We would like to spotlight Hyojung Kim and Elise Whitlinger (HBS ’26) for receiving the Dean’s Prize for Excellence in Research and Creativity Award for Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Award.
Congratulations to both for your success!
Project Title & Summary
Redrawing the Line: The Shifting Boundary Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Normal Aging
This project traces how the definition of Alzheimer’s disease has been redrawn across three pivotal moments — from Kraepelin’s deliberately open naming of the disease in 1910, to Katzman’s 1976 unification of presenile and senile dementia that transformed Alzheimer’s into a national public health crisis, to the NIA-AA’s recent biomarker-only framework that classifies cognitively intact individuals as diseased before any symptom appears. The project argues that these boundary shifts reflect not only scientific progress but also institutional interests, pharmaceutical partnerships, and political momentum, and that each redefinition relocates rather than resolves the underlying uncertainty. Drawing on biostatistical, instrumentalist, and normative frameworks, the research interrogates what it means to diagnose and manage a disease for which no cure yet exists. Ultimately, the project concludes that the boundary between Alzheimer’s disease and normal aging is not simply discovered, but continuously constructed through the interplay of science, institutions, and society.
Bio
Hyojung Kim is a fourth-year Human Biology and Society major originally from South Korea. At UCLA, she conducts research in the Silverman Lab at UCLA Health Nuclear Medicine, examining relationships between metabolic indicators and tau pathology. She is also involved in community health advocacy through Project Lux, a UCLA student organization supporting unhoused populations in Los Angeles, and delivers memory health and Alzheimer’s disease education to senior communities through BEAM, which is affiliated with the UCLA Easton Center. As part of the UCLA Medical Center Patient Transport Team, she gains hands-on clinical experience working with diverse patient populations. Hyojung is passionate about geriatrics and mental well-being, and hopes to pursue a career as a physician serving these communities. In her free time, she enjoys fencing and drawing.
Mentored by Dr. Soraya de Chadarevian
Project Title & Summary
Gender-Affirming Hormone Bans in Prisons: How They Put Incarcerated Transgender Populations at Risk of Heat-Related Illness & Death
Eight states as well as the federal government are currently engaged in litigation over laws/policies banning gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) in prisons, further compounding the violence and discrimination faced by incarcerated transgender individuals. Sudden cessation of GAHT is associated with many side effects, including increased heat sensitivity. Simultaneously, incarcerated populations are highly vulnerable to heat-related illness and death (HRID) due to limited autonomy and restricted access to cooling. Through an abolitionist lens, this project argues that GAHT bans put incarcerated transgender people in the United States at further risk of HRID by intensifying heat sensitivity in a population already predisposed to heat. Ultimately, this project contextualizes the recent GAHT bans in the broader frameworks of carceral, gender, and environmental justice, arguing that they deliberately contribute to the systemic weaponization of heat against incarcerated populations.
Bio
Elise is a third year researcher in the UCLA Heat Lab run by Dr. Bharat Venkat. She is a pre-law environmental science major planning to pursue a career in public interest law.
Mentored by Dr. Bharat Venkat