April 27, 2026
Photos by Roger Meissen and Logan Jackson
For one week each spring semester, students and postdoctoral fellows from every discipline at the University of Missouri gather for one large celebration of research and creative activity. From oral presentations to poster presentations to an art showcase, Show Me Research Week allows students to gain valuable experience by putting their work on display.
This year, 433 students presented a research project. Of those, 328 were judged by 133 volunteers, mostly consisting of faculty and graduate students. One of this year’s judges, Pritish Tosh, BS ’99, MD ’03, participated in undergraduate research as Mizzou student, and went on to become a professor studying infectious disease at the Mayo Clinic. The experience was so special to him that he returned to campus specifically to serve as Show Me Research Week judge.
“I remember presenting my own poster at a similar event when I was an undergraduate and coming away with a sense of excitement for research and discovery,” Tosh said. “I thought this would be a great opportunity to foster that same spirit in a new generation of scientists.”
Congratulations to this year’s Show Me Research Week winners!
AWARD WINNERS
Applied Design
- Lancing Moore; Navaeh Neal; Janelle Godwyll; Nate McCann; Bishop Lamm; Lani Redecker
Mentor: Debora Verniz, assistant professor, architectural studies
- Chloe Romero
Mentor: Nicolette Leiby, assistant teaching professor, textile and apparel management
- Joshua Amelunke
Mentor: Jayedi Aman, assistant professor, architectural studies
Artistic Expression
- Emily Popa
Mentor: Frances Dickey, associate professor, English
Behavioral and Social Sciences
- Olivia Evers
Mentor: Nicholas Smith, assistant teaching professor, speech, language and hearing sciences
- Aleena Li
Mentor: Ashley Groh, professor, psychological sciences
- Arasto Sadeghi
Mentor: Christopher Josey, associate dean for undergraduate studies, College of Arts and Science
- Ryuto Hashimoto
Mentor: Bradley Curs, associate professor, education leadership and policy analysis
- Holly Ortman
Mentor: Blaine Reeder, associate professor, nursing
- Chaeli Stenuf
Mentor: Kimberly Powell, associate professor, nursing
- Anna Vogts
Mentor: Christi Bergin, professor, educational, school and counseling psychology
- Karry Weston
Mentor: Linda Bullock, professor emerita, nursing
Engineering
- Samantha Friedman; Nick Thomason
Mentor: Fang Wang, associate teaching professor, engineering and information technology
- Sophia Mueller; Taegan Talley; Anthony Gandolfo; Rachel Hanenkratt
Mentor: Veridiana Daley, assistant professor, dairy nutrition and modeling
- Ahmed Jasim
Mentor: Yangchuan Xing, professor, chemical and biomedical engineering
- Moussa Theodore Yatta
Mentor: Noel Aloysius, associate professor, chemical and biomedical engineering
Humanities
- Coffie Mondaine
Mentor: Matthew Gordon, professor, English
Informatics
- Gracey Henry Jesudasan
Mentor: Allison Anbari, assistant professor, nursing
Life Sciences
- Cole Brodeur
Mentor: Clarissa Durie, assistant professor, biochemistry
- Alaina Davis
Mentor: Rajiv Mohan, Curators’ Distinguished Professor, Ophthalmology and Molecular Medicine - Maria Gutierrez
Mentor: Roberto Cofresi, assistant professor, psychological sciences
- Platinum Liang
Mentor: Jaume Padilla, professor, food, nutrition and exercise physiology
- Lara Stefani
Mentor: Aaron Stoker, research professor, orthopedic surgery
- Lois Bansah
Mentor: Stephanie Gates, assistant professor, biochemistry – CAFNR
- Elena Doctor
Mentor: Trent Guess, associate professor, physical therapy
- Jack Morehouse
Mentor: Rick Relyea, professor, School of Natural Resources
- Roxanne Muchow
Mentor: Chris Lorson, Curators’ Distinguished Professor, pathobiology and integrative biomedical sciences
- Veronica Thompson
Mentor: Alisha Johnson, assistant professor, nursing
- Bright Yemi
Mentor: Zachary Berndsen, assistant professor, biochemistry
Physical & Mathematical Sciences
- Oscar Bomgaars
Mentor: Bongkosh Vardhanabhuti, associate professor, food, nutrition and exercise physiology
- Maia Satera-Olson; Elijah Coats; Adrian Gomez; Madison Howell
Mentor: Brandi MacDonald, assistant professor, chemistry
- Kaitlyn Koob
Mentor: Matthew McIntosh, assistant teaching professor, statistics and data science
- Aparna Joshi
Mentor: Charles Steinhardt, assistant professor, physics
