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English-Stonehouse Fellows

Faculty Fellows 2023-2025

dickterheadshot.jpgCheryl L. Dickter is a Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences and a faculty affiliate of the Neuroscience Program. Dr. Dickter earned her B.A. in Psychology from Randolph-Macon College and her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research uses a social cognitive approach to examine how individuals perceive members of different social groups (e.g., people of color, sexual minorities, individuals from neurodiverse backgrounds), and how these perceptions differ based on contextual information such as stereotypes. She and her students also design and test trainings to reduce implicit and explicit bias and to increase cultural competence. Dr. Dickter has published over 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals; W&M students are co-authors on more than 30 of those papers. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Over the next two years, Dr. Dickter and her English-Stonehouse Student Fellows will conduct research that focuses on understanding and reducing the biases that individuals have in identifying pain on the faces of individuals who do not share their racial identity. As previous neuroscience studies have demonstrated that people tend to show less activity in brain regions related to empathy to people in pain who do not share their racial identity compared to those who do share their racial identity, this research will measure brain activity as assessed with electroencephalography (EEG) during face processing. This research will also examine ways to increase empathy for and improve emotion identification of pain in people whose racial identity is different from one’s own. Student fellows will engage in all aspects of the research process, including study conception, programming, data processing, and data analysis. Students will also have opportunities to present the results of this work at conferences and potentially in published manuscripts.

shakes2017-3-768x1024.jpegDiane Shakes is a Professor in the Biology Department. She earned her BA from Pomona College in 1983 and her PhD from The Johns Hopkins University in 1989. After postdoctoral work at Cornell, she started as a faculty member at the University of Houston before moving to William & Mary in 1995. Her lab is broadly interested in the cellular processes that govern how uncommitted germline stem cells develop in functional sperm. Over the years, her group has studied all aspects of this process from the transcription factors that regulate which genes turn on or off to the roll-out of the developmental program involved in building a functional sperm cell and the molecular mechanisms required from sperm to move, find, and fertilize oocytes. She explores the underlying molecular mechanisms of these fundamental processes in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, a nematode worm whose many experimental assets are well suited for such studies. To date, her research has been supported by grants from both the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Over the next two years, Dr. Shakes and her English-Stonehouse students will explore questions related to her current NIH grant – how enzymes that reversibly modify target proteins with the addition or removal of a phosphate group (kinases and phosphatases) regulate sperm development and function. In particular, the student fellows will be involved in the analysis of the kinase SPE-6 and its three most closely related counterparts. One overarching question is how molecular similar kinases function together to regulate sperm development. To address this question, Dr. Shakes’ lab recently acquired multiple experimental tools such as genetically engineered gene knock-out worms and antibodies that can be used to track the location of the specific kinases within cells.

Student Fellows 2023-2025

Quilla Chavez is a sophomore planning on majoring in Biology from Virginia Beach, VA. She plans on continuing her work in the Shakes lab which focuses on characterizing male rachis of the nematode worm species C. elegans and its formation. She joined the lab in the Spring of 2024. Her future aspirations are to attend medical school and become a surgeon. Outside of research, Quilla is involved in the Housing Committee of the Delta Delta Delta Fraternity and served as an Orientation Aide this fall.

Elyssa Kancherla is a senior majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Biochemistry. She joined Dr. Dickter’s lab in January of 2022 because she was interested in learning more about navigating and reducing social prejudice after taking her COLL 100: Underrepresented Scholars in the Academy. Elyssa decided to join in on this specific project because she believes that using the electroencephalogram (EEG) to examine how our brain recognizes pain in people with different racial identities can aid in the medical treatment of Black individuals. Additionally, she believes using the EEG to reveal how we process empathy toward different racial identities could impact prejudice and discrimination against minority groups. Her role in this project is to help with data collection using the EEG software in Dr. Dickter’s lab. In the future, Elyssa aspires to attend medical school and become a doctor where she believes she will be able to utilize her research to create a safe and welcoming environment for all of her patients. Outside of research, Elyssa is the president of the William & Mary Club Rugby Team, is a student fellow of W&M Scholars Undergraduate Research Experience (WMSURE), is an executive member and confidential advocate at The Haven, mentors fellow premedical students, is a medical scribe at the Lackey Clinic, and serves on the Assessment Steering Committee through the college.

Christa Quaye is a junior from Fredericksburg, VA currently majoring in Neuroscience. Christa joined Professor Dickter’s lab during the fall of 2023 because of her  interest in social psychology and learning more about the ways people interact with one another. She hopes to go to medical school and become a radiology postgrad. In Summer 2024, Christa evaluated neural biases with the use of an EEG machine. Outside of research, Christa is the treasurer of ESSENCE Women of Color and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Alanis Stapelfeldt is a junior from Virginia Beach, VA majoring in Biology and Japanese Studies.  She decided to join Professor Shake’s lab in the Spring semester of 2024, researching spermatogenesis in C. elegans.  In Summer 2024, she focused on research of the sperm-producing gonad of C. elegans and related species.  After graduation, she plans to pursue a PhD in a field of biology.  Outside of research, Alanis is involved with the Japanese Culture Association and enjoys playing piano and growing vegetables in the community garden. 

Olivia Warren is a sophomore from Waldorf, MD studying Computational Applied Mathematics and Statistics on the biology track. Olivia's major focuses on explaining biological systems using technology and math. She joined Dr. Shakes' developmental biology lab in early 2024 to better understand life systems and work with a fascinating model organism. She is working with a partner to explore the role of a certain protein in cell motility within C. elegans nematodes. After graduation, Olivia plans to pursue a master's degree in a closely related field such as genomics or bioinformatics. Outside of research, she plays piano.