June 15, 2017

Undergraduate Summer Research Fellows

Students make strides with global research this summer

By: Nicol Tinsley
Global Education Office
(804) 828-6463
nctinsley@vcu.edu

Richmond, Va. (June 15, 2017) −  Three Virginia Commonwealth University undergraduates, Zhelia Arif, Megan Mair and Noelle Pooler are recipients of Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowships, and will have the opportunity to research areas for which they have great passions, hoping to help others around the world have better lives.

The fellowships are funded by the Global Education Office and the Office of Research and Innovation, and awarded through the VCU Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). The research projects are varied, and will be conducted on such topics as safe reproductive health care and services for Kurdish and Yazidi women in Iraqi refugee camps; the malaria infection rate in mosquitos of Brazil; and the prevention of hypertension and diabetes in women of child-bearing age in Negril, Jamaica. Each fellow will be assisted by a VCU faculty mentor during the research process.

The fellows will present their research at the Annual Poster Symposium for Undergraduate Research and Creativity next spring. The awards include $1,500 in funding for each student to complete the research, as well $500 awarded to each faculty mentor.

Read more about the UROP Fellows:

Student Researcher: Zhelia Arif

Research Topic

Providing Yazidi and Kurdish IDP women access to safe reproductive healthcare and its effects on their mental, physical, and emotional health.

Faculty Mentor:

Mayda Topoushian, Ph.D.
Read more about Zhelia's research

Student Researcher: Megan Mair

Research Topic

Longitudinal analyses of malaria parasite infection rate in mosquitoes under malaria elimination scenario in the Brazilian Amazon

Faculty Mentor:

Luiz Shozo Ozaki, Ph.D. 
Read more about Megan's research

Student Researcher: Noelle Pooler

Research Topic

A Continuation Study: Impacting knowledge, attitudes and behaviors for the prevention and control of hypertension and diabetes among rural, medically underserved Jamaican women of childbearing age.

Faculty Mentor:

Joann T. Richardson, Ph.D. 
Read more about Noelle's research