Autumn 2021

Division of the Biological Sciences and the Pritzker School of Medicine

Rebecca Abraham
Interdisciplinary Scientist Training Program: Immunology
Interrogating Spatial Features of Renal Inflammation in Human Lupus Nephritis Using Computer Vision
Yes

Saara-Anne Azizi
Interdisciplinary Scientist Training Program: Chemistry
The Development of Acrylamide-based Inhibitors of DHHC Family Proteins to Regulate ERK Acylation and Activity
Yes

Thierri Callier
Computational Neuroscience
Restoring the Sense of Touch with Electrical Stimulation of the Nerve and Brain
Yes

John Samuel Coukos
Interdisciplinary Scientist Training Program: Chemistry
Defining the Reactivity Landscape of the Glycolytic By-Product Methylglyoxal to Study Cellular Function
IR: No

Avelino Apostol De Leon
Molecular Metabolism and Nutrition
The Impact of Weight-loss Surgery and the Budding Role of Cannabinoid Action in Adipose Tissue
Yes

Michael William Drazer
Human Genetics
Defining Leukemogenic Mechanisms in Hereditary Hematopoietic Malignancies
Yes

Anastasia Hains
Pathology
MYCN and HIF-1 Directly Regulate TET1 Expression to Control 5-hmC Gains and Enhance Neuroblastoma Cell Migration in Hypoxia
Yes

P. Cody He
Immunology
Determinants of the m6A Epitranscriptome
Yes

Qinpu He
Computational Neuroscience
Neural Coding and Sensory Modulation in the Cuneate Nucleus of Primates
Yes

Emily Faye Higgs
Immunology
Understanding and Overcoming the Non-T cell-inflamed Tumor Microenvironment
Yes

Qiyuan Hu
Medical Physics
Artificial Intelligence for Medical Image Analysis for Breast Cancer Multiparametric MRI and COVID-19 Chest Radiography
Yes

Xiaolin Huang
Neurobiology
Neural Mechanisms of Context-Dependent Sensory Coding in the Mammalian Retina
Yes

Stephanie Noel Konecki
Immunology
The Role of CUX1 in Erythropoiesis
Yes

Manisha Krishnan
Cancer Biology
The Genetic and Transcriptional Basis of CUX1 Isoforms in Hematopoiesis
Yes

UnJin Lee
Genetics, Genomics, and Systems Biology
On the Mechanisms of Genomic and Phenotypic Evolution
Yes

Hanyu Li
Computational Neuroscience
Postnatal Development of Synapses in Mouse Primary Visual Cortex Revealed by a Connectomics Toolbox
Yes

Yanyu Liang
Genetics, Genomics, and Systems Biology
Methods to Dissect the Biology of Complex Phenotypes Using Genomic, Transcriptomic, and Phenomic Data
Yes

Peter Malonis
Computational Neuroscience
The Role of Dynamically Exogenous Input to the Primary Motor Cortex in Reaching Behavior
IR: No

Elisa Pabon
Neurobiology
Effect of Menstrual Cycle Phase and Circulating Ovarian Hormone Levels on Acute Response to Oral Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
Yes

Joseph Shin Pak
Neurobiology
Molecular Mechanisms of Receptor Activation during Nervous System Wiring
Yes

Mathew Perez-Neut
Cancer Biology
The Oncogenic Regulation of Histone Lysine Lactylation
Yes

Christina Alexandra Roman
Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
The Structural Determination of Viral RNA Elements Using Chaperone Assisted RNA Crystallography
Yes

Dustin Garlaban Shaw
Interdisciplinary Scientist Training Program: Immunology
A Unique Adaptive Inflammatory Signature Is Linked to Dysplasia in Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis
Yes

Rahul Subramanian
Ecology and Evolution
Inferring the Extent and Impact of Heterogeneity during Emerging Virus Outbreaks
Yes

Timothy Scott Trinkle
Medical Physics
Multi-modal Validation of MR Microstructure Imaging in the Mouse Brain
Yes

Haneul Yoo
Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
Chaperones Remodel Stress-Induced Biomolecular Condensates
Yes

Allen Chengzhi Zhu
Interdisciplinary Scientist Training Program: Cancer Biology
The Phosphorylation-Dependent Regulation of the RNA N6-Methyladenosine Methyltransferase Complex
Yes

Adam Maciej Zmyslowski
Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
Quantification of the Allosterically-Driven Unfolding of BtuB’s N-terminus upon B12 Binding by HDX-MS
Yes

Division of the Humanities

Ross Jesse Burkholder
Linguistics
The Proteus Effect in Context: Evidence from a Gaming Community
Yes

Division of the Physical Sciences

Steven Basart
Computer Science
Towards Robustness of Neural Networks
Yes

Natalie H. Chan
Chemistry
Transition Metal Mediated Transformations in Small Molecule and Enzymatic Systems
Yes

John Michael Farmer
Physics
Mass Composition Studies with the Pierre Auger Observatory Surface Detector
Yes

Joel Eduardo Fuentes
Physics
Response of Superheated C3F8 and C2H2F4 to Nuclear and Electron Recoils: Applications to Dark Matter Detection
Yes

Gregory J. Gilbert
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Accurate Modeling of Grazing Transits Using Umbrella Sampling
Yes

McKenna Kathleen Goetz
Chemistry
Isolation, Characterization, and Reactivity of Co-Oxo Complexes Supported by Tris(imidazol-2-ylidene)phenylborate Ligands
Yes

Fernando Granha Jeronimo
Computer Science
A Constrained Random Walk Through Coding Theory
IR: No

Hao Jiang
Computer Science
Efficient Lossless Compression in and beyond Columnar Databases
Yes

Jaehyeok Jin
Chemistry
Statistical Mechanical Paradigms for Next-Generation Multiscale Theory and Simulation
Yes

Chenghan Li
Chemistry
Proton Transport in Molecular Systems: Sampling, Models, and Applications
Yes

Ihar Lobach
Physics
Statistical Properties of Undulator Radiation: Classical and Quantum Effects
Yes

Ian MacCormack
Physics
Probing the Spatial Distribution of Entanglement in Many-Body Quantum Systems
Yes

Ariel Yechezkel Matalon
Physics
Searching for Light Dark Matter with DAMIC at SNOLAB and DAMIC-M: Investigations into Radioactive Backgrounds and Silicon Skipper Charge-Coupled Devices
Yes

Michael James Mellas
Chemistry
Structure-Property Relationships of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles for Targeted Delivery of RNA to Atherosclerotic Plaques
Yes

Andrew Russell Neil
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Constraining Exoplanet Composition Demographics with Large-scale Surveys
Yes

Jackson Densborn O'Brien
Physics
Pattern Recognition through Molecular Computation
Yes

Preeti Kumari Poddar
Chemistry
Chemical Tuning of the Electronic Properties of Atomically Thin Semiconductors
IR: No

Won Hee Ryu
Chemistry
Reductionist Representation of Quantum Statistics and Dynamics Using Coarse Graining
Yes

Jean Salac
Computer Science
Beyond Child's Play: Understanding and Supporting Program Comprehension in Young Learners
Yes

Mark Stone
Physics
Hybrid Cavity QED with Rydberg Atoms
Yes

Cooper Ashley Taylor
Chemistry
Heteroatom Guided Total Synthesis: Application to Polyhalogenated and Polyoxygenated Natural Products
Yes

Gautam Upadhya
Physics
A Novel Population Genomic Method for Inferring Population History and Detecting Adaptive Genetic Variation
Yes

David Matthew Upp
Chemistry
Engineering and Evolving Dirhodium Artificial Metalloenzymes for Carbene Transfer Reactions
Yes

Bodhi Vani
Chemistry
Developing Stratification Methods for the Enhanced Sampling of Rare Events
IR: No

Shu Wang
Computer Science
Adaptive Framework for Configuration Tuning
Yes

Laura C Watkins
Chemistry
Proton Transport Mechanisms in the Influenza A M2 Channel and De Novo Designed Proteins
Yes

Jason Willwerscheid
Statistics
Empirical Bayes Matrix Factorization: Methods and Applications
Yes

Han Yang
Chemistry
Electron-Electron and Electron-Phonon Interactions in Semiconductors and Insulators from Many-Body Perturbation Theory
Yes

Junwen Yang
Computer Science
Improving Performance and Correctness Of Database-Backed Web Applications
IR: No

Division of the Physical Sciences and the Division of the Biological Sciences and the Pritzker School of Medicine

Nabil F. Faruk
Biophysical Sciences
The Pros and Cons of Backbone Flexibility in Molecular Dynamics Docking of Protein Complexes
Yes

Jiacheng Zhang
Biophysical Sciences
Revealing RNA Dynamics and Processing Using Advanced Microscopy Techniques
Yes

Division of the Social Sciences

Amanda Rose Brown
Comparative Human Development
Reevaluating Pretend Play at Home: Children’s Individual Variation, Parent Participation, and Developmental Outcomes
Yes

Noah Chafets
Social Thought
The Good and Its Guises: Desire and Motivation in Plato's Gorgias and Republic
Yes

Mei Yin Bonnie Chan
Political Science
Anchoring an Alliance: Explaining Multilateral Balancing Alliance Formation
Yes

Jessa Kennedy Dahl
History
"Singular in Many Respects": Transnational Landscapes and Colonial Power in Treaty Port Nagasaki, 1858-1905
Yes

Ivan Kirov
Economics
Labor Market Power: Theory and Evidence
Yes

Savitri Maya Kunze
History
The Undeportables: Diplomatic Nonrecognition and the Periphery of Rights in the United States
Yes

Wan-Zi Lu
Sociology
Body Politics: Morals, Markets and the Mobilization of Organ Donation for Transplantation
IR: No

Eilat Maoz
Anthropology
The Frontier and the Plantation: A Police Economy of Post-Slavery Jamaica
Yes

Leo Jonathan Schoots
Sociology
Novelty, Networks, and the Rise of African Nationalism: African Intermediary Intelligentsia and the Making of Political Innovation in Colonial South Africa (1860-1890)
Yes

Lisa Simeone
Anthropology
Making Do in the Promised Land: Ethics of Ambivalence among Chicago’s New Africans
Yes

Thomas James Snyder
History
From Weimar to Vietnam: German Émigrés in the United States and the Fight for American Liberalism
Yes

James Marzuola Waller
Psychology
The Use of Role Shift with Classifier Constructions in American Sign Language
Yes

The University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Shihao Gu
Machine Learning in Empirical Asset Pricing
Yes

The Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice

Meghan Laura Jarpe
Left Out in the Cold? The Funding Position of Youth Homeless Service Providers in a Data-Driven Field
Yes

Darnell Leatherwood
A National Assessment of School District Variation in Black Student Academic Achievement
Yes

Hannah MacDougall
Understanding Nonprofit Hospital Community Benefits: A Mixed Methods Approach
Yes

Marion Malcome
“We Don't Complain, We Just Survive”: Black Mothers’ Experiences of Depression, Racism, and Violence in Chicago
Yes

Tonie Elizabeth Sadler
From High School to the Cliff: How Disability Policies Shape Post High School Pathways for Young Adults with IDD and Their Families in Chicago
IR: No

The Divinity School

Peter Frederick Faggen
Contested Authority of a Tibetan Goddess: Narrating the Tragic and Non-traditional Life Story of the Lay Mother Reincarnate Kelzang Drölma
Yes

Elizabeth Anne Sartell
Mystical Philosophy: Ibn al-ʿArabī’s Lettrist Cosmogony
IR: No

The Divinity School and the Division of the Humanities

Cody Charles Jones
Divinity and Comparative Literature
The Hegemony of Hyperstition: Notes on Creation and Horror
Yes

The Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy Studies

Danke Derek Wu
Essays on Poverty and Safety-Net Programs
Yes

The Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering

Laura Taylor Gray
Vaccination with Engineered Protein-Glyco-Adjuvant Conjugates to Induce Robust and Durable Immune Responses in Cancer and Infectious Disease
Yes

Paul Jerger
Optical Control and Sensing Techniques for the Nitrogen-Vacancy Center in Diamond
Yes

Siyoung Kim
Protein-Lipid Interactions in Lipid Droplets
Yes

Berk Diler Kovos
Transition Metal Ions as Optically Addressable Spin Qubits
Yes

James H Lettow
Polymer-Grafted Cellulose Nanocrystals: Structure. Properties, and Interfaces
Yes

Jing Lin
High-Throughput Microfluidic Platform for Ultrasensitive Single-Cell Protein Analyses
Yes

Parthiv Patel
Single Cell Analysis Strategies to Understand Noisy and Dynamic Nf-𝜅b Network Behavior
Yes

Erzsebet Cass Vincent
All-Optical Thin Film Gating with Oxide Semiconductors
Yes