
Series
Meet the Researcher
Research isn’t just about lab coats and science experiments. UConn researchers advance our understanding of fields of study as diverse as literature, environmental sciences, cybersecurity, health behaviors, and more. Learn more about the path that led some student and faculty researchers to their areas of expertise, and how their research leads to discoveries that impact scholarship, the economy, and our society.
Meet the Researcher: Diane Burgess, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Diane Burgess, PhD, is one of the most active researchers in UConn’s School of Pharmacy. Take a peek inside her labs and learn more about her accomplishments as a globally recognized researcher, experienced collaborator, and dedicated educator. Burgess doesn’t have one lab in the UConn School of Pharmacy—she has four. The space she has been […]
March 14, 2018 | Jessica McBride, PhD
Meet the Researcher: Bahram Javidi, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Matchbox cars, fish tanks, mini soccer balls — looking around the Multidimensional Optical Sensing & Imaging Systems lab (MOSIS) in UConn’s School of Engineering, you might think you’re in a toy store. But the cutting-edge research conducted by Bahram Javidi, and his crew of student researchers is anything but child’s play. With these everyday items as […]
March 26, 2018 | Jessica McBride, PhD
Meet the Researcher: Jacqueline Loss, Latin American Literature and Culture
While the United States government did not restore diplomatic ties with Cuba until 2015, the island nation with a fascinating history has been of interest for Jacqueline Loss since the beginning of her academic career. Loss is professor of Latin American literary and cultural studies at the University of Connecticut in the Department of Literatures, […]
May 21, 2018 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Building a Research Career at UConn
Sometimes walking into a professor’s office hours can launch a student on an incredible research track. Pierre Fils, a first-year graduate student on the Ph.D. track in structural engineering at the University of Connecticut, did just that his junior year. When he went to his design of steel structures professor, Arash Zaghi’s, office, Fils was […]
October 5, 2018 | Jessica McBride, PhD
Building a Research Career at UConn
Sometimes walking into a professor’s office hours can launch a student on an incredible research track. Pierre Fils, a first-year graduate student on the Ph.D. track in structural engineering at the University of Connecticut, did just that his junior year. When he went to his design of steel structures professor, Arash Zaghi’s, office, Fils was […]
October 5, 2018 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Making Research Connections at UConn
Riley Blumenfield, a materials science and engineering student, Honors Program STEM scholar, and president of engineering sorority Phi Sigma Rho came to UConn knowing she wanted to be involved with research, but she didn’t know where to start. After attending an annual event to expose undergrads to a host of opportunities, she not only found […]
October 10, 2018 | Carson Stifel ‘21 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Lisa Eaton, Human Development and Family Studies
Wandering through a graveyard on a genealogical expedition with her father, a young Lisa Eaton noticed tombstone after tombstone of young mothers and their babies from centuries ago. Her father told her: “We’re just getting out of the dark ages of medicine.” These early adventures had a lasting impact on Eaton, who has since dedicated […]
November 13, 2018 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researchers: Spirochete Labs
Anyone who has had to move knows what a pain it is. But imagine not just moving geographically, but switching between completely different biological environments with different nutrients available and immune systems working against you – well that’s the life cycle of Borrelia burgdorferi the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. The most prevalent arthropod-borne infection […]
January 22, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Mark Litt, UConn Health
“Why do we do that?” Substitute “do that” with any number of behaviors: smoking cigarettes even though we know it’s bad for us, drinking too much, picking up a vaping habit, and you have what Mark Litt has dedicated his life to investigating. Litt, a professor of oral health and diagnostic sciences and psychiatry in […]
February 28, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Isabella Saraceni ’19, Fine Arts
Wandering through the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, Isabella Saraceni was initially captivated by the work of the great masters of art that surrounded her: Botticelli, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Raphael. But after a few visits to the gallery, Saraceni eventually began to notice a conspicuous absence in the displayed collection: where were the women […]
April 5, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Sina Shahbazmohamadi at UConn Tech Park
Sina Shahbazmohamadi wears his long black hair in a ponytail pulled back from his bearded face and smiles eagerly as he begins to talk about his work at the Innovation Partnership Building (IPB) at UConn Tech Park. A mechanical engineer by training, Shahbazmohamadi does advanced research in 3D imaging at the Reverse Engineering, Fabrication, Inspection […]
April 9, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet The Researcher: Analyse Giordano ’20, Allied Health
Analyse Giordano is a junior majoring in allied health sciences at the University of Connecticut. She has her eyes set on going to med school, but there’s a lot she wants to get done first, including potentially groundbreaking research. Giordano was recently named a University Scholar and received a SURF award for her project developing […]
April 26, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher Solving Problems in 3D
We’ve all watched videos, mesmerized, while a machine adds layer upon layer to 3D print anything from a model of the Eiffel Tower to a rubber duck. Aside from being really cool, this technology has tremendous implications for revolutionizing companies’ manufacturing processes. Under the leadership of Castleman Term Associate Professor in Engineering Innovation Rainer Hebert, […]
May 3, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Quantifying Chaos with Emmanouil Anagnostou
Sitting glued to the evening news as a lively weatherperson displays colorful maps with patches of snow, ice and rain is a familiar pastime for anyone who has lived in New England. From blizzards and ice storms to hurricanes and tornadoes, extreme weather is a fact of life, and one of its worst side effects […]
May 28, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Beth Taylor, Kinesiology
Beth Taylor is a lifelong runner and she is someone who has been lucky enough to turn her passion for exercise and health in to a career in kinesiology. Taylor is an associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut and director of exercise physiology research in Cardiology at Hartford Hospital. After graduating from […]
June 10, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Nora Madjar, Management
Nora Madjar has devoted her career to studying how creativity and negotiation can get employers and employees the best deal.
July 11, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Carlos Trallero, Physics
Carlos Trallero views physics as the 'broadest' science since it has unique applications to math, engineering, chemistry and, even, biology.
August 19, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Richard Ashby Wilson, Law and Anthropology
World events have always shaped Richard Wilson Ashby's research.
September 10, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Chelsea Garcia ’20, Nutritional Sciences
“I want to continue to do research and relay those findings to the public with the hopes of having a positive impact,” says Chelsea Garcia '20 (CAHNR).
September 25, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: George Bollas, UConn Tech Park
Led by George Bollas, the United Technologies Corporation Institute for Advanced Systems Engineering (UTC-IASE) has been solving these real-world problems for industry since 2013.
October 2, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Devin Kearns, Education
"Professor Kearns’ ongoing work in the areas of special education and reading intervention, coupled with technologies like brain imaging, offers a fresh perspective into strategies that can ultimately help our schools successfully serve the needs of all students,” says Gladis Kersaint, dean of Neag School of Education.
October 7, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Isabella Ferrante ’19, History
A UConn student turned her childhood love of history into a research project that took her from Stamford to the British National Archives to study World War I.
October 15, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Alix Deymier, Dental Medicine & Engineering
UConn's Alix Deymier has taken an unorthodox route to being a bone researcher, but has always been guided by insatiable curiosity.
October 23, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Samantha Siedlecki, Marine Sciences
Samantha Siedlecki spearheads research on coastal environments, and is currently developing a regional model of ocean acidification for the East Coast.
November 18, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Riqiang Yan, Neuroscience
Riqiang Yan initially started out researching in a different medical specialty altogether, but after turning his attention to Alzheimer's disease has become one of the world's preeminent experts on the illness.
November 25, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Zhe Zhu, Natural Resources and the Environment
UConn Professor Zhe Zhu is an expert on what we can learn about what's happening on earth from images produced by satellites in outer space.
December 11, 2019 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Valeria Sarmiento ’20, Molecular & Cell Biology
Valeria Sarmiento forged her own path at UConn to unite her twin passions for science and helping others.
March 11, 2020 | Samantha Korittke '21 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Clewiston Challenger, Educational Psychology
Educational psychologist Clewiston Challenger talks about his journey from the gridiron to innovative research about students of color in higher education.
March 19, 2020 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Cheryl Beck
Cheryl Beck has devoted her research career to helping women struggling with postpartum depression and traumatic birth experiences.
May 4, 2020 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Raman Bahal, School of Pharmacy
Raman Bahal explores research that he hopes to move "from bench to bedside," furthering treatments for patients in clinical settings.
July 9, 2020 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher Beth Russell, Human Development and Family Sciences
For researcher Beth Russell, her work is not only fascinating, it has potentially far-reaching impacts on people's daily lives.
July 15, 2020 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Xiaomei Cong, School of Nursing
UConn researcher Xiaomei Cong's work builds on insights she first had as a nurse in a neonatal intensive care unit.
August 25, 2020 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Tannin Schmidt, Biomedical Engineering
UConn researcher Tannin Schmidt is constantly pursuing discoveries that could lead to new opportunities.
September 8, 2020 | Samantha Korittke '21 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Noah Sobel-Pressman ’21, Entrepreneurship
Noah Sobel-Pressman '21 (BUS) is putting his interests in entrepreneurship to use, and in doing so is giving a boost to his fellow students.
October 9, 2020 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Brianna Chance ’23, Music
Brianna Chance '23 (SFA) roots her research in the experiences of people of color in the arts world.
October 15, 2020 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Sarah Tsuruo ’21 (CLAS)
Sarah Tsuruo '21 (CLAS) says pursuing a multifaceted career as an undergraduate researcher requires determination.
October 22, 2020 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Ashwin Dani, Electrical and Computer Engineering
UConn researcher Ashwin Dani is proving that robots have a place in everything from factories to lunar missions.
December 2, 2020 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Greg Sartor, School of Pharmacy
Greg Sartor, an assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology in the School of Pharmacy, has dedicated his career to understanding how molecular-scale events in the brain drive substance use disorder.
December 7, 2020 | Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research
Meet the Researcher: Michelle Williams
Psychological sciences researcher Michelle Williams says her research doesn't achieve its purpose if it can't lead to interventions that can provide help.
January 12, 2021 | Anna Zarra Alrdich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research