ACURA Winners 2023

Winners of the 2023 Abington Undergraduate Research Fair (ACURA)

Arts and Humanities:

First place: AH1 Attitudes toward Covid-19 among U.S. practitioners if Asian medicine 
Students: Priya Mathiy, Alyssa Dass, Sareena Gurung and Joshua M. Kuntz
Faculty mentor: Pierce Salguero

Second place: AH2 Enslavement to Sharecropping: Finding and marketing an independent identity for Stagville State Historic Site 
Students: Al-Abyad Hussein and Samuel Carper
Faculty Mentor: Sharon Holt 

Science and Engineering 

First place: SE6 Ascorbate has antiproliferative effects on gastrointestinal stromal tumor cells 
Students: Andrew Harnishfeger and Michael Krawitz
Mentor: Thomas Mcguire 

Second place: SE12 Using Consumer-Grade Electronics to Measure Vibration of Rocket During Engine Test 
Students: Akinade Peter-Koyl and Ryland Wulff  
Faculty Mentor: Masataka Okutsu 

Honorable mentions:  

  • SE14 Extraordinary Stability of MoSe2 Under High Dose Gamma-Ray Irradiation for Nuclear and Space Applications Students: Javari Cherry, Teresa Aditya, and Zhuhang Yu; Faculty Mentor: Burcu Ozden 
  • SE11 Using Augmented Reality to Design and Analyze Warehouses Students: Eric J. Estadt, Hoang Nguyen, Sethu Senthil, Parth Shah, Kevin Skinner; Faculty Mentor: Sabahattin Ozden 
  • SE13 Chemistry of Wine Students: Saranya Ananth, Margarita Badalyan, Alysse Tucker, Aidan Gonzalez, and Nour Alatki; Faculty Mentor: Kevin Cannon 

Social Sciences and Business

First place: SS1 Quality of Life and Coping in Individuals with Chronic Illness 
Student: Lexie Williams
Faculty Mentors: Diane Rosenbaum 

Second place: SS6 Social Influences on Video Gaming Behaviors in College Aged Populations 
Student: Jaden Jones
Faculty Mentor: Glenn Sterner 

Second place: SS10 Black Men's Romantic Partner Preferences: Exploring How Race and Color Matter 
Student: Dante Thomas
Faculty Mentor: Elizabeth Hughes 

Honorable mentions:  

  • SS8 Reproductive Justice Narratives of People with Disabilities: Overturned and Overlooked Student: Cameron Manser; Faculty Mentor: Abigal Akande 
  • SS3 "Cooking, Cleaning, and Contributions: Exploring Gendered Division of Labor in Thanksgiving Family Celebrations" Students: Kyleigh Byers, Emma Jamison, and Fi Montany; Faculty Mentor: Beth Montemurro 
  • SS5 Long-term Impacts of Clergy Perpetuated Child Sexual Abuse on Victims Student: Kayla Hernandez; Faculty Mentor: Glenn Sterner 
  • SS7 Examining Public Stigma Toward Substance Use Student: Maria Badalyan; Faculty Mentor: Glenn Sterner 

Library Award Winners

First place: Lexie Williams, “Quality of Life and Coping in Individuals with Chronic Illness” (Faculty Advisor: Diane Rosenbaum)

Second place: Kayla Hernandez, “Long-term Impacts of Clergy Perpetuated Child Sexual Abuse on Victims” (Faculty Advisor: Glenn Sterner)

Third place: Dante Thomas, “Black Men's Romantic Partner Preferences: Exploring How Race and Color Matter” (Faculty Advisor: Elizabeth Hughes)