Each year, a small group of Campuswide Honors Collegium (CHC) undergraduate students receive the Nellie Ansley Reeves CHC Thesis Award from the UC Irvine Libraries in recognition of an exemplary senior thesis. Presented at the annual CHC Banquet, each award is accompanied by a $250 prize. This year there are five awards.

The Nellie Ansley Reeves Award Endowment was established by Nellie Ansley Reeves, a generous supporter and friend of the Libraries who passed in 2000. For 26 years, the endowment has funded prizes to UC Irvine undergraduate students to honor Reeves’ wish to recognize students for their scholarly research and writing.

The recipients of the 2026 awards wrote their theses in the areas of psychology, oncology, music, criminology, and molecular biology:

• "The Effects of Post-Event Misinformation on Memory and Perceptions of Aggression," by Aidan Ermisch, measured how direct misinformation can shape memory of an ambiguous interpersonal interaction, specifically, false memories of aggression. The study assessed recall through true/false questions, source monitoring, and open-ended responses, with results offering insights into the malleability of memory, eyewitness testimony, and legal cases that involve aggression.
• "Comparison of FLASH and CONV Irradiation in Neurogenesis and Neuroinflammation," by Tejazvi Gopalan, investigated an emerging oncology treatment called FLASH radiotherapy (FLASH-RT) that spares normal tissue but has the same efficacy as conventional radiotherapy (CONV-RT) in terms of killing tumors. By evaluating the effects of FLASH-RT, CONV-RT, and no radiotherapy on neurogenesis and neuroinflammation at early timepoints, the study aimed to identify clues to early effects, or biomarkers, that might contribute to the later protective effects of FLASH on cognition.
• "Can Harmonies Heal: A Systematic Review of the Influence of Music on Pain Perception and Management," by Shreya Dixit, synthesized findings from various randomized controlled trials, meta-analyses, and mixed methods studies to examine the influence of music on pain perception and management. Even with the gaps Dixit identified, the literature to date justifies integrating individualized music as a safe, low-cost, and noninvasive adjunct in multimodal pain management.
• "From Courtrooms to Comment Sections: How Social Media Shapes Public Opinion of the Legal System During Landmark Legal Events," by Hannah Jean Regan, analyzed Instagram, YouTube, and X comments to study public attitudes around two landmark legal events: State of Minnesota v. Derek Chauvin (2021) and Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022). Notably, most of the negative comments were about legal procedures and outcomes, although users tended to use legal commentary when expressing their opinions.
• Visualizing and Quantifying Th17 Immune Cell Infiltration and Collagen Formation in CD1a Mouse Livers,” by Sacred Moseley, investigated the potential role of CD1a, a lipid-presenting receptor, in Th17 inflammation and liver fibrosis. The study measured the levels of fibrosis and immune cells in the livers of high-fat diet mice. The results suggest that CD1a-mediated inflammation may protect against the metabolic dysfunction mechanisms that contribute to liver damage.

Research Librarian for Biological Sciences Angelissa Panganiban, who is the CHC liaison, noted the breadth of topics covered by this year’s submissions.

"Our evaluation committee enjoyed reviewing theses representing widely different disciplines across campus, and we were impressed by the high quality of research and writing," she said.

Photo caption: From left to right, Hannah Jean Regan, Sacred Moseley, Angelissa Panganiban, Tejazvi Gopalan, Shreya Dixit, and Aidan Ermisch.