Approved Proposals from Spring 2015

The following proposals from the Spring 2015 submissions have been approved by NIH for funding:

Niloofar Bavarian

Assistant Professor, Health Science

The misuse of prescription stimulants is a high-risk form of substance use that has become a growing problem in the college population. Prevention and intervention efforts are necessary but must be guided by research. In this pilot study, Dr. Bavarian is involving four students in surveying a sample of undergraduate students to help understand prescription stimulant behavior. Their findings will allow Dr. Bavarian and her students to recommend prevention and intervention activities for high-risk groups.

Renaud Berlemont

Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences

The exact mechanism underlying the functioning of microbial communities inhabiting mammalian guts, including humans, is poorly understood. However, these communities are key for breaking down plant material in many animals' diets. Dr. Berlemont and two students are monitoring plant polysaccharides in the guts of mice to understand the distribution of functional microbial communities. This study is a prerequisite to investigating how changes in diet affect the microbial communities' structure and function and may lead to better understanding of how these may relate to metabolic diseases such as diabetes or obesity.

Deepali Bhandari

Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) inside a cell serves a variety of important purposes. Cells experience ER stress under normal conditions and disease states such as cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, among others. When facing ER stress, cells try to restore normal function by activating the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR). If cells cannot recover within a reasonable amount of time, the UPR commits the cell to die. Dr. Bhandari's four students will help identify proteins and pathways that help cells decide whether to live or die under extreme ER stress. Their work can help reveal how cancer cells can survive ER stress, and this knowledge can be applied to other conditions.

Araceli Gonzalez

Assistant Professor, Psychology

Dr. Gonzalez and 11 students are conducting a two-phase pilot study to understand how physiology and cognitive processing work together to influence a person's level of anxiety. They are first studying a group of people ages 18-25 to see how these subjects interpret ambiguous stimuli as threatening rather than neutral. The researchers will then study a subset of this group who receive training on how to see things in a way that is less threatening. This knowledge may help lead to age-appropriate intervention and prevention strategies for anxiety, one of the most prevalent mental health problems.

Isabella Lanza

Assistant Professor, Human Development

Obesity has become a significant public health issue, and a growing concern is that overweight young adults are engaging in other health risk behaviors such as smoking, including electronic tobacco products. Dr. Lanza and five student aim to survey a sample of CSULB students on cigarette and etobacco use and other health risks, weight status, as well as demographic, motivational and psychosocial factors. Their goal is to help explain why certain young adults are more vulnerable to etobacco use and other health risks.

Panadda Marayong

Associate Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Amputees with prosthetic legs typically use skin-socket friction and pressure to feel where the prosthetic is moving, touching the ground or an object while they walk, but some people are at risk of falling because of nerve damage. Dr. Marayong has developed a prototype device that generates vibrations through a prosthesis which could potentially provide a cost-effective method for rehabilitation training and improved patient care. She and five students are evaluating improvements to the prototype as well as rehabilitative motor learning strategies for users. Their results will be used to apply for external funding for a clinical study on the effectiveness of the device and training, especially in reducing falls.

Bryan Rourke

Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences

Exercise has a well-known influence on fitness, body mass and muscle composition, so Dr. Rourke and five students are studying the effects of aging on muscle performance using mice bred for many generations to choose high levels of voluntary exercise. They are looking at the degree to which an innate desire to exercise and access to exercise activity may impact aging and muscle performance, with the goal of understanding “nature vs. nurture” and why certain individuals may be born with exercise capacity and resistance to aging.

Robert Schug

Assistant Professor, Criminology, Criminal Justice and Forensic Psychology

Dr. Schug is continuing pilot data collection and training six new students in understanding the degree to which head injury might affect homeless individuals and their daily functioning and possibly contribute to crime, mental health issues and substance abuse. He hopes to establish a CSULB Transdisciplinary Neuroscience Laboratory to study these and other neuroscience applications as well as develop better intervention, prevention and rehabilitation studies.

Jason Schwans

Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Enzymes are the biological molecules that accelerate chemical transformations in cells. Understanding how enzymes work remains limited, and human-designed enzymes often cannot match activities of naturally occurring ones. Dr. Schwans and up to 12 students are using chemistry and biochemical techniques to change the properties within ribonuclease, an enzyme involved in the degradation of RNA (ribonucleic acid). Their work may lead to better ways of improving enzymes that act as drugs and biocatalysts and that may aid the design of new beneficial enzymes.

Kevin Sinchak

Associate Professor, Biological Sciences

In females, fertility depends on the actions of the hormone progesterone, but this hormone also can contribute to uterine fibroids, endometriosis or other reproductive health issues, and even cancer. Another hormone, estradiol, plays a role in when progesterone is released. Dr. Sinchak and four students are studying how ovarian steroids and progesterone receptor signaling may be part of the general mechanism for coordinating sexual behavior, ovulation and uterine development. Their work may help in discovering new drug treatments to regulate fertility or aid in infertility or other female reproductive health problems.

Guido Urizar

Associate Professor, Psychology

Abnormal levels of the stress hormone cortisol have been identified as heightening one's risk for developing a number of chronic health problems through adulthood, but the best methods for screening individuals for cortisol have received little attention. Dr. Urizar and 20 students plan to test a sensor to monitor cortisol levels in saliva, which has the potential to revolutionize the diagnosis and prevention of stress-related disorders among clinically at-risk populations such as those with depression. This work also will strengthen a campus collaboration between the areas of behavioral science and engineering that will result in interdisciplinary biomedical research training for students and faculty.

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