Top undergrad researchers tackle orphan wells, anti-vax messages, needs of autistic university students, and more

Leading undergraduate researchers at the University of Calgary explored everything from finding ways to repurpose orphaned oil and gas wells, to auditing anti-vaccination messages on Facebook, to assessing the needs of Canadian university students with autism.

Those projects and more were among the winners of the 14th annual Students’ Union’s Undergraduate Research Symposium (URS) at the University of Calgary. A total of $30,750 was awarded to undergrads at a gala reception Nov. 28.

Alongside Kevin Dang, SU vice-president academic, University of Calgary President Ed McCauley introduced Jay Ingram, science broadcaster, writer, and co-founder of Beakerhead, to present the keynote address.

“As Mr. Ingram said in his keynote, the research done by undergraduate students on our campus is inspiring and has incredible potential to improve quality of life in society,” said Dang. URS was held Nov. 26 and 27 and included a research showcase, five-minute thesis presentations, a panel discussion, and multiple workshops for undergraduate students. This year, a record 115 students presented their research at the showcase.

The symposium also provided a great networking venue for student researchers and a chance to meet professional researchers. A team of more than 55 judges made up of faculty and staff from the University of Calgary had the difficult task of determining the best submissions. More than 300 members of the campus community took time to visit the symposium and over 120 students attended the workshop sessions.

The winners and their projects:

• Moiz Hafeez: Improved Detection of Ischemic Injury in Stroke Patients Using a Novel Improved Imaging Tool
• Emily Bernier: Mental Health Literacy and Its Effects on Sentencing Outcomes
• Alexandra Sellers: Ethically Justifiable Currency Fencing
• Sydney Seidel: A Qualitative Exploration of Patients’ Satisfaction With a Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Eating Disorder Symptoms Before Weight-Loss Surgery
• Srishti Shrivastav: Hospice Physicians’ Experiences with Patient Requests for Medical Assistance in Dying in a Canadian Context
• Joseph Bogle: Tax Avoidance and the New Multilateral Tax Agreement: A Guide to Understanding the Canadian Treatment of Cross-Border Transactions
• Nabilah Gulamhusein: Determining the Interactions between Notch and BMP/Wnt Singling Pathways in Dorsal Spinal Cord Development in Zebrafish
• Natalie Tilbury: Effects of Ibudilast on Disease Progression and Behaviour in an EAE Model of Multiple Sclerosis
• Emma Tarasoff: Describing the Development of the Corpus Callosum in Preschoolers and Adolescents Using NODDI
• Basma Akhter: Tackling Alzheimer’s Disease: Role of Menin in CNS Synapse Formation    
• Titus Chan: Determinants of Child Health: Examining Maternal Employment and Kindergarten Attendance
• Sanchit Chopra: Bioprocess Pilot for the Large-Scale Expansion of Human Schwann Cells
• Linh Tran: Advancing Data Analytics and Machine Learning Applications for Decoding Gendered Language in Job Advertisements Related to STEM Professions
• Kaylee Somerville: Gendered Constructions of Leadership
• Muhammad Rehan Babar: Deeper Look: Artificial Intelligence Acceptance in Radiology
• Sana Jawad: Comparing the Immune Response in the Central and Peripheral Nervous Systems Following Acute Demyelination
• Dhamanpreet Kaur Dhaliwal: Anti-Vaccine Messages on Facebook: A Preliminary Audit
• Alyssa Federico: The Role of Adenosine in a Mouse Model of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy: Acute Pharmacological Interventions
• Ciana Brynn Anhorn: A Meta-Analysis of the Risks and Benefits of Screen Use on Child Language Skills
• Maria Dalton: Impacts of Data Politics on Indigenous Business Data and Economic Reconciliation
• Nabhya Harjai: Identifying Clinically Relevant Weight Loss Using On-Unit CT Images to Refine Adaptive Radiation Therapy for Head and Neck Cancer Patients
• Kaylyn Kubes: Mass Cytometry to Analyze the Different Immune Phases of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis
• Anya Siddons: What Do We Know About Interventions to Prevent Low-Back Pain in Nurses? A Scoping Review
• Mathieu Chin: A Wearable Technology Approach to Quantify Exercises During a Neuromuscular Training Warm-Up Program
• Heather Kehoe: Pink Carpet Camp: (Re)Defining Camp at the 2019 Met Gala
• Adley Mok: Granzymes are Required for NK Cell-Mediated Antifungal Activity
• Michelle Chen: An Expression Platform for the HIV Protein Nef
• Quinn Goddard: The Sound System of Plains Cree
• Arijit Lodha: Using Robotic Technology to Better Understand Reaching Impairments in Hemispatial Neglect
• Drue Nooyen: Streamlining ITS-2 Nemabiome Sequencing Protocol in Aims of Assessing Species Composition of Gastro-Intestinal Cattle Parasites Following Ivermectin Treatment
• Anchita Shonak: The Effect of Melanin-Concentrating Hormone on Motor Networks in the Neonatal Mouse Spinal Cord
• Manpreet Sahota: Cerebral Blood Flow Long After Pediatric Concussion
• Jennifer Williamson: Needs Assessment for Canadian University Students with Autism
• Mikayla Fan: Estimating the Potential Impact of CYP2C19 and CYP2D6 Genetic Testing on Protocol-Based Care for Depression in Canada and United States
• Brady Chapman: Finding a Home for the Orphans and Inactives: Repurposing Oil and Gas Wells for Geothermal
• Christian Emond: Enzymatic Degradation of Chlorophyll into Pheophorbide, an Anti-Fungal Agent
• Anna Vu: Investigating the Role of GLD-2 in Regulating the Proliferation of Stem Cells During Germ Line Development in C. Elegans.