Cohort 1 Research Topics

marlene next to her poster

Mayerly Castillo

Mayerly is a senior, majoring in public health and minoring in child and adolescent development. Her career goal is to work as an epidemiologist in a local or state Department of Public Health. During Spring 2023, Mayely worked with Dr. Archana McEligot and Dr. Lohuwa Mamudu to study the association between co-morbid factors and Alzheimer’s disease. In her USC summer experience, Mayerly joined Dr. Sook-Lei Liew’s lab, and worked on manual segmentation for stroke lesions on T1-weighted MRI.

Yonny Chavez

Yonny is a senior majoring in cell developmental biology. He wants to apply his knowledge in biology to computational analysis and provide insights into the medical world's enigmas. During his USC summer experience, Yonny worked with Dr. Cally Xiao, Dr. Archana McEligot, and Dr. Arthur Toga to assess health behaviors, neuropsychiatric conditions and cognitive impairment in the Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network.

Yonni presenting his research

Marlene presenting her project

Marlene Lopez

Marlene is a senior biology major. Her research interests include genomics, molecular biology, and evolutionary biology. During Spring 2023, Marlene joined Dr. Math Cuajungco’s lab and worked on an analysis of Myelination-related genes in transmembrane 163 KO Mice. In her USC summer experience, Marlene studied the effect of sex and APOE genotype on Alzheimer’s disease brain pathology under the mentorship of Dr. Christian Pike.

Daisy Mendoza

Daisy Mendoza is a senior majoring in public health. Her research interests are in chronic and infectious diseases. She aspires to maneuver through rigorous statistical software to further her passion for epidemiological studies. Daisy worked with Dr. Archana McEligot and Dr. Lohuwa Mamudu in an assessment of sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors associated with Alzheimer's disease during Spring 2023. She then joined Dr. Mara Mather’s lab at USC for her summer experience and studied the effect of mindfulness meditation on attentional control. Daisy gained clinical research experience through working with Dr. Kim and other student researchers in the Emotion and Cognition Lab.

Daisy next to her poster

Nick presenting

Nicholas Noel

Nick is a senior, majoring in mathematics with a concentration in probability and statistics. He is interested in data science, machine learning, and data visualization. During Spring 2023, Nick joined Dr. Sam Behseta’s lab and worked on an Alzheimer’s quantitative investigation through NACC’s data repository. In his USC summer experience, under the mentorship of Dr. Leon Aksman, Nick studied white matter hyperintensity load and its mediating effect on the relationship between age and regional brain volume.

James Owens

James is a senior computer science major with a passion for data science and machine learning. He is highly enthusiastic about using data science methods to explore the mechanisms of neurocognitive aging and develop effective interventions. During Spring 2023, James joined Dr. Sam Behseta’s lab and worked on an Alzheimer’s quantitative investigation through NACC’s data repository. In his USC summer experience, under the mentorship of Dr. Neda Jahanshad, James worked on a comparative analysis of machine learning techniques for brain age estimation, looking for their implications for Alzheimer's disease research.

James next to his poster

Keara and her team

Keara Richardson

Keara is a senior, majoring in psychology with a concentration on statistical analysis in neuropsychology. She wants to use her stats knowledge and conduct data for degenerative brain diseases and disorders such as schizophrenia or brain cancer. During Spring 2023, Keara joined Dr. Math Cuajungco’s lab and worked on an analysis of Myelination-related genes in transmembrane 163 KO Mice. In her USC summer experience, Keara joined Dr. John Ringman’s lab, and investigated the performance on memory generalization task and its correlation with medial temporal lobe tau pathology among persons with various degrees of AD pathology.

Mariella Santos

Mariella is a senior, majoring in public health with a concentration in global health. She believes that age-related neurocognitive diseases are almost inevitable for many people due to genetic factors. Knowing how detrimental it can be for an individual to experience Alzheimer's disease and dementia, she wants to understand the biological component and other social determinants that contribute to this disease. During Spring 2023, Mariella worked with Dr. Archana McEligot and Dr. Lohuwa Mamudu to study the relationship between comorbid conditions and neurocognitive decline. In her USC summer experience, Mariella investigated neuroimaging biomarkers in the entorhinal cortex and parahippocampal gyrus in Alzheimer’s disease under the mentorship of Dr. Kay Jann.

mariella next to her poster

sasha and her mentor next to their poster

Sasha Tafolla

Sasha Tafolla is a senior majoring in mathematics with a concentration in applied mathematics. She is interested in using programming to analyze data and create models. During Spring 2023, Sasha joined Dr. Sam Behseta’s lab and worked on an Alzheimer’s quantitative investigation through NACC’s data repository. In her USC summer experience, Sasha explored the relationship between caffeine intake and risk for Parkinson’s disease under the mentorship of Dr. Lauren Salminen.

Raena Zabala

Raena Zabala is a senior majoring in health science with a concentration in health education and promotion. She became interested in Neurocognitive aging when her grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease nine years ago. During Spring 2023, Raena joined Dr. Math Cuajungco’s lab and worked on an analysis of Myelination-relatedgenes in transmembrane 163 KO Mice. In her USC summer experience, Raena investigated the relationship between aging and how meditation affects attentional control under the mentorship of Dr. Mara Mather.

Raena's poster