On April 18, undergraduate and graduate students from the 2017-18 project teams shared their research highlights with the community at the second annual Bass Connections Showcase in Penn Pavilion.

Approximately 500 people—including Duke faculty, staff and students as well as representatives from community partners, officials from the City of Durham and senior leaders from UNC Chapel Hill, NC State, NC Central and Durham Tech—took part in the event, which included lightning talks, a poster session and a reception.

Duke University President Vincent E. Price gave opening remarks, in which he commended the Bass Connections teams for building bridges across disciplines and schools and helping redefine higher education for the 21^st century. He added that even more importantly, these teams are “making a difference in communities across the region and the world, marshaling Duke’s intellectual resources toward solving the most significant problems we face as a society.”

The poster session included a section featuring teams that conducted research in Durham and the Carolinas. Collaborating with school systems, governments and nonprofits, the teams addressed issues ranging from the opiate epidemic and Medicaid reform to youth concussions and the relationship between children’s school experiences and their academic and racial identity.

Lightning Talks

Jonathan Chapman ’18 and Laura Ritchie (M.A. in Liberal Studies), Creative Industries and the Urban Environment

Soli Shin (M.E.M.) and Sarah Sibley ’19, Governing Automated Vehicles: North Carolina and Beyond

Katie Kanter ’18 and Madeline Thornton ’18, Stemming the Opiate Epidemic through Education and Outreach

Andie Carroll ’20 and Olivia Neely ’20, Social Change through Music: Amplifying and Empowering Youth Voice

Kerry Mallinson ’19 and Rick Tsao ’20, Building Capacity for Surveillance and Diagnosis of Respiratory Viruses in Sarawak, Malaysia

Grants and Awards

Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies Edward J. Balleisen recognized this year’s student award recipients for outstanding mentorship and follow-on research.

Bass Connections Award for Outstanding Mentorship

Sarah Barton (Th.D. in Theology), Global Alliance on Disability and Health Innovation (GANDHI (traveling and unable to attend)

Sara Maurer (Ph.D. in Psychology and Neuroscience), Exercise as a Therapy for Cognitive Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease

Brian Wong (M.E.M.), Energy Data Analytics Lab: Electricity Access in Developing Countries from Aerial Imagery

Bass Connections Follow-on Student Research Awards

Lillian Blanchard ’19, Sahil Sandhu ’20 and Jacqueline Xu ’19, Global Alliance on Disability and Health Innovation (GANDHI)

(Not pictured above: Lillian Blanchard, Jacqueline Xu)

Linh Bui ’20, Rob Steilberg ’18 and Kate Watkins ’19, mHealth for Better Routine Immunization Data in Honduras

(Not pictured above: Linh Bui)

Caitlin Grant ’19 and Shayal Vashisth ’19, Exercise as a Therapy for Cognitive Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease

Travis Knoll (Ph.D. in History), The Cost of Opportunity? Higher Education in the Baixada Fluminense

Chinemerem Nwosu ’19, Interventions Improving Neurosurgery Patient Outcomes in Uganda

Tony Pham (M.Sc. in Global Health), Global Mental Health Program

Samantha Sadler ’19, Interventions Improving Neurosurgery Patient Outcomes in Uganda

Poster Competition

Judges’ Selection Winner

Esther Brown ’20, Alexandra Chan ’20, Maram Elnagheeb ’20, et al., Addressing Global Health Needs among Refugee Children and Families in Durham County

Judges’ Selection Runners-up

Chinemerem Nwosu ’19, Sherry Yang ’19, Sandra Batakana ’19, et al., Interventions Improving Neurosurgery Patient Outcomes in Uganda

Marta Mulawa, Shannon Elliott (M.Sc. in Global Health), Allison Geary ’20, et al., Customizing a Tool to Collect Complex Network Data among HIV-positive Youth in South Africa

Sarah Jean Barton (Th.D. in Theology), Lillian Blanchard ’19, Alex Dai ’18, et al., Global Alliance on Disability and Health Innovation (GANDHI)

Shweta Lodha ’19, Karley Whelan ’19, Christiana Oshotse ’19, et al., Patients’ Journey to Medication Adherence

Audience Choice Winners (tie)

Jonathan Bethke ’22, Carolyn Zhang ’21, Adam Davidovich ’19, et al., Blue Devil Resistome Project

Nimmi Ramanujam, Jose Jeronimo, Megan Huchko, et al., Pocket Colposcope: Increased Distribution and Adoption

Audience Choice Runners-up

Adam Beskind ’20, Andie Carroll ’20, Jasmine Leahy ’21 and Olivia Neely ’20, El Sistema USA and Duke: Advancing the Power of Music for Human Development

Esther Brown ’20, Alexandra Chan ’20, Maram Elnagheeb ’20, et al., Addressing Global Health Needs among Refugee Children and Families in Durham County

Education & Human Development Special Event

On April 19, students, faculty and staff gathered in Gross Hall to celebrate the 2017-18 Bass Connections project teams in the Education & Human Development theme at the third annual EHDx. The event included lightning talks from undergraduate members of each project team, awards, a poster session and reception. Read more on the SSRI website.

Best Talk

Justin Bergkamp ’18, Jihane Bettahi ’18 and Cody Li ’18, OSPRI Lab: Open Source Education Technology

Best Poster

Kalito Luna ’18, Victoria Prince ’18 and Julia Sutherland ’18, Contextual Influences on Children’s Identity Development

Best Website

Kyra Rubin ’19, JJ Moncus ’19, Sarah Sculco ’19 and Rose Graves ’19, How to Ask Questions

Learn More

• View photos on Facebook and Flickr.
• Read stories from students on their Bass Connections experience.
• Save the date for the third annual Bass Connections Showcase on April 17, 2019.