SERI Director Saundra Johnson Austin announces the establishment of the Bijoli Ashok Chatterjee and Barin Mukherjeee Memorial Research Award at the OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium on the USF-St. Petersburg campus.
by Ann Comer-Woods, USF Research
The 2026 OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium kicked off last week with the announcement of a $25,000 endowment for undergraduate research from USF doctoral alumna Rita Chattopadhyay, now a professor of mathematics and statistics at Eastern Michigan University. She created the Bijoli Ashok Chatterjee and Barin Mukherjee Memorial Research Award to honor her parents and support undergraduate research primarily in STEM fields and secondarily in medical advancement.
鈥淒r. Chattopadhyay鈥檚 gift is a powerful testament to the lasting connection our alumni
have with the 最新天美传媒,鈥 said Saundra Johnson Austin, director
of Student Engagement for Research & Innovation and research affiliate faculty in the
Judy Genshaft Honors College. 鈥淭his endowment will provide talented undergraduate researchers with the support
they need to explore new ideas, build their skills and contribute to solving real-world
challenges.鈥
The two-day research symposium on USF鈥檚 Tampa and St. Petersburg campuses featured
151 scholars presenting 128 research projects. The presenters included USF undergraduates,
recent USF graduates and students from 22 colleges and universities participating
in USF-sponsored research programs. Students presented work across multiple disciplines,
often on research projects that held personal relevance to them.
Biomedical engineering majors Joey Busher and Daniel Wallace discuss their development of a new bandage that uses blue light to kill bacteria.
Biomedical engineering major Daniel Wallace learned about the challenges of treating antibiotic-resistant, post-surgical infections while shadowing an orthopedic surgeon last summer. Shortly after, he attended a medical conference where he first heard about the use of high-frequency blue light to kill bacteria. 鈥淚 kind of put two and two together, but when I looked into it, there was a gap between the research and the market.鈥
That鈥檚 when he teamed up with biomedical engineering major Joey Busher and faculty mentor Shawn Landry, research associate professor in the School of Geosciences and director of the USF Water Institute, on their project -- a bandage that emits 405 nanometers of blue light that kills over 99 percent of bacteria within 30 minutes of application. Their poster, 鈥淚n Vitro Evaluation of a 405-nm Blue-Light鈥揈mitting Antimicrobial Bandage Using Micrococcus luteus,鈥 was recognized as one of the top three distinguished posters among the 32 posters presented at the symposium on the USF St. Petersburg campus.
While participating in an internship at Feeding Tampa Bay, Danh Nguyen, a supply chain major and Muma College of Business "25 Under 25" award receipient, saw an opportunity to improve the organization鈥檚 all-volunteer food sorting operation. 鈥淢y research focused on first-time volunteers who don鈥檛 have a lot of experience with food sorting so they make a lot of errors,鈥 he said. By applying cognitive science principles on information processing and implementing Lean tools, including dedicated group sorting and laminated visual guides, Nguyen helped Feeding Tampa Bay reduce daily food waste by one hundred pounds.
After volunteering for several years at the , a student-run free clinic at USF that serves uninsured adults from underserved communities, Alondra Velez, a recent USF College of Public Health graduate, saw firsthand the barriers that this population faces in obtaining health care. When she implemented a structured reminder call protocol and centralized tracking system for 82 clinic patients referred for colorectal screening, the patients鈥 screening completion rate exceeded 90 percent. Velez is turning her findings into a research manuscript and will be enrolling in a master鈥檚 degree program in medical sciences at USF this fall.
Psychology major Fariha Mohammad presents her research on improving the travel experience for individuals with autism.
Psychology major Fariha Mohammad鈥檚 research was inspired by her experience as a registered behavior technician working with autistic individuals and their families. 鈥淚 got to learn a lot about the struggles these families go through with travel,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 wanted to create a project that helped them.鈥 Her project focused on developing a theoretical framework for AI-supported accessible travel that integrates psychological research, family experiences and autism services practices. 鈥淭here鈥檚 not that much research out there on how AI can be more personalized and focus on ABA (applied behavior analysis) practices that are integrated into psychological research today.鈥
From advancing infection prevention and improving food distribution operations to increasing access to preventive health care and exploring new applications of artificial intelligence, the projects showcased at the 2026 OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium demonstrate the power of undergraduate research to address pressing societal challenges. Supported by dedicated faculty mentors, innovative research programs and investments such as Chattopadhyay鈥檚 new endowment, USF students are gaining the skills and experience to make meaningful contributions in their fields while creating solutions that can improve lives in their communities and beyond.