CURE Student Profiles

Nelson Abarca

Researcher

Research: My research is based on former Mayo Clinic PREP Scholar Karla Montejo which includes the measuring of calcium elevations of cortical astrocytes of lab mice under high-frequency stimulation.

Mentor: Dr. Jorge Riera

Paulina Alvarez

Researcher

Research: Using a newly developed method to quantify mouse aortic valve leaflet (AVL) deformation, studying aortic valve leaflet contractile behavior and determining the influence of neuronal control of basal tone on AVL tensile mechanical properties.

Mentor: Dr. Joshua Hutcheson

Justin Bu

Trainee

Research: I will be working on research pertaining to a biophotonic device that is meant to aid in the detection of premature labor and cervical cancer.

Mentor: Dr. Jessica Ramella-Roman

Condell Eastmond

Researcher

Research: I do research involving Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and the development of diagnostic tools for spinal cord injury and noninvasive muscle oxygenation monitoring.

Mentor: Dr. Wei-Chiang Lin

Shaylyn Grier

Fellow

Research: I investigate the feasibility of using near-infrared spectroscopy to detect muscle activation for the purpose of prosthesis control.

Mentor: Dr. Wei-Chiang Lin

Alejandro Guilarte

Trainee

Research: In the market analysis of lower limb prosthetic valve design towards improved structural & operational function via SolidWorks prototyping.

Mentor: Dr. Ranu Jung

Allison Martinez Mejia

Researcher

Research: Pericytes are part of the neurovascular unit, a collection of cells that trigger local perfusion as a result of neural activity, I am currently studying their electrical contribution to cerebral microcirculation.

Mentor: Dr. Nikolas Tsoukias

Huy Nguyen

Researcher

Research: Develop miniaturized flex integration of photonic devices for conformal on-skin NIR (near-infrared spectroscopy) sensors to detect hemodynamic properties.

Mentor: Dr. Raj Pulugurtha

Heriberto Nieves

Researcher

Research: I am researching the application of a non-invasive electrical neurostimulation platform to provide haptic feedback during interactions with virtual objects.

Mentor: Dr. Ranu Jung

Carlos Otero

Researcher

Research: My research involves applying engineering techniques and utilizing spatial-temporal detection software to understand the role of astrocytes in cortical circuits.

Mentor: Dr. James Schummers

Kelly Nair Rojas

Researcher

Research: Low-cost health monitoring is the primary healthcare solution that can ensure healthy lives and promote the overall quality of well-being. This requires seamless transduction of biological information to electrical domain for faster data processing and communication. This project proposes passive wireless neural recording to enable zero-power monitoring of action potentials that guide the heart and brain functions. By utilizing low-impedance microelectrode arrays coupled with RF interfaces, continuous monitoring with ECG and EEG is possible without extensive electronic integration. The main challenge to realizing such systems is the development of high-capacitance porous platinum electrode arrays on flexible substrates. This research task has focused on developing such electrodes and demonstrating their superior neural recording performance. Various electrode designs and processes have been investigated to achieve impedance-matched neural recording.

Mentor: Dr. Raj Pulugurtha

Antonio Rosales

Researcher

Research: My research is in understanding important mechanisms in neurovascular coupling by the propagation of hyperpolarization through a network of endothelial cells.

Mentor: Dr. Jorge Riera

Ana Valentin

Trainee

Research: My current research focus is on image analysis of aortic leaflet cells in varying developmental stages and completing statistical analysis of data to localize pigment markers within cardiovascular cells.

Mentor: Dr. Joshua Hutcheson