Cellular and Molecular Biology Undergraduate
Ezana Rivers is an undergraduate Cell and Molecular Biology student conducting research in two areas of computational biology. In one project, she is developing an agent-based model and simulation of action potentials in animals and Venus flytraps as an educational tool for K–12 students. In a second project, she investigates the viscoelastic properties of tendons at the molecular level, using Molecular Dynamics simulations in GROMACS to examine how tropocollagen — the amino acid-level building block of tendons — responds to mechanical stress, with implications for understanding how tendons transfer contractile force between muscle and bone.