RISE Scholars

Teddy Wimberly
Junior,  Computer Science

He joined the RISE program as a research specialist in the Spring of 2021. Before attending Morgan as a Jenkins Scholar, Teddy attended Mount Saint Joseph High School in Baltimore, MD, where he was a part of the National Honors Society and the Kelly Scholars' STEM program. Being in the Kelly Scholars' STEM program gave Teddy the opportunity to take many rigorous courses in his concentration of computer science. As a RISE scholar h,e has worked on "CS=ME: Exploring Psychological and Social Factors That Impact How Black/African-American Women Identify with The Field of Computer Science" project uner the mentorship of Dr. Edward Dillion. In Spring 2022, he participated in Tech Exchange Program where he took a virtual Interview Prep/Applied Data Structures course designed to prepare him for a career in Computer Science. As a RISE scholar, he has given 6 poster and oral presentation at regional and national conferences. Teddy is currently interning at Wabtec Corporation. He hopes to be able to take his computer science skills, and use them in conjunction with the research skills that he will learn as a RISE scholar. After completing his bachelor's at Morgan State University. He plans to pursue a postgraduate degree, with the end goal of becoming a software engineer who works towards creating better racial equity in the computer science industry.

Mojisoluwa Awolowo
Junior,  Biology

She joined the RISE program as a research specialist in the Spring of 2021. Her goal in the RISE program is to learn more important research and academic skills and be able to independently conduct research, collect and interpret data. Her current achievements at Morgan State University are joining the RISE scholars, Biology Club and Student Research Center. As a RISE scholar she has worked on two projects: "HIV Cardiac Comorbidities Present a Continuing Problem for HIV Health Care" under the mentorship od Dr. Frank Denaro and she is currently working on "High Morbidity Group A2 (HMGA2) Progression in Prostate Cancer" under the mentorship of Dr. Valerie Odero-Marah. As a RISE scholar she has given 5 oral and poster presentation at regional and national conferences. Post-graduation, she plans on getting an internship and attending medical or graduate school with the overall goal of pursuing a MD/Ph.D. degree in hematology-oncology to help treat and/or prevent multiple myeloma, sickle-cell disease, and other blood diseases and cancers.

Kamille Trice
Junior,  Psychology  

She joined the RISE program in Spring 2021. Prior to her attendance at Morgan State University, she was a PLTW (Project Lead the way) graduate of Oxon Hill High School. She participated in the annual senior symposium, presenting her year-long project "Luxlunch" an innovation on heatable lunches to provide PGCPS students with an alternative for lunch. The PLTW program taught her valuable and useful skills needed for STEM and research, and she is now ready to further her journey at Morgan State University as a RISE scholar. She has worked on "Approaches to The Authentication and Identification of Ashwagandha" under the mentorship of Dr. Jiangnan Peng. She is currently working under the mentorship of Dr. Ingrid Tulloch. She has given 5 oral and poster presentation at regional and national conferences. Her goal pursing a major in Psychology is to further her knowledge on the study of the mind and behavior, which is an important factor for quality of life. She wants to be in the field of public health and want to understand the different aspects that impact disenfranchised communities. Her overall goal is to better communities and working with people to make the world a better place.

Victoria Dada
Senior,  Civil Engineering 

She joined the RISE program in Spring 2021. She has worked on "Processing Drone Data Using Digital Image Correlation for Remote Evaluation" under the mentorship of Dr. Monique Head at University of Delaware. She is currently working on " Self Healing Concrete" under the mentorship of Dr. Mehdi Shokouhian. She has given 8 oral and poster presentations at regional and national conferences. She has won 1 presentation award at National Technical Association 93rd Annual Conference. She is interested in Structural Engineering, specifically how a building can be designed to accommodate for the business being conducted inside. Post-graduation she plans on pursuing a Ph.D. along with attaining Professional Engineer certification. 

Aliya Adams
Senior,  Biolology 

She joined the RISE program in Spring 2020. She has worked on "Modeling Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Biomagnification in the Chesapeake Bay" under the mentorship of Dr. Thomas Ihde. She is currently working on " Sex Differences Among Red Swamp Crayfish Treated with Cyanobacterial Nutrient Supplementation" under the mentorship of Dr. Ingrid Tulloch. She has given 8 oral and poster presentations at regional and national conferences. She has won 1 presentation award at National Technical Association 93rd Annual Conference. She is currently interning at University of South California Kech School of Medicine. She plans on pursuing a MD/PhD degree.

MaryAgnes Balogun
Senior, Chemistry 

She joined the RISE program in Spring 2020. She has worked on "Molecular Biology and Bioinformatic Studies of the Neisseria Meningitidis Serogroup W Capsule Polymerase" under the mentorship of Dr. Pumtiwitt McCarthy. In summer 2021 she participated in Research Intensive Summer Experience (RISE) where she worked on "Understanding the active site of the SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease (PLPro)" at Rutgers University. She is currently working on "Electrochemical Properties Nanostructured NixCo3-xO4 Materials" at University of Rochester. As a RISE scholar she has given 15 oral and poster presentations at regional and national conferences. 

Sarai Rankin
Senior, Physics 

She joined the RISE program in Spring 2020. She has worked on "Applications of Synchronous Fluorescence Spectroscopy to the Spectra of Porphyrins" under the mentorship of Dr. Alexander Samokhvalov. In Summer 2020 and the academic year, she worked on  "Analyzing Hemispherical Power Spectra Asymmetry in the Cosmic Microwave Background" at Johns Hopkins University. She is currently working on "An SMA Continuum Survey of Circumstellar Disks in the Cepheus OB3b Star-forming Region" at Harvard University. She has presented her research findings at 11 regional and national conferences. In Spring 2022, she was inducted into Sigma Pi Sigma Centennial. In addition to being an honors student, she is an artist for NASA's Psyche mission. Post-graduation, she plans to pursue a Ph.D. and become an astrophysicist.