Machine learning and computer modeling are changing the face of medicine. The next breakthroughs will require scientists and innovators eager to tackle hard problems around human health.
Local Initiative For Excellence (L.I.F.E.) Foundation Fellowships provide four-year scholarships and research stipends for highly-motivated undergraduates at NKU who major in the computational sciences and minor in the life sciences. L.I.F.E. fellows get the chance to work on multiple research teams during their time at NKU. The fellowship serves to jumpstart the next generation of computationally-grounded biomedical researchers who will then further their education in graduate school.
Major: Computer Science
Minor: Neuroscience
Research Advisor:
Dr. Nicholas Caporusso
Over the past few semesters, my lab has developed an eye-tracking software that can use a webcam to collect data on eye movements and gaze behavior. Applications of this software include the diagnosis of concussions and other conditions that can disrupt cognition as well asÌýmeasuring attention for marketing and user experience studies. So far, we have conducted studies using the software to collect eye-tracking data from student athletes at baseline and after a head injury to compare the differences in eye movements, and to track the gaze behavior of literature students while reading medieval manuscripts. Recently, we have been working to refactor the code in the experimental software to improve the efficiency and readability to make it more accessible for developers with less experience and to improve the user interface for a better user experience. I have been responsible for implementing the constraints the system will require the user to uphold in order to collect the highest quality data possible by restricting head movement, distance from the camera, etc. After the refactoring is complete, we will be able to conduct a new study with the improved system. I have four publications so far related to the eye-tracking project and have presented my work on several occasions, both at NKU and at other institutions, such as presenting at the Kentucky Capitol Building and virtually at anÌýinternational conference.
Major: Data Science
Minor: Biological Sciences
Research Advisor:
Dr. Junxiu Zhou
As a L.I.F.E. Fellow, I have completed four projects over the past three years. In my first year, I focused on recommendation systems, particularly for movies. Our team developed a hybrid filtering approach that combines content-based and collaborative filtering techniques, using transformers to achieve state-of-the-art performance. The following year, I worked on analyzing trends in AI-related job postings using topic modeling techniques, primarily Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). This project was a collaborative effort involving multiple faculty members from NKU as well as an external professor.Ìý
Over the past year, my research has centered on analyzing hackathon submissions. This involved examining approximately 10,000 hackathon projects to identify patterns in winning submissions by studying both their GitHub repositories and official submission details. A core focus was building an accurate predictor of winning projects. Standalone large language models (LLMs) suffered from severe positive bias, frequently misclassifying non-winning projects as winners. To address this, I worked on developing a multi-layer ensemble classifier that retains LLM predictions for likely winners (where LLMs showed decent recall) and refines non-winner predictions by combining probabilistic outputs from multiple LLMs with high-performing classical models (BERT and RBF-SVM). This combined approach reached 84–85% accuracy, precision, and recall. It performed much better than any single model and offers a more reliable way to understand and predict hackathon success.
Major: Computer Science
Minor: Neuroscience
Research Advisor:
Dr. Nicholas Caporusso
I am continuing to work on a project to develop a web application that records eye tracking data to diagnose concussions. I helped redesign our blink-detection system so that it can be operated by a laptop or smartphone, eliminating additional hardware. I submitted and presented two papers to the international IEEE ICT and Electronics Convention in Croatia. I also have been part of a project that applies eye-tracking software to assess how readers interact with medieval texts. Currently, I’m working on building a machine-learning model and testing this with users.Ìý
Major: Computer Science
Minor: Neuroscience
Research Advisor:
Dr. Nicholas Caporusso
I am part of Dr. Caporusso’s research group and am working on a human-computer interaction project focused on applying webcams and eye-tracking software to detect concussions. I presented a poster at the Heather Bullen Celebration of Research on my gaze-analysis and eye-tracking work, and I am currently documenting the processes involved in this research.
Major: Computer Science
Minor: Neuroscience
Research Advisor:
Dr. Nicholas Caporusso
I’m working in Dr. Caporusso’s Human-Computer Interaction lab on a project that uses webcams to detect concussions through eye-tracking software application. I presented a poster at the Heather Bullen Celebration of Research on our remote eye tracking through computer web camera research. Currently, I’m working on our applications page and cleaning up the design of how they look on the webpage. In addition, I am working on descriptions of our mechanisms that are being added to the applications page to ensure that subjects who use the website understand functionality and how to adjust settings.
Major: Computer Science
Minor: Neuroscience
Summary
I graduated from Campbell County High School in 2025 and began my education at NKU the same year in the fall. I accepted the NKU L.I.F.E Fellowship scholarship because I want to be able to do research that will benefit the computer science industry. While I currently don't know what I would like to research, I have high interest in researching something related to AI. I look forward to being able to participate in this program and conducting research.
Major: Computer Science
Minor: Neuroscience
Research Advisor:
Dr. Brandi Neal
Summary
I’m majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Neuroscience. I’ve always been interested in how the brain works and how technology can help us learn more about it. As a new L.I.F.E. Fellow, I’m excited to start gaining research experience and explore how computing can be used to solve problems in health and science. Through the L.I.F.E. Fellows program, I hope to explore the connections between computing and neuroscience while learning new ways to use programming and data to solve real-world problems.Ìý
I am working with Dr. Brandi Neal on a project that will build and test cutting-edge AI communication agents that deliver personalized information to prospective students right in their browsers. By combining insights from student behavior, AI literacy, and technical systems engineering, this project examines how intelligent digital tools can transform the user experience. Our research bridges informatics, human-AI interaction, and the future of digital communication.
