Name: Liana Apolis

Year: Junior
Major: Biology
Minor: Chemistry
Research: My research involves the inhibition of the signaling process called quorum sensing (QS) which may be a novel way to attenuate infectious diseases as interrupting the QS pathway has the potential to downregulate bacterial pathogenicity without selecting for antibiotic resistance
Email: lapol003@fiu.edu

Name: Richard Barrios

Year: Junior
Major: Biology and Chemistry
Research: I perform cancer research in Dr. Jeremy Chamber's laboratory that will help further explain the role of the mitochondria in cancer cells. Currently I am helping to piece together a signaling pathway between the mitochondria and monocarboxylase transporter 1 (MCT1). 
Email: rbarr024@fiu.edu

Name: Ruslan Garcia

Year: Senior
Major: Biology

Minor: Religious Studies
Research: With the use of transgenic mice that model human skin accurately, our laboratory is trying to uncover the mechanism by which primary melanocytic lesions metastasize.
Email: rgarc100@fiu.edu

Name: Aneysis Gonzalez

Year: Junior
Major: Biology

Minor: Psychology and Chemistry
Research: I study the relationship between mitochondrial c-Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) and scaffold-binding protein Sab. Also, we look at the effect of a complex 1 inhibitor (Rotenone) on the metabolism of the mitochondria and the overall impact on a cell's viability.
Email: agonz227@fiu.edu

Name: Daniel Gonzalez

Year: Senior
Major: Biology

Minor: Psychology and Chemistry
Research:I am working in Dr. Landrum's lab and we are investigating the different properties of carotenoids and their role in protecting individuals from macular degeneration. The carotenoids lutein, zeaxanthin, and meso-zeaxanthin accumulate in the human retina via unknown processes. Evidence supports their protective role towards photoreceptor outer segments and the retinal pigment epithelium. They do this by both acting as a barrier to the harmful effects of blue wavelengths of light and by acting as antioxidants to reduce photooxidative stress.  
Email: dgonz099@fiu.edu

Name: Ivana Lamboglia

Year: Senior
Major: Biology
Research: Examining the changes in the enzymatic activities of JH in the corpora allata of female Aedes aegypti during different developmental stages
Email: ilamb001@fiu.edu

Name: Ivonne Lollett

Year: Senior
Major: Biology

Minor: Chemistry
Research: My research focuses on the identification and characterization of proteases involved in the regulated intramembrane proteolysis (RIP) cascade responsible for alginate regulation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Email: iloll001@fiu.edu

Name: Heysell Ortiz
Year: Senior
Major:Biology and Chemistry
Research: Organic Synthesis
Email: horti004@fiu.edu

Name: Kymberlee Osborne
Year: Senior
Major: Chemistry

Minor: Biology
Research: Characterizing pigments of  coral black band disease (BBD) cyanobacterial associates and reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay development.
Email: kymberleea.osborne@gmail.com

Name: Daniel J. Tapanes
Year: Senior
Major: Biology and Anthropology

Minor: Chemistry
Research: I work in the lab of Charles H. Bigger, Ph.D., studying the comparative immunology of soft coral. Our current model system is Swiftia exserta, a cnidarian indigenous to the Caribbean basin and found throughout the Florida Keys. I am currently researching the transfer of adoptive memory using tissue grafts as well as the interrupted immune response.
Email: DTapa001@fiu.edu

Name: Patricia Theard
Year: Junior
Major: Biology and Chemistry
Research: Organic chemistry of nucleosides and nucleotides with applications in biochemistry and in anticancer and antiviral medicine. Primary research is centered on intuitive a priori design and synthesis of nucleoside analogues constructed with features that are chemically activated in the initial steps of an enzyme mechanism where spontaneous subsequent reactions cause enzyme inactivation.
Email: patritheard@hotmail.com

Name: Chavely Valdes Sanchez
Year: Junior
Major: Biology
Minor: Chemistry
Research: I am currently in Dr. Irina Agoulnik´s lab and our main focus is on potential hormone therapies to treat prostate cancer. In addition, my research project is focused on the effect that DAX-1 (nuclear receptor protein)  has on migration, invasion and proliferation of prostate and ovarian cancers.
Email: cvald024@fiu.edu