Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •

Abstracts submitted by the Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program cohort of 2025. Each describes an 8-week project conducted under faculty mentorship at George Mason University that was publically presented at our in-person or remote research symposiums in August 2025. Congratulations interns on your completion of the program, and thank you for your hard work!

(Note: Not every ASSIP 2025 participant has an abstract that may posted publically. Some projects are the subject of an invention disclosure, are undergoing double-blind peer review as part of a scientific manuscript, or describe findings that are part of a grant submission.)

College of Science: Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science

JSSR

Analyzing the Correlation Between NDVI and Rainfall in Various Regions of Kenya

• Monica Goswami,
• Xianjun Hao
• and John Qu

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science

JSSR

Modeling the Impact of Air Quality on Animal and Human Health using SHAP and AI through the One Health Lens

• Anna Deng,
• Athena Xing
• and Ziheng Sun

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science

JSSR

A Temporal Fusion Transformer Framework for 24-Hour Ozone Forecasting Across the Continental United States

• Dylan Amin,
• Maria Paz Dakota Ormeño Vasquez,
• Saatvik Sunilraj
• and Ziheng Sun

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science

JSSR

A Comparative Evaluation of TabNet-GPR and GNN-LSTM for Subseasonal Fire Radiative Power

• Ishan Nagpal,
• Shriya Natarajan,
• Sanat Rao,
• Harshit Singh
• and Ziheng Sun

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science

JSSR

Evaluating AI Models in SWE Prediction

• Raymond Gao,
• Bill Huang,
• Jiaqi Sun
• and Ziheng Sun

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science

JSSR

A Spatiotemporal Transformer Architecture for Long-Term Post-Wildfire Vegetation Recovery Forecasting

• Svaran Medavarapu
• and Ziheng Sun

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science

JSSR

AI-Powered Air Quality Monitoring Using ESP32 and BME280 Sensors for Incense Smoke Classification

• Rahul Premanand
• and Ziheng Sun

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science

JSSR

Evaluating the Performance of Three Flood Impact Analysis Tools

• Andrew Yuan,
• Katharine Verry,
• Samir Ahmed
• and Chaowei Yang

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science

JSSR

Imputing Missing Chlorophyll-a Data in the Chesapeake Bay Region Using Random Forest and KNN Machine Learning Models

• Elena Zhang,
• Rakshita Chidananda
• and Chaowei Yang

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science

JSSR

Spatially Explicit Mapping and Assessment of Urban Heat Islands Using AI

• Edward Guo
• and Ruixin Yang

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science

JSSR

Digital Twin Framework for Real-Time Computing Infrastructure Monitoring

• Emily Ma,
• Yaya Lan,
• Chris Yang,
• Yahya Masri,
• Joseph Rodgers,
• Elizabeth Sienkiewicz
• and Chaowei Yang

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science

JSSR

A Comparative Analysis of Kriging and Machine Learning-based Spatial Interpolation Models for Chlorophyll-a Estimation in the Chesapeake Bay

• Jacob Aronow,
• Rakshita Chidananda
• and Chaowei Yang

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science

JSSR

Enhancing Low-Cost Sensor Reliability for Air Quality Monitoring using Deep Learning and Monte Carlo-based Uncertainty Quantification

• Sidh Jaddu,
• Kaylee Smith
• and Chaowei Yang

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science

JSSR

The implementation of a Gaussian Process Regressor in a geospatial LSTM model creates optimization in uncertainty quantification

• Gisele Dao,
• Kaylee Smith
• and Chaowei Yang

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science

JSSR

Uncertainty Quantification with Probabilistic Deep Learning Models to Predict Out-of-distribution Events

• Andrew Duval,
• Kaylee Smith,
• Anusha Srirenganathanmalarvizhi
• and Chaowei Yang

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science

JSSR

Improving PM2.5 Sensor Calibration Using Transformer Model Architecture

• Ryan Guo,
• Anusha Srirenganathanmalarvizhi
• and Chaowei Yang

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science

College of Science: Department of Mathematical Sciences

JSSR

No-verdose: Using SEIRP and Optimal Control Theory to Model the Opioid Epidemic and Mitigate Opioid-Induced Mortality

• Angela Ho,
• Dia Bonsu,
• Alonso Ogueda-Oliva
• and Padmanabhan Seshaiyer

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Mathematical Sciences

JSSR

Quantitative Comparison of 3D Microglial Morphology in Control and 5xFAD Alzheimer’s Model Mice

• Avni Sriram,
• Sarojini Attili
• and Padmanabhan Seshaiyer

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Mathematical Sciences

JSSR

Modeling and Analysis of the Impacts of the Rise in AI Use on Data Center Growth, Resulting Workforce Displacement, and Environmental Impacts Through a Coupled System of Ordinary Differential Equations Within a Feedback Framework

• Divya Laddha,
• Alonso Gabriel Ogueda
• and Padmanabhan Seshaiyer

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Mathematical Sciences

JSSR

Projecting Ocean Acidification using Ordinary Differential Equations

• Fiona Chen,
• Alonso Ogueda Oliva
• and Padmanabhan Seshaiyer

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Mathematical Sciences

JSSR

Mathematical Modeling of Knowledge Transfer between Students and Mentors to Estimate Ideal Quantities of Mentors for Student Populations Using Optimal Control Theory

• Timofey Gafurov
• and Padmanabhan Seshaiyer

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Mathematical Sciences

JSSR

Modeling Contrail Formation Via an SIR-Framework

• Kapilan Karunakaran,
• Alonso Ogueda Oliva
• and Padmanabhan Seshaiyer

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Mathematical Sciences

JSSR

SEIR-GA: A Dynamic Model for Unmasking Gerrymandering’s Impact on Voter Turnout and Representation

• Maneesh Vaddi,
• Alonso Ogueda Oliva
• and Padmanabhan Seshaiyer

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Mathematical Sciences

JSSR

Analyzing the Dispersion of Tire Wear Particles in Urban Runoff through Computational Modeling

• Mohan Parthasarathy,
• Alonso Ogueda Oliva
• and Padmanabhan Seshaiyer

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Mathematical Sciences

JSSR

Epidemiological-Inspired Model of Post-Operational Chronic Pain in Scoliosis Patients

• Paige Zhu
• and Padmanabhan Seshaiyer

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Mathematical Sciences

JSSR

Spatiotemporal Modelling and Prediction of California Wildfires using Machine Learning and Environmental Data

• Siva Venkatachalam,
• Padmanabhan Seshaiyer
• and Uma Ravanasamudram

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Mathematical Sciences

College of Science: Department of Physics and Astronomy

JSSR

Designing payload hardware and interfaces for the Landolt NASA Space Mission

• Sriharshini Vedula,
• Fatemah Bahzad,
• Peter Pachowicz
• and Peter Plavchan

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Physics and Astronomy

JSSR

Characterizing Material Outgassing Risks in the NASA Landolt Space Mission for ODAR Compliance

• Tanush Bhardwaj,
• Peter Plavchan,
• Logan Jensen
• and Eliad Peretz

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Physics and Astronomy

JSSR

Evaluating Maneuvering Capabilities of the Enpulsion Nano Lark for the NASA Landholt Mission

• Dakota Jett,
• Gabrielle Belle,
• Angelle Turner
• and Peter Plavchan

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Physics and Astronomy

JSSR

Measuring plasma velocities in Coronal loops using Hinode/EIS spectroscopic data to constrain eruption models

• Canyon Natinsky,
• Yousef Malik,
• Kavin Kumar
• and Arthur Poland

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Physics and Astronomy

JSSR

Zonal Wind Speeds in the Venusian Atmosphere from the Akatsuki and Venus Express Temperature Fields

• Emilia Sloan
• and Erdal Yigit

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: Department of Physics and Astronomy

College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

Exploring proteomic pathways linked to infertility within endometriosis patients through Mass Spectrometry

• Makeda Tamrat,
• Sam Schwarting,
• Sally Rucker,
• Paul Russo,
• Michael Bloom
• and Virginia Espina

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

Detecting Protein Pathways Affecting Nerve Damage in Rat Spinal Cords with Breast Cancer and Paclitaxel Treatment via RPPA

• Valeria Salvador,
• Veronica Sanchez,
• Samantha Schwarting,
• Jeyasri Sathyamoorthy,
• Cora Shields,
• Lanya Rasool,
• Sally Rucker,
• Nadine Kabbani
• and Virginia Espina

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

Investigating autophagy and mitophagy in 12Z endometriosis cells via exposure to pharmacological inhibitors

• Cora Shields,
• Jeyasri Sathyamoorthy,
• Valeria Salvador,
• Lanya Rasool,
• Samantha Schwarting,
• Sally Rucker,
• Veronica G Sanchez
• and Virginia Espina

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

Mathematical Modeling of Oxidative Phosphorylation in the Mitochondria

• Divyansh Kumar
• and Saleet Jafri

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

Integrating Gene and Clinical Data to Overcome Melanoma Cancer with Pembrolizuamb

• Shivani Kumar
• and Saleet Jafri

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

Integrating Gene and Clinical Data to Overcome Chemoresistance in Colorectal Cancer

• Sabine Rana
• and Saleet Jafri

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

Proteomic Analysis of Rhizoplane Microbiomes as Treatments for Hydroponic Phytopathogens

• Vineela Mandavilla,
• Anthony Fiorino,
• Madeline Levorson,
• Stella Hong,
• Sophia Guo,
• Caroline Keefer,
• Angela D’Anglada
• and Donielle Nolan

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

Investigating Protein Expression of AKT/mTOR Pathway in HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer Tumors using Laser Capture Microdissection and Reverse Phase Protein Arrays

• Alex Simmonds,
• Yelyzaveta Kalchenko,
• Julia Wulfkuhle,
• Emanuel Petricoin
• and Rosa Isela Gallagher

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

AKT/mTOR Pathway Protein Expression in the Tumor Microenvironment of High-Risk, HR+, and HER2- Breast Cancer using Laser-Capture Microdissection (LCM) and Reverse Phase Protein Arrays (RPPA)

• Yelyzaveta Kalchenko,
• Alex Simmonds,
• Julia Wulfkuhle,
• Emanuel Petricoin
• and Rosa Isela Gallagher

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

Characterization of Extracellular Vesicles from LUHMES Cells: A Baseline for Understanding Mitophagy-Related Communication in Dopaminergic Neurons

• Shumvobi Mitra,
• Sofie C. Strompf,
• Marissa A. Howard
• and Lance A. Liotta

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

Cancer Cells Under Oxidative Stress Secrete Extracellular Vesicles Containing Damaged Mitochondrial Components That Can Alter the Death Rate and Mitochondrial Function of Recipient Cells

• Tanvi Madavarapu,
• Jessica Roman,
• Angela Rojas,
• Purva Gade,
• Marissa Howard
• and Lance A. Liotta

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

Extracellular Vesicles Provide a Real-Time Recording of Intracellular Signaling: EGFR receptor presence and implications for personalized therapy

• Myra Goyal,
• Angela Rojas,
• Jessica Roman,
• Sofie Strompf,
• Marissa Howard,
• Emanuel Petricoin
• and Lance A. Liotta

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

Extracellular Vesicles Derived from Borrelia burgdorferi Leads to Prolonged Neuroinflammation in Lyme Disease

• Chris Nguyen,
• Ahana Byne,
• Barbara Birkaya
• and Alessandra Luchini

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

Exploring Urinary EV Gene Expression for Early Detection of Bladder Cancer

• Kartikeya Dobhal,
• Duaa Gul,
• Emily Larson
• and Aman Ullah

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

Familial Eosinophilic Esophagitis: A Systems-Level Analysis of Immune and Epithelial Transcriptional Programs

• Talha Jafri,
• Eric Twum
• and Aman Ullah

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

A Bioinformatics Approach to Identifying Differentially Expressed Genes in Multiple Sclerosis Subtypes

• Yatin Alla,
• Aylin Zinde
• and Aman Ullah

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

Incorporation of PSGL-1 into HIV-1 Virions via Env Exclusion Mechanism Blocks Infectivity

• Grace Cervone,
• Sameer Tiwari
• and Yuntao Wu

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

Expression of MMP-9 within EVs of HPV-related Cancer Cells

• Astha Jakir,
• Kajal Patil,
• Anastasia Williams,
• Benjamina Arthur,
• Hafsa Chaudhry
• and Fatah Kashanchi

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology

JSSR

The Choice between M1 or M2 macrophages for U937

• Tarod Simms,
• Kajal Patil,
• Anastasia Williams
• and Fatah Kashanchi

• 25 September 2025
• Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 2025 •
• College of Science: School of Systems Biology