Studying the Issues of Mental Health in College Students and Mental Health Accessibility

 Alexandra Agosta, Verrazzano Class of 2022, completed major in Social Work 

In my research, I learned about and explored the barriers in college counseling services for current college students, from the students’ perspectives.
Through interviews it was found that many students were unaware of the counseling services provided to them on their campus, and participants shared their experiences on the issue. I was able to receive many recommendations on behalf of the students on how they believe the issue needs to be addressed and what needs to be done to prevent mental health issues.
As a result, I gained an understanding of what causes the barriers and became aware of how they might impact individuals in college.
To overcome these barriers, colleges need to first address the issue, then provide better advocacy and programs, advertise available services in a more effective way, and eliminate stigmas or change the mindset of ideas surrounding mental health issues on their campuses. The study proved that there is a need that has to be accounted for in order for mental health awareness to be present on college campuses, as well as college counseling services to be more effective for the well-being of the students.
Researchers may want to further explore the gaps in mental health awareness on college campuses or explore what are the best ways to receive input from students to help colleges address the issue of mental health awareness on campuses. This may lead to further research on how to decrease the number of students experiencing mental health issues and how to make a positive change in the community.
Lastly, researchers may consider using random methods when selecting their sample group to avoid any biases from occurring during the research process.

Lessons Learned from Conducting Research

 Andreo Alonzo Puno, Verrazzano Class of 2022, completed major in Biology 

For my capstone in my senior year I was able to conduct research with Dr. Esposito of the Biology Department. My topic was about concussions in football, which I found to be very insightful and interesting. I was able to select a topic of my own to research online and I learned a lot from my research.
Reading through various articles continued to draw me in and made me more interested in the topic I was researching. My mentor specifically suggested a sports related topic for me because she knew that I have an interest in sports and that would help me focus on the topic.
Through this capstone I was also able to experience doing research on my own, not because it was assigned to me for a class. In conducting my own research, I felt like I cared more about how I displayed and explained my topic.
Using a PowerPoint slide to make a poster board presentation was a new skill I learned when completing my capstone. Although creating the poster board itself was a difficult task, I am sure it will come in handy in the future.
I presented my research at the Undergraduate Research Conference. Even though it was nerve wracking to present in front of people, I think it was a helpful and good experience for me. Being able to present and share something I worked hard on was an accomplishment to me, and showcasing my project allowed people to see how much passion I put into the research.
Completing my capstone was a learning experience for me. Through producing a capstone topic, performing research, creating a poster board on PowerPoint and PowerPoint slides, and finally presenting my work at the Undergraduate Research Conference was a great way for me to put an exclamation point on my senior year in CSI. I am grateful for my mentor Dr. Esposito for giving me the opportunity to work with her and for all her guidance throughout my capstone project and research.

Conducting Sleep Study with Infants

 Michellle Saad, Verrazzano Class of 2022, completed major in Psychology and minor in Biology 

I was a research assistant in the Child Development lab since the Spring 2020 and further developed my research skills through the various projects I was involved in including: Nanit, Heatmaps, and Sleep Movements (my main project).

Sleep Movements is a project that questions how infants developing new motor milestones experience fragmented sleep. We studied infants’ movements during their sleep utilizing a Nanit camera the day before, of, and after a milestone. We then watched nightly videos in order to code for different postural shifts, whole body movements, and overall transitions that created significant wake episodes. This allowed us to understand how an infant's body movements connect with the way an infant learns information that they obtained throughout the day even while sleeping, such as crawling or walking.

I learned how to code data and analyses using different software such as datavyu, databrary, SPSS. To further our knowledge on child development, we consistently kept up to date on current literature relevant to our research. By reading such articles we were continuously informing ourselves on new information and learning how to advance our research. I also contributed my efforts to further enhance the coding manual which was utilized as the core of our project. It helped to provide evidence and supporting data for the work that we did by coding different movements for infants and what that meant overall for the development.

As a part of the Child Development Lab, in 2020 I co-created and co-presented a poster with a lab partner at the Undergraduate Research Conference called “How is Infant Sleep Disrupted Around Crawling Onset?” which aimed to examine the change in number of movements and wake episodes (WEPs) during infants’ sleep surrounding crawling onset. In 2022, I co-presented another poster at the Eastern Psychological Association Conference titled “Infants’ Movements at Night Reflect Crawling and Walking Onset”,  that further examined sleep by looking at both crawling and walking milestones. This finally led to my Capstone and honors thesis that examined “How does movement during sleep change from crawling to walking?”.

The sub-sample of infants involved in this research study were a part of a larger study examining sleep around milestone acquisition. We recruited infants who had not mastered crawling or walking, by contacting the parents of infants around the age that they typically would be expected to crawl or walk. My study looked at crawling and walking-relevant movements during wake episodes (WEPs) that could explain the transition between the two milestones and how sleep was affected overall.

A small portion of my study examined how sleep sacks restricted movement. All in all, I feel that my study was conducted in a strong manner because I had great supportive members of my lab team/readers that gave me insightful feedback on my paper for it to all come together. 

What is Tau?

Mehnoor Khan, Verrazzano Class of 2022, completed major in English Literature

 

BIO 594 was my first time taking an independent study, and I was a bit nervous but mostly excited! This class established an understanding of Alzheimer's disease and other tauopathies.

Let's discuss tauopathies, especially Tau. What is Tau? Tau is a phosphoprotein, and the degree of phosphorylation is significant. Under normal circumstances, Tau contains 2-3 moles of phosphate. However, when Tau gets hyperphosphorylated, it has more than seven moles of phosphate per mole of protein, eventually losing the ability to perform its critical function. Furthermore, it can attach to normal Tau and sequester it from microtubules.

Tau is the primary biological function that promotes microtubule self-assembly by tubulin. It's not surprising that Tau's post-translational modifications have been categorized for toxic functionality. This is important because Tau has shown wonders in cognitive processes, yet it could give rise to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's if it's not properly regulated.

In my Independent Study, I had the opportunity to see the lab images firsthand. Almost every week I would meet with my professor and learn a new lab technique needed to interpret the lab data sent to me. Many processes were involved, and I had to be detail-oriented. After mastering one lab technique, I would move on to the following images to perform another technique. Every image was different from the other, and overall it was a captivating experience. To see all the lab images, I needed to use Image J, a software that would help me see the images clearer. After performing the techniques, I would plot the data on an excel spreadsheet. This helped me analyze my data and showed what the vision meant for progression in research.

I'm proud of all I have accomplished. Throughout this journey of becoming a better researcher, I learned about different microscopes, like the confocal or the life imager. I learned the critical skill of transforming qualitative data into quantitative data. I truly enjoyed this independent study class, and I am forever grateful for all that I have learned.