At its annual Graduate Symposium on Science, Technology and Health, the Katz School of Science and Health showcased the next generation of scientific and technological innovators, where students presented pioneering research designed to improve lives and tackle global challenges. The symposium highlighted projects across disciplines—from artificial intelligence and biotechnology to occupational therapy and digital marketing—demonstrating the Katz School’s commitment to advancing knowledge and preparing students to lead in a rapidly evolving world.
Dean Paul Russo called the symposium “one of the highlights of our year,” a moment when the »ĆąĎĘÓƵ community comes together to celebrate the talents, creativity and passion of its graduate students. This year’s standout projects included AI-powered tools to improve lung cancer detection, intergenerational trauma on children’s development and how diet affects diabetics, as well as cross-disciplinary work to facilitate children’s development through play and to create a rare disease database to improve diagnosis and treatment.
Each project below reflects the school’s mission, said Dean Russo, to “make the world smarter, safer and healthier”:
“LungAware: AI Lung Cancer Detection App” Nikhil Deekonda. Faculty mentor: Youshan Zhang
“RetinFormer: Augmented ViT-based Retinopathy Classification" Hyeonwook Kim and Puneeth Batchu. Faculty mentor: Ming Ma
“LLM-Enhanced mmWave Data Synthesis for Environment-Adaptive Human Activity Recognition Chengyi Liu. Faculty mentor: Yucheng Xie
“Confident Pseudo-labeled Diffusion Augmentation for Canine Cardiomegaly Detection” Shiman Zhang. Faculty mentor: Youshan Zhang
“AI-Powered Play Assessment Using Video Language Models” Dengyi Liu, Vanessa Murad and Chana Cunin. Faculty mentors: Amiya Waldman-Levi and Honggang Wang
“DX-Mamba: Exploring State Space Model for Dog X-ray Report Generation” Jialu Li. Faculty mentor: Youshan Zhang
Biotechnology Management and Entrepreneurship
“Studies of SUMO Protein and Spermatogenesis Using Transgenic Mouse Models” Tahereh Ghafoori and Rupali Khane. Faculty mentors: Margarita Vigodner and Benjamin Lucas
“Building a Global Rare Disease Information Hub to Advance Knowledge, Diagnosis, and Treatment” Naveen Khetarpal, Dandan Wang, Ebenezer Ajao and Prashant Soni. Faculty mentors: Rana Khan and Youshan Zhang
“Development of Radioimmunoconjugate for Diagnosis and Treatment of Osteosarcoma with a Focus in Pediatric Population” Jenny Maharjan. Faculty mentor: Robert Friedman. Industry Partner: Natasha Shtraizent
“Using PNA Oligomers for RNA Visualization and Function Inhibition” Rutu Jagtap and Andres Romero. Faculty mentors: Rana Khan and Irina Catrina
“A Unified Online Platform for University Student and Alumni Associations” Laticbe Elijah, Joy Awoleye and Christine Macharia. Faculty mentor: Elad Hod
Data Analytics and Visualization
“A Dynamic Framework for Optimizing Reward Policies in the Sharing Economy” Chengkun Yao and Cheng Li. Faculty mentor: David Li
“Hilton NY Fashion District: Reputation Marketing Strategy” Mansi Kamboj. Faculty mentor: Larry Cohen
“Revolutionizing Sternotomy: A Precision-Driven Approach to Safer and Faster Recovery” Vani Nair and Sheera Kraitberg. Faculty mentor: Thomas Kennon. Corporate Partner: Healers
“Beyond the Classroom: Shaping Student Identity Online” Sagarika Shrestha. Faculty mentor: Joseph Panzarella
Occupational Therapy Doctorate
“Measuring Cognition and Self Care Ability in Multiple Sclerosis Using the Expanded Disability Status Scale” Arielle Caplan. Faculty mentors: Marissa Barrera and Gioia Ciani
“Resource for Dental Professionals Providing Care to Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder Utilizing Occupational Therapy Modalities” Lior Nissanian. Faculty mentor: Amiya Waldman-Levi
“Steady Steps Outdoors: An Outdoor Fall Prevention Program” Briana Tucci. Faculty mentor: Alexandra Laghezza
“Promoting Family Resilience: Tier-1 Strength-Based Program to Enhance Parent-Child Play Interactions” Bella Chilczuk. Faculty mentors: Amiya Waldman-Levi and Sarah Fabrizi
“Effectiveness of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Acute Ulcerative Colitis: A Systematic Review of Clinical Outcomes” Ewa Gerlak. Faculty mentor: Margaret Ewen
“Safety & Efficacy of Topical Ruxolitinib vs. Corticosteroids in the Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis” Allison Moore. Faculty mentor: Margaret Ewen
“Efficacy of the Ketogenic Diet in Reducing Hemoglobin A1c for Glycemic Control in Overweight Type 2 Diabetics” Ilana Rouhani. Faculty mentor: Margaret Ewen
“The Intergenerational Effects of Parental Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on a Child’s Development” Kayla Bissell. Faculty mentor: Elisabeth Mlawski
“Exploring Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder: A Multi-Factor Approach” Samantha Golin. Faculty mentors: Marissa Barrera and Kathleen Fitzgerald
“Maximizing Speech Outcomes in Children with ASD: Group vs. Individual Therapy” Sharon Matalon. Faculty mentor: Michaela Medved
“Shaping Androgynous Voice: Bridging the Research Gap in Gender-Affirming Voice Therapy” Genevieve Shaffer. Faculty mentor: Andrew Christler
“Cognitive Crossroads: PTSD, Executive Function, and the Role of the Medical Speech-Language Pathologists” Brooke Smith. Faculty mentor: Marissa Barrera
