Name: Cliff Thomas

Major: Biochemistry

College: University of Southern Oregon

I’m currently researching leukemia-like hyperplasia in Drosophila melanogaster.  The purpose of this is to elucidate genes involved in the cancer response and relate that information back to humans.  I recently finished my degree in biochemistry, and my future plans are to  take a break.

Name: Michelle Stein

Major: Biology & Anthropology

College: Notre Dame

Name: Andrew Warren

Major: Biomedical Engineering

College: John Hopkins University

Name: Ciara Reyes

Major: Biology & Humanities

College: Valparaiso University

Ciara is a junior at Valparaiso University and is currently studying the expression of bovine rhodopsins in Drosophila and their relationship with rdgC, a mutation that results in retinal degeneration.  In her free time she enjoys singing, playing the melodica and watching 1930s-40s era films.  In the ever so near future, she plans to pursue a PhD in Genetics.

Name: Andy Gloss

Major: Biology

College: Notre Dame

Name: Noraliz Miranda

Major: Biomedics

College: University of Puerto Rico

Noraliz Miranda Miranda is a junior in the University of Puerto Rico in Aguadilla Campus. Her research at Notre Dame involved using and agent based model to test the rate and route of pathogen transmission among long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in Bali, Indonesia. She enjoys reading and had an awesome summer being part of the REU program.

Name: Melissa Harintho

Major: Biology & Theology

College: Notre Dame

My major is Biology and I am a Theology minor. I study host-cell interaction in leishmaniasis, specifically developing live cell imaging techniques to observe the recruitment of endosomal and lysosomal proteins during delayed phagosome maturation. My family is from Indonesia; and I enjoy playing the piano, reading, and playing soccer and basketball.

Name: Josh Oberley

Major: Biology

College: Pensacola Christian College

Name: Eric Hawley

Major: Biology & Latin American Studies

College: Depauw University

My name is Eric Hawley and I am from Indianapolis. I go to DePauw University where I will be a rising Junior and a Biology and Latin American and Caribbean Studies double major. This summer I worked on a bioinformatics project studying a protein transport pathway in the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. The faculty and facilities at Notre Dame are excellent and it has been a great summer.

Name: Rafael Ramirez Montanez

Major: Biotechnology

College: Universidad del Sagrado Corazon

I'm Rafy, 22 years old, rising senior at The University of the Sacred Heart in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I’ve conducted research under the supervision of Dr. Malcolm Fraser. My research tries to demonstrate a plausible route against Hepatitis C Virus disease by generating a Group I intron able to bind and splice at a specific target site in HCV's genome. Future career plans include going to grad school for a PhD in Bionanotechnology and becoming a faculty member at The University of the Sacred Heart.

Name: Samuel Lopez Nieves

Major: Biomedics

College: University of Puerto Rico

Name: Jerry Shields

Major: Biology & Chinese

College: Notre Dame

Jerry Shields is a senior at Notre Dame studying the signals involved in zebrafish retinal regeneration.  He is involved in knocking down a certain gene, vsx2, and observing the effect it has on the regenerative process. Jerry enjoys speaking Chinese and attended the Beijing Olympics in 2008.  He aspires to pursue an MD or MD/PhD in the future.

Name: Shanik Fernando

Major: Biology

College: Notre Dame

Name: Donna Cerabona

Major: Biology

College: Notre Dame

Name: Walter Johans

Major: Biology

College: University of Puerto Rico

I am currently working at the Ferdig laboratory with its ongoing research of malaria. The goal of our project was to study the relationship between multiple invasions (more than one parasite in a red blood cell) and parasitemia (amount of parasites per red blood cells). I enjoy sports, reading and listening to music. I am also a fan of art. My future goals is to have a profession medicine related.