Jason is a freshman studying biology and neuroscience. He works in Professor Hui-Chen Lu’s lab in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences where he studies the extent to which anti-sense oligonucleotides can rescue the phenotype of -/- NMNAT2 and +/- SARM1 mice which otherwise experience extensive neuronal damage. Jason enjoys running and not having time for any other hobbies.

Ellie works in the lab of Assistant Professor J.P. Gerdt, whose research focuses on elucidating the molecular mechanisms of interspecies interactions. Ellie’s project, in conjunction with other members of the lab, is understanding chemical signals and pathways that trigger aggregation in the single-celled eukaryote Capsaspora to study the evolutionary step between single and multicellular organisms and Capsaspora's natural defense use against the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni.

Allison is a junior majoring in biotechnology with minors in chemistry and microbiology. She has been a member of Associate Professor Ankur Dalia’s lab for the past three semesters, studying the molecular mechanisms underlying chitin-induced natural transformation in Vibrio cholerae. Following graduation, she plans to attend graduate school before pursuing a career in industry.

Kyle’s focus of research is bacterial endospores. They spent last summer researching in the Dworkin lab at the Columbia Irving Medical Center and will be returning this summer. Kyle is particularly interested in better defining the germination and outgrowth stages associated with endospore revival. Kyle spent the last year as the IU Collins Living-Learning Center president and this coming year will be focusing on applying to grad school.

Delilah works for Associate Professor Eduardo Ximenes in the IU School of Public Health. Delilah’s work is microbiology based: she works on a project through the FDA collecting ground beef samples from around Indiana and testing them for Salmonella.

Abby has been member of Associate Professor Ankur Dalia’s lab for three semesters, researching the molecular mechanisms that regulate Type IV pilus retraction in Vibrio cholerae. After graduation, Abby plans on pursuing a PhD in biomedical sciences focused on microbiology or immunology.