CURE Projects

Remote-Learning Ruthenium (II) Complexes

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Class: CHEM 0500 – Inorganic Chemistry 

Instructor(s): Dr. Eric Victor 

Student(s): Jon Mallen (Biophysics Sc.B. ’22), Yolanda Candler, Myung Joo Lee, Nicholas Moreno, Vivian Yuen

”My opinion about research at Brown has only been improved. Learning about bacteriophages in my first year and discovering my own, and now taking part in the Inorganic Chemistry CURE last semester, has confirmed my affinity for laboratory research, and also allowed me to better pinpoint my interests, skills, and weaknesses.”

–John Mallen

Description: 

We computationally developed, optimized, and extracted energetic and physical parameters for the structures of eight novel benzothiazole alkimazole ruthenium (II) complexes through the Avogadro and ORCA software packages. Four complexes employed a benzothiazole methimazole ligand that was bound to the ruthenium (II) with either syn or anti sulfur-sulfur coordination in either the fac or mer geometry, and the other four employed a benzothiazole isopropimazole with the same syn/anti and fac/mer variation as its methimazole counterpart. There is no clear preference for coordination site and geometry among the different methimazole and isopropimazole in each of their four comparitive structures. However, the small difference in alkyl side-chain between the methimazole and isopropimazole has a significant effect on the resulting energetics of the involved complexes, with the isopropimazole variants uniformly more lower in energy than the methimazole complexes. This is evidence of greater trends in the complexation of ruthenium (II) with benzothiazole alkimazole ligands and is thus a part of the empirical data that will contribute to the future design of chemical routes employing this class of molecules.

Direct Comparison of the Ponzo Illusion

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Class: CLPS 1591 – An Experimental Analysis of Vision for Action and Vision for Perception: Are There Separate Mechanisms?

Instructor(s): Dr. Fulvio Domini

Student(s): Hannah Joyce (Cognitive Neuroscience ScB, 2022)

“I heard about CURE from a class I took in the Fall, Toolbox for Scientific Research. I am really excited to pursue research as an undergrad at Brown. Doing so now seems more accessible and less intimidating.”

–Hannah Joyce

Description: 

My project sought to assess the validity of the Dual Visual Stream Hypothesis by creating a new version of the Ponzo Illusion and an action task that requires direct comparison. Though I was not able to conduct my experiment, I predict that there would be no significant difference between vision for perception and vision for action, providing evidence against the Dual Visual Stream Hypothesis. I heard about CURE from a class I took in the Fall, Toolbox for Scientific Research. I am really excited to pursue research as an undergrad at Brown. Doing so now seems more accessible and less intimidating.

Microwave Synthesis: An (Unsuccessful) Novel Attempt

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Project 6
The attached infographic summarizes the key findings of our team’s research.

Class: CHEM 0500 Inorganic Chemistry

Instructor(s): Dr. Eric Victor

Student(s): Sharon Lee (Chemistry ‘20), Stephanie Adaniya, Zachary Burger, Arvind Veluvali

Description: 

A comprehensive two-part analysis of a ligand (“reindeer”)  binding to an octahedral ruthenium (II) complex (RuIIL2) revealed how properties such as bond length and angle, IR spectra, 1H NMR, UV-Vis spectra, and molecular orbitals change as the R-group of the reindeer is substituted with ethyl, t-butyl, cyclohexane, and benzene functional groups. Notable findings include the following: Ru complexes with larger ligand molecular weight and size had the highest HOMO-LUMO gap and were therefore the most stable; bond length, angle, and overall geometry were largely determined by R-group steric hindrance; and there was a strong correlation between the physical properties of free ligand and bound ligand. The incorporation of CURE into the class curriculum has made research more accessible and less intimidating.

Antibiotic Efficacy of Compost vs. ‘Typical’ Soil

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Class: BIOL 0940G Antibiotic Drug Discovery: Identifying Novel Soil Microbes to Combat Antibiotic Resistance

Instructor(s): Dr. Toni-Marie Achilli

Student(s): Daniel Alber, Jordy Vergara, Hikaru Hayashi, Karina Wang

“The CURE class setup influenced me to be more critical of scientific papers, spending time in class to present and critique scientific literature.”

-Jacob Zimmerman

Description: 

The aim of the course was to examine unique soil environments for bacteria expressing antibiotic properties. With widespread antibiotic resistance and a lack of research in the pharmaceutical industry this course offered the excitement of potentially finding the next life-saving antibiotic drug! Working in groups, we were able to design research protocols and gain experience with a range of microbiology lab techniques. We explored the potential of compost bacteria to produce antibiotic substances. We hypothesized that compost biodiversity would lead to superior antibiotic properties. 

Our project investigated if compost bacteria would express increased antibiotic properties compared to outdoor soil due to compost previously interacting with human beings, which could lead to some results that could pertain to human antibiotics. While our project was halted in the laboratory due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we got our preliminary results that the compost had superior biodiversity, as well as being the compost bacteria being the only ones able to be identified through PCR. 

The CURE class setup allowed us to learn and perform many new laboratory techniques, as well as work together in a group, which can help us in future experiences in research and careers. I heard about CURE through the Courses@Brown website and looked into it further after finding out it would be an opportunity to engage in research while in a class setting. After taking this CURE course, I feel more excited and able to look for and engage in research on campus and not be as intimidated as I was. It also helped me build strong connections with both other students and faculty, which is a truly valuable experience while at Brown.

Symbiosis of microbes and vegetation: A comparative study on greenhouse soil microbes

jpark189 CURE Projects, Spring 2020

Class: BIOL 0940G Antibiotic Drug Discovery: Identifying Novel Soil Microbes to Combat Antibiotic Resistance

Instructor(s): Dr. Toni-Marie Achilli

Student(s): Madeline Hughes (APMA-Bio ‘22), Janice Lee, Carmen Fahlen, Jenny Lee (Health and Human Bio & Contemplative Studies ‘21)

“The CURE class setup allowed us to experiment and carry out our investigation close to the path of a true scientist. With the evacuation, we continued to learn, research, and analyze our data critically with online resources and previous literature. CURE has definitely made research more accessible.”

–Jenny Lee

“This class allowed students to get a feel for independent research and research presentations. It was nice to have a class where we were not focused on test taking and instead were focused on gaining valuable lab skills. I found out about CURE through Course at Brown Website.”

–Madeleine Hughes

Description: 

Our project addressed the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, and the use of soil microbes to find new classes of antibiotics. We wanted to observe the influence of vegetation on the diversity and number of antibiotic producing microbes in the soil. We found that under controlled greenhouse conditions, there was similar biodiversity in both crop (vegetative) and fallow beds, greater antibiotic activity among microbes from vegetation beds, and morphological data suggest our microbes are under five key genera. For the CURE online exhibit, we created a Kidz Project Starter brochure with step by step instructions on how to further investigate and explore our question.

Dissociation of Perception and Action in Kanizsa’s Compression Illusion

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Class: CLPS 1591 – An Experimental Analysis of Vision for Action and Vision for Perception: Are There Separate Mechanisms?

Instructor(s): Dr. Fulvio Domini

Students: Wonyoung Lee

“I feel more confident about research at Brown, especially in Cognitive Science, thanks to Professor Domini and the TAs who were absolutely non-judgmental and helped me through each step of the class”

–Wonyoung Lee

Description: 

This project proposal examines the Two Visual Stream Hypothesis with Kanizsa’s Compression Illusion and focuses on the effect of initial hand visibility. The CURE class setup has allowed me to learn an important topic currently discussed in the Cognitive Science field by reading and discussing numerous relevant studies. Also the CURE class setup allowed me to receive multiple rounds of feedback on my proposal and thus helped me build a stronger project idea.

Zöllner Illusion

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Class: CLPS 1591 – An Experimental Analysis of Vision for Action and Vision for Perception: Are There Separate Mechanisms? 

Instructor(s): Dr. Fulvio Domini

Student(s): Jacob Zimmerman

“The CURE class setup influenced me to be more critical of scientific papers, spending time in class to present and critique scientific literature.”

-Jacob Zimmerman

Description: 

My proposed research project intended to investigate whether a new formulation of the Zöllner illusion might demonstrate a functional dissociation between vision for perception and vision for action. Due to the circumstances, we did not carry out our research projects but instead wrote mock grant proposals for them. A key take-away is that it is crucial to pay close attention to the details of scientific research so that unintentional (and possibly intentional) errors in methodology and conclusions are known, allowing us to steer research in a direction of progress.

Undisturbed vs. Disturbed: Soil Microbial Diversity

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Class: BIOL 0940G – Antibiotic Drug Discovery: Identifying Novel Soil Microbes to Combat Antibiotic Resistance

Instructor(s): Dr. Toni-Marie Achilli

Student(s): Kriti Devkota, Lisa Nguyen, Alex Troullioud

“I felt that this CURE class was a very enriching experience, and I am very glad I chose to take this class.”

–Kriti Devkota

“We were interested in studying the connection between diversity and antibody producing capabilities.”

–Lexi Schecter

Description:

Our group studied soil microbial diversity from two different sites, one represented by Pembroke Garden and one from a construction site on campus. Our goal was to discover if there was a connection between the amount of soil disturbance and the amount of biodiversity. Though our lab research was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, we were able to further investigate our hypothesis using primary literature.