UAlbany Showcase highlights and celebrates student excellence through displays and exhibitions of undergraduate and graduate research, scholarship, creative endeavors and applied/experiential learning. Department of Biological Sciences students' presentations represented a major component of the 2026 event.
| Showcase Advisor | Student Presenter | Presentation Title |
| Alan Chen | Lindsey Farmer | Improved Measurement Strategies for Obstetric Blood Loss |
| Andrew Berglund | Sai Sravani Nimishakavi | Role of domains in Muscleblind-like 1 RNA-Binding Protein in Alternative Splicing Regulation |
| Andrew Berglund | Sharon Shaughnessy | Innate Immune Activation in Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 |
| Andrew Berglund | Carter Wilkins | Bioinformatic Identification and Analysis of Common Splicing Errors in Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 (DM1) and Fuchs' Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy (FECD) |
| Annalisa Scimemi | Izabella Czajkowski | Neuronal glutamate transporters encode dopamine co-release with glutamate and GABA |
| Annalisa Scimemi | Baran Mohammadi | Neuronal glutamate transporters limit dopamine release in the striatum |
| Annalisa Scimemi | Peter Oloruntola | Hippocampal Layer-Specific Changes in Protein Expression in Circadian Rhythms |
| Annalisa Scimemi | Noah Satterlee | The Neuronal Glutamate Transporter EAAC1 Limits Dopamine Release In The Striatum |
| Bijan Dey | Aiden Cho | Transcriptomic Analysis of Gene Expression Changes in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy |
| Bijan Dey | Ridita das | Comparative Analysis of Different Muscle Samples in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) using RNA seq Analysis |
| Bijan Dey | Adriana Pichardo | Young niche in mice influences the gene expression of aged Muscle Stem Cells |
| Bijan Dey | Senbahavalli Ramasamy | Single-Cell Transcriptomic Comparison Reveals Gut Microbiota Modulation of Muscle Pathology in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy |
| Cara Pager | Nurat Affinnih | Investigation of Ilhéus virus infection in mosquito and mammalian cell lines |
| Cara Pager | Mya Drake | West Nile Virus |
| Cara Pager | Giovanna Vianna Esko | Infectious Mononucleosis |
| Cara Pager | Ellen Heyns | Rabies |
| Cara Pager | Kaliyah Hull | Viruses Affecting Campus: Noro Virus |
| Cara Pager | Mehreen Khan | Hepatitis B |
| Cara Pager | Navid Khosrojerdi | Measles risk to college students: What exactly is the Measles Virus and how can you avoid it? |
| Cara Pager | Molly McGrath | An Overview of Human Papillomavirus, its Impact on College Students, and Prevention Methods |
| Cara Pager | Courtney Munderville | Protecting Public Health: Communicable Disease Surveillance in New York State |
| Cara Pager | Jacklynne Osorio-Hernandez | Hepatitis C Virus: Understanding Risk, Transmission, and Prevention in College Communities |
| Cara Pager | Chamyuktha Senthilkumar | Human Immunodeficiency Virus: |
| ChangHwan Lee | Sofia Adele Castro | Investigating the role of kinesin microtubule motor genes in stem cell niche nuclear positioning during aging |
| ChangHwan Lee | Reagan Conrad | Investigating the role Glutamine-rich domains in Notch Signaling Regulation and Stem Cell Control |
| ChangHwan Lee | Marissa Kearns | Investigating the effects of stem cell niche on germline stem cell function and fecundity in C. elegans |
| ChangHwan Lee | Avairee McConnell | Effects of Metabolic Signals on Notch-Dependent Transcription, Germline Stem Cell Activities, and Fertility |
| Damian Zuloaga | Maycen Schaefer | Effects of androgens and chronic stress on anxiety-related behavior and stress-induced neural activity |
| Douglas Conklin | Sidney Charlemagne | A Phylogenetic Analysis of BTK- C Across Various Species |
| Douglas Conklin | Jessica Teague | Alternative ABL1 Isoforms Generated by Distinct Transcription Start Sites in Leukemia |
| Dylan Farnsworth | Serafina Parvattan | Zebrafish Model Systems for Myotonic Dystrophy |
| Elise Vogt | Grace Bullard | Mad Cow in Humans! (variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease) |
| Elise Vogt | Emma Doughty | Cervical Cancer |
| Elise Vogt | Unisha Gurung | Eczema |
| Elise Vogt | Patrick Johnson | Psoriasis |
| Elise Vogt | Nevin Joseph | Hyperthyroidism (Graves Disease) |
| Elise Vogt | Minsang Kim | Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva(FOP) |
| Elise Vogt | Esther Kyambadde | Alzheimer's Disease |
| Elise Vogt | Sachin Lachman | Bells Palsy |
| Elise Vogt | Taniyah Larkins | Parkinson's Disease |
| Elise Vogt | Catherine Lienemann | Guillain-Barré Syndrome |
| Elise Vogt | Yutaro Matsuzawa | Carcinomatous Meningitis |
| Elise Vogt | Raina Waraich | Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy |
| Gabriele Fuchs | Evan Corwin | Generation of a dual luciferase reporter construct to investigate the relationship between translation initiation and frameshifting efficiency |
| Gabriele Fuchs | Elizabeth Hacker | Analyzing Ribosomal Frameshifting via a Reporter Assay |
| Gabriele Fuchs | Grace Heiner | Ribosome Frameshifting on the PLEKHM2 Signal |
| Gabriele Fuchs | Shecid Millan | Measuring the Impact of Ribosome Spacing on HIV-1 Frameshifting Efficiency |
| Hannah Shorrock | Afifa Ahmed | Cross-Disease Small Molecule Screening Identifies Therapeutic Candidates for CAG Repeat Expansion Disorders |
| Hannah Shorrock | Ryan O'Connell | Synthesizing Analogs of CAGbr01 for Improved Reduction of CAG Repeat Expression |
| Hannah Shorrock | Adrianna Vidot | Alternative Splicing and Differential Gene Expression Reveal Potential Blood Biomarkers in SCA2 and SCA3 |
| J. Andres Melendez | Esam Abisse | Investigating Oxidative Control of SASP Markers to Identify DNA Nanostructures Inflammatory Potential |
| J. Andres Melendez | Jazlynn Sotelo | Redox Regulation of SASP Gene Expression During Hydrogen Peroxide–Induced Senescence |
| Jeanette Altarriba | Camryn Clark | Attentional Biases in Anxiety: A Comparative Review of Cognitive and Neurobiological Theories |
| John Polk | Heeqmat Bakrin | Assessing gait stability during gait tasks using wearable sensors. |
| Kaalak Reddy | Aatia Mreedu | Screening Candidate Modifiers of Toxic RNA in Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 |
| Ken Halvorsen | Mariam Sow | Fluorescently Labeled Oligonucleotides into DNA Nanoswitches for Improved Detection |
| Max Turner | Rishita Nagothi | The effect of motivational state on visual processing |
| Max Turner | Gabriela Valdivieso | Visual Processing in Drosophila melanogaster |
| Melinda Larsen | Pearl De-Veer | Radiation-Induced Senescence Remodels Salivary Gland Epithelial Cell States and Is Modulated by Fisetin Treatment |
| Melinda Larsen | Julissa Forde | Using antagomirs to knockdown TGFβ1-induced miRNAs driving fibrosis during Myofibroblast Transition |
| Melinda Larsen | erin gillan | Age Related Alterations in Aging Salivary Glands |
| Melinda Larsen | Taiwo (Annabelle) Ogunyale | Schwann Cells as Potential Drivers of Fibrotic Remodeling in the Salivary Gland |
| Melinda Larsen | Rafael Pena | Remediating salivary gland fibrosis following injury through scaffold-mediated delivery of stromal cells |
| Michael Gerdes | Matthew Conover | Chemical profiling of Coral Mucosa Extracts and their Potential Antibiotic Properties |
| Michelle Lennartz | Ishaan Singh | Role of PKCε in Endocytosis of Lipid by Macrophages |
| Michelle Lennartz | Elianna T. Cruz Gonzalez | Commonalities and differences between ATF4 and ATF3 upon induction of different branches of the integrated stress response (ISR) |
| Michelle Lennartz | Parmesh Thakoordial | Dissecting transactivation by the ∆N-specific N-terminal domains of p63 and p73 |
| Paolo Forni | Margaret Amarjargal | Gli3 Mutant Mice as a Model to Observe the Effects of Aberrant Olfactory Ensheathing Cell Development and Terminal Nerve Migration |
| Paolo Forni | Mia Call | Prokr2CreERT2 Mouse Line Unravels the Mysteries of the Terminal Nerve |
| Paolo Forni | Shraddha Divekar | Trp73 involvement in the rodent olfactory system development |
| Paolo Forni | Layla Farmer | Utilizing Necdin-Null Mice as a Model to Study GnRH-1 Neuron Migration and Terminal Nerve Development |
| Paolo Forni | Noah LeFever | Trp73: A Critical Transcription Factor for Maturation and Survival of Neurons of the Olfactory Systems |
| Paolo Forni | Catherine Lienemann | Prokr2, a Key Marker of the terminal nerve is expressed by a subset of GnRH-1 Neurons |
| Pauline Carrico | Khadija Williams | A Comparative Look at Healthcare Access and Equity in Portugal |
| Ryan Thurman | Kiran Smitka | GC/MS Analysis of Volatile Organic Compounds from Sus scofia domesticus Bones |
| Shannon Stephens | Tristan Suarez | Atlas Alignment of Mouse Brain Sections Using FIJI and the BigWarp Plugin |
| Soma Dash | Aminata Fofana | Inside the Regulatory Switchboard: Med23 & the Control of Developmental Gene Programs |
| Soma Dash | Kate Hayes | Global Transcriptional Regulation of Tissue-Specific Development |
| Soma Dash | Diya Mangatt | Med24 Is Required for Normal Feeding Behavior in Zebrafish |
| Soma Dash | Yomilka Valerio | Mutations in Mediator Complex Results in Cranial Skeletal Abnormalities |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Sania Bhanger | Genome-based exploration of Secondary Metabolite Potential in Acidomicrobial Bacteria from Amazonian forest and adjacent cattle pasture soil |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Inca Borges | Microbial Ecosystems: Visualizing Biodiversity Loss with Chromogenic Agar |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Maeve Donnelly | Uncovering Virulence in the Human Microbiome: A Focus on Virulence Factors in Commensal Bacteria |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Emma Doughty | Genomic Surveillance of Guillain-Barré Syndrome-Associated Genes in Campylobacter Isolates from Non-Human Sources |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Mya Drake | Genome Mining of different bacterial group isolated from platinum mine tailings in South Africa. |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Sylvia Drenkalo | Exploring Biosynthetic Gene Clusters in Bacteroidota and Actinobacteria from Platinum Mine Tailings Soils in South Africa through Genome Mining |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Matthew Duell | Exploring Biosynthetic Gene Clusters in different bacterial genomes from South African mine tilling's soils through Genome Mining |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Sophia Giler | Global Analysis and Comparative Genomics of Klebsiella pneumoniae ST258 |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Wayde Huang | An analysis of Amazonian soil microbes’ antibacterial properties through BGC analysis |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Rahid Khan | Biosynthetic Gene Cluster Diversity in Burkholderiales from a Fire-Adapted Ecosystem |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Vivek Lanka | Using genome-mining approach to detect biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) in high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) isolated from soil samples from the Albany Pine Bush Preserve (APBP) |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Alexis Mastrantuono | "Yin-Yang of Micro-Organisms |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Baran Mohammadi | Biosynthetic Gene Cluster Diversity in Heavy Metal–Impacted South African Soils |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Wendy Oppong | Exploring Biosynthetic Gene Clusters in Pseudomonadales group from metal-stressed soil environments in South Africa through Genome Mining |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Jacklynne Osorio-Hernandez | Exploring Bacterial Biosynthetic Gene Clusters from Brazil for Novel Antimicrobial Discovery |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Ethan Palacio | Dissemination and Diversity of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in the Human Microbiome |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Andre Piper | Visualizing Antibiotic Resistance: “The Silent Pandemic” Through Agar Art |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Ibraheem Ropri | Exploring Biosynthetic Gene Clusters in the Actinomycetota bacterial phylum from Amazonian rainforest soils through Genome Mining |
| Stephanie Da Silva Rodrigues De Souza | Tristan Suarez | Evaluation of Commercial Disinfectant Wipes for Removal of Escherichia coli K-12 from a Non-Porous Acrylic Surface |
| Thomas Begley | Dylan Ehrbar | Functional Gene Clusters Revealed by Codon Usage Patterns in the Human Genome |
| Thomas Begley | Humphrey Omeoga | The tRNA Writer MnmA Translationally Regulates Key Transcription Factors Critical to Environmental and Physiological Changes |
| Thomas Begley | Cady Roselli | Investigating the Role of tRNA Sulfurtransferase-Mediated Modification in Regulating Growth and Cellular Properties in E. coli |
| Ting Wang | Sanjida Ahmed | Small Molecule Modified Polycyclic Compound (MPC03) Synthesis and Screening in Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 |
| Yubing Xie | Winnie Ou | Evaluation of Extracellular Matrix (ECM) Changes in Steroid-Induced 3D Glaucoma Models |