Monday
Alexander Sundermann – University of Pittsburgh
Outbreak Detection System Saves Lives
Since 2015, Dr. Alexander Sundermann has been part of the Microbial Genomic Epidemiology Laboratory (MiGEL) studying the impact of whole genome sequencing surveillance with machine learning of electronic health record data to more quickly detect and better intervene upon healthcare outbreaks compared to traditional infection prevention methods. Our results demonstrate that healthcare outbreaks are very often missed by traditional methods, significantly undercounted, and could save lives and costs attributed to these outbreaks.
Tuesday
Amy Krug – University of Dayton
Reading Romance As An Act of Resistance
Amy Krug is a senior lecturer at the University of Dayton. She specializes in the scholarly study of popular romance novels, particularly how romance novels function in community. With her students, she is developing a popular romance collection in the University’s library that currently includes over 100 books.
Wednesday
Stephen Lee – Washington State University
How Emotions Influence the Way Help is Perceived
Dr. Stephen Lee is an Assistant Professor of Management in the Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship (MISE) at Washington State University’s Carson College of Business. His research explores the ambiguous intentions and competing motives behind behaviors in the workplace, including behaviors typically presumed to be self-interested (i.e., gossip), as well as behaviors typically presumed to be cooperative (i.e., helping). A central focus of his work is understanding how social interactions in the workplace are perceived by others, and how these perceptions influence both the effectiveness and unintended consequences of these behaviors. His research has been published in leading journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, and Journal of Organizational Behavior.
Thursday
Lauren Blum – University of Colorado
Living with a Star: The Sun-Earth Connection
Lauren Blum is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Prior to 2020, she was a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. She received her BA in Physics from Dartmouth College and her PhD in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from CU Boulder. Her research interests include heliospheric physics and the coupled nature of plasma populations in planetary magnetospheres. In particular, recent work has focused on wave-particle interactions, solar wind-magnetosphere coupling, and energetic particle dynamics in Earth’s radiation belts. Her experience includes analysis of particle and field measurements from satellites, balloons, and ground stations, as well as instrument and small satellite development.
Friday
Jiarui Nie – Brown University
Gold Nanorods Offer Hope For Vision Loss
Jiarui Nie is a postdoctoral fellow at the National Eye Institute, NIH. She completed her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Brown University, where she conducted this research under the supervision of Professor Jonghwan Lee. Their interdisciplinary team focuses on developing minimally invasive neural interfaces for vision restoration using nanomaterials and optical stimulation.
