2023 Annual Research Frontier Symposium 

Symposium Theme: "Diversity in STEM Research"

     Annual Research Frontier Symposium Program Book cover (left) and Abstract Book cover (right). 

Images provided by Manoj Mishra and Thomas Sakmar, respectively.

Message from the Chair 

Welcome!

Once again, on behalf of the 2023 Symposium Organizing Committee, I am excited to let you know that the 2023 Annual Research Frontier Symposium will be held via Google Meet and Zoom from Wednesday, March 15 to Thursday, March 16, 2023. 

The theme of the Symposium this year is "Diversity in STEM Research." The broader definition of diversity includes the differences in race, ethnicity, gender, age, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, language, physical appearance, geography, and any other identifiers. We welcome diversity and believe it is important for research and education in the STEM community.

This year, we are thrilled and honored to have the Plenary Speaker, Dr. Thomas Sakmar, who is Richard M. and Isabel P. Furlaud Professor at Rockefeller University in New York. Rockefeller University is the world’s leading biomedical research institution in NYC and has won a collective 26 Nobel Prizes. Dr. Sakmar is the formal Acting President of Rockefeller University, the formal Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, and the Senior Physician of the Rockefeller University Hospital. Dr. Sakmar is passionate about the structure and function of G protein-coupled receptors to develop new technologies to advance drug discovery. He is also passionate about Covid-19 research to develop therapeutics and vaccines. The title of the Plenary Talk is "Applications of Genetic Code Expansion and Bioorthogonal Chemistry to Study Membrane Proteins."

The Featured Speaker will be Dr. Michelle Foster, an Associate Professor of Mathematics. Dr. Foster is the Associate Dean of the College of the Science, Technology, Engineer, and Mathematics, and Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences. Dr. Foster will share her experience, research achievement, research program, and future plans from her group with the participants, especially the students of the Symposium, to inspire and motivate the next generation of researchers and leaders in the STEM fields. 

As last year, we have an International Advising Committee to support the 2023 Virtual Annual Research Frontier Symposium. The advisors are expected to provide advice as needed. The activity may include student award selection, abstract review, session chairs, speakers, and others. The service is completely volunteering to support the STEM community of the Symposium, especially the under-represented students.

Last year, over 100 participants of the Symposium were from 15 institutions of 8 States and two foreign countries, including Yale University, Rockefeller University, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Georgia State University, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, University of Houston Downtown, the University of Alabama, Troy University, University of Alabama Birmingham, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Okayama University in Japan, Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, LAMP high school, and Alabama State University. We are hoping to continue growing this year.

As the National Science Foundation recommended, a broader definition of STEM fields includes chemistry, computer and information technology science, engineering, geosciences, life sciences, mathematical sciences, physics and astronomy, social sciences (anthropology, economics, psychology and sociology), and STEM education and learning research. Once again, let us celebrate and share some of the recent world-class breakthroughs and achievements during the last 12 months in the fields of STEM. 

We are pleased to witness that the Symposium has increasingly become a regional conference and provides an excellent platform for undergraduate, graduate, and research scholars at Alabama State University as well as other institutions, to share their research experience with a broader audience. The Symposium will inspire the students in their future STEM endeavors and facilitate collaborations among the faculty members in their respective fields.

In 2023, we strongly encourage students to participate in the Symposium by presenting posters, oral talks, and the 3-minute talk competition. The student winners (about 10% of total participants) will be selected in three categories (talk, 3-min talk, poster) at the five levels (high school, undergraduate, Master graduate, Ph.D. graduate and postdoc) by the Symposium Student Award Committee.

We are delighted to report that the 2023 Annual Research Frontier Symposium has about 100 participants from 15 states, including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Alabama. They are from 21 institutions, including Rockefeller University, Yale University, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Southern California, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Tulane University, Florida International University, Oklahoma State University, University of Texas at Dallas, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Boston College, Tennessee State University, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, SUNY Rockland County College, University of Alabama, Troy University, Huntingdon College, LAMP high school, Northridge High School, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Alabama State University. We received 69 abstracts from 12 institutions, including LAMP High School, Northridge High School, Troy University, Huntingdon College, University of Texas at Dallas, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Rockefeller University,  SUNY Rockland County College, Tennessee State University, University of Southern California, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Alabama State University. 

Last year we introduced a student session, "Lunch Informal Student Discussion Session," which is designed for students by the Symposium Student Committee. The discussion topics of the session are the importance and challenges of obtaining publications, overcoming research bottlenecks, the industry versus academia debate, and open discussion. 

Last year, we were also lucky to have  Dr. Elsa Yan, Professor of Chemistry from Yale University, who chaired a new session: "Panel Discussion Session: How to put together a strong graduate application?" The Session was very successful, and Dr. Yan will host the Panel Discussion Session again in 2023.  

In 2023, we initiated a new session, "Lunch Panel Discussion Session: Graduate Programs," which will focus on the graduate programs at diverse institutions. The inaugural Session will be co-chaired by Dr. Bruce McCord from Florida International University, Dr. Jared Allred from University of Alabama, and Dr. Qiana Matthews from Alabama State University. The Session will open to all the participants and is anticipated to provide detailed information and the uniqueness of the different graduate programs. 

Last year, we were happy to have 11 student winners from 6 institutions, including LAMP High School, Yale University, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, the University of Alabama, and Alabama State University. We plan to give awards to recognize students for their outstanding presentations and celebrate their achievements.

New! We will give the inaugural "Robert Villafane Award" to one graduate student for his or her outstanding poster or oral presentation this year. The candidate must be a current graduate student at ASU. The "Robert Villafane Award" is in memory of a Professor of Microbiology at ASU, Dr. Robert Villafane. He was one of the world’s leading scientists and passed away in Montgomery on April 17, 2022. Dr. Villafane received his B.S. in Biology from New York University, M.S. in Molecular Biology from UC Berkeley, and Ph.D. in Microbiology from New York University School of Medicine in 1985. He had his postdoc training in Molecular Genetics with Jonathan King at MIT. In 2008, Dr. Villafane joined ASU as a Professor of Microbiology. Dr. Villafane’s research interests focus on the structure and function of proteins using bacterial viruses (phages) as a model. Dr. Villafane was instrumental in the STEM community at the Annual Research Frontier Symposium. For example, Dr. Villafane has been the chair of the Student Award Committee for the past five years (2017-2021). Dr. Villafane has published two papers in our own journal, Front. Sci. Technol. Eng. Math., Including his last research paper with 28 pages, "Elucidating mutational effect on SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein using a combination of computational studies and site-directed mutagenesis of P22 tailspike protein," by Joseph A. Ayariga, Logan Gildea, James Abugri, and Robert Villafane. The journal, Front. Sci. Technol. Eng. Math., was founded at the Alabama State University in 2017, and Dr. Villafane was one of the founding Editorial Board members from Canada, China, France, Japan, Russia, the UK, and the United States. The journal has published 29 papers, including review articles and original research papers in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Dr. Villafane was the Director of the M.S. program in Biology and Ph.D. program in Micrology at ASU and has made significant contributions in promoting graduate students to prepare for their careers in STM fields. Dr. Villafane was a very kind, spirited, and loving individual. To recognize his key contribution, the Symposium Committee has established the "Robert Villafane Award" in the Annual Research Frontier Symposium starting in 2023.

We greatly appreciate the financial support to cover the expense of the student award. The registration fee ($20) per participant is required. Students are free to register for the Symposium. 

The abstract may include one figure, 0-5 references, and should have about 250 words. The figure should highlight the work and help readers to understand the results. The figure may be data, instrumental setup, model, or other graphics. The abstract in MS word should be sent to Dr. Hou by email (hhou@alasu.edu). The date of abstract submission will start on December 1, 2022, and end on January 31, 2023. No abstract will be accepted after January 31, 2023.

Finally, donations of a minimum of $10 per person to the Symposium are welcome. The names of the contributing individuals will appear in the program book, on the conference website, and throughout the Symposium.

Thank you! Your participation is vital for the success of the Symposium. Each of you, including previous participants and newcomers, is welcome to attend the 2023 Annual Research Frontier Symposium on the ASU campus on March 15-16, 2023. 

You are welcome to visit the website <https://sites.google.com/alasu.edu/arfs-2023/home> for more details.

See you in March 2023!

Harvey Hou

Chair, 2023 Symposium Organizing Committee

• Conference Website: https://sites.google.com/alasu.edu/arfs-2023/home

• Journal Website: https://sites.google.com/alasu.edu/journal-fstem/home

• Contact: Phone: 334-604-9183, Email: hhou@alasu.edu

Copyright by the 2025 Research Symposium Committee