By Addie Mims Class of 2025

Effects of Probiotic Supplementation on Migraine-Related Reversals in C. elegans

Editor’s Note: The Taft STEM Research Fellowship is a yearlong, advanced study program for students pursuing interdisciplinary STEM research beyond the classroom. Fellows work closely with faculty and expert mentors, collaborate with peers, and apply their research to real-world problems, culminating in a public presentation to faculty and field professionals. The course combines independent scholarship with structured support and offers opportunities to explore research that bridges multiple STEM disciplines.

Abstract

Migraine is a common neurological disorder that creates symptoms like intense head pressure, nausea, blurred vision, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light, sound, touch, and smell. Migraines disrupt normal neurotransmission, leading to intense symptoms that impair daily life. Current treatments are hard to navigate and can be ineffective and expensive, highlighting the necessity for new and innovative approaches. It has recently been discovered that the gut-brain axis, which connects gut health and brain function, may play a role in migraines. This study explored the link between the gut and migraines using C. elegans as a model. The UNC-2 genotype in C. elegans mimics human migraines, with abrupt directional changes representing migraine episodes. Since C. elegans feed on bacteria, two strains, wildtype and UNC-2, were given one of three bacterial diets, and their movements were observed for one minute. Two of the bacterial diets consisted of probiotic bacteria, which are known to improve gut health. Results showed that UNC-2 C. elegans fed the probiotic diets of Lactobacillus casei or Bifidobacterium lactis had fewer migraine-like episodes than those on an E. coli diet, suggesting a possible link between gut health and migraines.

Poster

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By Leo Lim Class of 2025

Multivariate Analysis and Prediction of the Risk Factors for Concussion in High School Students

Editor’s Note: The Taft STEM Research Fellowship is a yearlong, advanced study program for students pursuing interdisciplinary STEM research beyond the classroom. Fellows work closely with faculty and expert mentors, collaborate with peers, and apply their research to real-world problems, culminating in a public presentation to faculty and field professionals. The course combines independent scholarship with structured support and offers opportunities to explore research that bridges multiple STEM disciplines.

Abstract

Concussion, also known as mild Traumatic Brain Injury, is prevalent among athletes, with short and long-term consequences impacting neurological health and athletic performance. Current diagnostic methods rely on subjective measurements, leading to high rates of undiagnosed concussions, and advanced methods that are highly inefficient and expensive. This study thus aims to develop a multivariate logistic regression model to enhance early detection and risk assessment of adolescent concussions. Using data from federal repositories, such as FITBIR and Normative Athlete Data, 19 risk factors were identified using a logistic regression model through the programming language R. Then, with the identified factors, a logistic regression model was designed, trained, and tested using a 7:3 train-test ratio. To validate the model, a calibration plot and a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve were used. The Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.7045 indicates acceptable predictive performance. As the final product, the model was implemented into a ShinyApp-based website, allowing athletes to readily input data and receive concussion probability estimates.

Poster

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By Jihu Choi Class of 2025

Democratization of American Art Museums: The Changing Admission Policies of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Editor’s Note: The History Fellowship program offers students the opportunity to conduct college-level independent research on a historical topic of their choice, resulting in a substantial academic paper and oral presentation. Through guided discussions, structured support, and access to both on- and off-campus sources, students learn and apply the practices of professional historians.

“In every society and throughout history, excellence costs money,” said the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (hereinafter “the Met”) Daniel Weiss after announcing that the Met will require an admission fee in 2018.1 The Met is one of 33,000 American museums that require admission fees in order to display “excellence.” Yet the history of access to the world’s greatest museums reflects a far more complicated story than Weiss’ statement would suggest. This paper explores the history of public access to American art museums, focusing on the Met as a case study.

By Karry Kim Class of 2025

Media Coverage of the Rodney King Civil Unrest: An Examination of Ethnic and Mainstream Press

Editor’s Note: The History Fellowship program offers students the opportunity to conduct college-level independent research on a historical topic of their choice, resulting in a substantial academic paper and oral presentation. Through guided discussions, structured support, and access to both on- and off-campus sources, students learn and apply the practices of professional historians.

“People, I just want to say… Can we all get along?” a Black man pleaded in a quivering voice, struggling to hold back his tears. His lips trembled and his breath hitched as if tears would start streaming down his eyes any second, and his unsteady gaze remained facing the ground as if he had done something wrong. Dozens of photographers and reporters surrounded him, documenting the moment on their cameras and scribbling down his words in their notebooks. The man continued his plea to “get along”: “I mean we’ve got enough smog in Los Angeles let alone to deal with setting these fires and things … It’s just not right. It’s not right, and it’s not going to change anything… I mean, we’re all stuck here for a while. Let’s, you know, let’s try to work it out.” This man was Rodney King, whose brutal police beating ignited the most violent and destructive civil unrest in Los Angeles’ history.

By Vanessa Leung Class of 2025

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: How Feminism Was Founded in Dominant Patriarchy

Editor’s Note: The History Fellowship program offers students the opportunity to conduct college-level independent research on a historical topic of their choice, resulting in a substantial academic paper and oral presentation. Through guided discussions, structured support, and access to both on- and off-campus sources, students learn and apply the practices of professional historians.

“But I still insist, that not only the virtue, but the knowledge of the two sexes should be the same in nature, if not in degree, and that women, considered not only as moral, but rational creatures, ought to endeavour to acquire human virtues (or perfections) by thesame means as men, instead of being educated like a fanciful kind of half being.” These words are taken from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft, an English writer and Enlightenment Thinker in the late eighteenth century. She is also considered one of history’s first feminists. Many of her written works promote gender equality by arguing or equal education for both sexes and opposing female stereotypes. In the quote above, Wollstonecraft argues that values and knowledge should be the same for both sexes because women are as capable as men and should be respected as “rational creatures” instead of sentimental “half being[s].” In the spirit of the Enlightenment, which strove for liberty and rights, Mary Wollstonecraft lived a daring life, testing boundaries and contesting social norms. Self-educated and bold, she took inspiration from her personal life and used knowledge to spread her belief that change for women was possible and defiance could lead the way.

By Lori Cui Class of 2025

Rainbow Berlin: The Rise and Fall of Queer German History

Editor’s Note: The History Fellowship program offers students the opportunity to conduct college-level independent research on a historical topic of their choice, resulting in a substantial academic paper and oral presentation. Through guided discussions, structured support, and access to both on- and off-campus sources, students learn and apply the practices of professional historians.

One evening in 1899, a young, male soldier stood on the doorstep of Magnus Hirschfeld’s medical practice in Magdeburg, Germany. He came to confess that he was an Urning, an old German word for homosexual. At that time, Germany criminalized homosexuality under Paragraph 175 of its Constitution. The soldier faced legal punishment for his sexuality. That night was also the eve of his wedding. Distraught, the soldier wanted to take his own life. Hirschfeld tried to console the soldier, but the soldier nonetheless subsequently killed himself. After his death, the soldier bequeathed his private papers and a letter to Hirschfeld, writing that “the thought that you could contribute to [a future] when the German fatherland will think of us in more just terms, sweetens the hour of death.” The soldier thought of himself to be a “curse” because of his sexuality, and saw no place in the world for him to live under heteronormative standards and pressures. The tragedy became a turning point for Hirschfeld, who set out to combine his medical experience and identity as a homosexual man to become an activist for
homosexual rights and against Paragraph 175.