Forum Award Winners
In 2026, we recognized 27 projects with $500 awards. Congratulations to our winners!
CNS Award for Excellence in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Presenter: Hannah Lawson
Title: Constraining the Number Density of Little Red Dots in the Late Universe using the Euclid Survey
Supervised by: Dr. Steven Finkelstein
CNS Award for Excellence in Biochemistry
Presenter: Kyle Chang
Title: Contribution of PAM-Proximal Nucleotides to DNA Unwinding Upon Cas12a Binding
Supervised by: Dr. Rick Russell
CNS Award for Excellence in Biochemistry
Presenter: Matthew Ng
Title: Visualizing the full-length structure of c-KIT receptor by cryo-electron tomography
Supervised by: Dr. Daniel Leahy
CNS Award for Excellence in Biochemistry
Presenter: Catherine Li
Title: Interactions of Reh1 with downstream effectors of ribosomal degradation
Supervised by: Dr. Arlen Johnson
CNS Award for Excellence in Biochemistry
Presenter: Isabella Krudrop
Title: Structure-Guided Engineering of Ancestral Cas9d Base Editors for Enhanced Activity and AAV-Compatible Delivery
Supervised by: Dr. David Taylor
CNS Award for Excellence in Chemistry
Presenter: Ishita Dua
Title: The solubilization of amyloid-forming polypeptides using peptide-DNA conjugates
Supervised by: Dr. Devleena Samanta
CNS Award for Excellence in Chemistry
Presenter: Teja Meka
Title: Synthesis of Tetherable Turn-On Fluorescent Sensors for Zinc-Dependent Metalloenzymes
Supervised by: Dr. Emily Que
CNS Award for Excellence in Clinical & Medical Research
Presenter: Swara Kale
Title: Development and Temporal Evaluation of Multimodal Machine Learning Models to Predict High Inpatient Opioid Exposure
Supervised by: Dr. Devendra Singh
CNS Award for Excellence in Clinical & Medical Research
Presenter: Arnab Sarkar
Title: Combined treatment of low dose Crizotinib and radiation for growth arrest in HepG2 cells
Supervised by: Dr. Goheun Kim
CNS Award for Excellence in Computer Science & Computer Engineering
Presenter: Kartik Muralimohan Pulipati
Title: Decentralized Voting Protocol and Implementation using Zero-Knowledge Proofs and Homomorphic Encryption
Supervised by: Dr. Mootaz Elnozahy
CNS Award for Excellence in Human Development, Family Sciences, & Psychology
Presenters: Nethra Middela, Kevin Bobby, Ananya Tirumala, Rishi Mishra, Aleeza Virani, and Srishanti Chanal
Title: Examining differences in symptom severity among South Asian and Caucasian college students presenting for on-campus mental health treatment
Supervised by: Dr. Brittany Boyer
CNS Award for Excellence in Human Development, Family Sciences, & Psychology
Presenter: Sarah Qi
Title: The Use of Tai Chi at School to Promote Young Children’s Socio-Emotional Well-being
Supervised by: Dr. Amy Bryan
CNS Award for Excellence in Human Development, Family Sciences, & Psychology
Presenters: Araceli Moreno-Villegas, Ogechukwu Ozuah, Sienna Chae, and Taylor Nguyen
Title: Critical consciousness and somatic symptoms: The moderating role of public regard
Supervised by: Dr. Gabriela Livas
CNS Award for Excellence in Integrative Biology & Environmental Science
Presenters: Elizabeth Forrester and Zoe Walker
Title: Investigating if the host-specific microbes of Mexican honey wasps provide functional benefits
Supervised by: Dr. Jo-anne Holley
CNS Award for Excellence in Integrative Biology & Environmental Science
Presenter: Krithika Rajesh
Title: Human-elephant conflict in coffee farms during the monsoons
Supervised by: Dr. Thoralf Meyer
CNS Award for Excellence in Integrative Biology & Environmental Science
Presenter: Haley Provost-Goldhamer
Title: Superworms to the rescue: analyzing the gut microbiome of Zophobas atratus to compare their effectiveness at degrading plastic pollutants
Supervised by: Dr. Jo-anne Holley
CNS Award for Excellence in Integrative Biology & Environmental Science
Presenter: Fayte Le and Miel Hagler-Shorr
Title: Simulated serotonin pollution influence on post-conflict territorial behaviors in Procambarus clarkii
Supervised by: Dr. Laura Gonzalez
CNS Award for Excellence in Molecular Biology
Presenter: Ashley Hardy
Title: Bispecific VISTA-EGFR and VISTA-CD3 antibodies targeting VISTA+ malignancies
Supervised by: Dr. Annalee Nguyen
CNS Award for Excellence in Molecular Biology
Presenter: Alia Arya
Title: The role of ribosome biogenesis in tissue-specific lifespan extension
Supervised by: Dr. Elif Sarinay Cenik
CNS Award for Excellence in Molecular Biology
Presenter: Meghna Vergis
Title: Adaptive laboratory evolution of Acinetobacter baylyi for oil bioremediation
Supervised by: Dr. Jeffrey Barrick
CNS Award for Excellence in Molecular Biology
Presenter: Hannah Choi
Title: Developing a multiplex colorimetric loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for point-of-care bronchiolitis diagnosis
Supervised by: Dr. Tim Riedel
CNS Award for Excellence in Molecular Biology
Presenter: Mrigayu Ghosh
Title: Syndecan-1 is a critical regulator of microvascular regeneration in ischemia and endothelial cell/pericyte crosstalk
Supervised by: Dr. Aaron Baker
CNS Award for Excellence in Neuroscience
Presenter: Ai-Ni Wu
Title: Investigating Mechanisms of Homeostatic Plasticity in the Cerebellum Using Large Scale Computer Simulations
Supervised by: Dr. Michael Mauk
CNS Award for Excellence in Neuroscience
Presenter: Paula Hernandez
Title: ASD risk-alleles bidirectionally alter penetrance of uncommon individual behavioral trait in C. elegans
Supervised by: Dr. Jonathan Pierce
CNS Award for Excellence in Neuroscience
Presenter: Isaac George
Title: Exploring the relationship between time perception and decisions to delay gratification
Supervised by: Dr. Thomas Elston
CNS Award for Excellence in Nutrition
Presenter: Ashley Abrahams
Title: Nutritional Composition of Toddler Food Products in Grocery Stores in Austin, Texas
Supervised by: Dr. Marissa Burgermaster
CNS Award for Excellence in Physics
Presenter: Sophia Nicolella
Title: Error analysis of extrapolation methods for numerical relativity waveforms
Supervised by: Dr. Deidre Shoemaker
