Program
Event Program
Meet Revolutionaries who are creating a greater world. The GW InnovationFest program will feature research posters, demonstrations, books, inventions, performances and art—all under one roof! Explore the digital program below.
| Time | About the Session, Book, or Presentation |
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| 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Poster Presentation
Analyzing Electricity Tariff Reforms and Social Equity in Uganda Using Econometric Models and Machine Learning Uganda’s 2017–2018 tariff reforms raised electricity prices by 18% to boost utility cost recovery but disproportionately burdened low-income households. Using data from the Uganda National Panel Survey and ERA financial records, this study applies econometric and machine learning models to assess distributional impacts. Findings show rising energy burdens and reduced use among the poor, underscoring the need for targeted subsidies and tiered pricing to ensure equity and sustainability.
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| 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Poster Presentation
Breast Density and Me Nearly half of women aged 40 and above have dense breasts. While this risk affects all women, Black women are disproportionately impacted mostly due to systemic disparities in healthcare access, information dissemination, and follow-up care. This pilot project aims to enhance understanding of mammographic breast density (MBD) as a key factor in breast cancer risk, particularly among underserved Black women in DC communities. Findings will contribute to the evidence base on breast cancer risk.
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| 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Poster Presentation
Ensemble-based LLM Classifier for Automated NLG-Evaluation Evaluating NLG tasks is challenging due to subtle semantic differences. Traditional metrics and LLM-based evaluators face biases and instability. This research proposes ensemble methods—Inter-LLM, Intra-LLM, and Hybrid—combining outputs from diverse models to improve reliability. Across five NLG tasks, ensembles consistently outperform standalone models, with the Hybrid approach achieving strong accuracy and cost efficiency.
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| 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Poster Presentation
Extreme Weather, Toxic Legacy: A Scoping Review of Climate Change Driven Chemical Exposures This scoping review explores how extreme climate events impact chemical exposure pathways, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations. A multilingual search strategy was developed across 9 WHO languages. Findings support strengthening regulations for cumulative exposures and integrating real-time environmental sensors and disaster response systems into chemical risk policies.
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| 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Poster Presentation
Female Partners' Influence on Adult Mens Engagement on Healthy Food and Physical Activity Behaviors to Maintain a Healthy Weight A Scoping Review
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| 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Poster Presentation
Leveraging AI for Skills Extraction and Research LAiSER is an open-source AI tool bridging communication gaps between learners, educators, and employers. It extracts and aligns skills from texts like job descriptions using advanced language models and GPU computing, visualizes skills in 3D, enhances curricula, supports talent matching, and aims for flexible agent-based functionality.
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| 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Poster Presentation
Loneliness, Depression, and Hypertension in Black Women Who Participated in Wave 13 of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) Relationships among loneliness, depression, and hypertension are understudied in black women. This study describes individual, relationship, and psychosocial factors in black women from Wave 13 of the HRS Rand Longitudinal File merged with the 2016 Venous Blood Study Data. The sample included 641 black women [mean age was 63 years (±9.536)] with complete loneliness (UCLA-11) and depression (CES-D) data. ).
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| 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Poster Presentation
Machine Learning Improves Prediction of Visceral Adipose Tissue Area Using Only Clinical and Anthropometric Variables Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is associated with increased chronic disease risk but is difficult to measure. Because existing prediction equations are inaccurate, we developed machine learning models to better predict VAT. Our models significantly improved VAT prediction, even using only non-invasive, easy-to-measure variables. Prediction did not improve further with invasive blood or molecular markers. This suggests only simple variables and machine learning can predict VAT.
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| 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Poster Presentation
Resilient Megacities: Confronting Climate Vulnerabilities with Adaptive Strategies Our study analyzes 43 global megacity climate reports to assess climate resilience across five dimensions: infrastructure, climate risks, disasters, financial sources, and stakeholder roles. Findings reveal links between infrastructure types and funding/stakeholders, but limited alignment with actual hazards faced. The research highlights the need for integrated, inclusive adaptation planning to address vulnerabilities and enhance sustainability in rapidly growing megacities.
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| 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Poster Presentation
Scaling, fouling and chlorine resistant rinse-free molecular Layer-by-Layer (mLbL) Polyamide Reverse Osmosis Membranes The molecular layer-by-layer (mLbL) technique enables ultra-smooth (~<1 nm), ~20 nm-thick polyamide RO membranes. Traditionally limited by rinse steps, we eliminate rinsing by tuning monomer concentrations, maintaining membrane quality while improving fabrication speed and reagent efficiency. With tailored surface chemistries, these membranes offer outstanding fouling, scaling, and chlorine resistance with 99.9% salt rejection.
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| 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Poster Presentation
School-Based Asthma Telehealth (SAT) Intervention: A Case Study Using a quality improvement approach, we identified barriers, designed and implemented SAT intervention at IMPACT DC. Post-intervention data of our case show reduced emergency visits and missed school days, and improved caregiver confidence. The SAT Intervention may reduce health disparities and improve access; contributing to better asthma management and reduced ED visits post-intervention. This study was funded by the Knapp Fellowship for Entrepreneurial Service-Learning and the SURE Award.
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| 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Poster Presentation
scSNViz: a user-friendly R package for visualization and analysis of cell-specific expressed Mutations We present scSNViz, a user-friendly R package for quantitative visualization, statistical analysis, and graphical depiction of the expression patterns of sceSNVs within individual cells on cell-barcoded scRNA-seq data (e.g.10xGenomics). scSNViz enables 2D- and 3D-visualization of individual and sets of sceSNVs' expression and cell distribution across diverse cell types and pseudotime stages and is compatible with popular tools for scRNA-seq data processing and analysis even with integrated data.
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| 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Poster Presentation
Simulating the Swift XRT Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) Population to Probe Electron Acceleration Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are among the most energetic and explosive phenomena in the universe. The electrons accelerated during a burst are typically assumed to follow a simple power-law energy distribution. However, observational evidence suggests this model may be too simplistic, prompting questions about the underlying physics. In this study, we developed a computer simulation to test whether the observed GRB population could be reproduced under the assumptions of this basic model.
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| 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Poster Presentation
Storytelling as a catalyst: Teaching cases bridging antiracism theory and clinical practice Amid national rollbacks of diversity efforts, some medical institutions are adopting antiracism training. We created three student-authored teaching cases to help learners confront racism in healthcare. Using two antiracism frameworks and real-world scenarios, students developed cases tailored to different experience levels. The cases support practical application and self-reflection, and will be included in an upcoming health equity textbook.
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| 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Poster Presentation
The Choreography of Confinement: Intergenerational Trauma of Movement and Stillness in Japanese Americans In 1942, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, forcing 122,000 Japanese-Americans into internment camps during WWII. This article examines how Japanese-Americans reclaimed agency through cultural practices, including social dance and performance, as acts of resilience and resistance. Focusing on works like Cindy Mochizuki’s Sue Sada Was Here and Yayoi Kambara’s IKKAI Means Once, it explores how movement served as a method of survival and collective healing.
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| 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Poster Presentation
The Implementation of the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System to Standardize Symptom Assessment This project aims to implement the Edmonton System Assessment System (ESAS) in an inpatient oncology service and evaluate the acceptability (AIM), appropriateness (IAM), and feasibility (FIM) of the assessment by nurses and palliative care providers.
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| 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Poster Presentation
Transcriptomic Signatures and Functional Pathways in HBV and HCV Infections: A Comparative RNA-seq Analysis Using Dual Quantification Strategies Chronic HBV and HCV infections are leading causes of liver disease worldwide. We analyzed RNA-seq data from blood samples of HBV, HCV, and healthy individuals using Salmon and STAR + featureCounts. This dual approach enabled robust identification of DEGs. PCA revealed distinct clustering, with HBV samples separating clearly. Enrichment analyses showed immune responses in HBV and metabolic stress in HCV. Our results highlight distinct transcriptomic profiles and support multi-method validation.
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| 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Poster Presentation
Ultrasound Beyond Imaging: Blood Pressure Estimation and Drug Release Ultrasound has been widely used for diagnostic purposes. The introduction of contrast agents expanded ultrasound’s scope to include blood pressure estimation and drug delivery. Our research explores new directions in blood pressure estimation using subharmonic responses from ultrasound contrast agents, as well as ultrasound-mediated drug release from doxorubicin-filled polymersomes.
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| 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Poster Presentation
A Societal Standoff: Vietnam’s Female Street Vendors in HCM City and Hanoi The female street vendors of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi expose the dialectic relationship, a metaphorical standoff, between regulators and working-class people, resulting in a society of people who have to teeter the line between Western "progression" and existing generational practices. My research is an extensive study of class and gender in Vietnam, mentored by Shweta Krishnan.
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| 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Poster Presentation
Advancing Equity in Autism Care: A Concept Analysis of Cultural Humility This concept analysis explores cultural humility in autism care, highlighting its role in reducing disparities and improving outcomes for children with ASD. Using the Walker and Avant framework, it defines cultural humility as an ongoing, reflective process that fosters trust, respects cultural differences, and promotes equitable care. Findings support integrating cultural humility into practice to enhance engagement and outcomes for culturally diverse families navigating autism services.
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| 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Poster Presentation
Another Firm’s Treasure: Privatization and Market Concentration in the US Waste Disposal Industry, 2001-2024 The purpose of this study is to examine patterns in privatization and market concentration in this industry since 2001, using the EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) database for 2,637 landfills. Using landfill design capacity, opening and planned/actual closure dates, we calculated remaining landfill capacity for each landfill each year, as an estimate of each firm’s market share in the disposal industry, and used measures of industry concentration to examine consolidation patterns.
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| 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Poster Presentation
AV-FOS: Transformer-Based Audio-Visual Multimodal Interaction Style Recognition for Children with Autism Using the Revised Family Observation Schedule 3rd Edition (FOS-R-III) Challenging behaviors in autistic children can lead to aggression or self-injury. The FOS-R-III is a detailed clinical scale for assessing autism severity. We propose AV-FOS, a transformer-based, self-supervised deep learning model that uses audio-visual data to automatically recognize Interaction Styles (IS) based on FOS-R-III. Compared to vision-based models and GPT-4V baselines, AV-FOS achieves clinically meaningful IS predictions, advancing autism research and digital health.
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| 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Poster Presentation
Belonging in the Senegal River Valley: A West African Perspective on Kinship and Integration As part of the Elliott School Dean's Scholar Program, Zoe Carver researched how Western Integration Frameworks react in non-Western environments, based on understandings of kinship and integration. This study follows thirteen interviews conducted in Dakar, Senegal, in 2024, with refugees and migrants of Mauritanian origin. The unique situation of these migrants reveals the inadequacies of the Western presumptions in integration studies.
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| 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Poster Presentation
Data-Driven Natural Behavior Model Design with Large Language Models for Robotic-Animal Assisted Interventions (RAAI) Animal-assisted intervention is an effective therapy, especially for individuals with autism. To enhance accessibility and reduce the burden on real animals, Robotic-Animal Assisted Interventions (RAAI) have been proposed. This study builds natural behavior models using data-driven approaches and large language models (LLMs). A key limitation is the lack of temporal continuity from static frame images, which future work could address via 3D-pose analysis for better realism and context.
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| 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Poster Presentation
Enhancing Readability of Clinical Text through AI Translation: A Quantitative Evaluation This presentation evaluated ChatGPT-4’s ability to translate clinical notes to improve readability while maintaining accuracy. Among 318 survey responses, AI translations showed significantly higher readability scores compared to originals. Improvements were consistent across age, gender, race, and education levels. AI-driven translation may enhance clinical communication and patient understanding across diverse groups.
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| 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Poster Presentation
Evaluating the Potential Impacts of Congestion Pricing in Washington, D.C. Cordon-based congestion pricing has emerged as a key policy tool for managing traffic with benefits such as reducing congestion, raising funds for public transit, etc. In this study, we employ traffic simulation to evaluate the impacts of implementing congestion pricing in Greater Washington metropolitan area. 5 different scenarios are analyzed using the latest COG/TPB Gen 2 Travel Demand Model. Results show that nearly 4% of travelers can adapt to transit mode from other places to central D.C.
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| 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Poster Presentation
Exploring disparities and drivers of contraceptive use among Syrian refugee youth: evidence from a mixed-methods study in Jordan Access to sexual and reproductive health services is an explicit element of the Sustainable Development Goals, and is critical for achieving family planning goals. Youth (15–24 years) face many barriers to accessible, quality services, and refugees often experience additional barriers. This study explored these barriers in the context of Jordan by examining utilization of contraceptives by Syrian refugee status and residence, exploring predictive factors of contraceptive use.
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| 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Poster Presentation
How two global superpowers (U.S. and China) differ in compliance and quality of life? There has been an undeniable presence of democratic backsliding worldwide. These shifts have called democracy into question, especially regarding its sustainability and effectiveness. The most stark shift has been visible in the US-China discourse. Although the overall quality of life has comparatively evened out between the two nation-states, China’s quality of life has increased over time due to economic development and the United States’ has decreased because of democratic backsliding.
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| 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Poster Presentation
Identity, Culture, and Social Positionality Among GW Puerto Rican College Students This project examines the adaptation process that Puerto Rican college students experience when they migrate to Washington, DC, to study at the George Washington University. The research explores the intersection of the population’s identity, culture, and adaptation processes through semi-structured interviews. The study focused on 12 students who lived most of their lives in Puerto Rico before moving to the United States to complete their undergraduate education.
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| 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Poster Presentation
Impact of a Workflow Innovation Using Blood Conservation Strategies to Reduce Hospital Acquired Anemia: A Quality Improvement Project The purpose of this QI project was to increase nurses’ knowledge about hospital-acquired anemia and blood conservation strategies, increase perceived self-efficacy in implementing evidence-based practice, and implement a new workflow using pretest/posttest design and retrospective chart review. Implementation of the workflow did not disrupt lab processing, and the training provided met all outcome goals. This workflow would be beneficial on nursing units where serial phlebotomy is required.
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| 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Poster Presentation
Lifetime Extension - Micro Cathode Arc Thruster This research focuses on the axi-symmetric micro cathode arc thruster (micro-CAT), designed for improved lifetime and performance characteristics. The axi-symmetric micro-CAT is a feeding-based thruster with multiple radially mounted cathodes, (propellant consumed per pulse) powered by a traditional inductive power processing unit (PPU) circuit, allowing it to generate thrust in all directions. The lifetime of 13M+ pulses is achieved demonstrating the effectiveness of this feeding mechanism.
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| 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Poster Presentation
Microbial CoA Biosynthesis: Developing P-Pan-CMP Analogs for PPCS Inhibition Antibiotic resistance is a burgeoning public health threat as pathogens evolve to evade existing therapeutics. In recent years, the coenzyme A (CoA) pathway emerged as a target for drug discovery. A universal CoA biosynthetic pathway exists, but differences between the bacterial and human pathways prompt the investigation of a selective inhibitor. We have synthesized several inhibitors to examine how the linker length and electronic properties of the inhibitors affect microbial survivability.
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| 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Poster Presentation
Multigoal Strategies: A Holistic Approach to Pro-Environmental Adaptation Strategies Against Climate Change Businesses face multiple challenges which lead them to take a decision about which of them will they prioritize. However, some strategies can address multiple challenges at the same time. This study analyzes the adoption of technologies that aim to both reduce vulnerability against climate change and increase environmental performance. Results show more intense climatic adversities lead to more adoption of multigoal strategies, with varying effects between developed and developing.
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| 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Poster Presentation
Sustainable Development of AI Data Centers in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and China: Compliance with SDGs 7 and 9 AI’s rapid growth raises concerns about data centers' energy use and environmental impact. This study explores sustainability in the U.S., Germany, the UK, and China through SDG 7 and 9. While AI can boost efficiency and renewables, regulatory gaps and economic hurdles persist. In a tense geopolitical climate, firms like Digital Realty and Equinix can lead with cross-border influence, showing how sustainable AI infrastructure can align innovation with global responsibility.
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| 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Poster Presentation
The Impact of Group Art Therapy on Compassion Fatigue in Anti-Human Trafficking Advocates: A Case Study Anti-human trafficking advocates face exposure to secondary trauma, risking burnout and compassion fatigue. This study explores group art therapy’s role in easing emotional strain and boosting resilience. Using mixed methods over five sessions, participants reported reduced stress, increased self-awareness, and greater collegial support. Findings suggest art therapy fosters healing, validation, and collective resilience, offering a valuable support tool for professionals in trauma-exposed roles.
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