EXITO Student Researchers

BUILD EXITO Scholars play an integral role in Research Learning Communities by assisting with a wide variety of scholarly tasks including contributing to data collection and analysis, literature reviews, serving as co-authors on publications, and more. All scholars in Program Year 3 present their research at the EXITO Research Symposium in the fall, and many present podium talks and posters at local and national conferences.

Scholar Alumni Kayla Townsleys work on understanding addiction

EXITO Scholar, Kayla Townsley, worked in Dr. Ozborn's lab where they seek to better understand the molecular mechanisms that underlie addiction and improved treatment of substance use disorders. Read their study on mice and binge drinking.

Read about Kayla's work

“This community has helped me really become more in tune with myself and appreciate what I have excelled in rather than looking at what I haven’t yet”

-Current EXITO Trainee

Scholar Research Symposium

Each summer, our third-year Scholars present their research to our community, showcasing the incredible accomplishments of the year of work in their Research Learning Community. Students share study overviews and findings along with significant implications of their research work and next steps. Students come from many different disciplines and research topics range from student success in educational settings in to nanoparticles.

For many students, this is a pivotal moment, when they recognize how much they have learned since program Orientation and when they begin to understand their place in the scientific research community and their contributions to their field.

See the Cohort 4 Posters

Watch Cohort 4 Presentations

List of publications by Scholars:

Students often get the opportunity to publish research while working in their Research Learning Community. Through persistence, hard work, and intentional mentoring, many Scholars are first authors or co-authors on peer-reviewed articles.

Mujeres Fuertes y Corazones Saludables: Adaptation of the Strong Women —healthy hearts program for rural Latinas using an intervention mapping approach (EXITO Scholar: Christie Jackson)

Selective Effects and Dominance of Somatic Mutations Accumulating during Vegetative Growth (EXITO Scholar: Jaime Schwoch)

Effect of Synthesis Temperature on the Formation GAC supported Pd and Au NPs. Microscopy & Microanalysis. (EXITO Scholar: Candice Stauffer)

Association between Willingness to Exert Cognitive Effort and Smoking Abstinence (EXITO Scholar: Austin Phanouvong)

Effects of Salinity on Plant Development of in vitro Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas) Explants and Growth of Pakchoi Seedlings (EXITO Scholar: Tristan Paulino)

Palladium and Gold Nanoparticles on Carbon Supports as an Efficient Catalyst for the Sustainable Removal of Trichloroethylene (EXITO Scholar: Candace Stauffer)

Banded Application of Phosgard 0-40-0 to a representative area in Guam's Pago Watershed. Journal: Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice (EXITO Scholar: Victoria Flisco)

Exploring college student identity among young people with foster care histories and mental health challenges (EXITO Scholar: Chanel Ison)

“Having All of Your Internal Resources Exhausted Beyond Measure and Being Left with No Clean-Up Crew”: Defining Autistic Burnout (EXITO Scholars: Austin Delos Santos, Brandy Lentz, and Mirah Scharer)

Examining Integration and Sense of Belonging Among Undergraduate Students Participating in STEM Support Programs (EXITO Scholar: Mackenzie Gray)

Use of Connectotyping on Task fMRI Data Reveals Dynamic Network Level Cross Talking During Task Performance (EXITO Scholar: Valeria Vazquez-Trejo)

Beaches, Temples, and Flying Proas: Reflections on Five Years of Efforts to Foster Learner-Centered Pedagogies at the University of Guam (EXITO Scholar: Amber Uncangco)

Effects of Pharmacologically Targeting Neuroimmune Pathways on Alcohol Drinking in Mice Selectively Bred to Drink to Intoxication (EXITO Scholar: Kayla Townsley)

Inhibiting Infectivity of the Spindle Shaped Virus Using Silver Nanoparticles (EXITO Scholar: Diana Demchenko)

Effectiveness of testosterone therapy for masculinizing voice in transgender patients: A meta-analytic review (EXITO Scholar: Travis Henke)

The procoagulant molecule PAI-1 is associated with injury severity and shock in patients with and without traumatic brain injury (EXITO Scholar: Lelani Lealiiee)