2020 ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENT PAGE 1-2 ABSTRACTS BY CATEGORIES PAGE 3-436 BASIC BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES ............................................................................................ PAGE 3-11 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING .............................................................................................. PAGE 12-30 BUSINESS ......................................................................................................................... PAGE 31-40 CANCER/ONCOLOGY ........................................................................................................ PAGE 41-53 CARDIOLOGY/CARDIOVASCULAR RESEARCH .................................................................. PAGE 54-59 CLINICAL SPECIALTIES ..................................................................................................... PAGE 60-69 CREATIVE ARTS ................................................................................................................ PAGE 70-73 DRUG ABUSE ......................................................................................................................... PAGE 74 EDUCATION ...................................................................................................................... PAGE 75-87 EDUCATIONAL HEALTH SERVICES ................................................................................... PAGE 88-90 ENGINEERING ................................................................................................................. PAGE 91-119 ENVIRONMENTAL AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH ......................................................... PAGE 120-131 EPIDEMIOLOGY AND BIOSTATISTICS ........................................................................... PAGE 132-137 EXERCISE AND NUTRITION SCIENCES ........................................................................... PAGE 138-139 GLOBAL HEALTH .......................................................................................................... PAGE 140-144 HEALTH POLICY AND MANAGEMENT .................................................................................. PAGE 145 HEALTH SCIENCES ........................................................................................................ PAGE 146-184 HIV/AIDS ...................................................................................................................... PAGE 185-192 HUMANITIES ................................................................................................................. PAGE 193-212 IMMUNOLOGY/INFECTIOUS DISEASES .......................................................................... PAGE 213-215 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS ............................................................................................ PAGE 216-230 NATURAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS..................................................................... PAGE 231-309 NEUROSCIENCE ............................................................................................................ PAGE 310-324 OBESITY .............................................................................................................................. PAGE 325 PREVENTION AND COMMUNITY HEALTH ..................................................................... PAGE 326-330 PSYCHIATRY/MENTAL HEALTH ........................................................................................... PAGE 331 PUBLIC HEALTH ........................................................................................................... PAGE 332-344 QUALITY IMPROVEMENT .............................................................................................. PAGE 345-357 REHABILITATION AND RECOVERY ...................................................................................... PAGE 358 SOCIAL SCIENCES ......................................................................................................... PAGE 359-432 WOMEN/CHILD HEALTH ............................................................................................... PAGE 433-436 SPECIAL PRIZES PAGE 437-439 SPECIAL PRIZE SUBMISSIONS ....................................................................................... PAGE 437-438 THANK YOU TO SPECIAL PRIZE SPONSORS .......................................................................... PAGE 439 THANK YOU MENTORS PAGE 440 ACKNOWLEDGMENT GW Research Showcase 2020 was scheduled to be held on Tuesday, April 7th, 2020. Organizers made the difficult decision to cancel the event in light of the rapidly changing circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. It marked the first time this annual celebration had been canceled in more than 20 years. The organizers wish to acknowledge the hard work and research accomplishments of GW’s students and research mentors by publishing this digital booklet containing all of the abstracts that were received. The submissions exemplify the high-impact research, scholarship and creativity that is being conducted at GW. GW Research Showcase would not be possible without the support of numerous partners. A special acknowledgement is due to co-organizers from the Center for Undergraduate Fellowships and Research and GW Libraries and Academic Innovation. Additionally, the following collaborators provided key support or planned an exhibit at the event: At the George Washington University • Office of the President • Office of the Provost • Columbian College of Arts and Sciences • School of Medicine and Health Sciences • School of Engineering and Applied Science • Milken Institute School of Public Health • Elliott School of International Affairs • Graduate School of Education and Human Development • School of Media and Public Affairs • School of Nursing • GW School of Business • College of Professional Studies • GW Law School • Corcoran School of the Arts and Design • Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration • GW Institute for Biomedical Sciences • Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library • Office for Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement • Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service • Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship • Global Women’s Institute • Sustainable GW • GW Nanofabrication and Imaging Center 1 • Office of the Vice President for Research • Department of Athletics and Recreation • Division of Information Technology • Division of Development and Alumni Relations • Division of External Relations • Office of Enrollment and Student Success • Office of Student Success • Office of Student Financial Assistance • GW Presidential Fellowship • GW Continuous Improvement and Business Advisory Services • Center for Career Services • Office of Survey Research and Analysis • Office of Research Integrity • Office of Industry and Corporate Research • Technology Commercialization Office • GW Undergraduate Review • GW COMPASS • GW Postdoc Association External partners • Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Children’s National • National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Program • C2 Imaging 2 Basic Biomedical Sciences Children's National Medical Center PRIMARY PRESENTER Olivia Lamanna STATUS Staff AUTHORS Olivia Lamanna, Evaristus Mbanefo, Kenji Ishida, Franco Falcone, Theodore Jardetzky, Luke Pennington, Michael Hsieh RESEARCH MENTOR/DEPARTMENT CHAIR Michael Hsieh ABSTRACT H-IPSE, a Pathogen-Secreted Host Nucleus-Infiltrating Protein (Infiltrin), is Mainly Internalized through Clathrin-Mediated Mechanisms by a Specific Range of Target Cells IPSE (IL-4 Inducing Principle from Schistosoma mansoni Eggs) is one of the most abundant egg secreted proteins of the Schistosoma parasite. IPSE in an immunomodulatory protein that interacts with IgE on the surface of basophils to induce IL-4 secretion, triggers Breg cell activation, and, as an infiltrin, translocates into host cell nuclei to alter host transcription. Given these functions, IPSE is a candidate therapeutic for inflammatory disorders. IPSE binds to DC-SIGN and the mannose receptor, suggesting it may have specific cellular receptors. Our objective was to characterize which cell types internalize H-IPSE (the Schistosoma haematobium ortholog of IPSE) and determine if this occurs by clathrin- and/or caveolin-mediated endocytosis. H-IPSE variants H03 and H06 were conjugated to Alexa-488 fluorophore and flow cytometry was used to quantify internalization. H03 was incubated with urothelial, endothelial, immature dendritic, hepatocyte, and neuronal cell lines for 24hrs. The percentage of cells positive for intracellular H03 was 78, 28, 38, 40, and 7 percent, respectively. Urothelial cells were pre-treated with filipin (inhibiting caveolin-mediated endocytosis) and/or chlorpromazine (inhibiting clathrin-mediated endocytosis) before treatment with H03 or H06. When cells were pre-treated with chlorpromazine, the proportion of cells positive for IPSE was similar to that of untreated cells, suggesting IPSE utilizes mainly clathrin-dependent mechanisms. H-IPSE’s minimal internalization by hepatocytes suggests that IPSE may not be hepatotoxic or contradictory to previous findings. Our unpublished data showing that IPSE alleviates capsaicin receptor-mediated pain, led us to postulate that IPSE acts through the capsaicin receptor on nociceptive neurons. However, our findings indicate that IPSE is inefficiently taken up by neurons and may be inducing neuronal effects despite inefficient uptake, or through an alternative pathway. Additional research is underway on IPSE’s endosomal escape mechanisms and