In response to the urgent need for COVID-19 research, the University of Utah Office of Undergraduate Research has partnered with the Office of the Vice President for Research and the Immunology, Inflammation and Infectious Diseases (3i) Initiative to develop a special program to support the involvement of undergraduate student researchers in crucial Summer 2020 research. The program builds on the existing Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), providing undergraduate collaborators with a stipend for their remote research contributions.

View these research projects at the 2020 SUMMER symposIUM

Research mentors and students involved in this special program:

Research Mentor(s): Fred Adler
Student(s): Rebecca Bateman, Morgan Kelly
Project Title: Mathematically modeling the impact of viral interactions and evolution on the COVID-19 pandemic

Research Mentor(s): Kelly Baron
Student(s): Zachary Ta Ta, Sarah Trela-Hoskins
Project Title: Sleep, diet and physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic: Relationships with psychological adjustment and illness prevention behaviors

Research Mentor(s): Amy Bergerson
Student(s): Betsy Vega, Christopher Wallace-Carrete
Project Title: University of Utah Staff Perspectives on the Exceptional Educational Experience During COVID 19

Research Mentor(s): Krista Carlson
Student(s): Jerry Howard, Rachel D'Agostini
Project Title: Investigation of the silica sol-gel transition using percolation theory framework

Research Mentor(s): Ravi Chandran
Student(s): Brianna Ingersoll
Project Title: Physical Modeling of COVID-19 infection and spread and evalaution with emergent data

Research Mentor(s): Divya Chandrasekhar
Student(s): Juliemar Colon Medina
Project Title: Effectiveness of multi-hazard response planning for concurrent disasters (Case study: COVID-19 and post-earthquake response in the Salt Lake City Metro Region)

Research Mentor(s): Jiyoung Chang
Student(s): Zachary Lauritzen
Project Title: Understanding the capturing and evolving mechanisma of aerosols on nanofibers

Research Mentor(s): Kristin Cloyes
Student(s): Shaylie Platten
Project Title: Examining social support needs and networks of cancer survivors and their caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Research Mentor(s): Sheila Crowell, Elisabeth Conradt
Student(s): Michael Tao
Project Title: Advancing Current Understanding of how COVID-19 Affects Pregnancy and Childbirth: The COPE Study

Research Mentor(s): Julio Facelli
Student(s): Bernard Li
Project Title: Characterizing Local COVID-19 Emergent Phenomenon and Mitigation Using Computational Modeling

Research Mentor(s): Tracy Frech 
Student(s): Quinn Pritchett
Project Title: Developing COVID-19 guidelines for autoimmune disease patients

Research Mentor(s): Cindy Furse  
Student(s): Eva Pronovost, Isabel Fuller, Samuel Lakey
Project Title: Enhancing Education after Covid

Research Mentor(s): Jordan Gerton
Student(s): Ashley Merrell
Project Title: Investigating the Impact of COVID-19 on the Academic Experience and Career Aspirations of Students in the College of Science

Research Mentor(s): Sara Grineski  
Student(s): Shaylynn Trego
Project Title: Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Undergraduate Research Experiences: A Multi-institutional Study

Research Mentor(s): Beth Howard  
Student(s): Erica Lambers, MacKenzie Ridley
Project Title: Fostering a Sense of Belonging in a Remote Environment: What Can we Learn from COVID-19 Practices?

Research Mentor(s): Jake Jensen
Student(s): Olivia McQuarrie
Project Title: Tracking Public Communication, Perceptions, and Behaviors Related to COVID-19: Improving Health Communication about Infectious Diseases

Research Mentor(s): Lindsay Keegan 
Student(s): Jake Baldauf, Allison McElroy
Project Title: Enhancing Transmission Models of COVID-19 with New Data Sources

Research Mentor(s): Hanseup Kim  
Student(s): Sang Truong
Project Title: Integration of interface electronics for an Airborne virus detector prototype

Research Mentor(s): Joseph Kim  
Student(s): Somi Lee, Nathan Pfau
Project Title: Psychological Impact of Social Isolation in Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Research Mentor(s): Lars Laurentius, Marc Porter 
Student(s): Seth Ack, Tayla Chiang
Project Title: Multiplexed Detection of COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 Biomarkers for Diagnosis and Surveillance

Research Mentor(s): Monisha Pasupathi 
Student(s): Maia Southwick, Tracy Phan 
Project Title: College, Interrupted: Individual differences in freshmen college student mental health, identity, and retention in college as a function of COVID-19 disruptions to education across four institutions.

Research Mentor(s): Diane Pataki, Sonita Claiborne
Student(s): Alex Ballinger
Project Title: Communicating Research Information and Activities Through Digital Media

Research Mentor(s): Jon Rainier
Student(s): Kincade Stevenson
Project Title: The Synthesis of Coronavirus Translation Inhibitors

Research Mentor(s): Sonia Salari, Sharon Talboys  
Student(s): Brett Smith
Project Title: Domestic Violence in the Age of COVID 19: Understanding consequences of stay-at-home orders

Research Mentor(s): Kevin Shah  
Student(s): Matt Findlay
Project Title: The Role of Myocardial Injury and Inflammation Leading to Cardiac Deterioration in Patients with COVID-19

Research Mentor(s): Stephanie Shiver, Rachel Hayes-Harb  
Student(s): Tiffany Farfan
Project Title: The Disparate Impact of COVID-19 Remote and Online Work on Under-served Undergraduate Researchers

Research Mentor(s): Tolga Tasdizen 
Student(s): Aeysha Khan
Project Title: AI/CXR Early Warning System for Infectious Respiratory Disease Outbreaks

Research Mentor(s): Mary Ann Villarreal 
Student(s): Jami Margaret Harvey, Oralia Aguilar
Project Title: Teachings in the Time of a Pandemic  

Research Mentor(s): Ruth Watkins, Laura Snow  
Student(s): Milan Oxspring
Project Title: What Universities Can Learn from Institutions That Thrived After the 2008 Global Financial Crisis

Research Mentor(s): Robert Welsh
Student(s): Jessica Padron-Loredo
Project Title: Minority Health Disparities and Health Information During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Research Mentor(s): Andy Weyrich  
Student(s): Dallen Calder
Project Title: Lessons Learned from COVID-19 to Enhance Research Administration Services