”
Advisor: Pao-Feng Tsai, PhD, RN
Thursday, January 9, 2020
1:00 p.m.
Rahn Building, Room 2280
Tresor O. Mukiza
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. Candidate
“Multiple DNA Sequence-Specific Protein-DNA Complexes Activate Meiotic Recombination Hotspots via Chromatin Remodeling”
Advisor: Wayne P. Wahls, PhD
Thursday, December 5, 2019
12:00 p.m.
Biomedical Building II, Rayford Auditorium
Crystal Rose
Nursing Science Ph.D. Candidate
“The Association of Caffeine Metabolite with Obesity, Glycohemoglobin Levels and Low-Density Lipoprotein Levels”
Advisor: Pao-Feng Tsai, PhD
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
10:00 a.m.
RAHN Building, Room 3202
Naleen Raj Bhandari
Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy Ph.D. Candidate
“Burden of Living with Kidney Cancer in Older Americans”
Advisor: Nalin Payakachat, BPharm, MSc, PhD
Thursday, September 26, 2019
2:00 p.m.
RAHN Building, Room 3202
Nicole Ward
Nursing Science Ph.D. Candidate
“E-cigarette Knowledge and Use Patterns Among Pregnant Women”
Advisor: Claudia Barone, Ph.D.
Friday, August 9, 2019
2:00 p.m.
RAHN Building, Room 3202
Christine Felts
Nursing Science Ph.D. Candidate
“Experiences of Female College Students who Participated in Casual Sex”
Advisors: Jean McSweeney, Ph.D. and Tammy Jones, Ph.D.
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
10:00 a.m.
RAHN Building, Room 2280
William MacCain
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. Candidate
“Leveraging a Defective Undecaprenyl Pyrophosphate Synthase for Identifying Und-P Associated Phenotypes in Escherichia coli”
Advisor: Kevin D. Young, Ph.D.
Thursday, July 18, 2019
10:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Michael Cozart
Pharmacology Ph.D. Candidate
“Vascular TRPC3 Channels Mediate Dysregulation of Neurovascular Coupling during Status Epilepticus”
Advisor: Fang Zheng, Ph.D.
Thursday, May 30, 2019
2:00 pm
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Niranjan Kathe, BPharm, MS
Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy Ph.D. Candidate
“Assessing the Spillover Effects of Medicaid Expansion Compared to Non-Expansion on Pre-Existing Medicaid Patients, Children of Newly Eligible Parents, and on the Commercial Population”
Advisor: Jacob T. Painter, PharmD, MBA, Ph.D.
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
3:30 p.m.
RAHN Building, Room 3202
Anthonya Cooper
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Candidate
“Communication between Insulin and Serotonin Signaling Pathways in Placenta”
Advisor: Robert McGehee, Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
9:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Magdalena Delgado
“Characterization of Cell Death Induced by Microtubule Targeting Agents in Primary Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Cells”
Advisor: Timothy C. Chambers, Ph.D.
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
12:00 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Dina Elsayed, MD
Biomedical Informatics M.S. Candidate
“Transcriptome Sequencing to Identify Novel Long Non-Coding RNA in Multiple Myeloma”
Advisor: Michael A. Bauer, Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
9:00 a.m.
Jo Ellen Ford Auditorium
Institute on Aging
Arundhati (Aru) Gupta
Microbiology & Immunology Ph.D. Candidate
“Roles of Viral Immediate-Early Genes in Gammaherpesvirus Pathogenesis”
Advisor: J. Craig Forrest, Ph.D.
Monday, April 15, 2019
1:45 pm
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Laura Hays
Nursing Science Ph.D. Candidate
“Self-Reported Self-Management Needs of Adults with Congential Heart Disease”
Advisor: Jean McSweeney, Ph.D.
Monday, April 15, 2019
11:00 a.m.
Rahn Building, Room 2280
Frederico Kiffer
Pharmaceutical Sciences Ph.D. Candidate
“Effects of Charged-Particle Radiation on Memory and Hippocampal Morphology: Implications for a Manned Mission to Mars”
Advisor: Antino Allen, Ph.D.
Thursday, April 11, 2019
9:00 am
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Lauren Davis
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. Candidate
“Histone Posttranslational Modifications as Diagnostic Markers for Melanoma”
Advisor: Alan Tackett, Ph.D.
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
12:00 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Corey J. Hayes
Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy Ph.D. Candidate
Advisor: Bradley C. Martin, PharmD, Ph.D.
Friday, October 26, 2018
10:00 a.m.
Room 136
Psychiatric Research Institute
Brittany Beasley
Nursing Science Ph.D. Candidate
“Factors Associated with Healthcare Professionals Acceptance of eICU”
Advisor: Claudia Barone, Ed. D., DNP
Thursday, September 27, 2018
10:00 a.m.
Room 8121
Education II Building
Anthony Privratsky
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Candidate
“Understanding Fear Learning and Extinction in PTSD: A Glimpse Through the Lenses of fMRI, Computational Modeling, and Dopamine Neuromodulation”
Advisor: Keith Bush, Ph.D.
Friday, August 24, 2018
3:15 p.m.
Hospital Lobby Gallery
Room F-1030
Julie Anderson
Pharmaceutical Sciences Ph.D. Candidate
“Effects of Breast Cancer Chemotherapy on Hippocampal Physiology and Cognitive Function in Mice”
Advisor: Antiño R. Allen, Ph.D.
Friday, July 6, 2018
10:00 a.m.
RAHN G225
Bradford Martins
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Candidate
“The Addiction Comorbidity Crux: fMRI Analysis of How Childhood Trauma affects Network Connectivity in the Comorbid Brain”
Advisor: Andrew James, Ph.D.
Monday, June 18, 2018
10:00 a.m.
RAHN 8240
Daniel W. Rahn Interprofessional Education Building
Anuj Shah
Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy Ph.D. Candidate
“Impact of Medicaid expansion on inpatient, ED and substance use disorder treatment utilization and the potential impacts of limited Medicaid expansion”
Advisor: Bradley C. Martin, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Friday, April 27, 2018
2:00 p.m.
PEP Conference Room, RAHN 6/244
Daniel W. Rahn Interprofessional Education Building
Kirk L. West
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. Candidate
“Arsenic Regulation of Chromosome Dynamics”
Advisor: Alan J. Tackett, Ph.D.
Thursday, April 26, 2018
12:00 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Tyler C. Alexander
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Candidate
“Effects of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Treatments on Cognitive Function and Hippocampal Physiology”
Advisor: Antiño R. Allen, Ph.D.
Thursday, April 26, 2018
10:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Curtis “Trey” Lee Lowery III
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Candidate
“Cigarette Smoking Predisposes Platelets to Activation and Aggregation”
Advisor: Fusun Kilic, Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
12:00 p.m.
Room G218
Daniel W. Rahn Interprofessional Education Building
Paul A. Parcon
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Candidate
‘Neuroinflammation, Age, and APOE ε4 affect aspects of the autophagy system in Alzheimer’s Disease”
Advisor: W. Sue T. Griffin, Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
10:00 a.m.
Jo Ellen Ford Auditorium, Room 1207
Reynolds Institute on Aging
Matthew Phillips
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. Candidate
“The function of reovirus non-structural protein σ1s in viral replication and dissemination”
Advisor: Karl Boehme
Monday, April 23, 2018
1:00 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Gauri Lamture
Pharmaceutical Sciences Ph.D. Candidate
“Mechanisms of action of JVM 355, a sesquiterpene lactone dimer, in pancreatic cancer cells”
Advisors: Peter A. Crooks, Ph.D. and Michael J. Borrelli, Ph.D.
Monday, April 23, 2018
9:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rachel Hendrix
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. Candidate
“The amyloid-beta protein in Alzheimer’s disease contributes to impairments in glucose regulation”
Advisor: Steven W. Barger, Ph.D.
Friday, April 20, 2018
1:00 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Johnasha D. Stuart
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. Candidate
“Mechanisms of Reovirus Serotype-specific Type-1 Interferon Activation”
Advisor: Karl Boehme, Ph.D.
Friday, April 20, 2018
9:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Xingui Liu
Pharmaceutical Sciences Ph.D. Candidate
“Design, Synthesis and Evaluation of Delta-tocotrienol Analogues as Radio-protectors”
Advisor: Guangrong Zheng, Ph.D.
Thursday, April 19, 2018
1:00 p.m.
Room 115 A/B
I Dodd Wilson (IDW) Education Building
Thomas R. Groves
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. Candidate
“Effect of 5-Fluorouracil Chemotherapy on Hippocampal Morphology and Cognitive Function in Mice”
Advisor: Antino Allen, Ph.D.
Thursday, April 19, 2018
9:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Jill Hinsley
Clinical Nutrition M.S. candidate
“Best practices in sensory-based food play therapy: An exploratory investigation to establish a standardized intervention for improving food acceptance among preschool-aged children”
Advisor: Josh Phelps, Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
3:30 p.m.
Room 105A/B
I Dodd Wilson (IDW) Education Building
Leslie Climer
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“The COG Complex: Master of the Golgi Universe.”
Advisor: Vladimir V. Lupashin, Ph.D.
Monday, April 16 , 2018
1:00 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Jessica Bailey Blackburn
Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“Maintaining Order: What COG Complex Knockouts and Other Glycosylation Mutants Reveal About Golgi Trafficking, Processing, and Sorting”
Advisor: Vladimir V. Lupashin, Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
12:00 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Kimberly Cooney
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“The Effects of Lipid Stress on the Melanocortin-4 Receptor”
Advisor: Giulia Baldini, Ph.D.
Monday, April 9, 2018
2:30 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Leah Richardson
Nursing Science Ph.D candidate
“Family Centered Care: Perspectives from Primary Caregivers with Children Diagnosed with Autism”
Advisor: Patricia Wright, Ph.D.
Monday, April 2, 2018
1:00 p.m.
Room 2280
Daniel W. Rahn Interprofessional Education Building
Ayasha Thomason
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Sexual Well Being and Gynecologic Health of Older Women in Senior Retirement Settings”
Advisor: Leanne Lefler, Ph.D.
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
10:00 a.m.
Room 8121
Daniel W. Rahn Interprofessional Education Building
Lorenzo M. Fernandes
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Exploring Novel Roles for Cytosolic Malic Enzyme in Intestinal Tumorigenesis using Mouse and Human Models”
Advisor: Frank A. Simmen, Ph.D.
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
9:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Bradley D Shields
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate, Cancer Biology Track
“E-cadherin enhances immune control of metastatic melanoma”
Advisor: Alan J. Tackett, Ph.D.
Monday, March 19, 2018
3:00 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Sarah M. Zimmerman
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Investigating the role of osteocytes in osteogenesis imperfecta”
Advisor: Roy Morello, Ph.D.
Monday, February 26, 2018
3:00 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Daniel G. Meeker
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences M.D./Ph.D. candidate
“Development of a targeted nanotherapeutic approach to the treatment of biofilm-associated Staphylococcus aureus infections”
Advisor: Mark S. Smeltzer, Ph.D.
Friday, February 9, 2018
9:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Aaron J. Storey
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
Proteomic analysis of the ade6-M26 meiotic recombination hotspot in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe
Advisor: Wayne P. Wahls, Ph.D.
Friday, December 1st, 2017
11:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Anqi Wan Walbaum
Pharmaceutical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“α9α10 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Antagonists as Pain Modulators”
Advisor: Peter A. Crooks, Ph.D.
Thursday, November 16, 2017
2:30 p.m.
Room 205/207
Biomedical Research Building I
Stephanie Kitch
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Time Perspectives and Health Behaviors of Young Adults with Hypertension”
Advisor: Pao-Feng Tsai, Ph.D.
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
2:00 p.m.
Room 2280
Daniel W. Rahn Interprofessional Education Building
Bonnie K Slavych
Communication Sciences and Disorders Ph.D. candidate
“Adherence to Voice Therapy for Individuals with Muscle Tension Dysphonia: The Impact of Select Demographic and Patient-Reported Variables”
Advisor: Richard Zraick, Ph.D.
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
5:00 p.m.
Room 950
Jackson T. Stephens Spine and Neurosciences Institute
Carol Compas McKeever
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Content Validity Evaluation and Usability Testing of the McKeever Organizational Readiness Assessment Checklist for Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement in Nursing Homes”
Advisor: Claudia Beverly, Ph.D.
Thursday, October 19, 2017
2:00 p.m.
Rahn Auditorium, Room 8240
Daniel W. Rahn Interprofessional Education Building
Wezley C. Griffin
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Interaction of Positive Coactivator 4 (PC4) with G-quadruplex DNA: an Expanded Model of Structured DNA Recognition”
Advisor: Kevin D. Raney, Ph.D.
Friday, August 25, 2017
1:00 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Harvey Anu
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences M.S. candidate
“Investigation of Galectin-3 as a Zinc-Binding Protein”
Advisor: Alan Diekman, Ph.D.
Friday, Aug 4, 2017
10:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Elizabeth Naglak
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Elucidating Immune Mediators and Effectors Required for Humoral Protection against Genital Chlamydia”
Advisor: Richard Morrison, Ph.D.
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
1:30 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Daniel Webber
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Genomic Risk Factors in Nonsyndromic Conotruncal Heart Defects”
Advisors: Charlotte Hobbs, M.D., Ph.D. and Stewart MacLeod, Ph.D.
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
11:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
V. Suzanne Klimberg
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Candidate
“Prospective Phase II Multicenter Registry of Ablation after Breast Lumpectomy Added To Extend (ABLATE) Intraoperative Margins in the Treatment of Breast Cancer”
Advisor: Dr. Robert E. McGehee, Jr.
Monday, June 12, 2017
9:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Beth Evans
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Factors Affecting Older Adult Proficiency in Using an Electronic Personal Health Record”
Advisor: Claudia Beverly, Ph.D.
Monday, June 5, 2017
10:00 a.m.
COPH 3202
Haleigh B. Eubanks, M.S.
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“SNAP-23 Mediated Regulation of Microfilaments in Hepatic Stellate Cells”
Advisor: Jonathan Dranoff, M.D.
Friday, May 12, 2017
8:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Hannah Huff
Clinical Nutrition M.S. candidate
“Effects of Blueberry Polyphenols on Nitric Oxide Production and Bioavailability in Angiotensin II-Stimulated Human Aortic Endothelial Cells”
Advisor: Rafaela G. Feresin, Ph.D.
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
3:30 p.m.
College of Health Professions
Building 5, Room G34
Laura Gressler
Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy M.S. candidate
“Prescribing Trends and the Effect of Concomitant Use of Benzodiazepines and Opioids on the Risk of Adverse Outcomes in an Opioid Prescribed Veterans Population”
Advisor: Jacob T. Painter, Pharm.D., M.B.A., Ph.D.
Friday, April 28, 2017
3:00 p.m.
Room 6/102
Education Building Two
Zachary Waldrip
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Targeted and Unbiased Approaches to Study Chromatin Regulation”
Advisors: Kevin Raney, Ph.D. and Alan Tackett, Ph.D.
Friday, April 28, 2017
1:00 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Sarah Kennett, AuD
Communication Sciences and Disorders Ph.D. candidate
“Identification and Deactification of Cochlear Electrodes with Poor Electrode-Neural Interface: Clinical Practice and Outcomes”
Advisor: Samuel Atcherson, Ph.D.
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
3:00 p.m.
Plaza Suite 600, Room 668
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Francesca LoBianco
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences M.S. candidate
“The Role of SIRT3 in Radiation-Induced Persistent Liver Injury”
Advisor: Nukhet Aykin-Burns, Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
10:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Biomedical Research Building 2
Kerry Jordan
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Pilot Testing the Feasibility and Initial Effect of a Coaching Intervention to Improve Certified Nursing Assistants Dressing Assistance in Nursing Homes”
Advisor: Pao-Feng Tsai, Ph.D.
Monday, April 24, 2017
10:00 a.m.
COPH 3202
Megan Scott
Communication Sciences and Disorders Ph.D. candidate
“Comparison of Acoustic Startle Responses in School-Age Children Who Stutter and Their Fluent Peers”
Advisor: Brent A. Gregg, Ph.D.
Friday, April 14, 2017
1:00 p.m.
University of Central Arkansas, SLHC 129
Danielle N. Atwood
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences M.D./Ph.D. candidate
“Regulatory Loci Impacting the Development and Treatment of Staphylococcus aureus Orthopaedic Infections”
Advisor: Mark Smeltzer, Ph.D.
Monday, April 10, 2017
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Sloan Davidson
Nursing Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Presence of Authentic Leadership and Bullying in the Nursing Workplace: A Correlational Study”
Advisor: Anita Mitchell, Ph.D.
Monday, April 3, 2017
2:00 p.m.
COPH 2280
Marcia A. Byers
Nursing Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Quality of Care in Nurse-led Medicare Wellness Visits”
Advisor: Patricia Wright, Ph.D.
Friday, March 31, 2017
11:00 a.m.
COPH 3202
Ahmad A. Alanazi, M.Aud., Au.D.
Communication Sciences & Disorders Ph.D. candidate
“The Use of Simulation in Audiology Education to Improve Students’ Professional Competency”
Advisor: Nannette Nicholson, Ph.D.
Friday, March 17, 2017
1:00 p.m.
Room 668
Audiology and Speech Pathology Department
Ashlen Thomason
Communication Sciences and Disorders Ph.D. candidate
“The Effect of Premotor Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on the Fluency of Adults who Stutter during Choral Reading”
Advisor: Brent A. Gregg, Ph.D.
Friday, February 24, 2017
2:00 p.m.
University of Central Arkansas, SLHC 129
Pam Trevino
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“The Perception of Risk in Common Nursing Practice Situations”
Advisor: Angela Green, Ph.D.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
2:30 p.m.
COPH 3202
Lirit Franks
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“Pre-Clinical Drug Development of Two Novel Structural Classes of Cannabinoid Ligands: Indole Quinuclidines and Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators”
Advisor: Paul Prather, Ph.D.
Friday, December 9, 2016
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Debopam Ghosh
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“LSK-Cells: An Infection-Induced Lymphoid Progenitor Population in Murine Spleen”
Advisor: Jason Stumhofer, Ph.D.
Monday, November 21, 2016
1:30 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Daniel Wikenheiser
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Follicular helper T cell differentiation during Plasmodium infection”
Advisor: Jason Stumhofer, Ph.D.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
1:30 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Caylin G. Winchell
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Examining the Role of Autophagy and p62 During Coxiella burnetii Infection of Macrophages”
Advisor: Daniel Voth, Ph.D.
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
1:30 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Brandy Haley
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Effects of Simulation with Audio Narratives on Empathy and Patient-Centered Care in Associate and Baccalaureate Degree Nursing Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial”
Advisor: Seongkum Heo, Ph.D.
Monday, November 7, 2016
3:00 p.m.
COPH 3202
Clark Sims
Pharmacology and Toxicology Ph.D. candidate
“Preclinical Studies of Targeted Therapy in an Infant Model of Sepsis-Induced Cardiorenal Syndrome”
Advisor: Philip Mayeux, Ph.D.
Friday, November 4, 2016
8:30 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Donna Elrod
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Advance Care Planning for the End of Life: Exploring the Needs and Values of African Americans in the Delta”
Advisor: Leanne Lefler, Ph.D.
Monday, October 17, 2016
2:00 p.m.
COPH 3202
Anand Shewale
Pharmaceutical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Comparative Effectiveness of Hyaluronic Acid Injections for Delay of Surgical Interventions among Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis”
Advisor: Bradley C. Martin, Pharm D, Ph.D.
Monday, August 15, 2016
12:00 p.m.
COPH G-232
Deepanwita Sengupta
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Investigating Potential Role of EZH2 Inhibitor in Metastatic Melanoma”
Advisor: Alan Tackett, Ph.D.
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
2:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Amy Engelhoven
Communication Sciences and Disorders Ph.D. candidate
“The Effects of Self-Esteem, Coping, and Voice-Related Quality of life on Communicative Participation Before and After Botox Treatment”
Advisor: Richard Zraick, Ph.D.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
3:30 p.m.
Jack T. Stephens Spine Institute
Dept of Otolaryngology
9th Floor, Room 950
Andrea Bell, BS, RD, LD
Clinical Nutrition M.S. candidate
“The Effects of a High- versus Low-Daidzein Diet on Body Weight, Energy Intake, Liver Steatosis and Serum Adipokines in Obese Female Zucker Rats”
Advisor: Reza Hakkak, Ph.D.
Thursday, July 14, 2016
1:00 p.m.
College of Health Professions
Building 5, Room G34
Amanda Stolarz, PharmD
Pharmacology and Toxicology Ph.D. candidate
“Doxorubicin Inhibition of Lymphatic Function and Prevention by Dantrolene”
Advisor: Nancy Rusch, Ph.D
Thursday, July 14, 2016
9:00 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Julie Anderson
Pharmaceutical Sciences M.S. candidate
“Detrimental effects of cyclophosphamide on synaptic plasticity and hippocampal-dependent behavior”
Advisor: Antiño Allen, Ph.D.
Monday, July 11, 2016
10:00 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Semahat Serra Ucer
Interdisiplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
‘’The Effects of Sex Steroids and Reactive Oxygen Species on the Maintenance of the Skeleton’’
Advisor: Maria Almeida, Ph.D.
Thursday, July 7, 2016
9:00 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Meghan Ruebel, MAEd
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Effects of Obesity on Ovarian Function and Oocyte Gene Expression, a Translational Approach”
Advisor: Aline Andres, PhD
Monday, June 27, 2016
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Alexander Alund
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“The Role of Reactive Oxygen Species in Alcohol-Induced Osteopenia and the Regulation of Bone Turnover”
Advisors: Martin Ronis, Ph.D. and Larry Suva, Ph.D.
Friday, June 10, 2016
1:30 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Lindsey Dickson
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences M.S. candidate
“Rab6 is Selectively Required for Cargo Transport and Glycosylation at the Medial/Trans-Golgi Interface”
Advisor: Brian Storrie, Ph.D.
Monday, June 6, 2016
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 1
Room 205/207
Emily Holthoff
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Identifying Pathologic and Molecular Features that Predict Adverse Clinical Outcomes in Vulvar Squamous Cell Carcinoma”
Advisors: Steven Post, Ph.D. and Charles M. Quick, M.D.
Monday, May 2, 2016
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Anisha Rathi
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Distinct Pathways of Vincristine-Induced Death in Primary Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Cells”
Advisor: Timothy C. Chambers, Ph.D.
Friday, April 29, 2016
12:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Emmanuel D. Williams
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“p49/STRAP (SRFBP1a) Modulation of Cellular Physiology In Response to Advancing Age and Low-Glucose Stress”
Advisor: Jeanne Wei, M.D., Ph.D.
Friday, April 29, 2016
11:00 a.m.
Jo Ellen Ford Auditorium
Donald Reynolds Institute on Aging
Shubeena Chib
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Investigation into the Biochemical Mechanism of Nucleic Acid Unwinding and Protein Displacement by Saccharomyces cerevisiae Helicase Pif1”
Advisor: Kevin D. Raney, Ph.D.
Thursday, April 28, 2016
9:00 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
April Bostian
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Regulation of DNA Damage Tolerance by the AhR Pathway and its Role in Glioma Progression”
Advisor: Robert Eoff, Ph.D.
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
12:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Center 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Jeff Sifford
Microbiology & Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Gammaherpesvirus interactions with tumor suppressor p53”
Advisor: J. Craig Forrest, Ph.D.
Monday, April 25, 2016
1:30 p.m.
Biomedical Research Center 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Benjamin J. Lieblong
Pharmacology and Toxicology Ph.D. candidate
“Detection and Characterization of Early-phase Experimental Radiation-induced Heart Disease”
Advisor: Nancy J. Rusch, Ph.D.
Monday April 25, 2016
10:00 a.m.
Biomedical Research Center 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Cemeka Agugbuem Smith
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Elucidating the Mechanisms of the Early Immune Response to Chlamydial Genital Infection”
Advisor: Roger G. Rank, Ph.D.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
9:00 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Sarah Eddy
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate, Cancer Biology Track
“Mechanisms of Translesion Polymerase Activity on G-Quadruplex DNA”
Advisor: Robert Eoff, Ph.D.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
10:00 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Stasia Marie D’Onofrio
Neurobiology and Developmental Neuroscience Ph.D. candidate
“Modulation of Gamma Oscillations in the Pedunculopontine Nucleus by Neuronal Calcium Sensor Protein-1 and Lithium”
Advisor: Edgar Garcia-Rill, Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
12:00 p.m. (Noon)
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Jessica Hartman
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“The prevalence and significance of cooperativity in cytochrome P450 2E1 metabolism”
Advisor: Grover P. Miller, Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
9:00 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Patricia Smith
Nursing Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Organizational Experiences with Rapid Response Teams”
Advisor: Jean McSweeney, Ph.D.
Monday, April 11, 2016
3:00 p.m.
COPH 8/240
Meenakshisundaram Balasubramaniam
Department of Geriatrics (UALR/UAMS Bioinformatics program) Ph.D. candidate
“Structural and functional roles of proteins modulating aggregates in multiple neurodegenerative diseases”
Advisor: Robert J Shmookler Reis, D.Phil.
Monday, April 11, 2016
2:00 p.m
Reynolds Institute on Aging (UAMS)
Jo Allen Ford Auditorium, Room 1207 (1st floor)
Kerry L. Evans
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Peptidoglycan modifications in Escherichia coli are monitored by the Rcs phosphorelay, the Cpx pathway, and the Tol-Pal complex”
Advisor: Kevin D. Young, Ph.D.
Thursday, April 7, 2016
1:30 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Brennon R. Luster
Neurobiology and Developmental Neuroscience Ph.D. candidate
“Intracellular Mechanisms Modulating Gamma Band Activity in the Peduncuolopontine Nucleus (PPN)”
Advisor: Edgar Garcia-Rill, Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
12:00 p.m. (Noon)
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Lee Ann Jolly
Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“Accessories to the crime: Differential recruitment and roles of stromal cells in Ras versus Braf-driven thyroid tumor pathogenesis”
Advisor: Aime Franco, Ph.D.
Thursday, March 24, 2016
3:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Allister J. Loughran
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“The role of sarA and proteases in defining Staphylococcus aureus as an orthopaedic pathogen”
Advisor: Mark Smeltzer, Ph.D.
Monday, February 29, 2016
9:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Nang San Hti Lar Seng
Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“Cdk2 Phosphorylation of Bcl-xL in Cisplatin-induced Apoptosis”
Advisor: Peter Price, Ph.D.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
3:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Anup Srivastava
Interdisciplinary Toxicology Ph.D candidate
“Dynamic modulation of L-type calcium channels in vascular smooth muscle cells”
Advisor: Nancy J. Rusch, Ph.D.
Monday, January 4, 2016
8:00 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Bobbie Rhodes-Clark
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“The Role of Anti-HLA Antibodies in Humoral Rejection”
Advisor: Terry O. Harville, M.D., Ph.D.
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
8:30 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Rebecca Bollen Parnell
Nursing Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Experiences of Nurses Who Have Failed a Nursing Course and Successfully Completed a Nursing Program”
Advisor: Claudia Barone, Ed.D.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
1:15 p.m.
COPH 3202
Eduardo Salinas
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Elucidating LANA’s Roles during Gammaherpesvirus Pathogenesis”
Advisor: J. Craig Forrest, Ph.D.
Thursday, November 19, 2015
1:30 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Yicong Li
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Placental and Platelets Serotonin Transporter in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus”
Advisor : Fusun Kilic, Ph.D.
Tuesday, Nov 17th, 2015
2:00 pm
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Sarah B. Mulkey
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Brain Injury and Neurodevelopmental Outcome in Newborns with Critical Congenital Heart Disease”
Advisor: Edgar Garcia-Rill, Ph.D.
Tuesday, Nov 17th, 2015
12:00 pm (Noon)
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Julie Beard
Communication Sciences and Disorders Ph.D. candidate
“The Use of Social Stories in Reducing Disruptive Behavior in Children with Language Impairment”
Advisor: Dee Lance, Ph.D.
Monday, October 26, 2015
1:00 p.m.
Burdick Building Room 208
University of Central Arkansas
Daniel Sappington
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D candidate
“From global to targeted metabolomics, connecting glutamine metabolism to glutathione production in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer”
Advisor: Gunnar Boysen, Ph.D.
Monday, October 26, 2015
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Cemeka Agugbuem Smith
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Elucidating Mechanisms of the Early Immune Response to Chlamydial Genital Infection”
Advisor: Roger G. Rank, Ph.D.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
1:00 pm
Pauly Auditorium
COPH Room G219
Brenda Gannon
Interdisciplinary Toxicology Ph.D. candidate
“In vivo characterization of major ‘bath salt’ constituent 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) in mice”
Advisor: William Fantegrossi, Ph.D.
Thursday, September 24, 2015
1:30 p.m.
Walton Auditorium
Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute
Amy Huett
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Family Coping after a Child’s Traumatic Brain Injury”
Advisor: Angela Green, Ph.D.
Monday, September 14, 2015
2:30 p.m.
COPH Room 2280
Ara Kim
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Roles of mitochondrial respiration in regulation of intracellular oxygen concentration and cancer progression”
Advisor: Masahiro Higuchi, Ph.D.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
12:30pm
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Danielle E. Fortune
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Investigating virulence determinants in the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi”
Advisor: Jon S. Blevins, Ph.D.
Thursday, August 20, 2015
1:30 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Jaclyn R. Daniels
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
Cancer Biology Track
“SULT1A1 genetic variation and tamoxifen response in vitro and ex vivo”
Advisor: Susan A. Kadlubar, Ph.D.
Monday, August 17, 2015
9:00 a.m.
Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, 10th floor
Sam Walton Auditorium, Room 1026
Charity L. Washam, M.Sc.
Bioinformatics Ph.D. candidate
“PTHrP(12-48) A New Player In Breast Cancer Bone Metastasis”
Advisor: Larry J. Suva, Ph.D.
Friday, August 7, 2015
10:00 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Rajshekhar A. Kore
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“On the mechanism of secretion of alphaB-crystallin by astrocytes via exosomal secretory pathway; role of phosphorylation and glycosylation.”
Advisor: Edathara C. Abraham, Ph.D.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
10 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Jai Shankar Yadlapalli
Pharmaceutical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Preclinical evaluation of the 6-O-sulfate ester of morphine for the treatment of multimodal acute and chronic pain”
Advisor: Peter A Crooks, Ph.D., D.Sc.
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
12 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Archana Kamalakar
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Novel Regulators of Osteoclastogenesis: Interleukin-8 (IL-8) and Parathyroid Hormone Related Protein(12-48) (PTHrP(12-48))”
Advisor: Larry J. Suva, Ph.D.
Monday, June 29, 2015
12 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Anna Mazur
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D candidate
Cancer Biology Track
“Extracellular Matrix Modification Regulates Interactions between Fibroblasts and Macrophages”
Advisors: Thomas Kelly, Ph.D. and Steven R. Post, Ph.D.
Friday, June 19, 2015
10:00 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Christopher Moore
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“The role of postsynaptic density-95 scaffolding in cerebral vasodilation: Implications for stroke in beta-blocker therapy”
Advisor: Sung Rhee, Ph.D.
Monday, June 15, 2015
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Tonisha Kearney-Ramos
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
Interdisciplinary Neurosciences Track
“Modeling Individual Differences in the Neural Encoding of Working Memory through Network-based Functional Neuroimaging and Clinical Neuropsychology”
Advisor: G. Andrew James, Ph.D.
Friday, May 22, 2015
9:00 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Andrew Prince
Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biophysics M.S. candidate
“Structural Studies on the Compartmentalization of Golgi Proteins in Human Platelets”
Advisor: Brian Storrie, Ph.D.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 1
Conference Room 205/207
Gwendolyn S. Carter
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Effect of rTMS on Resting-State Brain Activity in Tinnitus”
Advisor: Mark Mennemeier, Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
12:00 p.m., noon
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Justin W. Graham
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D candidate
“Trapping and identification of cellular substrates of the chaperone ClpC and determining how they regulate virulence genes in Staphylococcus aureus”
Advisor: Chia Lee, Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
1:30 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
David A. Alagpulinsa
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D candidate
Cancer Biology Track
“Targeting RAD51-Dependent Homologous Recombination Repair in Multiple Myeloma”
Advisor: Robert J. Shmookler Reis, DPhil
Monday, April 27, 2015
3:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Melody Lyn Allensworth-James
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“The Role of Leptin Receptors in Somatotrope Function: A Look at Metabolic and Developmental Functions and Possible Mechanisms of Action”
Advisor: Gwen V. Childs, Ph.D.
Friday, April 24, 2015
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Naho Harada
Genetic Counseling M.S. candidate
“LGBT Genetic Counseling: What do Cancer Genetic Counselors Want to Know?”
Advisor: Tiffany Lepard, M.S., C.G.C.
Friday, April 24, 2015
8:00 a.m.
CHP 5.134
Amy L. Hester
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Development of a Fall Injury Prediction Model.”
Advisor: Pao-Feng Tsai, Ph.D.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
12:00 p.m.
COPH, #3202
Dae Song Jang
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
Cell Biology Track
“New Endonuclease Inhibitors and Their Therapeutic Applications”
Advisor: Alexei G. Basnakian, M.D., Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
2:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Adam Brown
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
Cancer Biology Track
“A Suppressive Role of Krüppel-like Factor 9 in Colon and Liver Pathogenesis”
Advisor: Frank A. Simmen, Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
10:00 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Christine M. Bruha
Genetic Counseling M.S. candidate
“The Role of the Geneticist in the Patient-Centered Medical Home”
Advisor: Lori Dean, M.S., C.G.C.
Monday, April 20, 2015
3:00 pm
Arkansas Children’s Hospital
Genetics Conference Room
Lauren Tuttle
Genetic Counseling M.S. candidate
“Exome Sequencing: Ordering Practices and Outcomes at a Pediatric Institution”
Advisor: Julie Kaylor, M.S., C.G.C.
Monday, April 20, 2015
1:00 p.m.
Arkansas Children’s Hospital
Genetics Conference Room
Mihir Jaiswal
Bioinformatics, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Analysis of Protein-Protein Interactions using Chemical Cross-Linking Mass Spectrometry (CXMS): Novel Computational Approaches”
Advisor: Boris Zybaylov
Monday, April 20, 2015
11:00 a.m.
COPH, #3202
Teresa J. Hudson, Pharm.D
Health Systems and Services Research Ph.D. candidate
“National Analysis of Opioid Use among OEF/OIF/OND Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury in the Veterans Healthcare System”
Advisor: Geoff Curran, Ph.D.
Friday, April 17, 2015
1:00 p.m.
COPH #2280
Joseph Graham
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Defining the Human Alveolar Macrophage Response to the Q Fever Agent, Coxiella burnetii”
Advisor: Dan Voth, Ph.D.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
1:30 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Emma Sabel
Genetic Counseling M.S. candidate
“Receiving Cancer Genetic Counseling: Perceived Impact on Professional Practice Among Cancer Genetic Counselors”
Advisor: Sarah Green, M.S., C.G.G.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
11:45 a.m.
CHP 5.134
Jordan Hills
Genetic Counseling M.S. Candidate
“Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging in Williams Syndrome: Recommendations Developed from the Assessment of Health Care Supervision Guidelines”
Advisor: Yuri A. Zarate, MD
Monday, April 13, 2015
3:00 p.m.
Arkansas Children’s Hospital
Cardiology Conference Room
Emily Reichard
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“PEGylation of an Anti-Methamphetamine scFv: Pharmacokinetic and Neurological Implications”
Advisor: Eric C. Peterson, Ph.D.
Monday, April 13, 2015
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Linda Marie Tate
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Temporal Discounting and its Effect on Exercise Behavior in Elders”
Committee Chair: Dr. Pao-Feng Tsai
Monday, April 6, 2015
4:00 pm
COPH2280
Tamara L. Haygarth (Johnson), M.S.
Genetic Counseling M.S. candidate
“Strategies used by genetic counselors to mitigate the effect of low patient health literacy”
Advisor: Tiffany Lepard-Tassin, M.S., C.G.C.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
11:45a.m.
CHP Building 5, Room 134
Neil Detweiler
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“Properties and Therapeutic Potential of the Large-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channel in Pulmonary Arterial Smooth Muscle”
Advisor: Nancy J. Rusch, Ph.D.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
3:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Centdrika Dates
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Altered UDP-Glucuronosyltransferase Regulation and Expression: Implications for Cancer Cell Proliferation and Drug Treatment”
Advisor: Anna Radominska-Pandya, Ph.D.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
1:00 p.m.
Pauly Auditorium, Room G219
College of Public Health
Shraddha Thakkar, M.S.
Bioinformatics Ph.D. candidate
“Applications of Structure Based Drug Design to Generate High Affinity Immunotherapy and to Identify Novel Inhibitors of LOX-1 to Treat Atherosclerosis”
Advisor: Kottayil I. Varughese, Ph.D.
Friday, December 12, 2014
2:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
David Schoen
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology M.S. candidate
“Investigation of the Structural and Functional Effects of Galectin-3 on Genetic Polymorphism”
Advisor: Alan Diekman, Ph.D.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
12:00 p.m., noon
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Xiong Bin Lin
Neurobiology and Developmental Neuroscience Ph.D. candidate
“Effects of Developmental Ethanol Exposure on Motor Coordination”
Advisor: Abdallah Hayar, Ph.D.
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
12:00 p.m., noon
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Nathan Koonce
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D candidate
“Developing Vascular and Hypoxia Based Theranostics in Solid Tumors”
Advisor: Robert J. Griffin, Ph.D.
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
2:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Sara Prior
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
“Mitochondrial Regulation of Intracellular Oxygen”
Advisor: Masahiro Higuchi, Ph.D.
Monday, December 8, 2014
2:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Center Two
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Adam Corken
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences, Ph.D. candidate
“Platelet Glycoprotein Ib-IX Modulate Leukocyte Phenotype During Systemic Inflammation”
Advisor: Jerry Ware, Ph.D.
Friday, December 5, 2014
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Sonet Smitherman
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Clinical Translational Sciences, M.S. candidate
“Emotion Regulation and Parenting Practices as Predictors of Treatment Outcome in Adolescent Assault Victims”
Advisor: Josh Cisler, Ph.D.
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
11:00 a.m.
Psychiatric Research Institute 136
Rose A. Willett
Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biophysics, Ph.D. candidate
“A New Role and mechanistic Model for the Conserved oligomeric Golgi (COG) Complex in Tethering Retrograde Vesicles to the Golgi Apparatus”
Advisor: Vladimir Lupashin, Ph.D.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
12:00 Noon
Biomedical Research Center Two
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Marisha B. DiCarlo
Health Promotion and Prevention Research Ph.D. candidate
“Weight Loss for Stressed, Overweight, African American Women: the RENEW II Feasibility Study”
Advisor: Carol Cornell, Ph.D.
Friday, November 21, 2014
1:00 p.m.
College of Public Health, Room 2280
Ashley Groshong
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Characterization of Borrelia burgdorferi virulence determinants through the application of molecular genetics.”
Thursday, November 6, 2014
1:30 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Ashley D. Jensen
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Perspectives about Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome: Adult Explanatory Models”
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
8:00-10:00 a.m.
COPH 2280
Dominick Harrison
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology M.S. candidate
“The Regulation of Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (RTK) Signaling by Intracellular Oxygen Concentration”
Friday, August 22, 2014
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Nathan Avaritt
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Investigating Epigenetic and Proteomic Alterations in Malignant Melanoma”
Friday, August 15, 2014
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Jonathan Wells
Occupational and Environmental Health M.S. candidate
“The Effects of Hydraulic Fracturing on Surrounding Groundwater Quality in North Central Arkansas”
Monday, July 28th
1:00 p.m.
College of Public Health, Room 1202
Mir Ali
Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy M.S. candidate
“The Use of Montelukast and Neuropsychiatric Disturbances Among Pediatric Asthmatics: A Nested Case Control Study”
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
12:00 noon
Education Building 2, 6th floor, room 102 – Dean’s Conference Room
Shanthi Vadali
Interdisciplinary Toxicology Ph.D. candidate
“Lipid Rafts Modulate Class A Scavenger Receptor Function in Macrophages”
Advisor: Steven Post, Ph.D.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
9:00 a.m.
Biomed 2, Rayford Auditorium Room 106-2
Anand Shewale
Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy M.S. candidate
“Comparison of Atrial Fibrillation Decision Support Aids Used to Guide Anticoagulation Therapy for Patients with Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation”
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
2:00 p.m.
Education Building 2, 6th Floor, Room 102 – Dean’s Conference Room
Lana Brown
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Tobacco Cessaton in Older Adults”
Advisor: Claudia Barone, Ed.D.
Friday, June 20, 2014
12:00 p.m.
College of Public Health, Room 3202
James Scott Steele
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Emotion Regulation in Adolescent Girls: Theoretical Models, Brain Mechanisms, and Relationships with Assault and Clinical Symptoms”
Advisor: Johsua Cisler, Ph.D.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
2:30 p.m.
College of Public Health, Room 2280
Brent Molden
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences, Ph.D. candidate
“Agonist-Dependent Desensitization of MC4R and its Potential Therapeutic Implications”
Advisor: Giulia Baldini, M.D., Ph.D.
Friday, May 16, 2014
12:00 noon
Biomedical Research Building 2, Rayford Auditorium
Naeem Patil
Interdisciplinary Toxicology Ph.D. candidate
“Renal Mitochondrial Dysfunction: Novel Therapeutic Targets to Treat Sepsis Induced Acute Kidney Injury”
Advisors: Philip R. Mayeux, Ph.D. and Lee Ann MacMillan-Crow, Ph.D.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2, Rayford Auditorium Room 106-2
Rakesh Bam
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences, Ph.D. candidate
“A Versatile Role of Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinsase in Multiple Myeloma Tumor Growth, Metatasis and Bone Disease”
Advisor; Shmuel Yaccoby, Ph.D.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
1:oo p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2, Rayford Auditorium
Nisha Nanaware-Kharade
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“Dendribodies-A Novel Nanotechnology Based Platform for Improving Pharmacokinetics and Multimerization of Anti-Methamphetamine Antibody Fragments”
Advisor: Eric Peterson, Ph.D.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
10:00 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Chad Cragle
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Regulators and Effectors of Musashi-dependent Translational Control”
Advisor: Angus MacNicol, Ph.D.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
10:00 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2, Room 106-2 Rayford Auditorium
Angela Odle
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Pituitary and Adipocyte Leptin: Partners in the Regulation of Pituitary Function, Development, and Metabolism”
Advisor: Gwen V. Childs, Ph.D.
Friday, April 25, 2014
12:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2, Rayford Auditorium
Melissa Heard
Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“Analysis of Kruppel-Like Factors 9 and 13 in Endometrial Function and Endometriosis”
Advisor: Rosalia C.M. Simmen, Ph.D.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
3:00 p.m.
Biomed 2, Rayford Auditorium 106-2
Andrea Toliver-Smith
Communication Sciences and Disorders Ph.D. candidate
“Multicultural Infusion in Communication Sciences and Disorders: A Case Study”
Advisor: Gregory Robinson, Ph.D.
Friday, April 18, 2014
2:15 p.m.
Kaiser Conference Room, Suite 600 University Plaza, UALR
Mazen Juratli
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“In vivo Detection of Medical Intervention-Induced Circulating Tumor Cells”
Advisor: Vladimir Zharov, Ph.D.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
2:30 p.m.
Biomed I, Room 205/207
Sondra Bedwell
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Patient Perception of Family Responses to the Diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes”
Advisor: Julia A. Goodwin, Ph.D.
Friday, April 4, 2014
11:00 a.m.
College of Public Health
Room 3202
Diane Robinson
Health Systems Services and Research Ph.D. candidate
“Maltreatment and the Child Welfare System: Implications from Behavioral Economics”
Advisor: J. Mick Tilford, Ph.D.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
11:00 a.m.
Location TBD
Wanda Christie
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“The Lived Experience: How Emergency Department Nurses Resolve Emotional Pain After Patient Perpetrated Workplace Violence”
Advisor: Donna Middaugh, Ph.D.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
9:00 a.m.
College of Public Health, Room 3202
Pamela deGravelles
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“The Tobacco Use of Third Year B.S.N. Nursing Students in Arkansas Using the Global Health Professions Student Survey (GHPSS)”
Advisor: Claudia Barone, Ed.D.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
3:30 p.m.
College of Public Health
Auditorium 8240
Martin R. Watts
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Modulation of Visceral Pain by Interaction Between Adrenergic and Vanilloid Receptors”
Advisor: Abdallah Hayar, Ph.D. and Elie Al-Chaer, J.D., Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
12:00 p.m.
Biomed II, Rayford Auditorium
Chenell Smith Loudermill
Communication Sciences and Disorders
“An Investigation of the Relationship Between Reading Comprehension and Morphological Awareness Skills”
Advisor: Betholyn Gentry, Ph.D.
Monday, March 31, 2014
1:00 p.m.
UALR, Kaiser Conference Room 665
Lara Mrak
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“sarA-Mediated Biofilm Formation in Staphylococcus aureus: Investigating Exceptions to the Rule”
Advisor: Mark Smeltzer, Ph.D.
Friday, March 14, 2014
1:00 p.m.
Biomed II, Rayford Auditorium
Amy Shollenbarger
Communication Sciences and Disorders Ph.D. candidate
“First Grade Students’ Awareness of Final Consonant Clusters in Monomorphemic Words: Does Dialect Matter?”
Advisor: Gregory Robinson, Ph.D.
Friday, March 21, 2014
10:00 a.m.
University Plaza, Room 665 (Kaiser Conference Room)
Akira Marine
Interdisciplinary Toxicology Ph.D. candidate
“Mitochondrial Biogenesis Following Manganese Superoxide Dismutase Knockdown”
Advisor: Lee Ann MacMillan-Crow, Ph.D.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
10:00 a.m.
Biomed II, Rayford Auditorium
Sharon Jones
Communication Sciences and Disorders Ph.D. candidate
“The Impact of On-Line Cognitive Training: P300 and Behavioral Differences in Executive Function in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder”
Advisor: Betholyn Gentry, Ph.D.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
10:00 a.m.
University of Arkansas at Little Rock Keiser Conference Room
Andrew Norwood
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Effects of Neonatal Visceral Pain on Abuse-related Effects of Morphine Rats”
Advisor: William Fantegrossi, Ph.D.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
9:00 a.m.
College of Public Health
G225 Auditorium
Lauren Bailey
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Galectin Upregulation Promotes Glioma Resistance to Chemoradiation”
Advisor: Robert Griffin, Ph.D.
Monday, December 16, 2013
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2, Room 106-2 Rayford Auditorium
Maryam Bashiri
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences M.S. candidate
“Telemedicine Interest Survey of Neurology Clinic Patients”
Advisor: L. John Greenfield,, Jr., M.D., Ph.D.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
1:00 p.m.
College of Public Health
Room 3202
Asif Pathan
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“Contribution of the TRPC3 Channel to Vascular Tone and the Development of Hypertension”
Advisor: Nancy Rusch, Ph.D.
Friday, December 6, 2013
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium
Rinku Saha
Bioinformatics M.S. candidate
“Computer Aided Drug Design for Human Cytosolic Malic Enzyme”
Advisor: Kottayil I. Varughese, Ph.D.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
10:00 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building I
Room 205/207
Ahmed Al-Dwairi
Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“Cytosolic Malic Enzyme (ME1) Mediates Effects of Adiposity on Colorectal Cancer Development”
Advisor: Frank Simmen, Ph.D.
Monday, November 25, 2013
12:00 noon
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Jennifer Junecko
Microbiology and Immunology M.S. candidate
“Regulation of Biofilm by the SaeRS Two-component System in Staphylococcus aureus”
Advisor: Chia Lee, Ph.D.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
10:30 a.m.
Biomedical Building 1, B500 Conference Room
Michael Hambuchen
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“Combination Immunotherapy for Early and Continuous Protection from Methamphetamine Adverse Effects”
Advisor: S. Michael Owens, Ph.D.
Monday, November 18, 2013
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building 2
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Laura Jones-Jobe
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Generational Differences X, and Millennial Registered Nurses”
Advisor: Claudia Beverly, Ph.D.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
3:00 p.m.
College of Public Health, Room 3202
Tina Pettey
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Factors Affecting Hypertension Treatment Adherence Among African Americans”
Advisor: Jean McSweeney, Ph.D.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
12:30 p.m.
College of Public Health, Room 3202
Michael Preston
Health Systems and Services Research Ph.D. candidate
“Health System Reform and Disparities in Colorectal Cancer Screening Utilization”
Advisor: J. Mick Tilford, Ph.D.
Friday, October 25, 2013
1:00 p.m.
College of Public Health, Room 2280
Ramanagouda Ramanagoudr Bhojappa
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Biochemical characterization of Sacchayromyces cerevisiae Pif1 helicase DNA unwinding, translocation, annealing, and protein-protein interaction activities”
Advisor: Kevin Raney, Ph.D.
Friday, October 4, 2013
12:00 Noon
Biomed II, Rayford Auditorium
Sharla Smith
Health Systems Research Ph.D. candidate
“Three Essays on Public Health Partnerships to Reduce Infant Mortality”
Advisor: J. Mick Tilford, Ph.D.
Friday, September 6, 2013
1:00 p.m.
College of Public Health, Room 2280
Faith McDaniel
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Lipid Stress and Melanocortin-4 Receptor”
Advisor: Giulia Baldini, M.D., Ph.D.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
1:30 p.m.
Biomed II, Rayford Auditorium
Martha Rojo
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Preventive Health Behaviors and Hispanic Women”
Advisor: Jean McSweeney, Ph.D.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
1:30 p.m.
College of Public Health, Room 3202
Victor Vargas
Occupational and Environmental Health M.S. candidate
“Investigation of the Impacts of the Anthropogenic Sources of Volatile Organic Compounds on Tropospheric Ozone”
Advisor: Ilias Kavouras, Ph.D.
Friday, July 26, 2013
10:00 a.m.
College of Public Health, Room 2228
Aleksandra A. Markovets
Bioinformatics Ph.D. candidate
“A Multifaceted Analysis of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer with High-Throughput Technologies”
Advisor: Damir Herman, Ph.D.
Friday, June 21, 2013
10:00 a.m.
EIT Auditorium, UALR
Donna Thomas
Communication Sciences and Disorders Ph.D. candidate
“Examining Phonemic Awareness in Children with Expressive Phonological Disorders”
Advisor: Dee Lance, Ph.D.
Wednesday June 19, 2013
10:00 a.m.
Burdick Hall, Room 208 University of Central Arkansas
Balaji Rangarathnam
Communication Sciences and Disorders Ph.D. candidate
“Telemedicine versus Traditional Treatment for Muscle Tension Dysphonia”
Advisor: Gary H. McCullough, Ph.D.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
3:00 p.m.
University of Central Arkansas, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Burdick 208
Judy Labonte
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Exploring Reasons Certified Nursing Assistants Remain Employed in Nursing Homes”
Advisor: Elaine Souder, Ph.D.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
1:00 p.m.
College of Public Health Room 3202
Joshua Eichhorn
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“BCL-2 Proteins in Cancer Cell Survival and Mitotic Death”
Advisor: Timothy C. Chambers, Ph.D.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
1:00 p.m.
Biomed 2, Rayford Auditorium
Angela Jackson
Genetic Counseling M.S. candidate
“How, What, Where: An Assessment of Genetic Counselors’ Use and Evaluation of Health Websites in Patient Care”
Advisor: Diane E. Skinner, Ed.D., M.P.H.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
11:30 a.m.
CHP Building 5, Room 134
Avis Simms
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Alpha-2-Antiplasmin Inhibits the Matrix Metalloproteinases that Mediate Plasmin-Independent Fibrinolysis”
Mentor: Thomas Kelly, Ph.D.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
10:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed II
Paige Bethany Beck
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“The Role of Leptin in the Reticular Activating System”
Mentor: Edgar Garcia-Rill, Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
12:00 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed II
Pravinkumar Patil
Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy M.S. candidate
“A Descriptive Study of Opioid Use in the Management of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy (DPN) in a Large Commercially Insured Population”
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
2:00 p.m.
Ed 2/6 – 102 COP main conference room
Nandini Sakurikar
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Dual Role of Sustained Cdk1/Cyclin B1 Signaling: Mitotic Arrest and Mitotic Death”
Mentor: Timothy C. Chambers, Ph.D.
Monday, April 29, 2013
1:00 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed II
James Hyde
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Visualization of Fast Calcium Oscillations in the Reticular Activating System”
Mentor: Edgar Garcia-Rill, Ph.D.
Friday, April 26, 2013
12:00 noon
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
William Atchley
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“In Vivo Mechanisms Leading to Reduced Function of Anti-Methamphetamine Monoclonal Antibodies”
Mentor: Michael Owens, Ph.D.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
10:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed 2
Bobbie Rhodes-Clark
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences M.S. candidate
“Optimization of Living Donation in Anti-HLA Sensitized Patients Utilizing Paired Kidney Donation and HLAMatchmaker”
Advisor: Terry O. Harville, M.D., Ph.D.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
11:00 a.m.
Jo Ellen Auditorium, Institute on Aging, Room 1204
Sarah Rhoads Kinder
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Impact of Web-Camera Viewing of Neonates on Parent Stress, Anxiety, and Bonding”
Mentor: Angela Green, Ph.D.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
12:00 p.m.
COPH 5201
Tristan Fowler
Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“Activin Regulation of Osteoclast Formation, Motility, Function, and Survival”
Mentor: Dana Gaddy, Ph.D.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
12:00 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed 2
Orwa Aboud
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“The Influence of APOE Genotype on Cellular and Molecular Responses in Epilepsy”
Mentor: Sue T. Griffin, Ph.D.
Monday, April 15, 2013
12:00 noon
Institute on Aging, 8th Floor, Room 8104/05
Kristin Appler
Communication Sciences and Disorders, M.S. candidate
“An Examination of the Language and Home Environment of Survivors of Perinatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy”
Mentor: Kathy L. Shapley, Ph.D.
Friday, April 5, 2013
3:00 p.m.
UALR, AUSP, Room 673
Laura MacDonald
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Subversion of Eukaryotic cAMP-Dependent Protein Kinase Activity During Infection of Macrophages”
Mentor: Daniel Voth, Ph.D.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
1:30 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Biomed 2
Arpit Kashyap
Pharmaceutical Sciences M.S. candidate
“Antipsychotic Polypharmacy Use in Commercially Insured Pediatric Antipsychotic Users: A Retrospective Cohort Study”
Mentor: Chenghui Li, Ph.D.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
1:30 p.m.
Ed II, Room 6/102
Michael A. Bauer
Bioinformatics PhD candidate
“The JIKITOU Biomedical Question Answering System: Facilitating the Next Stage in the Evolution of Information Retrieval”
Mentor: Daniel Berleant, Ph.D.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
1:00 p.m.
EIT Auditorium, UALR
Nasim Khan
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences MS candidate
“Patient’s Assessment of Rheumatoid Arthritis Activity: Getting it Right and Why it Differs From Physician’s Assessment”
Mentor: Alexei Basnakian, PhD
Monday, January 14, 2013
2:00 p.m.
Biomed II, Rayford Auditorium
Lisa Brents
Interdisciplinary Toxicology PhD candidate
“Active Metabolites and Drug-Drug Interactions of the Synthetic Cannabinoids JWH-018 and JWH-073 at the Cannabinoid 1 Receptor”
Mentor: Paul Prather, PhD
Friday, January 11, 2013
1:00 p.m.
Biomed II, Rayford Auditorium
Kimberly Reynolds
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology PhD candidate
“Investigations of Hepatitis C Virus Nonstructural Protein NS3: Binding and Unwinding Nucleic Acids”
Mentor: Kevin D. Raney, PhD
Friday, January 4, 2013
2:00 p.m.
Biomed II, Rayford Auditorium
James Bellamy
Health Systems Research PhD candidate
“Uptake of Emergency Preparedness Training at the Local Level: The TRAIN Experience”
Mentor: John Wayne, PhD
Friday, December 14, 2012
1:00 p.m.
I. Dodd Wilson Building, Room 114
Krishna Chimalakonda
Interdisiplinary Toxicology PhD candidate
“Toxicological Significance of JWH-018 and AM2201 Metabolism”
Mentor: Jeffery Moran, PhD
Monday, December 10, 2012
9:00 a.m.
Biomed II, Rayford Auditorium
Suja Aarattuthodiyil
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology PhD candidate
“Exploration of the Translocation and DNA Unwinding Mechanisms of an Optimally Active Helicase (Bacteriophage T4 Dda Helicase)”
Mentor: Kevin Raney, PhD
Monday, August 27, 2012
2:00 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Biomedical Research Center II, Room 106-2
Alicia Hernandez
Genetic Counseling MS candidate
“Bullying and Turners syndrome: a retrospective study looking at the bullying experiences from kindergarten to twelfth grade”
Mentor: Noelle Danylchuk, MS, CGC
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
11:00 a.m.
CHRP building 3 conference room – Dept. of Genetic Counseling
Erin Kamarunas
Communication Sciences and Disorders PhD candidate
“Effects of Topical Nasal Anesthesia on Fiberoptic Endoscopic Examination of Swallowing with Sensory Testing”
Committee chair: Dr. Gary McCullough
Monday, July 9, 2012
9:30 a.m.
UCA Student Center, Room 223
Patricia Wright
Health Systems Research PhD candidate
“Barriers and Facilitators of HIV Testing Services among Rural African
American Cocaine Users: Perspectives from Consumers and Service Providers”
Monday, July 2, 2012
10:00 a.m.
COPH room 2280
Agnieszka Zielinska
Microbiology and Immunology PhD candidate
“The sarA-Mediated Regulation of Virulence Factors in Community-Acquired
Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus”
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
10:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Amanda Elton
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences PhD candidate
“The human neuroscience of the risk for and expression of drug addiction;
Mentor: Dr. Clinton D. Kilts
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
9:30 am
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Matthew Howell
Interdisciplinary Toxicology PhD candidate
“Extracellular Proteoglycans and their Cleaving Metalloproteinases are Associaed with Alterations in Neural Plasticity”
Mentor: Dr. Paul E. Gottschall
Friday, June 22, 2012
10:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Cody Cook
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology MD/PhD candidate
“The ‘Re-Awakening’ of a Mitochondrial-Generated Progression Signal in the Development of Advanced Cancer”
Mentor: Dr. Masahiro Higuchi
Friday, June 1, 2012
10:00 am
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Laura Shotts
Communication Sciences and Disorders Ph.D. candidate
“The Ability of Temporal Air Pressure and Airflow Measures to Discriminate Subjects Receiving Velopharyngeal Insufficiency Surgery”
Mentor: Thomas Guyette, Ph.D.
Friday, May 11, 2012
2:00 pm
UALR Keiser Conference Room
Rebecca J. Gilbride
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology MD/PhD candidate
“Molecular Interactions between Galectin-3 and Prostate Specific Antigen: Relevance to Prostate Cancer”
Mentor: Alan Diekman, Ph.D.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
10:00 am
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Hamdan Hamdan
Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“Human Myelin Proteolipid Protein Gene Expression in Brain is Governed by Intronic Regulatory Elements”
Mentor: Patricia Wight, Ph.D.
Monday, May 7, 2012
10:30 am
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Steven E. Smith
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Molecular mechanisms of alpha-1 antitrypsin disposal: The unfolded protein response and proteasomal degradation”
Mentor: Dr. Giulia Baldini
Friday, May 4, 2012
1:00 pm
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Omar Rahal
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Exploring Novel Mechanisms for Dietary Prevention of Breast Cancer”
Mentor: Dr. Rosalia C.M. Simmen
Thursday, April 26, 2012
10:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Shannon Rose
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Systemic Glutathione Redox Imbalance in Autism is Associated with Inflammation and Mitochondrial Dysfunction”
Mentor: Dr. S. Jill James
Monday, April 23, 2012
2:00 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Julie Kaylor
Genetic Counseling M.S thesis defense
“Diagnostic yield of a 180k array based comparative genomic hybridization in a pediatric population at Arkansas Children’s Hospital”
Mentor: Tiffany Lepard
Friday, April 20, 2012
1:00 p.m.
CHRP Building 3, Conference Room
Jeanine Schulze
Genetic Counseling M.S thesis defense
“Transition in Practice: A KAP survey of medical genetics health professionals in the Heartland and Mountain States Regional Genetics and Newborn Screening Collaboratives”
Mentor: Lori Williamson Dean, MS, CGC
Friday, April 20, 2012
10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
CHRP Building 3, Conference Room
Shubhra Chaudhuri
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Modulation of HIF-1α in Acetaminophen Toxicity in the Mouse”
Mentor: Dr. Laura James
Thursday, April 19, 2012
10:00 a.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Joseph Hunter Holthoff
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“A Preclinical Evaluation of the Polyphenol Resveratrol during Sepsis-Induced Acute Renal Injury”
Mentor: Philip R. Mayeux, Ph.D.
Monday, April 16, 2012
1:00 p.m.
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Erin Berry
Genetic Counseling M.S thesis defense
“An assessment of the BNE Scale for parents whose children are seen in pediatric genetics”
Mentor: Noelle R. Danylchuk, MS, CGC
Friday, April 6, 2012
1:00-3:00 p.m.
CHRP Building 3, Conference Room
Katy Williams
Genetic Counseling M.S thesis defense
“Undergraduate to Genetic Counselor: Assessment of undergraduate career counselors’ awareness of genetic counseling and what resources regarding this profession they make available to undergraduate students”
Mentor: Kate Zellmer, MS, CGC
Friday, April 6, 2012
10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
CHRP Building 3, Conference Room
Melanie M. Lowry
Communication Sciences and Disorders Ph.D. candidate
“An Analysis of Communicative Patricipation in an Elderly Population”
Committee chair: Dr. Kimberly McCullough
Thursday, April 5, 2012
1:45 pm
Burdick Hall, Room 205, UCA
Jinhu Xiong
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Matrix-embedded cells control osteoclast formation”
Mentor: Dr. Charles O’Brien
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
10:00 a.m.
Sam Walton Auditorium, Cancer Institute Room 1026
Susan C. Ball, MNSc
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“The Effect of Marital Status and Caregiving Responsibilities on the Well-Being of Grandfathers Raising Their Grandchildren”
Committee Chair: Dr. Robert Kennedy
Monday, April 2, 2012
1:00 pm
COPH 3204
Elina Pathak
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“Mitochondrial oxidants and autophagy in sepsis-induced renal tubular epithelial injury”
Mentor: Dr. Phil Mayeux
Monday, March 26, 2012
12 noon
Rayford Auditorium
Melda Onal
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“The Significance of RANKL Levels and Cellular Sources during Physiological and Pathophysiological Bone Resorption”
Mentor: Dr. Charles O’Brien
Thursday, March 15, 2012
2:00 pm
Sam Walton Auditorium, Cancer Institute Room 1026
Nebojsa Kezunovic
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Mechanism of Gamma Band Activity of Pedunculopontine and Parafascicular Neurons: Implications for Arousal”
Mentor: Dr. Edgar Garcia-Rill
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
12:00 pm
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Juan Liu
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Complement System and Wet-type Age-related Macular Degeneration”
Mentor: Dr. Nalini Bora
Thursday, January 26, 2012
1:30 pm
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Kristie B. Hadden, M.S.
Health Promotion and Prevention Research Ph.D. candidate
“Health Literacy and Pregnancy: Validation of a New Measure and Relationships of Health Literacy to Pregnancy Risk Factors”
Friday, December 16, 2011
1:00 pm
COPH 2280
Zhen Wang
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“Changes in the peritubular capillary microenvironment mediates sepsis-induced renal microcirculatory failure and tubular cell injury”
Mentor: Dr. Philip Mayeux
Friday December 16, 2011
1:00 pm
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Jason Callahan
Occupational and Environmental Health M.S. candidate
“Exposure Monitoring of Formaldehyde Air Concentrations in University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Histology Laboratories”
Friday December 2, 2011
10:00 am
COPH 1202
T. Mac Bird, M.S.
Health Systems Research Ph.D. candidate
“Short-term and Long-term Neonatal Outcomes of Cesarean Delivery”
Mentor: Dr. Glen Mays
Monday, November 28, 2011
12:30 pm
COPH 2280
Christen Dana Simon
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Glutamatergic Fast Synaptic Neurotransmission in the Pedunculopontine and Dorsal Subcoeruleus Nuclei: Implications for Arousal”
Mentor: Dr. Edgar Garcia-Rill
Friday, October 28, 2011
12:00 pm
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Hamida Saba
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Thesis Defense
“Effect of S-Nitrosoglutathione on Normal Kidney Proximal Tubular Cells”
Mentor: Dr. Lee Ann MacMillan-Crow
Thursday, October 20, 2011
10-11 am
B205/207, Biomedical Research Center 1
Pamela Ashcraft, RN
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Explanatory Models of Obesity in 13-17 Year-Old African-American Males”
Committee Chair: Dr. Louanne Lawson
Monday, October 17, 2011
10 am-12 pm
COPH 2280
Lakshmiprasad Potluri
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Septal Peptidoglycan Synthesis and Modification Influences Cell Shape inEscherichia coli”
Mentor: Dr. Kevin Young
Thursday, August 25, 2011
1:30 pm
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Sujay Kharade, M.S.
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“Contribution of Accessory B3 Subunits to the Upregulation of Vascular Calcium Channels during Hypertension”
Mentor: Dr. Nancy Rusch
Thursday, August 4, 2011
9:00 am
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Steven M. Cooper, M.S.
Interdisciplinary Toxicology Ph.D. candidate
“Dietary Modulation of p-Nonylphenol Induced Renal Toxicity in Male Sprague-Dawley Rats”
Mentor: Dr. K. Barry Delclos
Monday, July 18, 2011
2:00 pm
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Matina Balou
Communication Sciences and Disorders Ph.D. candidate
“Videomanometric Measures of Head Rotation and Chin Tuck in Head & Neck Cancer Patients”
Mentor: Dr. Gary McCullough
Friday, July 15, 2011
4:00 pm
9th floor Spine and Neurosciences Institute, Head & Neck Surgery conference room
Stefania Cane
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Regulatory role of HSP90 in immune senescence”
Mentor: Dr. Usha Ponnappan
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
9:30 am
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Jennifer Watts
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Novel Mechanisms of Visceral Pain: Functional Properties of Microglia”
Mentor: Dr. Elie Al-Chaer
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
12:00 pm
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Joy Good
Communication Sciences and Disorders Ph.D. candidate
“The Effects of Morphological Awareness Training on Reading, Spelling, and Vocabulary Skills”
Mentor: Dr. Dee Lance
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
10:00 am
Burdick, Room 205, University of Central Arkansas
Drew Jones
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Elucidating Warfarin Metabolic Pathways and Developing Novel Analytical Methods Paves the Way for Improving Clinical Care”
Mentor: Dr. Grover P. Miller
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
2:00 pm
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Rawad Hodeify
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Involvement of Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 2 in Cisplatin-induced Cell Death Pathways”
Mentor: Dr. Peter Price
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
2:00 pm
Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2, Biomed 2
Chaoxuan Dong
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Effects of Ketamine on Neural Stem Progenitor Cells from the Rat Fetal Cortex”
Mentor: Dr. K.J.S. Anand
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
10:00 am
College of Public Health, 8th floor, Room 8240
Brooke E.E. Montgomery
Health Promotion and Prevention Research Ph.D. candidate
“The Role of Religion in Social-Cognitive Models of Sexual Risk Among Rural African American Cocaine Users”
Mentor: Dr. Katherine Stewart
Thursday, April 21, 2011
11:00 am-1:00 pm
College of Public Health, Room 2280
Tanecia Mitchell
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Cold Storage of Renal Cells and Isolated Rat Kidneys Induces Oxidants, Mitochondrial Dysfunction, and Renal Injury Prior to Transplantation”
Mentor: Dr. Lee Ann MacMillan-Crow
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
10:00 am
Rayford Auditorium, Biomedical Research Building 2, Room 106-2
Ben Kosewski
Genetic Counseling Master’s Thesis Defense
“Fathers’ Process of Adaptation to the Diagnosis of a Child with Down Syndrome”
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
12 pm
Department of Genetic Counseling, CHRP Building #3
Lindsay Ouzts
Genetic Counseling Master’s Thesis Defense
“Matanuska-Susitna Borough Healthcare Professionals’ Experiences with Genetic Services in Alaska and Interest in Telegenetics for the Region”
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
1:45 pm
Department of Genetic Counseling, CHRP Building #3
Lakshmiprasad Potluri
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Septal Peptidoglycan Synthesis and Modification Influences Cell Shape inEscherichia coli”
Mentor: Dr. Kevin Young
POSTPONED DATE TBD
Misty Thompson
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“The Role of D-Serine in the G93A mSOD1 Mouse Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS): Friend or Foe?”
Mentor: Dr. John P. Crow
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
2:00 pm
Rayford Auditorium, Biomedical Research Building 2, Room 106-2
Jane D. Evans
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“What Attracts and Retains Nurse Faculty?”
Mentor: Dr. Claudia Barone
Thursday, April 14, 2011
1:00 pm
COPH 2280
Brittany Schubert
Genetic Counseling Master’s Thesis Defense
“The Relationship between Health-Related Quality of Life and Family Functioning in Individuals Testing for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency”
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
11:30 am
Department of Genetic Counseling, CHRP Building #3
Jennifer Roberts
Genetic Counseling Master’s Thesis Defense
“The Effect of Interpreter Placement on Spanish-Speaking Patient Satisfaction with Genetic Counseling Sessions Conducted over Telemedicine”
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
2:30 pm
Department of Genetic Counseling, CHRP Building #3
Puneet Bharill
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Molecular Mechanisms Underlying the Extreme Longevity of C. elegans age-1 PI3K Mutants”
Mentor: Dr. Robert Reis
Friday, April 8, 2011
1:00 pm
Rayford Auditorium, Biomedical Research Building 2, Room 106-2
Meghan Sherman
Genetic Counseling Master’s Thesis Defense
“An Assessment to Determine the Support Needs of Arkansas Families Affected by Williams Syndrome”
Friday, April 1, 2011
3:15 pm
Department of Genetic Counseling, CHRP Building #3
Kali Chatham
Genetic Counseling Master’s Thesis Defense
“The Presentation of Genetic Counseling as a Career by High School Life Science and Biology Teachers to Students of Ethnic Minority and Disadvantaged Socioeconomic Backgrounds”
Friday, April 1, 2011
11:45 am
Department of Genetic Counseling, CHRP Building #3
Maheswari Rajasekaran
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Characterization of allosteric modulators of CB2 receptors as novel therapeutics for inflammatory disease”
Mentor: Dr. Paul Prather
Monday, March 28, 2011
1:00 pm
Rayford Auditorium, Biomedical Research Building 2, Room 106-2
Shimul Chowdhury
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Maternal Epigenetic and Genetic Factors in Congenital Heart Defects”
Mentor: Dr. Charlotte Hobbs
Monday, February 28, 2011
1:00 pm
Rayford Auditorium, Biomedical Research Building 2, Room 106-2
Kevin Kim
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Understanding cell-mediated immunity against human papillomavirus-related diseases: common warts and cervical cancer”
Mentor: Dr. Mayumi Nakagawa
Thursday, December 9, 2010
1:00 pm
Pauly Auditorium (COPH G219)
Scott Helms
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Not All Genes with Classic CArG Elements are Differentially Regulated by SRF in Mouse Hearts”
Mentor: Dr. Jeanne Y. Wei
Monday, November 22, 2010
8:30 am
Biomedical Research Building I Room B205/207
Sara Rowe, BSN, RN
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“The Lived Experience of Parents of Adolescents Who Have Sexually Offended”
Committee Chair: Dr. Louanne Lawson
Monday, November 8, 2010
3:00 pm
COPH Conference Room 5201
Shelia Savell, MNSc
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“What is the Effect of Implementation of Primary Nursing on Patient Satisfaction and Nurse Satisfaction?”
Committee Chair: Dr. Ann Coleman
Friday, July 30, 2010
3:00 pm
COPH Conference Room 5201
Glauber Bruno Pereira
Physiology and Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“The Role of an Antisilencer/Enhancer Element in the Regulation of Myelin Proteolipid Protein Gene Expression in Oligodendrocytes”
Mentor: Dr. Patricia Wight
Thursday, July 15, 2010
10:00 am
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Christian Simmons
Physiology and Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“The Sp-Family Member Kruppel-Like Factor 9 in Uterine Function and Dysfunction”
Mentor: Dr. Rosalia Simmen
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
2:00 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Shuliang Liu
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Pathogenesis and Immune Responses to Citrobacter koseri Infection in the Central Nervous System”
Mentor: Dr. Tammy L. Kielian
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
9:00 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Sherri Smart
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Mapping the local protein interactome of the NuA3 histone acetyltransferase”
Mentor: Dr. Vladimir Lupashin
Friday, May 28, 2010
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Richard Smith
Physiology and Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“The role of the Conserved Oligomeric Golgi (COG) complex in the retrograde traffic and processing of proteins within the Golgi apparatus”
Mentor: Dr. Vladimir Lupashin
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
2:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Jacob South
Genetic Counseling M.S candidate
“Uptake and Timing of Prenatal Diagnosis among a Sample of Women who had First Trimester Screening”
Friday, April 23, 2010
3:00 p.m.
CHRP Building #3 conference room
Joshua Ramirez
Genetic Counseling M.S candidate
“Training and perspectives of Spanish-English interpreters regarding the provision of culturally competent genetic counseling services to Hispanics/Latinos”
Friday, April 23, 2010
1:00 p.m.
CHRP Building #3 conference room
Rong Chu
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“The role of Bcl-2 family proteins in the regulation of mitotic arrest induced apoptosis”
Mentor: Timothy Chambers, Ph.D.
Friday, April 23, 2010
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Sarah Smith
Genetic Counseling M.S candidate
“Survey of Current Genetic Counseling Practices for Low Serum Estriol Values”
Friday, April 23, 2010
11:00 am
CHRP Building #3 conference room
Charlotte Karen Jeans, MSN, CCRN, CIP
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“A Descriptive Comparison of Human Research Protection Program Characteristics and Accreditation Outcomes in VA Facilities”
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
2:00 p.m.
3rd Floor, COPH 3202
Shashank Jain
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“The Role of Platelet Glycoproteins Ibα and VI in Experimental and Spontaneous Metastasis”
Mentor: Jerry Ware, Ph.D.
Monday, April 19, 2010
2:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Lindsey Johnson Erman
Genetic Counseling M.S candidate
“Clinical Experiences of Health Care Professional Ordering CYP2D6 Genetic Testing for Tamoxifen Therapy in Breast Cancer”
Friday, April 9, 2010
2:00 p.m.
CHRP Building #3 conference room
Susan L. Gatto, MSN, RN, CNE
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Learning and Study Strategies of Baccalaureate Nursing Students During First Semester Nursing Courses”
Mentor: Dr. Claudia Barone
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
3:00 p.m.
College of Public Health 3rd floor, Room 3202
Katharine Whitney, B.S.
Interdisciplinary Toxicology Ph.D. candidate
“Working Memory and Impulsivity in the Ts65Dn Mouse, a Model of Down Syndrome”
Mentor: Dr. Galen Wenger
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building I, 2nd floor, B205/207
K. Susan Sifford, GCNS-BC
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Caregiver Perceptions of Unmet Needs That Lead to Resident-to-Resident Violence Involving Residents with Dementia in Nursing Homes”
Mentor: Dr. Cornelia Beck
Monday, March 29, 2010
1:00 p.m.
College of Public Health, G226
Daniel Prantner
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Cytosolic recognition of Chlamydia muridarum: Beyond Toll-like Receptors”
Mentor: Dr. Uma Nagarajan
Thursday, March 18, 2010
1:30 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Sheryl S. Shoemaker
Communication Sciences and Disorders Ph.D. candidate
“The Impact of Dichotic Auditory Training in Children”
Mentor: Dr. Dee Lance
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
10:00 a.m.
University of Central Arkansas campus-Student Center Room 223
Trenda D. Ray, MNSC, APN
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Relationships among self-efficacy, physical activity and BMI in children with congenital heart disease”
Mentor: Dr. Angela Green
Thursday, February 25, 2010
8:30 a.m.
COPH, 3rd floor, room 3202.
Kristy Nicks
Physiology and Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“The Effects of Reproductive Hormones on Bone: The Role of Inhibin A”
Mentor: Dr. Dana Gaddy
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
10:00 am
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Wei Wang
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences, Ph.D. candidate
“Structure-Function Study of Serine Racemase”
Mentor: Dr. Steven W. Barger
Friday, January 22, 2010
12:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Yin Wang
Microbiology and Immunology, Ph.D. candidate
“Local Host Response to Chlamydial Urethral Infection in Male Guinea Pigs”
Mentor: Dr. Roger Rank
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
1:00 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building I, B205/207
Sarah Cullen
Microbiology and Immunology, Ph.D. candidate
“Molecular Regulation of Inflammation by the Proteasome”
Mentor: Dr. Usha Ponnappan
Thursday, November 19, 2009
1:30 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Dinesh Kumar
Pharmacology, Ph.D. candidate
“Regulation of Voltage-Dependent Calcium Channels in Neonatal Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension”
Mentor: Dr. Nancy J. Rusch
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
2 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
2008-09
Lindsay Pack
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences M.S. candidate
“Developing Greener Technology for Cotinine Biomonitoring Programs”
Mentor: Dr. Jeffery Moran
Thursday, July 16, 2009
11 a.m.
Arkansas Public Health Laboratory 1st floor training room
Biny K. Joseph,M.S.
Interdisciplinary Toxicology, Ph.D. candidate
“Loss of K+ Channels in the Cerebral Circulation of Hypertensive Rats: Membrane Associated Proteins and Myogenic Tone”
Mentor: Dr. Nancy Rusch
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
10 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Sherin Y. Boctor, M.S.
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate
Interdisciplinary Neurosciences Track
“Neonatal Phencyclidine or Ketamine Treatment Modifies Preweaning Behaviors, but Only Neonatal PCP Treatment Alters Adult Locomotor Activity in Male and Female Sprague-Dawley Rats”
Mentor: Dr. Sherry Ferguson
Friday, July 10, 2009
9 a.m.
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
David Terrano, B.A.
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Ph.D. candidate
“Cdk1 phosphorylation of anti-apoptotic Bcl-xL as a new link between mitotic arrest and apoptosis”
Mentor: Dr. Timothy C. Chambers
Monday, May 18, 2009
2 p.m.
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Meijun Ye, MBBS
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Cholinergic Modulation of Fast Synaptic Transmission in the Pedunculopontine and Parafascicular Nuclei: Implications for the Regulation of Cortical Arousal”
Mentor: Dr. Edgar Garcia-Rill
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
12 noon
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Jacy Wagnon, B.S.
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Characterization of ade6-M26 hotspot RNA and its role in the activation ot meiotic homologous recombination”
Mentor: Dr. Wayne Wahls
Friday, April 17, 2009
9 am
Biomedical Research Building I, Room 205/207
Gautam Gandhi, B.S.
Physiology and Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“Functional Roles of Astrocytes in Metabolite Trafficking”
Mentor: Dr. Gerald Dienel
Thursday, April 16, 2009
3 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Swapnil Sonkusare, M.S.
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“Upregualtion of vascular L-type calcium channels in hypertension: the role of beta subunits”
Mentor: Dr. Nancy Rusch
Tuesday, April 14
2-3 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Bill Buron, MSN, RNC, APN
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Promoting Personhood Among Nursing Home Residents Living With Dementia”
Committee Chair: Cornelia Beck, PhD, RN, FAAN
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
1-3 pm
COPH 5th floor, Room 5201
Laura Evans, BSN, APN, WHNP-BC
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Southern Rural Black Women’s Explanatory Models of Heart Disease “
Committee Chair: Jean McSweeney, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
10:30-12:30 am
5th Floor of COPH, Room 5201
Carol Enderlin, MNSc, RN
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Sleep in Older Women with Breast Cancer”
Committee Chair: Elizabeth Ann Coleman, PhD, RN
Friday, April 3, 2009
2-4 pm
10th Floor of ACRC, Betsy Blass Board Room
Dana Carthron, BSN, RN
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Impact of Caregiving Responsibilities on the Diabetic Health of African-American Primary Caregiving Grandmothers”
Committee Chair: Pao-Feng Tsai, PhD, RN
Thursday, April 2, 2009
10-12 noon
COPH, 5th floor, Room 5201
Barbara Pate, MPH, BSN, RN
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Effectiveness of Web-based Programs in Improving Breastfeeding Self-efficacy “
Committee Chair: Robert Kennedy, Ph.D.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
10-12 am
5th Floor of COPH, Room 5201
Melodee Harris, MSN,RN
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“The Effects of Slow-Stroke Back Massage on the Sleep of Persons with Dementia in the Nursing Home”
Committee Chair: Claudia Beverly, Ph.D., R.N.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
12:30-3:30 pm
COPH G/232
Kathryn Seely, B.S.
Interdisciplinary Toxicology Ph.D. candidate
“Cannabinoid Receptor Inverse Agonists as Novel Therapeutic Agents”
Mentor: Dr. Paul Prather
Friday, March 20, 2009
1 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Stephanie Byrum, M.Sc.
Bioinformatics Ph.D. candidate
“The Diagnostic Fingerprint of Breast Cancer Bone Metastasis”
Mentor: Dr. Larry Suva
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
2 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Yuliya Koriakina
Physiology and Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“Studies of Expression, Signaling, and Trafficking of the Beta2-Adrenergic Receptor in Response to Beta-Agonist”
Mentor: Dr. Lawrence Cornett
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
3 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Balasubramanian Manickam
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Role of Complement and Complement Regulatory Proteins in Experimental Autoimmune Anterior Uveitis (EAAU)”
Mentor: Dr. Nalini Bora
Thursday, January 29, 2009
1:30 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Venkata Bhogaraju
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“Characterization of Cu, Zn Superoxide Dismutase In Vivo: Zn-Deficient SOD1 as a Potential Neurotoxic Species in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis”
Mentor: Dr. John Crow
Friday, January 16, 2009
1 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Sarah White
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“Effects of methamphetamine on pregnant rats and their litters in the presence and absence of anti-methamphetamine monoclonal antibody therapy”
Mentor: Dr. Michael Owens
Monday, December 15, 2008
2 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Lauren Blair
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Structure-Function Analysis of SF1B Helicases Dda and Pfi1”
Mentor: Dr. Kevin Raney
Friday, December 12, 2008
12 noon
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Shankar Munusamy, M.S.
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“Involvement of Oxidants and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in the Pathogenesis of Hyperglycemia-induced Renal Injury”
Mentor: Dr. Lee Ann MacMillan-Crow
Friday, December 5, 2008
1 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Ying Su
Physiology and Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“Molecular Regulation of Breast Cancer Susceptibility by Dietary Factors”
Mentor: Dr. Rosalia Simmen
Thursday, December 4, 2008
3 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Jonathan Hubbard
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“Monoclonal Antibodies as Protective Medications for Drug Abuse During Pregnancy”
Mentor: Dr. Michael Owens
Thursday, December 4, 2008
2 pm
Biomedical Research Building I, Room 205/207
Anca Bene
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“The role of c-Jun/AP-1 in microtubule inhibitor-induced apoptosis”
Mentor: Dr. Timothy Chambers
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
12:00 noon
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Lavanya Amuluru
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences M.S. candidate
“Calcific Uremic Arteriolopathy: Potential Role of Metal Accumulation”
Friday, November 14, 2008
8 am
VA 6B 138
Yiying Wang
Physiology and Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“Temporal Control of Maternal mRNA Translation during Oocyte Maturation”
Mentor: Dr. Angus MacNicol
Friday, September 26, 2008
1 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Jun Gao
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Regulation of Meiotic Recombination by a Multifunctional ATF/CREB Protein”
Mentor: Dr. Wayne Wahls
Thursday, September 25, 2008
12 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
LaTasha Smith
Physiology and Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“Comparative profiling of adipokines and gene expression of adipocyte differentiation factors in obese African-American and Caucasian women”
Mentor: Dr. William Evans
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
3 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Amit Bodhani
Pharmaceutical Sciences Master’s Thesis defense
“Evaluating Medicare Beneficiaries’ Satisfaction with Medication Therapy Management Services in Community Pharmacies”
Monday, September 15, 2008
2 pm
Ed II, COP 6th floor main conference room
Sarika Saraswati
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Post-Translational Regulation of Galectin-3 in Human Seminal Plasma”
Mentor: Dr. Alan Diekman
Thursday, September 4, 2008
12 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Wassim El Jouni
Physiology and Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“Physiology and Regulation of Plasma Membrane Trafficking during Xenopus Oocyte Maturation”
Mentor: Dr. Khaled Machaca
Thursday, July 3, 2008
2:30 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Sheeno Thyparambil
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Identification of putative biomarkers of hepatocellular carcinoma using mass spectrometry based proteomic approaches”
Dr. Rick Edmondson
Friday, June 27, 2008
2:00 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
2007-2008
Thomas Alan Jennings
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Biochemical and biological investigations of Hepatitis C virus non-structural protein interactions “
Dr. Kevin Raney
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
2 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Shalini Singh
Physiology and Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“Molecular Mechanisms Contributing to Rhabdomyosarcoma Development”
Dr. Charlotte Peterson
Thursday, May 15, 2008
1:30 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Cagdas Tazearslan
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Positive feedback between transcriptional and kinase suppression accompanies extraordinary longevity and stress resistance in C. elegans”
Dr. Robert Reis
Friday, May 16, 2008
2 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Vishnu Ramani
Physiology and Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“Multiple roles of kallikrein 7 in pancreatic cancer”
Dr. Randy Haun
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
10 am
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Thetsu Mon
Physiology and Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“Acetylcholine in developing and adult retina”
Dr. Jimmy Zhou
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
2 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Anandi Sawant
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“The Role of Trehalose in Mycobacterium smegmatis”
Dr. David Carroll
Friday, April 18, 2008
1 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Yinghui Pu
“How Does Mouse Hepatitis Virus Enter Host Cells?”
Dr. Xuming Zhang
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
2 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
David S. Heister
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Intrinsic mechanisms and cholinergic modulation of the dorsal subcoeruleus: Implications for REM sleep”
Dr. Edgar Garcia-Rill
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Noon
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Dongdong Yu
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Coronavirus pathogenesis: virus-host cell interaction”
Dr. Xuming Zhang
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
2 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Xiaojun Ning
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“VPN1 N terminal domains and poliovirus entry”
Dr. Marie Chow
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
2 pm
Biomedical Research Building I, Room 205-207
Rohit Singhal, M.Sc.
Interdisciplinary Toxicology Ph.D. candidate
“Modulation of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Signaling by Soy Consumption and Estrogens”
Dr. Martin J. Ronis
Friday, January 18, 2008
10 am
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Courtney Wilkins
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Caenorhabditis elegans as a model host for viral infection”
Dr. Marie Chow
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
2 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Zabeena P. Shaik
Pharmaceutical Sciences track Ph.D. candidate
“Protective Actions of Protein Kinase B/Akt Against Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Cell Death in Injured Renal Cells”
Dr. Grazyna Nowak
Thursday, December 6, 2007
12 pm
Biomedical Research Building I, Room 205-207
Brian Donahower
Interdisciplinary Toxicology Ph.D. candidate
“Examination of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in a Mouse Model of Acetaminophen Toxicity”
Dr. Laura James
Monday, December 3, 2007
1 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Nirmal K. Phulwani
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Modulating Astrocyte Activation in Response to Staphylococcus aureus: Relevance to Brain Abscess”
Dr. Tammy Kielian
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
10 am
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Barbara H. Baker, MSN, RN
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“Retention Strategies for Minority Nursing Students in Baccalaureate and Associate Degree Nursing Programs as Identified by Faculty”
Dr. Robert L. Kennedy
Monday, November 19, 2007
11 am-1 pm
UAMS COPH Ground Floor, G232
Toby M. Ward
Microbiology and Immunology Ph.D. candidate
“Genetic Strategies for Improvement of Varicella Vaccines”
Dr. Wayne Gray
Friday, October 26, 2007
1 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
January Baumgardner
Interdisciplinary Toxicology Ph.D. candidate
“Effects of Diet and Nutritional Status on Progression of Fatty Liver Disease in Rats Fed via Total Enteral Nutrition”
Dr. Martin Ronis
Friday, October 5, 2007
2 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Taasin Srivastava
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Role and Regulation of CPEB1 in Neuronal Cells”
Dr. Angus MacNicol
Thursday, October 11, 2007
9 am
College of Public Health Building, Room 8-240
Jennifer L. Shoemaker
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“Antagonism of Cannabinoid CB2 Receptors Prolongs Survival and Maintains Motor Function in a Transgenic Mouse Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis”
Dr. Paul Prather
Friday, August 24, 2007
1 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Rajesh Vadlapatla
Pharmacology Ph.D. candidate
“Drug-Organic Electrolyte Complexes as Controlled Release Systems”
Dr. Cherng-ju Kim
Monday, July 23, 2007
12 noon
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Rijin Xiao
Physiology and Biophysics Ph.D. candidate
“Dietary Proteins in Colon Cancer Prevention: Molecular Mediators and Mechanisms of Action”
Dr. Frank Simmen
Friday, July 6, 2007
1 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Prathamesh Pathak
Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy M.S. candidate
“An Investigation of Evidence-Based Versus Non Evidence-Based Off-Label Use of Atypical Antipsychotics in Arkansas Medicaid Pediatric Population: 2001-2005”
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
10 am
Ed 11, COP 6th floor conference room
Liping Wu, MS
Interdisciplinary Toxicology Ph.D. candidate
“Microcirculatory Dysfunction and Reactive Nitrogen Species Generation During Sepsis-Induced Acute Kidney Injury”
Major advisor: Dr. Philip Mayeux
Friday, April 13, 2007
9 am
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Glenn Raup, MSN, RN, CNA-BC
Nursing Science Ph.D. candidate
“An Evaluation of the Impact of Leadership Styles Exhibited by ED Nurse Managers in Academic Health Centers on Nurse Turnover and Patient Satisfaction”
Dr. Ann Coleman
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
7-9 am
Ed II 5th floor Room 5201
Nichole Dowdy-Sanders
Interdisciplinary Toxicology Ph.D. candidate
“Effects of Cognitive Enhancers on Learning and Attention in the Ts65Dn mouse, a Model of Down Syndrome”
Dr. Galen Wenger
Monday, April 23, 2007
1 pm
Biomedical Research Building I, Room 205/207
Tiffany Wallace Huitt
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Differential Activation of N-Methyl-D-Aspartic Acid and Kainic Acid Receptors in the Pedunculopontine Nucleus of Rat Modulates Both Ascending and Descending Efferent Projections Related to Preattentional and Arousal Mechanisms”
Dr. Edward Garcia-Rill
Thursday, April 26, 2007
12 noon
College of Public Health Building, Room G228
Yan Xiong
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Identification of the Binding Sites of Human UDP-Glucuronsyltransferases”
Dr. Anna Radominska-Pandya
Friday, May 4, 2007
10 am
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Athena Starlard-Davenport
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Ph.D. candidate
“Characterization of UDP-Glucuronosyl Transferases in Normal and Malignant Human Breast Tissues”
Dr. Anna Radominska-Pandya
Monday, May 7, 2007
12 pm
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Sudeepa Bhattacharyya, M.Sc.
Bioinformatics Ph.D. candidate
“Discovery of Osteoporosis Biomarkers by Serum Proteomics”
Dr. Larry Suva
Monday, May 7, 2007
10 am
Biomedical Research Building II, Rayford Auditorium, Room 106-2
Cindy X. Zhang Gandhi
Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences Ph.D. candidate
“Effect of Liver X Receptor Agonists on Glial Activation: Relevance to Multiple Sclerosis”
Dr. Paul Drew
Thursday, May 10, 2007
12 pm
College of Public Health Building, Room G226