Every summer, the Office of Undergraduate Research programs the Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR), a nationally competitive opportunity that provides undergraduate students with an intensive 10-week summer research experience under the mentorship of a University of Utah faculty member. We are delighted to announce the SPUR 2026 faculty mentors and their projects. Last summer in partnership with OUR program partners, over 260 students came to the University of Utah representing 82 different institutions.
The following faculty were competitively selected to work with students. Thank you to the OUR Advisory Council.
- Farzana Alam, Pharmacy, The Role of Doppel-expressing Exosome in Ovarian Cancer Metastasis
- Genevieve Albouy, Health, Enhancing learning with non-invasive brain stimulation of deep brain structures
- Leif Anderson, Mines & Earth Sciences, Glaciers in the western US: Past, Present, and Future
- Amir Arzani, Engineering, Computer modeling for medical device design: Blood flow dynamics and catheter design
- Connor Bischak, Science, From Data to Discovery: Understanding Organic Mixed Conductors with AI
- Sihem Boudina, Health, (AHA) Training in Lipotoxicity-Induced Cardiovascular and Metabolic Complications
- Adrienne Cachelin, Social & Behavioral Science, Cultivating Care: The Impacts of Intergenerational back-farming on aging in place
- Rogelio Cardona-Rivera, Architecture + Planning, Finding the Narrative Grammar in Storygames
- Amandine Chaix, Health, (AHA) Training in Lipotoxicity-Induced Cardiovascular and Metabolic Complications
- Adam Douglass, Medicine, Tactile reinforcement of social behavior in the miniature fish Danionella cerebrum
- Peter Fino, Health, Exploring balance control while walking in unstable environments
- Luis Garcia, Engineering, Building Cyber-Physical Capture the Flag Challenges for Critical Infrastructure Security
- Lindsay Gezinski, Social Work, Exploring Bystander Intervention for Survivors of Interpersonal Violence to Prevent Suicide
- Matt Haber, Humanities, The Philosophy of Biology Lab: Entangled Lineages, Classification, and Individuality.
- Sam Heppell, Law, Mental Health Legal Clinic: Assessing Impact and Planning Growth
- William Holland, Medicine, (AHA) Training in Lipotoxicity-Induced Cardiovascular and Metabolic Complications
- Heather Holmes, Engineering, Modeling and understanding heat stress in Northern Utah
- Ryan Johnson, Engineering, Interactive water supply and forecasting applications for Salt Lake City and beyond
- Brad King, Health, Enhancing memory consolidation during sleep with targeted memory reactivation
- Lauri Linder, Nursing, Digital Health Interventions to Support Symptom Management for Children and Adolescents with Cancer
- Monika Lohani, Social & Behavioral Science, Stressors and coping strategies for climate change adaptation among frontline communities of Utah
- Jenna Merenstein, Social & Behavioral Science, Neuroimaging of Healthy Cognitive Aging
- Rhonda Nelson, Health, The Comparative Efficacy and Acceptability of Traditional vs. Digital Card Game Interventions in Mental Health Treatment
- Alexandra Ponette-Gonzalez, Architecture + Planning, Personal Exposure Monitoring in Salt Lake City using Wearable Sensors
- Suhas Eswarappa Prameela, Mines & Earth Sciences, High‐Throughput Microparticle Impact Experiments for Aerospace Materials
- Jenna Prochaska, Law, From Policy to Practice: Understanding the Impact of Fair Chance Housing Laws
- Nirupama Ramkumar, Medicine, (AHA) Training in Lipotoxicity-Induced Cardiovascular and Metabolic Complications
- Alessandro Rigolon, Architecture + Planning, Cooling Narratives: Experiences of Green Space and Heat Mitigation in a Divided City
- Paul Rosen, Engineering, Buckaroo: A Direct Manipulation Visual Data Wrangler
- Jared Rutter, Medicine, Investigating Cellular Response to Metabolic Changes
- David Symons, Health, (AHA) Training in Lipotoxicity-Induced Cardiovascular and Metabolic Complications
- Kota Takahashi, Health, Biomechanics and energetics of locomotion: Applications for prosthetics and footwear research
- Yasmine White, Medicine, Pharmacokinetics of MitoQ in neonatal lambs
- Sara Yeo, Humanities, Responsible use of AI as a research method to improve public engagement in policy-making
- Lynne Zummo, Education, Learning to observe: Teachers learning through scientific observation in field geology
We encourage OUR community to share this opportunity with undergraduate researchers! Student applications are open from November 1, 2025 to January 25, 2026.
For more information, visit the Office of Undergraduate Research website.
