At its annual Graduate Symposium on Science, Technology and Health, the Katz School of Science and Health showcased the next generation of scientific and technological innovators, where students presented pioneering research designed to improve lives and tackle global challenges. The symposium highlighted projects across disciplines鈥攆rom artificial intelligence and biotechnology to occupational therapy and digital marketing鈥攄emonstrating the Katz School鈥檚 commitment to advancing knowledge and preparing students to lead in a rapidly evolving world.
Dean Paul Russo called the symposium 鈥渙ne of the highlights of our year,鈥 a moment when the 糖心视频污 community comes together to celebrate the talents, creativity and passion of its graduate students. This year鈥檚 standout projects included AI-powered tools to improve lung cancer detection, intergenerational trauma on children鈥檚 development and how diet affects diabetics, as well as cross-disciplinary work to facilitate children鈥檚 development through play and to create a rare disease database to improve diagnosis and treatment.
Each project below reflects the school鈥檚 mission, said Dean Russo, to 鈥渕ake the world smarter, safer and healthier鈥:
鈥淟ungAware: AI Lung Cancer Detection App鈥 Nikhil Deekonda. Faculty mentor: Youshan Zhang
鈥淩etinFormer: Augmented ViT-based Retinopathy Classification" Hyeonwook Kim and Puneeth Batchu. Faculty mentor: Ming Ma
鈥淟LM-Enhanced mmWave Data Synthesis for Environment-Adaptive Human Activity Recognition Chengyi Liu. Faculty mentor: Yucheng Xie
鈥淐onfident Pseudo-labeled Diffusion Augmentation for Canine Cardiomegaly Detection鈥 Shiman Zhang. Faculty mentor: Youshan Zhang
鈥淎I-Powered Play Assessment Using Video Language Models鈥 Dengyi Liu, Vanessa Murad and Chana Cunin. Faculty mentors: Amiya Waldman-Levi and Honggang Wang
鈥淒X-Mamba: Exploring State Space Model for Dog X-ray Report Generation鈥 Jialu Li. Faculty mentor: Youshan Zhang
Biotechnology Management and Entrepreneurship
鈥淪tudies of SUMO Protein and Spermatogenesis Using Transgenic Mouse Models鈥 Tahereh Ghafoori and Rupali Khane. Faculty mentors: Margarita Vigodner and Benjamin Lucas
鈥淏uilding a Global Rare Disease Information Hub to Advance Knowledge, Diagnosis, and Treatment鈥 Naveen Khetarpal, Dandan Wang, Ebenezer Ajao and Prashant Soni. Faculty mentors: Rana Khan and Youshan Zhang
鈥淒evelopment of Radioimmunoconjugate for Diagnosis and Treatment of Osteosarcoma with a Focus in Pediatric Population鈥 Jenny Maharjan. Faculty mentor: Robert Friedman. Industry Partner: Natasha Shtraizent
鈥淯sing PNA Oligomers for RNA Visualization and Function Inhibition鈥 Rutu Jagtap and Andres Romero. Faculty mentors: Rana Khan and Irina Catrina
鈥淎 Unified Online Platform for University Student and Alumni Associations鈥 Laticbe Elijah, Joy Awoleye and Christine Macharia. Faculty mentor: Elad Hod
Data Analytics and Visualization
鈥A Dynamic Framework for Optimizing Reward Policies in the Sharing Economy鈥 Chengkun Yao and Cheng Li. Faculty mentor: David Li
鈥淗ilton NY Fashion District: Reputation Marketing Strategy鈥 Mansi Kamboj. Faculty mentor: Larry Cohen
鈥淩evolutionizing Sternotomy: A Precision-Driven Approach to Safer and Faster Recovery鈥 Vani Nair and Sheera Kraitberg. Faculty mentor: Thomas Kennon. Corporate Partner: Healers
鈥淏eyond the Classroom: Shaping Student Identity Online鈥 Sagarika Shrestha. Faculty mentor: Joseph Panzarella
Occupational Therapy Doctorate
鈥淢easuring Cognition and Self Care Ability in Multiple Sclerosis Using the Expanded Disability Status Scale鈥 Arielle Caplan. Faculty mentors: Marissa Barrera and Gioia Ciani
鈥淩esource for Dental Professionals Providing Care to Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder Utilizing Occupational Therapy Modalities鈥 Lior Nissanian. Faculty mentor: Amiya Waldman-Levi
鈥淪teady Steps Outdoors: An Outdoor Fall Prevention Program鈥 Briana Tucci. Faculty mentor: Alexandra Laghezza
鈥淧romoting Family Resilience: Tier-1 Strength-Based Program to Enhance Parent-Child Play Interactions鈥 Bella Chilczuk. Faculty mentors: Amiya Waldman-Levi and Sarah Fabrizi
鈥淓ffectiveness of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Acute Ulcerative Colitis: A Systematic Review of Clinical Outcomes鈥 Ewa Gerlak. Faculty mentor: Margaret Ewen
鈥淪afety & Efficacy of Topical Ruxolitinib vs. Corticosteroids in the Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis鈥 Allison Moore. Faculty mentor: Margaret Ewen
鈥淓fficacy of the Ketogenic Diet in Reducing Hemoglobin A1c for Glycemic Control in Overweight Type 2 Diabetics鈥 Ilana Rouhani. Faculty mentor: Margaret Ewen
鈥淭he Intergenerational Effects of Parental Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on a Child鈥檚 Development鈥 Kayla Bissell. Faculty mentor: Elisabeth Mlawski
鈥淓xploring Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder: A Multi-Factor Approach鈥 Samantha Golin. Faculty mentors: Marissa Barrera and Kathleen Fitzgerald
鈥淢aximizing Speech Outcomes in Children with ASD: Group vs. Individual Therapy鈥 Sharon Matalon. Faculty mentor: Michaela Medved
鈥淪haping Androgynous Voice: Bridging the Research Gap in Gender-Affirming Voice Therapy鈥 Genevieve Shaffer. Faculty mentor: Andrew Christler
鈥淐ognitive Crossroads: PTSD, Executive Function, and the Role of the Medical Speech-Language Pathologists鈥 Brooke Smith. Faculty mentor: Marissa Barrera
