What's New

Dr. William Morgan's lab is seeking an undergraduate researcher for assistant on a project investigating the impact of mindfulness on second language proficiency. This position is currently volunteer, though there are opportunities for funding in the future.

Overview: The aim of this project is to better understand first-generation college students' reasons for or against studying abroad. The project will involve creating a questionnaire to be administered to first-generation students about their views on study abroad and then doing some follow-up interviews with a sample of them. One goal is to gather ideas about potential interventions that would encourage more first-generation students to participate in a study abroad program during their time at WVU. 

Benefits: This position would involve reading some academic studies that focus on ways of encouraging underrepresented groups (including first-generation students) to participate in study abroad. Undergraduate researchers will also learn about online questionnaire design and interviewing techniques. Additionally, the researchers will learn how to analyze these sources of data using quantitative and qualitative methods. This research can be undertaken on a volunteer basis. This research experience may lead to continued involvement in research into the spring 2022 semester via a WVU research program (e.g., the Research Apprenticeship Program) or a faculty supported (i.e., paid) position.

Posted on July 2, 2021: Dr. Brandon Choi’s research lab is looking for 2-3 highly motivated undergraduate students to join our research group in the fall of 2021. The Choi lab studies how protein conformations are affected by devastating neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s. We use the cutting-edge single-molecule microscopy technique called smFRET (single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer) to identify and characterize the dynamic structures and protein-protein interactions of various proteins such as alpha-synuclein, amyloid beta, HTT, and SNAREs. 

Dr. Teiya Kijimoto’s lab is looking for two to three highly motivated undergraduate students during summer 2021 (and potentially extended to following semesters). 

The lab studies:

Researcher Needed!

 Posted on Jan 30, 2020: Dr. Sunil Sharma is looking for a motivated student who is interested in learning more about improving care for West Virginians who have limited access to health care. Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is a highly prevalent condition with fatal cardio-pulmonary implications. Though early recognition and treatment of SDB can avert heart failure, it is an under-recognized and under-diagnosed condition. Our novel hospital sleep medicine program provides cost effective early screening, diagnosis and intervention of SDB in hospitalized patients. The goal of this study is to evaluate the program’s effectiveness. We are interested in (i) the impact of early interventions on SDB in patients hospitalized for COPD exacerbation and (ii) screening of acute stroke patients with high resolution pulse-oximetry for undetected SDB.

Position starts early January (the week of Jan 13th at the latest) and runs through the Spring semester 2020.

Looking for students who are organized, efficient, and detailed-oriented and can work 10-20 hours per week in the Spring 2020 semester. Students will be required to complete the WVU online ethical training in order to work on the studies. 

The WVU Dept. of Geology and Geography Environmental Geochemistry lab is looking for an undergraduate researcher for the remainder of the Fall 2019 semester and until March 1, 2020. This is a paid position. Preference will be given to students with prior lab experience or lab coursework and those willing to work over winter break. Students will be expected to work 4-10 hours per week.

Researchers Needed: The Injury and Recovery Lab is currently recruiting students who are interested in behavioral neuroscience to work in an animal research laboratory studying treatments for traumatic brain injury. Typically, students work extensively with our animal subjects, performing daily testing in operant chambers (computer-controlled boxes which deliver sugar pellets based on animals’ responses). Although students typically start off with behavior, our lab also utilizes several “wet lab” procedures such as ELISA or immunohistochemistry.

Researchers Needed: The Weil lab is seeking 1-2 undergraduate researchers to assist in our work on the lifelong consequences of traumatic brain injuries. There are two lines of research in our lab that students can become involved with.

1) Energetic dysfunction in the brain following traumatic brain injury. This project investigates how brain injuries can impair the brain’s ability to process and utilize energy and how this can make the brain more vulnerable to other kinds of injuries, like repeated brain injuries, later on. 

2) Alcohol abuse after traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injuries early in life can increase the likelihood of developing alcohol abuse issues later on in life. Our lab is interested in trying to understand how a brain injury can lead to increases in drinking behavior.