Alana Schreibman
My name is Alana Schreibman, and I am a rising junior at the University of Pennsylvania from Sarasota, Florida. I am majoring in Earth Science and minoring in Chemistry and Chinese Studies. I am passionate about environmental justice and, besides research, am involved in environmental and health equity advocacy. After graduation, I plan to apply to medical school and work at the intersection of human health, environmental science, and social justice.
During my STEER internship, I worked in the Himes Lab under Dr. Blanca Himes, whose work uses biomedical informatics to study pulmonary conditions. I began working with Dr. Himes last summer through the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentorship program, which introduced me to informatics and working with remotely sensed data. My STEER research topic was predicting geospatial adult asthma exacerbation risk in Philadelphia using electronic health record (EHR) data, with a focus on comparing EPA-derived ground-level pollution to remotely-sensed pollution. Philadelphia’s asthma prevalence rates are continually above the national average and the city ranks among the most polluted in the country, which underlines the importance of mapping asthma hotspots to local public health policy and environmental justice. This project gave me experience in integrating diverse data types, namely EHR-derived data and publicly available data including pollution and a measure of neighborhood deprivation.
I am so grateful to STEER for giving me the opportunity to dive deeper into both environmental science and health informatics, and for providing me with a skillset that will be used throughout my academic journey.
Aurora Yuan
Hi! My name is Aurora Yuan and I’m from Cranbury, New Jersey. I am a rising sophomore in college at UPenn, majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Chemistry.
I have always been very interested in environmental issues, specifically the impacts of the changing environment on human and public health. Through this summer, I was lucky to get the opportunity to work with Dr. Jianghong Liu. My project was conducting a systematic review focused on how air pollution is associated with structural and functional changes in the brain, and how that impacts cognition. I specifically looked at magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies.
I am incredibly grateful for the mentorship and all that I learned through STEER, as well as the insight into the different aspects of the environmental health field I was exposed to. This program has definitely helped grow my interest in environmental health even further. As climate change, air pollution, and other environmental issues continue to grow, I believe this sort of research is imperative. It will help us to understand the imminent and long-term effects of air pollution on peoples’ brain health, and will help guide future clinical and policy decisions.
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Guthrie Buehler
Hello, my name is Guthrie Buehler. I grew up in Philadelphia, and I am now entering my third year at Penn studying Health and Societies with a public health concentration. One aspect of my time studying public that has particularly captured me is the ecosocial theory of health, which posits that one’s physical health is the embodiment of their environment. This inspired my interest in environmental health and led me to apply to the STEER program.
This summer, I worked with Dr. David Jang’s lab that studies the effect of carbon monoxide poisoning on mitochondrial function. The study uses a rat model, with the eventual goal of demonstrating that mitochondrial dysfunction is a superior diagnostic tool for CO poisoning to traditional clinical methods. My focus was performing analysis on data collected using respirometry. Aside from this, I learned basic science methods such as the western blot, and observed animal handling and dissection. This experience, as well as all our lectures and field trips, have increased my environmental health, and I am excited to continue working in the field.
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Helena Blobel
My name is Helena Blobel and I am a rising junior at Cornell University, studying biological sciences with a concentration in ecology and evolutionary biology. I participated in the STEER program in Philadelphia, as I am from the suburbs nearby in Lower Merion. After college, my plans include either graduate school or medical school.
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Kamalini Sengupta
My name is Kamalini Sengupta and I am from Princeton, New Jersey. I am a rising senior at Bryn Mawr College, majoring in neuroscience and minoring in philosophy. After graduating, I plan on taking a year off and applying to medical school. Through my scientific explorations at both Bryn Mawr and Penn, I have developed an interest in studying occupational hazards, and how we can mitigate the harmful effects of dangerous work environments.
This summer, the STEER program gave me the opportunity to continue working in Dr. Nirinjini Naidoo’s lab. I worked on a project looking at the age-dependent effects of 8-weeks of sleep deprivation in young mice. I have been looking for markers in a mechanism called the unfolded protein response (UPR). The UPR works to unfold proteins that have misfolded due to cellular stress caused by chronic sleep loss. Chronic sleep loss is incredibly prevalent in the US, especially among shift workers. Shift work has been shown to create problems with safety, performance, and overall well-being. These problems can be dangerous in certain settings, such as healthcare. Being a college student, I also know that sleep loss is common among my peers. Results from this study could further support the importance of sleep hygiene to prevent the early onset of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Working on this project has taught me how to problem solve and create plans to get somewhat daunting tasks completed efficiently. I am incredibly grateful to the STEER program and my mentors at the Naidoo lab for teaching me skills that will not only be useful in future research, but in other academic and extracurricular pursuits, as well.
Eva Nee
Hi! My name is Eva Nee, and I am from Hopewell, New Jersey. I am currently a rising junior at the University of Pennsylvania, where I’m majoring in biology and pursuing minors in chemistry and Asian American studies. After my graduation, I am planning on attending medical school. This summer, STEER gave me an exciting opportunity to continue working with Dr. Clementina Mesaros in the Blair Lab.
Specifically, my project aimed to investigate the relationship between neurodegenerative diseases and pesticide exposure. Previous studies have shown a strong connection between pesticide exposure and the development of Parkinson’s disease, so I was interested in further exploring the intracellular mechanism and cellular response of this process. To measure this, I exposed human neuroblastoma cells to rotenone, a commonly used insecticide, herbicide, and fish toxin. Then, I compared the cellular components of the control cells with those of the pesticide-treated cells, including quantifying protein concentration, analyzing lipid composition, and reading data from the lab’s High Resolution-Liquid Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer. In the future, I hope to continue my work in the Blair Lab with the skills and knowledge I acquired this summer!
Samara Pyfrom
My name is Samara Pyfrom, and I am a rising junior and Meyerhoff Scholar at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. I am currently pursuing a bachelor’s of science degree in Environmental Science and Geography. Being a native Marylander, my appreciation for nature stemmed from my experiences on and around the beautiful Chesapeake Bay. This appreciation quickly became a full commitment to conservation. In addition to conservation to the natural environment, my other passions include Environmental Justice, especially as it pertains to health outcomes.
This summer, under the mentorship of Dr. Marilyn Howarth, a champion for Environmental Justice, I investigated the role legacy pollutants play in soil lead levels in Philadelphia. Philadelphia is a highly industrious city with significant historical use of lead in these. The outcomes of this research can have serious health implications for Philadelphia residents, especially children.
I am grateful to the STEER program for allowing me to participate in this important research. Knowing that my research can be used to inform the public about potential environmental health risks is encouraging.
Rahma Osman
Hi! My name is Rahma Osman and I’m a rising junior in the College, majoring in Neuroscience with a minor in computational neuroscience and consumer psychology. I’m originally from Long Island, New York, about a 30 minute drive from the city. I’ve always taken an interest in how our brain works, with a specific interest in neuropharmacology. I wanted to be a part of STEER to analyze the connection between environmental exposures and neurodegenerative outcomes.
This summer I’ve had the opportunity to work with Dr. Jianghong Liu, who is a professor in the School of Nursing. As one of the STEER directors and a part of CEET, her work primarily involves the intersection between neurodevelopment and our external environment. My focus this summer was to conduct a systematic review and literature searches regarding air pollution exposures and brain imaging outcomes, specifically in terms of cortical thickness.
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Rosanna Jiang
Hello! I’m Rosanna, a rising junior majoring in Earth Science and Chemistry on the pre-med track at the University of Pennsylvania. Currently living in Boston, Massachusetts, I grew up in beautiful Irvine, California. Growing up by the beach and exploring the eastern forests in my later years, I have always felt connected with and advocated for the Earth. I am passionate about bridging human health with that of the environment. The blend of my interests in environmental sciences, chemistry, and social determinants of health has led to my interest in environmental toxicology and remediation. Specifically, my research interests focus on the physiological and ecological effects of environmental toxins, along with mechanisms of spread and exposure of the toxins.
This summer, STEER has given me the tremendous opportunity to research first-hand the consequences of the pressing legacy per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), in Dr. Aalim Weljie, Dr. Rebecca Simmons’, and Dr. Sara Pinney’s labs. PFAS is increasingly being found and tested for in drinking water throughout the nation. High levels of exposure to PFAS can have detrimental effects to metabolic and reproductive health in specific windows-of-susceptibility. My project for this summer is focused on studying PFOA as a potential endocrine-disrupting chemical in two experimental models: in mouse liver cells to model changes to the circadian clock and gestationally exposed female rats and their fetuses. I am really excited to be contributing to this recent body of research that has imperative implications to the future national regulation of PFAS in drinking water.