Olivia
Morgans
Sponsor: Beenash Jafri, Ph.D. Gendersexuality Womensstudies My research will look at the linkages between student-based decolonial and anti-war movements in solidarity with Vietnam and Palestine. I will be doing a close reading analysis of the student newspaper, Third World News, which was published by students of color at UC Davis from the 1970s to early 2000s. In particular, my study will focus on the work of the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF), which was founded in the late 1960s when US- based non-white communities felt a strong connection between struggles of Third World peoples, and US communities of color. TWLF focused on collective action in pursuit of collective liberation and self-empowerment. This helped inspire solidarity movement building between Vietnam and Palestine, as well as other groups fighting for liberation. Many parallels were drawn between Vietnamese and Palestinian liberation, as well as anti- imperialist and anti-colonial struggles across the world. My research project considers how the similarities between Palestine and Vietnam elicited solidarity in social movements, particularly in student organizing. Solidarity building helps marginalized communities to recognize their shared struggle and oppression. This project unearths an important solidarity linkage that is purposefully obscured by dominant media and helps shed light on the importance of coalition building and student activism. Adeno-Associated Virus Type 9-Mediated Gene Therapy of Myasthenic Syndrome due to Choline Acetyltransferase Deficiency
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Olivia Morgans
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Deficiency of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), an enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of acetylcholine (ACh) at the cholinergic synapse and neuromuscular junction (NMJ), can result in a variant of congenital myasthenia that is associated with life-threatening episodes of apnea. Our previous research in a Chat-deficient mouse model has shown that injection of an AAV9 vector carrying human CHAT can improve survival. To optimize the AAV vector carrying the human CHAT gene, we designed three different plasmids in which the transgene was driven by different promoters. The plasmids were evaluated in-vitro based on the level of ChAT expression in transfected HEK cells using Western Blot, and enzymatic activity was measured via a biochemical assay. In addition, the constructs were packed into an AAV9 vector and injected intracerebroventricularly (ICV) at postnatal (P) day 1 in mutant mice. These mice were subsequently injected intraperitoneally (IP) with tamoxifen at P11. In this model, Tamoxifen induces Cre-recombination of LoxP sites in the Chat gene causing a DNA frameshift and truncation of the protein, which ultimately results in mouse death. Thus, in this in-vivo system, plasmid effectiveness is measured through survivability to P28 and quantification of ChAT expression in the spinal cord using biochemical assays. Sustainable Therapeutic Protein Production in Microalgae Nathaniel Moritz
Source:
UC Davis / MED: Neurology / 2025
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Olivia Morgans