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Trinity College Undergraduate Research Conference

YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND AN ACADEMIC RESEARCH CONFERENCE!

The Trinity College Undergraduate Research Conference (TCURC) is an annual interdisciplinary conference giving all Trinity students the opportunity to present their research in an academic setting. This is also a unique occasion for students, faculty, staff and alumni of Trinity College and the University of Toronto to meet and discuss related academic topics of interest outside of the classroom. Whether you are a presenter or a participant, TCURC is an opportunity for all undergraduate students, and university community members, to attend and gain experience & knowledge at an academic conference.  TCURC is free to attend and lunch is provided.

REGISTER FOR TCURC 2024 HERE

TCURC 2024: SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 2024

CONFERENCE PROGRAM (IN-PERSON)

9:00am to 9:30am: Conference Registration (Seeley Hall – Trinity College)

9:30am to 9:45am: Opening Remarks (Seeley Hall)

9:45am to 10:00am: Travel & Break

10:00 am to 3:30 pm: TCURC Wellness Lounge | Boardroom Lounge (next to Seeley Hall)

Lounge Stations & Areas

Open for the duration of the conference & hosted by the Mental Health Peer Advisors, the Wellness Lounge is a safe and relaxing space to take breaks and get self-care during the conference.

Relax A Bit! Comfy Chairs & Relaxing Music!

Stay Hydrated! Water, Herbal Teas, Fruit Punch!

Stay Energized! Energy Bars, Fruit & Cheese Tray!

Make Something! Scent-Pouch Making Station & Button Making Station!

Capture the Memory & Remember How Awesome You Are! “I was a delegate! I presented at TCURC!” Photo-Booth!

 

10:00 am to 11:15 am: Concurrent Research Panels | Breakout Rooms 1, 2, 3, & 4 | Combination Room, Divinity Room, TC22, TC24

Breakout Rooms

BREAKOUT ROOM #1 – Combination Room

  • Jason BouramiaReimagining Governance: Harnessing Infrapolitics to Cure State Blindness in the Arab World and Beyond
  • Amelia HuiArtificial Intelligence in Warfare: Ethics, Development, and Regulation
  • Esme SmolynecHistorical and Contemporary Causes of the Russo-Ukrainian War
  • Daria SynelnykovaDangers of the Private Military and Security Companies for Global Security: the Case of the Wagner Group
  • Jordan PicheniukAn Empire by Free Enterprise: The Expansion of the British Empire in India by the East India Company in the Long Eighteenth Century

BREAKOUT ROOM #2 – Divinity Common Room

  • Jenny PhungUniversal Health Coverage and Canada: Gaps in Medicare
  • Omer Obaid Qazi– (Over)burden of Proof: An Examination of Legal Hurdles to Indigenous Title Rights in Canada
  • Mahek KaurConstitutionalizing the Right to Health in Canada: A Legal Avenue to Address Health-Related Rights Violations Impacting Indigenous Communities
  • Marija BuzaninThis Land is My Land, This Land is Your Land: The Impact of Metaphorically-Structured and Gendered Language on Public Perception of Climate Change
  • Nicole VelevThinking about you thinking of me: An exploration of the impact of intergroup contact on meta-perceptions among political partisans

BREAKOUT ROOM #3 – TC22

  • Carolyn ChenCharacterizing the Host Specificity of Nematocida parisii in Caenorhabditis Nematodes
  • Benson WuSpatial Intra-tumour heterogeneity of glioblastoma
  • Sarina DoshiInvestigating how phosphorylation of the SLX4 MBR influences folding of the SAP domain
  • Minsheng (Vincent) Hung A SmaRTer IntERVention: Antiretroviral Drugs as Potential Breast Cancer Therapeutics

BREAKOUT ROOM #4 – TC24

  • Jacqueline ZhaoPersonality Dimensions May Mediate Our Sensitivity to Emotional Influences on Memory
  • Eliza McCannInvestigating very long-term memory for real-world events several years after a smartphone-based memory intervention
  • Xi (Joy) Wang Pain Sensitivity & Irrational Beliefs
  • Cathlin Jiaqi Han –  The eyes – windows to the brain? Investigating the predictive potential of eye fixations on brain activation during configural processing
  • Gabrielle DesiletsIs Partial Reinforcement Extinction More Resistant to the Reacquisition of Alcohol-Seeking Behaviours Than Traditional Extinction?

 

11:15 am to 11:30 am: Break & Refreshments (Seeley Hall)

11:30 am to 12:45 pm: Concurrent Research Panels | Breakout Rooms 1, 2, 3, & 4 | Combination Room, Divinity Common Room, TC22, TC24

Breakout Rooms

BREAKOUT ROOM #1 – Combination Room

  • Riley AlvarezQuantifying Postzygotic Reproductive Isolation in Caenorhabditis Species Pairs
  • Nishaant JacobusControlling Non-Equilibrium Steady States via Environmental Tuning
  • Sara ZiadatQuantum-Enhanced Generative Algorithms for Optimized Drug Discovery
  • Caroline CarruthersEffect of Ephedrine, Phenylephrine, and Norepinephrine on Myometrial Contractility in Pregnant People with Type II and Gestational Diabetes during Cesarean Section: An in vitro study
  • Chris SituExploring the Relationship Between Liver X Receptor Isoforms and Low-Density Lipoprotein Transcytosis

BREAKOUT ROOM #2 – Divinity Common Room

  • Giuliano PanizzaSupporting Healthy Aging: A Scoping Review on the Effects of Social Support on the Physical Health of Canadian Seniors Aging in Place
  • Joyce YinRehabilitation & the Abused & Brain Injured Toolkit: Supporting IPV Survivors with Brain Injury
  • Bhavnoor PannuDual Scoping Review of Factors Causing Misdiagnosis of Cardiovascular Diseases in Women and their Inclusion in Current Primary Research
  • Mariana CastillonExploring the Impact of Child and Parental Depression on Early Childhood Decision- Making
  • Emma Watt-HillThe Nature of Helping Behaviours Across Adolescent Ontogeny: A Review of the Literature

BREAKOUT ROOM #3 – TC22

  • Avishka GauthamA lack of sanitation facilities in rural Kenya
  • Sharanya ShankarExamining the Sustainability of Food Prescription Programs in Canada
  • Gabrielle DuméBarbados’ Trident: A Multi-pronged Approach to Combatting Childhood Obesity through Advocacy, Policy, and Education
  • Alex McLeanThe Sound of Life: Exploring Acoustical Technologies of Surveillance in a Neonatal Care Unit
  • Rebecca ChauOpioids: Synthesis of a Crisis & Prescription for a Cure

BREAKOUT ROOM #4 – TC24

  • Bianca QuilliamObserving Kenosis in the Poetry of Hadewijch and John Donne
  • Clive StevensAsk Your Doctor: Pfizer as a Morally Questionable Brand
  • Gene CaseA Sly and Constant Knave’: Class, Faith, and Good Service as Explored Through Cymbeline’s Pisanio
  • Alexander TrachsellThe Impossibility of Fairly Compensating Prisoners – A Response to punishment
  • Alice QuanTwisted Truths: The Politicization of Intelligence 

 

12:45 pm to 1:15 pm: LUNCH (distributed in Seeley Halle) | Location is your choice!

1:15 pm to 2:00 pm: Research Poster Presentations | Trinity College front hall

Research Posters

Poster creators have given permission to make their contact information available for any questions you may have on their posters/research.

  • Samantha Sheu “Gold Claims at Sturgeon Lake” Project
  • Yuechen HaoClade shape and evolutionary dynamics in epidemological and paleontological phylogenies
  • HK (CY + SS) – A Comparative Study of Police and Government Responses in China Through the Dynamics of Protest Types and Tactics
  • Magalie Pronovost-MorganThe Artifice of Style: “Realism” in Renaissance Art
  • Neha GuptaThe Speciation Clock of the Caenorhabditis genus
  • Gravity GuignardInvestigating the Effects of UNC-18 PA Mutation on CPX-11 Mutants in C. elegans
  • Christina XieQuantifying soil health and characterizing the soil microbiome
  • Tavie Johnson Implications of Spent Coffee Grounds in Vermicompost Via Analysis of “Worm Tea” Fertilizer
  • Chiara-Marie MarchesanoExpanding Vermicomposting Operations at Trinity College, University of Toronto
  • Daniela AtereCharacterizing Lactobacillus species in the vaginal microbiomes of HIV at risk women
  • Nandita JayadevanMorphology based Neuronal ​ Cell Type Classification across species​
  • Thomas Sidart SetioEnhancement of Antimicrobial Activity of Magnetite/Olive Oil Ferrofluids Through Particle Size Reduction Using Natural Surfactants
  • Tsubasa Ijichi – Protein intake in relation to hypertrophy and strength
  • Eloise ValasekCRISPR-Induced GFP Glow Sheds Light on Gene Correction Therapy for Hereditary Hemochromatosis
  • Maya Honda-GranirerUnraveling the Genetic Tapestry of End-Stage Kidney Disease: Investigating AGT Polymorphisms and RAAS Activation for Novel Therapeutic Insights

 

2:00 pm to 2:10 pm: Travel & Break

2:10 pm to 3:15 pm: Three Minute Thesis Presentations – Part I | Seeley Hall

Presentation order
  • Logan WalshSolving A Migration Crisis: Italy’s Current Policy Shortcomings and Potential Solutions
  • Wania Gondal & Blerta Ademaj The Gendered Gavel: Exploring Biases in Sexual Assault Verdicts
  • Giovanna El WarrakPolitics of Death: the Yanomami Crisis in Brazil
  • Cynthia QuBarriers to Healthcare Access for Refugees: Critical Assessment and Policy Proposals
  • Tyrus KalanyosImmigration’s Insecurity: The Rise of the Far-Right in Sweden and Germany
  • Angus MacKellarThe Good Friday Agreement: A Critical Analysis of Implementation and the Peace Process
  • James WangUnderstanding Children’s Aversion to Conflict: Moral versus Non-Moral Dilemmas
  • Anna McIntoshEquality in Freedom and the End of Humanity: A Critique of J.S. Mill and Karl Marx
  • Sanya PasrichaThe Social and Environmental Impact of the Garment Industry in Bangladesh
  • Misheel BatkhuuUnmasking Manufactured Demand: Ethical Dilemmas and Consumer Empowerment
  • Zach LidderToronto District School Board: Multi-Year Accessibility Plan An Intervention Assessment
  • Jithvan AriyaratneA Novel Nordic Challenge: The Relationship Between Migration and Crime in Sweden

 

3:15 pm to 3:25 pm: Break | Wellness Lounge – Boardroom Lounge

3:25 pm to 4:30 pm: Three Minute Thesis Presentations – Part II | Seeley Hall

Presentation order
  • Mac XingOn-Target Off-Tumour CAR-T Cell Activity Against CD19+ Brain Mural Cells as a Pathway of CAR-T-Cell-Induced Neurotoxicity
  • Daniel FragomeniInvestigating the Effects of the HLA-DR5 Allele on Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis
  • Sabrina ZhuCharacterizing METTL13 as a Novel Therapeutic Target in Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma
  • Mia SungUnraveling the Role of the MYCN Gene in Silencing Oncogenes and Initiating Spontaneous Regression in Neuroblastoma
  • Yuri ChoiAntagonism at its Best: The Impact of Glucocorticoid Receptor Antagonists on Dissociative Amnesia
  • Yixiang ZhangRole of genus Bacteroides in the human gut microbiota in inducing neuroinflammation and Aβ deposition
  • Meghan Yeung – The Elements of Context
  • Suha UsmaniInvestigating the correlation between microbial gut dysbiosis and autism spectrum disorder.
  • Samuel HoogsteenFundamental Structures for Economic Modelling of Prosocial Decision Making
  • Yujin Choi Surveillance Capitalism: Its Threats and the US Federal Response
  • Ana Maria Guevara Ibarra Can conditional cash transfers mitigate property? A Case Study of Prospera-Oportunidades-Progresa in Mexico
  • Alyssa UkaniThinking Out Loud: Linguistic Contributions to the Categorization Debate
  • Laura ChenThe Psychology of Educational Performance: The Effect of Syllabus Perceptual Fluency on Students’ Self-Efficacy

 

4:30 pm: Closing Remarks


TCURC is organized by Trinity College’s Academic Dons & Academic Peer Advisors, in collaboration with the Margaret MacMillan Trinity One Program.