Aditi Prabhala

Major: Bioengineering
Mentor: Dr. Michael Regnier, professor of Bioengineering
Project: Investigating the Protein Dynamics of Mutant R369Q β-myosin Heavy Chain in Silico

Abstract:
Mutations in β-myosin heavy chain (MHC) have been implicated in the manifestation of cardiomyopathies. One such iteration of disease, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), results in a progressive loss of muscle in the heart, causing a dilation of the chambers that makes it more difficult for the heart to pump blood and leads to progressive heart failure. Current methods of treating cardiomyopathies are ineffective and target secondary manifestations of heart disease rather than the mutagenic causes. Our aim is to better understand the pathogenesis of cardiomyopathies by studying a particular disease-associated mutation, R369Q, that resides on loop 4 of the β-MHC structure and is implicated in actin-myosin interaction. Here, I studied the molecular mechanistic effect of the R369Q mutation on β-MHC and its role in the DCM phenotype through in silico molecular dynamics experiments comparing the mutant myosin structure to the wild type. Particularly, I examined the flexibility of loop 4, coordination of the nucleotide binding pocket, and electrostatic interactions along the actin interface. We expect to see decreased electrostatic interactions along the actin interface as the loss of a positive charge in this mutant will reduce the affinity of myosin for the negatively charged actin. This work provides a strong foundational hypothesis for the atomic-level impact of the R369Q mutation on myosin dynamics and will be used to design a therapeutic small molecule as well as corroborate in vitro experiments testing the biochemical function of mutant myosin in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs). Thus, computational and experimental approaches work in synergy in the comprehensive project, informing each other’s results to get a better picture of R369Q’s role in cardiomyopathies at a molecular level and forming a framework for future analyses of β-MHC mutations.

Julia Carp

Major: Art
Mentor: Dr. Michael Swaine, assistant professor of school of art, art history, and design
Project: The Empathy Fortress

Artist Statement:
This installation is part of ongoing research I am conducting through my interdisciplinary art practice, blossoming out of a fascination with people, their immediate experience, language and healing. When someone interacts with a space or object, whether it is a work of art, another person or the natural world, the felt sense in their body changes, sometimes in subtle and transient ways, other times more obviously pervading. Shortly after absorbing, expressing or repressing the feeling of the moment, language is often added in an attempt to identify the intangible experience we are having. This process happens almost instantaneously. So why does this matter? This matters because artists, similarly to therapists or children, have the unique potential to meet people and moments exactly where they are, an act of empathetic courage that is so desperately needed on a large scale in today’s world. Does the potency of a moment change in an environment where words and other technologies are very intentionally omitted or integrated? How do the spaces we inhabit enforce monotony and isolation? Can prolonged attention empower individuals to feel seen and connected to places and people they were otherwise unassociated with? These are some of the questions I am diving into. This project hypothesizes that understanding is not primarily linguistic, instead an energetic and artistic practice that can be catalyzed with loving-awareness and time as a medium. In this research, I am linking together social action, craft, performance art, science and alchemy in hopes of creating validated individuals and therefore more kind and conscious communities.

Aditi Prabhala

Major: Anthropology: Medical & Health, Food Systems, Nutrition
Mentor: Dr. Jennfier Salk, associate professor of dance; Jenn Pray, pre-doctoral lecturer
Project: i was eating sushi that day…. – Embodied Nature and Experiences

Artist Statement:
People embody the joy and pain of nature through their own experiences, and have been sharing and cherishing this interconnectedness from time immemorial through paintings, stories, songs, dance, and more. I am a migrant living in a foreign country. i was eating sushi that day…. is a solo dance and an ethnographic research project, exploring ways in which I connect to, resonate with, and embody nature and personal experiences through performance. The awe-inspiring habit of salmon migration sparks my curiosity about the complex and multifaceted nature of human migration. As anadromous fish, salmon spend their juvenile life in rivers, and migrate to the ocean where they spend their adult life. They return to the upstream rivers to reproduce when they reach sexual maturity. Salmon are able to precisely return to their natal river, and even to the very spawning ground of their birth. This creative research explores my questions around identity and the idea of belonging through examining migrating salmon, and my own migrating experiences. What is the definition of home? Is it where you were born, reproduce, and die? Or where you mature? Salmon migrate to optimize their chance of reproduction as it defines their success. What about humans? What are we migrating for? Are we ultimately going to return to where we were from? My creative process starts with producing a soundscore combining text, breathing, and waves. The choreography is inspired by and generated through filmed improvisations as I experiment with different ways to interact with the soundscore and the props, always keeping my research questions in mind. The piece is a product of my desire to understand and reify the fear, confusion, exhaustion, excitement, and hope in the process of migration.

Shaheer Ahmed Abbasi

Major: Economics, Political Science
Mentor: Dr. Isabelle Cohen, assistant professor of public policy and governance
Project: The Impact of State-level Taxation on Interstate Migration in the United States

Abstract:
Policymakers in the United States often express concerns of their state tax base being reduced if taxes are increased because higher taxes will encourage richer taxpayers to relocate. The notion that a taxpayer’s decision to move is influenced by the level of taxation they experience is reinforced by current migration trends. In 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act placed a limit on the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction, meaning that high income taxpayers have a limit on how much their state and local tax payments can reduce their federal tax burden. The increase of the share of state and local taxes in the overall tax burden of taxpayers is felt differently based on the level of taxation by state. I researched the extent to which the SALT deduction cap in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act impacts interstate migration in the United States and its variation amongst different income groups. I conducted a difference in differences analysis using Internal Revenue Service Statistics of Income interstate migration data and taxation data from 2011 to 2020. There was an increase in the migration outflow from states with high taxation levels caused by the tax code change. Such increase was modest because taxation only marginally influences a person’s decision to relocate, compared to other factors such as job prospects and cost of living. This research shows that while the change in migration from taxation should be considered by state policymakers, the concern that the tax base will dramatically decrease from a tax increase is overblown. This research can be built upon by conducting a similar analysis in five to ten years to measure the long-term effects.