Senior Morgan Yapundich is an undergraduate researcher majoring in chemistry within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on pharmacological experiments that will shed light on how a drug induces cellular death in cancer cells.

Robin Armstrong is a PhD candidate within the UNC Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology and a graduate research assistant in the Duronio Lab. Using fruit flies as a model, she researches how chromatin structure influences DNA replication programs.

Vicki Mercer is an associate professor of physical therapy in the UNC School of Medicine and director of the Human Movement Science Curriculum. She is also a clinical physical therapist for the Division of Physical Therapy’s faculty practice in Hillsborough. Her research focuses on balance and motor control with patients undergoing neurological and geriatric rehabilitation.

Senior Jeliyah Clark is an undergraduate researcher studying environmental health sciences within the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She is also a Chancellor’s Science Scholar, McNair Scholar, and undergraduate research assistant in the Fry lab. Her research focuses on the impacts of human exposure to environmental contaminants.

Adrienne Erickcek is an assistant professor of physics and astronomy within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. As a theoretical cosmologist, she researches dark matter, dark energy, and the evolution of the universe shortly after the Big Bang.

Waru Gichane is a PhD student in the Department of Health Behavior within the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and a research assistant at the Carolina Population Center. Her research focuses on the individual, interpersonal, and institutional barriers women face in achieving optimal sexual and reproductive health.

Amanda Suchanek is a postdoctoral research fellow working in molecular and biochemical nutrition at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Her research focuses on how enzymes control fat production in the liver — studies that may lead to the development of new interventions to treat metabolic disorders of the liver.

Tamera Coyne-Beasley is a professor of pediatrics and internal medicine within the UNC School of Medicine, as well as director of the North Carolina Child Research Health Network at the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (NCTraCS). She is the president of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Her research focuses on sexual health, vaccines, injury, and violence prevention among adolescents.

Senior Madeline Fisher is an undergraduate researcher double-majoring in environmental studies and music within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. She is also a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow. Her research focuses on gathering oral histories from musicians who have come from coal-mining communities and the role environmental science plays in their lives.

Sarah Ramdeen is a doctoral candidate in the UNC School of Information and Library Science. Her research focuses on the information-seeking behavior of scientists who use physical data sources within the geosciences such as cores, cuttings, fossils, and other specimens. She successfully defended her dissertation on July 28.