2008 L'Oreal USA Fellowships For Women in Science Awarded to Five Groundbreaking R...(ida State University Tallahassee Florida...),Health

chemical oceanographer, conducting research that may lead to new

discoveries around the use of methane hydrates as a potential energy

source. Dr. Lapham is working to determine how much methane is

entrained as a hydrate, how stable these reservoirs are and how to

harvest these deposits for fuel. The primary focus of her research is

the development of instrumentation to regularly measure methane that

has dissolved in sediments around the hydrates over time, which will

allow researchers to better understand the role of hydrates in an

abrupt climate change situation.

-- Dr. Sridevi Vedula Sarma -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

Cambridge, Massachusetts -- computational neuroscientist, using

technology to improve the deep brain stimulation (DBS) technique to

treat Parkinson's disease. Dr. Sarma is employing engineering

principles to automate the post-operative calibration process of DBS.

Creating such an automated system would relieve patients of frequent

physician visits, significantly cut medical costs and allow

neurologists to treat more DBS patients. Concurrently, Dr. Sarma is

developing a new dynamic feedback stimulation paradigm that will allow

for low-powered DBS signals to be administered, eliminating the need

for frequent battery replacement surgeries for patients.

-- Dr. Sandra Ugrina -- University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland --

aerospace engineer, developing innovative techniques that help to

improve the aerodynamic efficiency of materials and reduce fuel

consumption. Dr. Ugrina studies active flow control, which involves the

application of techniques to improve fluid quality control over an

aerodynamic surface, such as an airplane wing. She is working to design

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