The Office of Research and Fellowships is pleased to announce this year’s cohort of Passionate Leaders Project Scholars. Six undergraduate scholars from different disciplines have been selected for a $3,000 grant that supports student-driven initiatives focused on advancing scientific research, improving communities, and represents unique voices through the arts and humanities.
These work of these ranges from research on neurodegenerative diseases, spinal cord injuries, and the development of the immune system, to investigating women’s resistance movements in India and raising awareness for pediatric rheumatic disease as a novelist and storyteller.
Congratulations to the 2025–26 PLP Scholars
Maalyamokshajna Adagarla ’27
Major: Neuroscience and Behavior
Project: Identification and Characterization of Human Respiratory M cells in Infants and Adults
Project Mentor: Sunghyun Kim, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Rajagopal Lab, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)
Microfold (M) cells are specialized epithelial cells that play a key role in mucosal immunity by transporting antigens across the epithelial barrier to immune cells below. While M cells are well studied in the gut, especially in Peyer’s patches, their presence and function in the human airway remain unclear. Recent research suggests that similar cells may exist in the respiratory tract, but clear evidence in humans is still limited.
Our preliminary findings from infant lung samples with follicular bronchitis indicate the presence of M cell populations within the airway epithelium. Interestingly, these cells are abundant in infants (under two years old) but appear in adults mainly during disease or infection. This observation raises important questions about how M cells develop, function, and are regulated across different stages of life.
Through this project, we propose to take a comparative study of M cell markers in infantile versus adult lung tissue to map and quantify M cell markers in tissue, documenting their spatial distribution, transcriptional marker profiles, and microarchitecture. We will then observe the differences in expression of markers, cellular context, potential signaling source for M cells, and possible pathways to induction. This work may advance our understanding of the regulation of airway immunosurveillance during development and inform new designs for next-generation mucosal vaccines.
Abisha Joyce ’26
Major: Africana Studies; Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Project: Radical Joy and Defiance: A Global South Case Study on Feminism and Resistance in India
Project Mentor: Tatiana Cruz, Hazel Dick Leonard Endowed Chair of Race, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Feminist movements in the Global South have often been understudied and marginalized due to the dominance of Eurocentric perspectives in academia. Women from the Global South are frequently depicted as passive, perpetual victims rather than as active agents of change who resist oppression on their own terms. This project challenges such reductive portrayals by centering the lived experiences of Indian women who defy patriarchal expectations surrounding marriage, motherhood, sexual purity, and domesticity.
In India, social norms render divorce and widowhood as forms of social exclusion, often resulting in the stigmatization of single women, a condition described as “social death.” However, these women are not just victims of patriarchal shame; they are creators of alternative identities and communities grounded in resistance, solidarity, and radical joy. Their existence itself is a form of feminist activism, redefining ideas of womanhood and what it means to live freely and joyously in a society that casts them aside.
Through fieldwork in Tamil Nadu, India, incorporating interviews and focus groups conducted with women across diverse contexts, including widows, divorced women, nuns, married women, rural farmers, and women’s rights organizers, this study will explore how Indian women resist traditional gender roles and reimagine womanhood. Combined with archival and textual research in Tamil Nadu and Boston, this interdisciplinary project contributes to broader conversations on decolonial feminism and the politics of joy. Ultimately, it seeks to amplify voices often silenced in feminist discourse and highlight the transformative power of women’s resistance in the Global South.
Abigail Meyers ’26
Major: Communications – Journalism Track; Political Science
Project: Raising Awareness for Pediatric Rheumatic Disease Through the Power of Fiction Literature
Project Mentor: Farooz Rather, Associate Professor of Practice
When I was diagnosed with a form of juvenile arthritis at 7 years old, I remember wishing for a community that understood what I was going through. When I finally discovered a fiction book written by an author with juvenile arthritis and featuring protagonists within it, I felt like my ups and downs were seen and understood. Had I had a piece of literature like this growing up, I believe my journey with juvenile arthritis would have been easier. Reading and writing have always been emotional outlets for me; I feel inspired to be that author for someone with the disease, creating something that can not only be appreciated by patients of various ages but also teaches other readers about the disease and inspires discussion within adolescent groups.
Throughout my journey in the Passionate Leaders Project, I aim to create a piece of work that evokes an emotional response within teens/young adults, providing them with a nuanced understanding of the disease as well as a feeling of support through the journey – something I didn’t know I needed growing up. Many pieces of literature surrounding the disease are made solely to understand the disease, but creating a piece of literature could provide a more emotional and supportive outlet beyond education. I look forward to working with editors and members of the publishing industry to make my project come to fruition and create literature with representation of rheumatic disease in young people.
Quynh Nguyen ’26
Major: Biology
Project: Comparative biology of spinal cord regeneration and scarring in medaka and zebrafish
Project Mentor: Samuel Wattrus, Junior Fellow, Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a major form of central nervous system (CNS) trauma that directly damages the critical neural circuits of the CNS and disrupts signal transmission between the brain and the human body. Depending on how severe the SCI is, it can either result in temporary movement impairment or permanent loss of bodily function.
Current SCI treatments face several challenges, as humans lack the ability to regenerate the spinal cord. Previous studies have shown that SCI triggers the inflammatory response of the immune system, recruiting macrophages to the injury sites, which are believed to play an important role in spinal cord regeneration. However, current knowledge about how differences in the inflammatory profile influence the outcome of wound healing and regenerative ability following SCI across species is under investigation.
I propose to perturb macrophage behavior before and after SCI using chemical and genetic tools in the twin larval fish models, in order to assess the overall impacts on regeneration. In addition, existing single-cell RNA sequencing data analysis will be performed to identify macrophage-specific pathways. These approaches aim to provide new insights into the immune system mechanisms that may help overcome the current barriers in regeneration.
Ann Paim ’26
Major: Biology
Project: Using C. elegans to explore spastin inhibition as a therapeutic strategy for Parkinson’s disease
Project Mentor: Eric Luth, Associate Professor and Neuroscience Program Co-Coordinator
Parkinson’s disease (PD), with its numerous motor and nonmotor symptoms, causes a loss of independence over time. It presents an enormous physical, emotional, and financial burden to patients and families. There are several physiological, environmental, and genetic factors that contribute to the cellular damage, metabolic dysfunction, and build-up of toxic alpha-synuclein aggregates associated with PD. Due to the preferential loss of dopamine neurons, L-dopa, the medication that controls symptoms early in the disease, loses its effectiveness over time.
Prior work from the Luth Lab and collaborators has shown that inhibiting spastin, a protein coordinator of lipid droplets, reduces the toxic accumulation of the lipid droplet binding protein, aS in cultured cells and resulting dopamine neuron loss in an animal PD model. However, we don’t know if this translates into preserved cellular function.
Our specific focus will be to measure dopamine-dependent behaviors through behavioral tests in a C. elegans worm PD model to determine if spastin inhibition restores cellular function. We will also treat the worms with L-dopa to see if spastin inhibition can extend the effectiveness in advanced disease. This is an exciting project, working on a potential disease-modifying therapy that could augment the current standard of treatment and change lives.
Justine Paragas ’26
Major: Public Health
Project: Genetic Insights into Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Role of De Novo Variants in Drosophila
Project Mentor: Seth Johnson, Assistant Professor of Biology
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition affecting social communication, behavior, and learning, with comorbidities such as ADHD, anxiety, and depression. While over 200 genes have been linked to ASD, the majority of its genetic causes remain poorly understood due to its complex, polygenic nature. This project investigates the potential role of five novel candidate genes: FBXO11, CG2926, dap160, CG3022, and RALGAPB in ASD, which came from a recent study showing a strong correlation between mutation and ASD onset in humans.
The study employs RNA interference in a fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) model to reduce expression of each gene, followed by analyses of neuromuscular junction morphology and ASD-like behaviors in flies, including social interaction and locomotor activity. These experiments aim to determine whether disruptions in these genes produce physiological or behavioral changes consistent with ASD traits. In parallel, a literature-based public health study examines genetic and environmental factors contributing to ASD, providing a broader context to the experimental findings.
Together, this project integrates biological and public health approaches to better understand the mechanisms underlying ASD, offering insights into how specific genes may influence the development of the disorder. Expected outcomes include identification of candidate genes that affect neuromuscular and behavioral phenotypes, generation of microscopy and behavioral data, and synthesis of current research on ASD risk factors. By improving understanding of ASD genetics, this work may inform earlier diagnosis, guide intervention strategies, and support affected individuals and their families.