Project Title: Structural Studies of Microtubule Assemblies: Dynein and Dynactin

Project Title:  Methylation Analysis of the G-C Rich DMPK Gene: Causation for the Severity Difference Between Adult-Onset and Congenital Myotonic Dystrophy? 

Project Title: The Role of Bcl-2 in neuronal survival and migration in developing chick midbrain

Project Title: MicroRNAs Associated with Environmental Stress

Honors, Awards, and Activities: 2008 NSF EPSCoR Summer Research Intern,Beta Beta Beta Biological Sciences Honor Society, Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Department of Chemistry/Biochemistry PLTL Leader, 2008 General Honors Certificate, 2009 HHMI Summer Research Scholar, 

Presentations: 2008 Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium,  2009 Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium, 

Fall 2010:  Yale University, Doctoral program

Project Title: Alpha-Helical Mimics to Inhibit HIV-1 Membrane Fusion

Project Title: Characterization of De-adapted DTAC Resistant Salmonella enterica

Project Title:  Characterization of human neural progenitor cell differentiation in chick embryos

Honors, Awards, and Activities: Phi Sigma Pi Co-Ed National Honor Fraternity, Beta Beta Beta Biology Honor Society, Alpha Lambda Delta National First Year Honor Society, Russell Fellow for the Honors Program, 2009 HHMI Summer Research Scholar, 

Presentations: 2009 Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium, 


Fall 2011: Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University

Project Title: Expression and Purification of G-Protein Coupled Receptor Fragments

Presentations: 2008 Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium, 2009 Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium,

Fall 2010: Medical School, Jefferson Medical College

Project Title:  Stabilization and Membrane Binding of Platelet Activating Factor Acetylhydrolase type-II (PAFAH-II)

Project Title:    Using 4-fluoroprolines to investigate cis/trans isomerization in tau peptides

Project Title:  Mathematical Modeling of Non-native Protein Aggregation Kinetics Accounting for the Dynamics of Monomeric Unfolding and Pre-nucleation Steps

Project Title: Elucidating the Role of Mitochondrial Transporters in Regulating Lipogenesis in Adipocytes

Project Title:  The Expression Hyaluronic Acid Receptor Proteins and Their Roles in Bone Metastasis

Project Title: Quantifying Competition Among Native Bird Species: The House Wren and Bewick's Wren

Honors, Awards, and Activities: 2008 HHMI Summer Research Scholar, UD Ultimate Frisbee Team, Excewllence Award in Italian, 2009 HHMI Summer Research Scholar,

Project Title:  Extracellular modulators of signaling pathways in Drosophila as a model for articular cartilage maintenance in osteoarthritis

Project Title:  The Innate Immune System and Expression and Characterization of RIG-I and MDA5

Project Title: Effect of gender on bone properties in a mouse model of sub-efficient protein synthesis

Publications: Daniel S. Oristan, Laura G. Sloofman, Xhaozhou Zhou , Liuyun Wang , Mary C. Farach-Carson , Catherine B. Kirn-Safran  (2008) Ribosomal protein L29/HIP deficiency delays osteogenesis and increases fragility of adult bone in mice. J Orthop Res. Published on-line.

Laura G. Sloofman , Verdelis K, Spevak L, Zayzafoon M, Yamauchi M, Opdenaker LM, Farach-Carson MC, Boskey AL, Kirn-Safran CB. (2010) Effect of HIP/ribosomal protein L29 deficiency on mineral properties of murine bones and teeth. Bone 47: 93-101.

Fall 2010: PhD Program, University of Illinois Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, Urbana-Champaign

Project Title:  The Role of UPR in Connexin 50 Mutants

Fall 2010: Peace Corps

Project Title: Oxidative Stress and Microvascular Function in Chronic Kidney Disease

Project Title:

Project Title:  Mathematical Simulation of Drug Toxicity in the Human Body

Honors, Awards, and Activities: HHMI 2009 Summer Scholar,

Presentations: 2009 Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium,