Briggsies take home 28 first-place awards for their research presentations

April 25, 2025 - Adrianna Orlando

28 students from Lyman Briggs College earned first-place awards during the 2025 University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF), which held its awards ceremony on Monday, April 21. Find photos in the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity's Flickr album.

The event recognized undergraduate students across academic disciplines for outstanding research and creative work. Lyman Briggs students stood out for their excellence in scientific inquiry and innovation.

First-place winners came from a range of research areas, showing the variety of interests and work being done by students in the college. Their projects demonstrated high levels of academic rigor, creativity and impact.

UURAF provides undergraduate students with an opportunity to present their research and scholarly activity to faculty, peers and external audiences. The annual forum highlights the importance of undergraduate contributions to the university’s research mission.

Congratulations to the 28 Briggsies who won first-place awards:

Agriculture and Animal Science

Charlotte Ludorf: Supplementation of Bacillus Subtilis Combined with Plant Extracts Effect on Growth Performance and Post-Weaning Diarrhea in Pigs

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Sophia Bonnema: Exploring the Impact of Plant Central Metabolism on APHID Fitness

Ani Winkler: Association between Microbial Metabolites in Human Lung Lavage Fluid after Transplant and the Development of Chronic Lung Allograft Dysfunction

Cell Biology, Genetics and Genomics

Laasya Koduri: Decoding Lung Development: How TBX4 and TBX5 Affect Branching Architecture

Communication Arts and Sciences

Mostafa Ghanem: Wellbeing of Head and Neck Cancer Patients

Diversity and Interdisciplinary Studies

Minal Patil: You’re (In)Charj (YIC): Youth-led Interdisciplinary Research Experience for Climate, Health, and Racial Justice- Team Urban

Education

Aarav Contractor: Development of Mechanistic Reasoning in Medical Education

Environmental Science and Natural Resources

Mikayla Datka: Canopy Openness and Forb Diversity in a Michigan Oak Savannah

Sydney Ceyzyk: Impact of Climate Change on Freeze-Thaw Cycles in Midwestern Cities, USA

Abby Bailey: How do Fluctuations in Demand Affect Cocoa Sustainability

Lea Saputo: Development of Pro-Environmental Behaviors Mentor Training Program

Epidemiology and Public Health

Jasnoor Kaur: Investigating Telomere Length and Cardivascular Health in South Asians: Addressing Health Disparities Through Masala Data

Eshika Avidi: The Longitudinal Association of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Executive Function of Adolescents with Perinatal HIV in Kampala, Uganda

Vaishnavi Rayannavar: Addressing Digital Skills and Electronic Visit Verification Among Michigan’s Direct Care Workers

Health Sciences

Manasi Kulkarni: Assessing the Feasibility of Allied Professionals Delivering CBT for Pediatric Pain: A Systematic Review

Krystal Jang: Can Light Intensity Affect Fertility? A Study on How Brightness Influences Reproductive Health

Humanities

Rachel Zhai: Asian-American Youth Co-Designing Heritage Language Workshops for Immigrant Families: A Community-Based Participatory Research-Study

Integrative and Organismal Biology

Grace Urban: Using Spotted Gar and Gene Manipulation in Zebrafish to Understand Nervous System Evolution in Teleost Fishes

Kinesiology

Faith Persyn: Comparing TSK-11 and ACL-RSI Scores in Individuals With and Without Effusion-Synovitis Following ACL Reconstruction

Microbiology, Immunology, and Infectious Disease

Rowan Litts: Knock-Out Mutations of ACEE and NAGA in E. Coli Nissle 1917Impede Cleavage of Protective Mucin Layer in the Gut Wall

Laura Stephan: Subrenal Emryonic Tissue Implantation Elicits a Cytoxic Immune Response

Neuroscience

Grace Eliya: Does CRH Expression in the Lateral Hypothalmic Area of the Mouse Brain Change Across the Lightdark Cycle?

Nutrition and Food Science

Isaac Abraham: Serum Omega-6 Fatty Acids and Adolescent Mental Health: A Twelve-Month Longitudinal Analysis of Ugandan Adolescents with Perinatal HIV Exposure/Infection

Anjali Shrimankar: Ready to Apply Sustainable Nanoparticles Training System to Improve Grapevine Resilience

Pharmacology and Toxicology

Vrinda Khullar: Targeting GPT2 to Overcome Chemoresistance in Ovarian Cancer

Plant Sciences

Claudia Colligan: Big City Plants: Investigating the Urban-Rural Gradient of a Common Weed Species

Travis Yang: Xerico Drought Tolerance Gene Expression in Tomato

Emily Schley: The role of HPR1 and HPR2 in Photorespiration Mechanisms in A. Thaliana

Psychology

Elizabeth St Martin: Individual and Spousal Depression Predicting Mortality

Vikshita Pallerla: An Examination of Sport-Related Performance Anxiety in Collegiate Athletes

Liliana Ribusovski: An Examination of Sport-Related Perfromance Anxiety in Collegiate Athletes

Samvuktha Vijavakumar: Investigating the Role of Speech Rhythm and Audiovisual Asynchrony in Understanding Speech in Noisy Environments

Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics

Siddharth Karthikeyan: Cacao-Linked Deforestation Greatly Harms Ecological Systems
Sidhard Unniyampath: Cacao-Linked Deforestation Greatly Harms Ecological Systems

Social Science, Arts, Humanities and Social Science: General

Nadine Shetiah: Neuroscience, Neurodiversity, and the Workplace: How Autism Theories Inform Real-World Experiences

Social Science: General

Nadine Shetiah: Working Together Across Differences: A Qualitative Study of Autistic Perspectives on Employment

Sociology

Chanel Issa: Discrepancies in Preschoolers’ Social Skills and Problem Behaviors in School Versus Home Settings
Sullivan Whiting: Community-Building Among Transgender and Genderdiverse Medical Students and Residents

For more information about UURAF 2025 and a full list of winners, visit the Undergraduate Research website.