Nine undergraduates work with UB Faculty as part of 2022 LSAMP summer program

By Peter Murphy

Nine students participated in the 10-week National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded program, which included hands-on research with a faculty advisor, a wide variety of professional development seminars, and a research symposium, where they were able to showcase their innovative work with UB faculty.

The summer program is affiliated with SUNY’s Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), a system-wide initiative aimed at diversifying the STEM workforce by significantly increasing the numbers of students successfully completing high quality degree programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Students gain practical experience in their discipline, a sense of belonging in their major and form supportive relationships with like-minded peers, according to Letitia Thomas, program director and assistant dean for diversity in the Office of STEM Diversity Programs in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

According to Thomas, having the students and faculty members work together in the space added more benefits for all participants.  

“We were grateful to be back in person after having held the LSAMP program online in 2020 and 2021. The students did amazing work under those circumstances, but the opportunity to have in-person interactions with faculty and our staff contributed to the sense of camaraderie and purpose as well as that sense of belonging,” Thomas says. “Our lab meetings were especially successful. Students held in-depth conversations around their research and helped each other with ideas and solutions. We were also able to travel to a conference in New Orleans, where the students connected with fellow LSAMP researchers from across the country and presented their projects.”

LSAMP students worked with faculty members across four different departments within the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences: Chemical and Biological Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Students had an opportunity to work with faculty members within some of the researchers’ signature areas, which included vaccine development, CO2 purification, virtual reality-based rehabilitation and more.

“It is important for student to understand the research process,” says Thomas. “For example, we want students to be able to identify a suitable research question, formulate a hypothesis, and design and/or execute a suitable experimental procedure, obtain data, and properly analyze it.”

Allanis Persaud, a senior in bioengineering and biomedical engineering, worked with Jonathan Lovell, SUNY Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, on a project “Enhancing the Binding Capabilities of Protein-Liposome Nanoparticles.”

“I’m observing the optimal binding conditions of various virus proteins to a biocompatible material like liposomes to create nanoparticles for vaccine delivery systems,” Persaud says.

In addition to research skills, students were also able to practice problem-solving, critical and analytical thinking and time management.

“The summer program gives undergraduates research experiences that prepares them for graduate school or employment in industry or the public sector,” Thomas says. “It also helps develop students’ ‘essential’ skills, such as leadership, communication and presentation.”

Several of the student participants were asked to continue working on the research with faculty members during the semester.

Participants, their advisors and research project titles are listed below:

• Ruth Bello. Advisor: Eleni Kyriakidou, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, CO2 Purification as Vital for CO2 Utilization
• Matthew Haynes, Advisor: Bina Ramamurthy, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, How Decentralized is DeFi?
• Brandon Manley, Advisor: Chong Cheng, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Optimization of Physical Properties in Dental Resin
• Jocelin Mendez, Advisor: Viviana Monje-Galvan, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Structural Properties of Viral Protein H in Bacteriophage X174
• Bubacar Ndoye, Advisor: Debanjan Sarkar, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Bone Tissue Regeneration with Colloidal Gel Tissue Scaffolds
• Allanis Persaud, Advisor: Jonathan Lovell, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Enhancing the Binding Capabilities of Protein-Liposome Nanoparticles
• Hannah Sheffield, Advisor: Ciprian Ionita, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Using 3D Printed Patient-Specific Models for Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage and Intracranial Atherosclerosis Diseas
• Christine Shiyam, Advisor: John Crassidis, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Observation of Cosmic Rays and Atmospheric Data
• Shane Varner, Advisor: Viviana Monje-Galvan, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Molecular Dynamic Simulations of GM3 in the Plasma Membrane