Current Scholars

• My research applies natural language processing to cure problems in the patent system.

• A combination of new software tools and policy changes would allow dramatic increases in the accuracy and efficiency of many processes that drive the patent system.

​Awards/recognition since becoming an ARCS Scholar:

• Inducted as a Fellow in the National Academy of Inventors

• Regulatory T cells (Tregs) normally suppress the activity of other immune cells to prevent excessive inflammation, but in type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases the balance between Tregs and other immune cells is altered.
• Treg cell-therapy faces concerns with cell stability and regulatory hurdles.

• M.L Ratay, E.J. Bassin, S.C., Balmert, S.R. Little. An HDACi Microsphere for the Reduction of Inflammation in a Murine Model of Dry Eye Disease (manuscript submitted)
• Interdisciplinary Training in Transplantation Biology T32 Training Grant
• 1st Prize poster presentation University of Pittsburgh Immunology Scientific Retreat -1st and 2nd
  year graduate student
  category, 2016

• I am developing decoding algorithms to predict where the eyes are looking (eventually to be implemented in an “oculomotor brain-computer interface”).
• The developed algorithms will allow us to address questions about the neural basis of various perceptual phenomena.

• Department of Bioengineering Bevier Award; Behavioral Brain (B2) Research Training Program
• GAANN TRED SysMed Fellowship

• It is a reasonable assumption that anylarge-scale computer system has already been attacked, so defenders must not only attempt to keep attackers out, but they also must figure out what to do when an attacker inevitably gets into a system. While system administrators do not know all the vulnerabilities in their systems, they do understand how the systems are architected and how adversaries move through systems.
• My research leverages “thinking like an attacker” to generate potential paths through a system, assuming undiscovered vulnerabilities could exist. Based on thesepaths, expectations of attacker capabilities, and requirements for system functionality, my approach searches through a space of reconfiguration options to determine which architectural alternative is best at simultaneously keeping an attacker from progressing to critical functionality.

• Due to their coevolution in Africa, SIV infection in African species of NPHs is non-pathogenic and does not progress to SAIDS. Conversely, SIV infected Asian species of NHPs progress to SAIDS and model the comorbidities associated with HIV/AIDS in human beings. 
• My focus will be on microbial translocation in SIV infected Asian NHPs to investigate how the phenomenon drives infection, immune activation, comorbidity pathogenesis, as well as to bridge the gap in understanding of how Asian species of NHPs progress to SAIDS unlike their African counterparts.

• My current work consists of developing a new triage tool for emergency department patients using data mining and natural language processing.

Awards/Recognition since becoming an ARCS Scholar:

• Pre-doctoral Fellow: T32 Technology Research in Chronic and Critical Illness
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Future Nurse Scholar  (received the same time as ARCS)

• Finding important politicians through their voting connections.
• Grouping politicians to see who is really working together.
• Legislative forecasting.

• My current project examines cropswitching behavior due to soil salinization in Californian agriculture during the recent extreme drought.
• I use satellite imagery as a high-resolution option to quantify various environmental factors (e.g., salinity, precipitation, surface water).
• Satellite imagery is an excellent option for acquiring vast, detailed data across entireregions, and is well suited to Machine Learning techniques.

Awards/recognition since becoming an ARCS Scholar:

• Accepted into the dual PhD program (adding Civil and Environmental Engineering to PhD studies)