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Student Research Opportunities

Hands-on opportunities to participate in health innovation

AHS Undergraduate Students Presenting Research

The College of Applied Health Sciences is excited to highlight the impressive research work done by our undergraduate students.

AHS Undergraduate Research Expo—2025
April 23, 2025
2 to 3 p.m.
First floor, Huff Hall

Our AHS students have an opportunity to present their research to AHS faculty, students, and staff. Come support our students as they prepare for the campus-wide Undergraduate Research Symposium the next day.

2025 Undergraduate Research Symposium
April 24, 2025
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Illini Union

A record-breaking 121 AHS students will be presenting at the all-campus symposium this year.

  • 12 AHS students will be giving oral presentations
  • 109 giving poster presentations
  • 7 students presenting on multiple projects

AHS Students at the 2025 Undergraduate Research Symposium

COMMUNITY HEALTH

  • Afsar Ali, Afnaan, (CHLH), Poster: Domestic Robot Support for Successful Aging - A Journey through Planning, Design, and Implementation

  • Betancourt, Jason, (CHLH), Poster: Connecting People, Animals, and the Environment: The Role of Community Health Workers in One Health
  • Childs, Ashli, (CHLH), Poster: The Role of Community Health Workers in Reducing Breast Cancer Among African American Women: A Literature Review
  • Coyago, Andrea, (CHLH), Poster: “A Nosotros, Todos Los Latinos, El Baile Nos Gusta”: A Qualitative Analysis of a Remote Latin Dance Program for Older Latinos
  • Escobedo, Magali, (IHLT), Poster: The Role of Tattoos in Body Image
  • Guzman, Savannah, (CHLH), Poster: Closing the Loop: Communicating Research Findings Back to the Communities that Informed Them
  • Ham, Quinn, (CHLH), Poster: A Thematic Analysis of Barriers and Facilitators to Healthcare Accessibility for Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis
  • Karwande, Tanya, (CHLH), Poster: Associations between Particulate Matter Oxidative Potential and Its Metal Contents
  • Keshav, Diksha, (CHLH), Poster: Multiple Sclerosis Health Literacy from a Socio-Ecological Perspective: A Qualitative Study
  • Mensah, Judith, (CHLH), Poster 1: Investigating Social Cohesion Among Older Adults in the Lifetime Fitness Program. Poster 2: Social Cohesion Among Older Adults in the Lifetime Fitness Program: Does Participation Frequency Matter?
  • Mkrtychian, Zara, (CHLH), Poster: Gestational Diabetes Management: The Tale of Two Clinics
  • Nathan, Nirmal, (CHLH), Poster: Synthetic Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and their Effect on Copulatory Behavior in Mice
  • Ong, Kristel, (CHLH), Poster: The Impact of Minimum Required Physical Education Time on Childhood Obesity Prevalence in Selected U.S. States
  • Osborn, Claire, (CHLH), Poster: The Writing Process Through Students’ Eyes: Insights for Educators
  • Parmar, Baani, (CHLH), Poster: Exploring the Effects of Nature, Mindfulness, and Music on Social-Emotional and Executive Functioning Outcomes in Early Childhood: A Scoping Review
  • Rashid, Heba, (CHLH), Poster: Beyond Fitness: PE for Mental Health
  • Shah, Ria, (CHLH), Poster: Saving Seconds, Saving Lives: Evaluating AED Availability and Student Readiness at UIUC
  • Surendran, Anjali, (CHLH), Poster: Clearing the Air: A Survey-Based Protocol on Examining Public Knowledge, Behavior, and Perceptions of Indoor Air Quality and Airborne Pathogen Mitigation
  • Yarza, Anjolie, (CHLH), Poster: Rationalizing Sexual Morality: Medicalizing Homosexuality in Quebec News Media

INTERDISCIPLINARY HEALTH SCIENCES

  • Arango, Alex, (IHLT), Poster: The Role of Health Apps in Reducing Healthcare Costs

  • Barthel, Lily, (IHLT), Oral presentation: Examining the Effects of a MIND Diet on Cognitive Function: A Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Bennaye, Salma, (IHLT), Poster: Insect Vector-Phytoplasma associations in the US: Enhancing Awareness, Data Accessibility and Interoperability
  • Chang, En Ci (Grace), (IHLT), Poster: Mapping Current Literature to STARRS Questionnaires for Military Suicide Risk Assessment
  • Cho, Kristin, (IHLT), Oral presentation: How Does Visual Impairment Affect Health Literacy and Health Behaviors in Adult Populations?
  • Chong, Dona, (IHLT), Poster: Leveling Up Coordination: A Remotely Delivered Grid Game Intervention for Low-Active Adults
  • Claudio-Deutsch, Elenna, (IHLT), Poster: Spices and Herbs: Combining Taste, Health, and Cultural Inclusivity
  • Coates, Nathan, (IHLT), Poster 1: Diet Quality and Anxiety Symptom Severity among College Students. Poster 2: Nutritional Habits and Depression Status in College Students. Poster 3: Diet Quality and Mental Health Symptom Severity
  • Cravens, Makenna, (IHLT), Poster: The Writing Process Through Students’ Eyes: Insights for Educators
  • Eastman, Elleora, (IHLT), Poster: Identifying the Cognitive Needs and Preferences of Individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment for Designing Assistive Technology: A Literature Review
  • Gryc, Gabriela, (IHLT), Poster: Applying User-Experience Strategies to Enhance an Older Adults’ mHealth App
  • Hopkins, Katherine, (IHLT), Poster: Community Workers as Navigators: Helping Family Caregivers Access Vital Support and Resources
  • Jurzyk, Patricia, (IHLT), Poster: Relationship between Resting State EEG and Behavioral Performance on Prospective Memory Task in Young Adults
  • O'Brien, Kaitlyn, (IHLT), Poster: Managing Diabetes in Adults with Food-Insecurity: A Systematic Review of mHealth Nutrition Interventions
  • Olaleye, Adeola, (IHLT), Poster: The Interplay Between Sports Participation and Feelings of Sadness, Loneliness, and Stress Among High School Students in Brazil
  • Oliva, Alan, (IHLT), Poster: Hidden in Plain Sight: Identifying Characteristics of Rising Compassion Fatigue Among Healthcare Workers
  • Olivero, Noah, (IHLT), Poster: Designing Accessible Virtual Reality Applications for Older Adults
  • Pantoja Lara, Fatima, (IHLT), Poster: Cultural Considerations for Engaging Hispanic/Latino Populations in Aging and Disability Research
  • Patel, Dhriti, (IHLT), Poster: A review of mental health services offered in home-visiting programs located in Indiana and Iowa
  • Phan, Jordan, (IHLT), Poster: Factors Behind Community Colleges With the Most Successful Medical School Applicants
  • Roan, Carson, (IHLT), Poster: Differences in the Relationship Between PTSD and Hazardous Drinking among Healthcare Workers by Gender
  • Salaudeen, Nurudeen, (IHLT), Poster: Taste Perception and Acceptability of Soy-enriched Bread and Tortillas
  • Salazar, Ximena, (IHLT), Oral presentation: Changes in Global Cognition during a Latin Dance and MIND Diet Intervention
  • Shaha, Aditya, (IHLT), Poster: Saving Seconds, Saving Lives: Evaluating AED Availability and Student Readiness at UIUC
  • Shaikh, Sheza, (IHLT), Oral presentation: Analyzing Food Security in College Students Taking Contemporary Nutrition
  • Shuaibi, Dana, (IHLT), Poster: Mapping Current Literature to STARRS Questionnaires for Military Suicide Risk Assessment
  • Siddique, Mustafa, (IHLT), Poster: Analysis of Free-Text Medical Notes Quality in the Cardiology Department at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital
  • Sieczka, Klaudia, (IHLT), Poster: Group Differences in Resting-State EEG in Age-Related Hearing Loss
  • Thompson, Jaeda, (IHLT), Poster: Champaign County Profile of Black Americans
  • Tulasaku, Aishi, (IHLT), Poster 1: Lack of NELF-B in Sertoli Cells Leads to Impaired Spermatogenesis and Infertility in Mice. Poster 2: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Identify Rural Illinois Towns in Need of Diabetes-Focused Telehealth Services
  • Weinshenker, Valerie, (IHLT), Poster: Synthetic Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and their Effect on Copulatory Behavior in Mice
  • Zagorski, Max, (IHLT), Poster: Impact of Late Bedtime on Sleep, Physical Activity, and Sedentary Behavior in Older Adults
  • Zheng, Yu, (IHLT), Poster 1: Investigating Step Count and Intensity During the Square-Stepping Exercise in Older Adults. Poster 2: The Impact of Real-Time Text Captioning on Speech Perception in Noise

KINESIOLOGY

  • Ahmed, Farheen, (KIN), Poster: The Role of Healthy Neuroticism in Physical Activity Participation: Examining the Interaction Between Neuroticism and Conscientiousness
  • Arvanetes, Brina, (KIN), Poster: Unlocking Potential: The Day After Physical Therapy Attendance on Movement Behaviors in Children with Cerebral Palsy
  • Bemont, Isabel, (KIN), Poster: Physical Activity Behavior on the Relationship Between Predicted and Experienced Affect During Exercise
  • Bradshaw, Jesiah, (KIN), Poster: Burger, Lydia, (KIN), Poster: Physical Activity Behavior on the Relationship Between Predicted and Experienced Affect During Exercise
  • Cardine, Jada, (KIN), Oral presentation: Narrative Thematic Analysis on Mental Health Outcomes for Aging Athletes
  • Cervantes, Aubrey, (KIN), Oral presentation: How Cognitive Appraisal Shapes the Anxiety-Working Memory Link After Exercise
  • Chong, Inna, (KIN), Oral presentation: Ergonomic Impact of Chair Recline on Neck Pain, Shoulder Kinematics, and Headache Severity in Females
  • Deyhle, Sam, (KIN), Poster: Molecular Adaptations to Recurrent Exercise: Coenzyme Q Lipid Increases in the Heart
  • Divan, Rachel, (KIN), Poster: The Role of Physical Therapy in Mediating Movement Behaviors and Body Composition in Children with Cerebral Palsy
  • Emil, Joel, (KIN), Poster: Exploring ICT-Based Interventions to Promote Moderate-Intensity Aerobic Exercise in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Literature Review
  • Fanning, Jillian, (KIN), Poster: Tools and Strategies to Navigate Health Management and Information Barriers for Older Adults with Traumatic Brain Injury
  • Foxgrover-O'Malley, Sandra, (KIN), Poster: Sex Differences in Leg Muscle Performance, Fatigue and Body Composition in Older Adults
  • Frey, Lili, (KIN), Poster: Correlation between Muscle Performance Parameters with Functional Performance and Body Composition in Older Adults
  • Gentle, Charles, (KIN), Poster: Square-Stepping Exercise in Older Adults: The Impact of Exercise Conditions on Intensity
  • Huanca-Camargo, Brandon, (KIN), Poster: The Role of Health Apps in Reducing Healthcare Costs
  • Janusz, Collin, (KIN), Poster: The Effects of Meeting Recommended Physical Activity Guidelines on Mental Health and Harmful Substance Intake
  • Jun, Ian, (KIN), Poster: Sex-Based Comparison of Functional Test Performance in Older Adults: Preliminary Analysis From the ALERT Project
  • Kim, Ashley, (KIN), Poster: The Effects of Lower-Extremity Resistance Training on Mobility, Power, and Walking Speed in Active Older Adults: Preliminary Analysis
  • Lee, Amanda, (KIN), Poster: Effect of Additional Leg Resistance Training on Body Composition in Older Adults Engaged in Community-Based Physical Activity Programs: Preliminary Results
  • MacDonald, Kendell, (KIN), Poster: Gender Differences in Dominant vs. Non-Dominant Shoulder Range of Motion in Individuals with Disabilities: A Comparative Analysis
  • Madula, Shae, (KIN), Poster 1: Investigating Social Cohesion Among Older Adults in the Lifetime Fitness Program. Poster 2: Social Cohesion Among Older Adults in the Lifetime Fitness Program: Does Participation Frequency Matter?
  • Martinez, Liz, (KIN), Oral presentation: How Cognitive Appraisal Shapes the Anxiety-Working Memory Link After Exercise
  • Mattas, Robert, (KIN), Oral presentation: Video Analysis of Proxemic Interactions Between Older Adults and an Assistive Robot
  • Medina, Joshua, (KIN), Poster: Dancing Towards Health: Increasing Physical Activity of Latinos Through Latin Dance
  • Navarrete, Sheila, (KIN), Poster: An In Vitro Experimental System for Muscle Formation
  • Naveja, Katie, (KIN), Poster: The Influence of Menopause on Glenoid Morphology and Shoulder Pain
  • Neudorf-Alshanski, Haley, (KIN), Poster: Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) for Low-Sodium Dietary Education and Grocery Shopping for Hemodialysis Patients
  • Palmer, Jackie, (KIN), Poster: A Literature Review on Approaches to Language Sampling in Persons with Mild Cognitive Impairment
  • Pearl, Greta, (KIN), Poster: Menopause Status Effects on Coracoid Shape
  • Praet, Jackson, (KIN), Poster: Leveling Up Coordination: A Remotely Delivered Grid Game Intervention for Low-Active Adults
  • Pule, Daniela, (KIN), Poster: “A Nosotros, Todos Los Latinos, El Baile Nos Gusta”: A Qualitative Analysis of a Remote Latin Dance Program for Older Latinos
  • Rudy, Savanna, (KIN), Oral presentation: Ergonomic Impact of Chair Recline on Neck Pain, Shoulder Kinematics, and Headache Severity in Females
  • Santiago, Cecilia, (KIN), Poster: Community Survey of Latina Women to Aid in Intervention to Reduce Pain and Prevent Postpartum Depression
  • Shannon, Sydney, (KIN), Poster: Fire Readiness for Wheelchair Users (FEW)
  • Stelter, Julia, (KIN), Poster: Recruitment and Retention of Disadvantaged Adults for a Community-Based Implementation of Mindfulness-Based Eudaimonic Wellbeing
  • Szczepanski, Martha, (KIN), Oral presentation: Exploring the Impacts of High School-Sanctioned Adaptive Sports on Adolescents with Physical Disabilities: Parent and Stakeholder Perspectives
  • Taylor, Jack, (KIN), Poster: Adaptations in Shoulder and Upper Trapezius Muscle Elasticity to Manual Wheelchair Use
  • Urquizo, Angel, (KIN), Poster: Developing Tip Sheets for Medicare Understanding
  • Varela, Bianca, (KIN), Poster: Beyond the Frontlines: Characterizing the Mental Health Symptomatology of Healthcare Workers
  • Weldy, Jonathan, (KIN), Oral presentation: Introduction of a Unified Model in Youth Physical Activity
  • Yoon, Elliot, (KIN), Poster: Examining Tyrosine Hydroxylase Imprinting in Key Brain Regions Through Cre/Flp and Intracranial Viral Vector Injections
  • Zubrickas, Ian, (KIN), Poster: The Role of Mobile Health Technology (mHealth) in Managing Diabetes and Hypertension in Food-Insecure, Low-Income Populations: A Literature Review

SPEECH & HEARING SCIENCE

  • Amabile, Ava, (SHS), Poster 1: The Writing Process Through Students’ Eyes: Insights for Educators. Poster 2: Development of Kindergarten and First Grade Informational Writing. Poster 3: Investigating Kindergarten Sentence Structure
  • Arlis, Audrey, (SHS), Poster: How are Audiologists Testing People’s Ability to Hear in Noisy Settings?
  • Chalcakova, Simona, (SHS), Poster: To Code or Not to Code: The Differences Between Automatic and Manual Coding of Language Transcripts
  • Davila, Andrea, (SHS), Poster: Speech Recognition in Monolingual versus Bilingual Spanish and English Speakers: A Behavioral and EEG Study
  • Development and Validation of a mHealth Fall Management Program
  • Dooley, Mac, (SHS), Poster: To Code or Not to Code: The Differences Between Automatic and Manual Coding of Language Transcripts
  • Glowacki, Maddie, (SHS), Poster: The Writing Process Through Students’ Eyes: Insights for Educators
  • Gomez, Jocelyn, (SHS), Poster: Speech Recognition in Monolingual versus Bilingual Spanish and English Speakers: A Behavioral and EEG Study
  • Hampe, Ava, (SHS), Poster: Developing an Ecological Test: Measuring Children’s Speech Comprehension in the Classroom
  • House-Henry, Kaliyah, (SHS), Poster: Feasibility of Virtual Reality for Speech Therapy Services
  • Kent, Alexis, (SHS), Poster: Comparing Grammatical Complexity Scores from Structured and Spontaneous Language Samples
  • Kinel, Emily, (SHS), Poster: Investigating Kindergarten Sentence Structure
  • Lau, Isabella, (SHS), Poster: Impact of Dysphonia on Vowel Recognition in Children: Implications for Speech-in-Noise Perception in Educational Settings
  • Llavona, Andrea, (SHS), Poster: Speech Recognition in Monolingual versus Bilingual Spanish and English Speakers: A Behavioral and EEG Study
  • Lopez, Bella, (SHS), Poster: Feasibility of Virtual Reality for Speech Therapy Services
  • Morrical, Emma, (SHS), Poster: Impact of Dysphonia on Vowel Recognition in Children: Implications for Speech-in-Noise Perception in Educational Settings
  • Peters, Nicole, (SHS), Poster: Investigating Kindergarten Sentence Structure
  • Pontikes, Stacey, (SHS), Poster: Development of Kindergarten and First Grade Informational Writing
  • Quafisheh, Jenna, (SHS), Poster 1: Development of Kindergarten and First Grade Informational Writing. Poster 2: Investigating Kindergarten Sentence Structure
  • Redden, Ella, (SHS), Poster: Developing an Ecological Test: Measuring Children’s Speech Comprehension in the Classroom
  • Roberts, Carly, (SHS), Poster: Speech Recognition in Monolingual versus Bilingual Spanish and English Speakers: A Behavioral and EEG Study
  • Stemm, Megan, (SHS), Poster: Developing an Ecological Test: Measuring Children’s Speech Comprehension in the Classroom
  • Walner, Chloe, (SHS), Poster: To Code or Not to Code: The Differences Between Automatic and Manual Coding of Language Transcripts
  • Wulw, Dorota, (SHS), Poster: Investigating Kindergarten Sentence Structure

RECREATION, SPORT & TOURISM

  • DeNardo, Jack, (RST), Poster: A Review of Literature: Athlete Advocacy Groups and/as Collective Activism