Click on a Grad Slam event to see details of that year's competition.
- Grad Slam 2024
- Grad Slam 2023
- Grad Slam 2022
- Grad Slam 2019
- Grad Slam 2018
- Grad Slam 2017
- Grad Slam 2016
- Three Minute Thesis 2014
Grad Slam 2024
April 3, 2024 — Genentech Hall + Live Stream
Read the news story: UCSF Grad Slam: This is Your Brain on Your Mother Tongue
Watch video of the full 2024 event
Prize Winners:
- 1st Prize: Ilina Bhaya-Grossman, Bioengineering program (Edward Chang, MD, faculty adviser) - The Magic of Language Understanding
- 2nd Prize: Simone Kurial, Biomedical Sciences program (Holger Willenbring, MD, PhD, faculty adviser) - If You Can't Arboretum, Join 'em: Growing the Biliary Tree From Scratch
- 3rd Prize (tie): Reuben Hogan, Biophysics program (Nevan Krogan, PhD, faculty adviser) - Protein Folding is Pretty Sweet
- 3rd Prize (tie): Sydney Williams, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics program (Aparna Lakkaraju, PhD, faculty adviser) - Rabs: Delivery Drivers of the Eye
- People's Choice: Sydney Williams
Finalists:
- Chad Altobelli, Chemistry and Chemical Biology Program, Michelle Arkin, PhD, faculty mentor, Sizing Up Drug Candidates With a Molecular Ruler
- Olivia Barnhill, Neuroscience Program, Alexandra Nelson, MD, PhD, faculty mentor, Lights, Camera, Stimulation
- Lorenzo Del Castillo, Tetrad Program, Jeremy Reiter, MD, PhD, faculty mentor, Shining Some Light on Sonic Hedgehog Signaling
- Naz Dundar, Neuroscience Program, Zachary Knight, PhD, faculty mentor, The Hidden Hunger Hormone
- Cathrine Petersen, Neuroscience Program, Lennart Mucke, MD, and Ryan Corces, PhD, faculty mentors, Clustering: Giving Cell Types a Solo Performance
- Rachel Rock, Biomedical Sciences Program, Peter Turnbaugh, PhD, faculty mentor, Gut Microbes in Mind: Exploring One Potential Reason Why Women Are More Likely to Suffer From Autoimmune Disease
Event Judges
- Erin Allday, staff writer, San Francisco Chronicle
- Ranyee Chiang, PhD '08, director, Meteorology and Measurement Division, Bay Area Air Quality Management District
- Brian Feng, PhD '07, principal investigator, Calico Life Sciences, UCSF PhD alum, and board member, Graduate Division Alumni Association
- Kristen Harknett, PhD, professor, Social and Behavioral Sciences at UCSF, and director, Sociology PhD program
- Laura Persson, PhD, UCSF postdoctoral research in cell and tissue biology; 1st prize winner of Postdoc Slam 2023
Grad Slam 2023
April 4, 2023 — Genentech Hall + Live Stream
Read the news story: Learn Without a Brain Research Wins 2023 UCSF Grad Slam
Watch video of the full 2023 event
Prize Winners:
- Grand Prize: Deepa Rajan, Tetrad program (Wallace Marshall, PhD, and Adam Frost, MD, PhD, faculty advisers) - Learning Without a Brain
- 2nd Prize: Jaysón Davidson, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics program (Atul Butte, MD, PhD, faculty adviser) - Improving Health Equity Bit by Bit
- 3rd Prize: Olivia Teter, Bioengineering program (Martin Kampmann, PhD, faculty adviser) - Nipping Neurodevelopmental Disorders in the Bud
- People's Choice: Deepa Rajan
Finalists:
- Saumya Bollam, Biomedical Sciences program, Allan Balmain, PhD, faculty adviser, An Extra Nudge in the Direction of Cancer
- Canice Christian, Global Health Sciences program, Gabriel Chamie, MD, faculty adviser, We Have the Power to Stop HIV
- Sophia Guldberg, Biomedical Sciences program, Matthew Spitzer, PhD, faculty adviser, Cancer Can't Breathe (or Grow) With no Aire
- Evelyn Hernandez, Tetrad program, Roshanak Irannejad, PhD, faculty adviser, Sending the Right Signal – How Cells Talk to and Interpret Each Other
- Mashel Fatema Saifuddin, Tetrad program, Noelle L'Etoile, PhD, faculty adviser, Memoirs of a Worm
- Victoria Sayo Turner, Neuroscience program, Mazen Kheirbek, PhD, faculty adviser, Be Bold, Little Mouse: Finding Courage in the Brain
- Benjamin Wheeler, Biomedical Sciences program, Mark Ansel, PhD, faculty adviser, Malat1 is a Spongy RNA That Helps the Immune System Remember
Event Judges
- Abby Buchwalter, PhD is an assistant professor in UCSF’s Cardiovascular Research Institute.
- Dan Lowenstein, MD is the Robert B. and Ellinor Aird Professor of Neurology at UCSF, renowned for his clinical and research work in epilepsy. Dr. Lowenstein also served as Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost from 2015 to 2022.
- Florie Mar, PhD, a 2015 graduate of the Biomedical Sciences PhD program, is global medical science director in medical affairs at Genentech, and founder and president of Youreka Science.
- Elise Marsan, PhD is a postdoctoral researcher in cellular and molecular neurobiology, founder of the Improv at UCSF group, and first prize winner in the 2022 UCSF Postdoc Slam.
- Carla Washington, PhD, a 1995 PhD alum in pharmaceutical chemistry, is a clinical consultant and president of the UCSF Graduate Division Alumni Association.
Grad Slam 2022
March 31, 2022 — Genentech Hall + Live Stream
Read the news story: Talk on the Secrets of Fruit-Eating Mammals Wins 2022 UCSF Grad Slam
Watch video of the full 2022 event
Prize Winners:
- Grand Prize: Wei Gordon, Tetrad program (Nadav Ahituv, faculty adviser) - Uncovering the Sweet Secrets of Fruit-Eating Mammals
- 2nd Prize: Rachel Nakagawa, Biomedical Sciences program (Andrei Goga, faculty adviser) - Deconstructing Tumor Cell Interactions
- 3rd Prize: Lucía Abascal Miguel, Global Health Sciences program (Margaret Handley, faculty adviser) - No le Pidas Peras al Olmo / Don't Ask the Elm Tree for Pears (turn on closed captions for English translation)
- People's Choice: Gokul Ramadoss, Biomedical Sciences program (Bruce Conklin and Martin Kampmann, faculty advisers) - Get Your Genes Tailored
Finalists:
- Megan Chong, Tetrad program (Sophie Dumont, faculty adviser) - Nobody's Perfect, But Dividing Cells Can Work It
- Colin Germer, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics program (Aparna Lakkaraju, faculty adviser) - Bursting Every Stress Bubble Eye Can See
- Kelly Montgomery, Chemistry and Chemical Biology program (Jason Gestwicki, faculty adviser) - Paper Cranes and Paper Balls, Unfolding the Causes of Dementia
- Neha Prasad, Chemistry and Chemical Biology program (Ian Seiple, faculty adviser) - Our Friend, the Phage
- Jack Stevenson, Chemistry and Chemical Biology program (Kevan Shokat, faculty adviser) - Learning the Tricks of the Most Valuable Protein: How Your Cells Decide to Divide
Event Judges:
- Erin Allday, San Francisco Chronicle health reporter
- Won Ha, MA, UCSF Vice Chancellor for Communications
- Catherine Lucey, MD, Executive Vice Dean, Vice Dean for Education, and Professor of Medicine, UCSF School of Medicine
- Leticia Márquez Magaña, PhD, Professor Biology and Director, Health Equity Research Laboratory, San Francisco State University
- Don Woodson, MEd, Director, UCSF Center for Science Education and Outreach
Grad Slam 2019
March 21, 2019 — Genentech Hall
Read the news story: Talk on a Blood Test for Concussions Wins 2019 Grad Slam
Watch video of the full 2019 event
Prize Winners:
- Grand Prize: David Wu, Biomedical Sciences Program/MSTP (Daniel Lim, faculty adviser) - A Blood Test to Uncover Concussion
- 2nd Prize: Olivia Creasey, Bioengineering Program (Zev Gartner, faculty adviser) - An Instruction Manual for Islet Assembly
- 3rd Prize: Ryan Muir, Chemistry and Chemical Biology (Adam Renslo, faculty adviser) - Ironing Out Antibacterial Resistance
- People's Choice: Ryan Muir
Finalists:
- Emily Davis, Biomedical Sciences Program (Dena Dubal, faculty adviser) - eXtra Life
- Kyle Fowler, Tetrad Program (Sandy Johnson, faculty adviser) - The Bilingual Grammar of Genomes
- Isabel Johnson, Tetrad Program (Adam Frost, faculty adviser) - Put a (Protein) Ring on It
- Kei Katsura, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences Program (Pamela Den Besten, faculty adviser) - Teeth Come in Little Packages
- Hardik Kothare, Bioengineering Program (Sri Nagarajan and John Houde, faculty advisers) - Do You Hear That? It's You Speaking.
- Ben Mansky, Neuroscience Program (Daniel Lim and Arturo Alvarez-Buylla, faculty advisers) - Thanks for the (Cellular) Memories
- Lindsey Osimiri, Bioengineering Program (Hana El-Samad, faculty adviser) - Programming Yeast Like a Microwave
Event Judges:
- Sam Hawgood, MBBS, UCSF Chancellor
- Bill Banyai, PhD, Co-Founder and COO, Twist Bioscience
- Lindsey Criswell, MD, MPH, DSc, UCSF Vice Chancellor for Research
- Sandra Waugh Ruggles, PhD, President, Summit Rock Strategy Consulting
- Ron Vale, PhD, Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, UCSF and HHMI Investigator
Grad Slam 2018
March 22, 2018 — Genentech Hall
Read the news story: Talk on Safer Stent Wins 2018 UCSF Grad Slam
Watch video of the full 2018 event
Prize Winners:
Grand Prize: Yiqi Cao, Bioengineering Program (Tejal Desai, faculty adviser) - Don't Go Breaking My Heart...Again
Runner Up: Inez Raharjo, Bioengineering Program (Sri Nagarajan and John Houde, faculty advisers) - Do You Listen to Your Vowels?
People's Choice: Yiqi Cao
Finalists:
Jennifer Hu, Bioengineering Program (Zev Gartner, faculty adviser) - Cells as Living Building Blocks
Tess Veuthey, Neuroscience Program (Karunesh Ganguly, faculty adviser) - (Learning To) Move to the Music
Frances Cho, Neuroscience Program (Jeanne Paz, faculty adviser) - Looking Towards the Stars
Steven Moss, Chemistry & Chemical Biology Program (Kevan Shokat, faculty adviser) - Don't Your Roommates Make You Sick?
Meredith Van Natta, Sociology Program (Catherine Bliss, faculty adviser) - Life, Death, and Deportation
Claire Tang, Neuroscience Program (Edward Chang, faculty adviser) - How Your Brain Hears the Melody of Speech
Ashley Libby, Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program (Bruce Conklin and Todd McDevitt, faculty advisers) - Winning the Developmental Game
Katie Cabral, Bioengineering Program (Zev Gartner, faculty adviser) - Building Blood Vessels
Event Judges:
Sam Hawgood, MBBS, UCSF Chancellor
Renee Navarro, MD, PharmD, UCSF Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Outreach
Ann Reid, Executive Director, National Center for Science Education
Jacob Ward, Writer and Television Correspondent
Keith Yamamoto, PhD, UCSF Vice Chancellor for Science Policy and Strategy
Grad Slam 2017
March 16, 2017 — Genentech Hall
Read the news story: Cell Division Talk Takes Top Prize at 2017 UCSF Grad Slam
Watch video of the full 2017 event
Prize Winners:
Grand Prize: Christina Hueschen, Biomedical Sciences Program (Sophie Dumont, faculty adviser) - How to Build an Elephant
Runner Up: Ashley Smart, Neuroscience Program (Jim Wells and Grae Davis, faculty advisers) - Death By Light
People's Choice: Sam Pollock, Chemistry and Chemical Biology Program (Jim Wells, faculty adviser) - How to Kill You, Without Killing You: Using Laser-guided Antibody Missiles to Target Tumors
Finalists:
Britta Berg-Johansen, Bioengineering Program (Jeffrey Lotz, faculty adviser) - The Spinal Frontier
Peter Chisnell, Neuroscience Program (Kaveh Ashrafi, faculty adviser) - Curing What Ails Us All
Stephanie Holden, Neuroscience Program (Jeanne Paz, faculty adviser) - The Epileptic Brain: Rewiring After Injury
Ariel Kauss, Biomedical Sciences Program (Todd McDevitt, faculty adviser) - Your Gentrified Heart
Sophia Levan, Biomedical Sciences Program (Susan Lynch, faculty adviser) - Babies, Bug, and Big Ideas
Anne Pipathsouk, Tetrad Program (Orion Weiner, faculty adviser) - 'Cause if You Wanted to Migrate, Then You Should have Put a Ring on It
Hane Ryu, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics Program (Nadav Ahituv and Katie Pollard, faculty advisers) - What Makes Us Human?
Event Judges:
Bruce Alberts, PhD, Chancellor’s Leadership Chair in Biochemistry and Biophysics for Science and Education at UCSF
Daniel Lowenstein, MD, UCSF Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
Gabriela Quiros, MA, Science Journalist and Producer at KQED Science and Environment
Indre Viskontas, PhD, Neuroscientist and Opera Singer
Grad Slam 2016
March 10, 2016 — Genentech Hall
Read the news story: UCSF Grad Slam 2016 Winner Driven by Research in Sobering Center
Watch video of the full 2016 event
Prize Winners:
Grand Prize: Shannon Smith-Bernardin, Nursing Health Policy Program (Susan Chapman, faculty adviser) - The Sobering Cost of Alcohol Intoxication
Runner Up: Shaun Abrams, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences Program (Jeremy Reiter, faculty adviser) - The New Face of Cilia
People's Choice: Mihir Vohra, Neuroscience Program (Kaveh Ashrafi, faculty adviser) - Eat Less, Learn More
Finalists:
Sonia Rab Alam, Sociology Program (Janet Shim, faculty adviser), Health in the Digital Age: Is All Information Health Information?
Roman Camarda, Biomedical Sciences Program (Andrei Goga, faculty adviser) - Everybody’s Gotta Eat: Cancer and Metabolism
Louise Goupil, Chemistry and Chemical Biology Program (Jim McKerrow, faculty adviser) - Using Planaria 'Vomit' to Fight Parasites
Zairan Liu, Biophysics Program (Orion Weiner, faculty adviser) - The Journey Home: How Cells Sort Out
Melissa McCreery, Biomedical Sciences Program (Allan Balmain, faculty adviser) - The Deadly Split: A Tumor’s Tale
Thomas Roseberry, Neuroscience Program (Anatol Kreitzer, faculty adviser) - Why We Run
Meera Shenoy, Biomedical Sciences Program (Susan V. Lynch, faculty adviser) - Fetchez la Vache! Novel Tactics for Combating Bacterial Pneumonia
Event Judges
Sam Hawgood, MBBS, UCSF Chancellor
Talmadge E. King, Jr., MD, Dean of UCSF School of Medicine
Kishore Hari, Director of Bay Area Science Festival
Gabriela Quiros, MA, Science Journalist and Producer at KQED Science and Environment
Indre Viskontas, PhD, Neuroscientist and Opera Singer
Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) 2014
October 29, 2014 — Genentech Hall
Read the news story: Students Engage in Science Storytelling with "Three Minute Thesis"
Watch video of the full 2014 event
Prize Winners:
Grand Prize: Sama Ahmed, Neuroscience Program (Nirao Shah, faculty adviser), Choosing Mates: How to Know Your Species
Runner Up: Chuchu Zhang, Neuroscience Program (David Julius, faculty adviser), Ouch! Painful Venom to New Pain Mechanism
People's Choice: Sama Ahmed
Finalists:
Quinn Grundy, Nursing Program (Ruth E. Malone, faculty adviser), Becoming a Local Species: Nurses' Interactions with Industry in Clinical Practice
Laurens Kraal, Bioinformatics Program (Michael Fischbach & Tanja Kortemme, faculty advisers), Building Microbial Communities
Freeman Lan, Bioengineering Program (Adam Abate, faculty adviser), Deadly Mutants! The World of X-Men or Deadly Viruses?
Alison Leaf, Tetrad Program (Mark von Zastrow, faculty adviser), How the Cell Targets Dopamine Receptors to the Cellular Signaling Antennae, the Primary Cilium
Isabel Nocedal, Tetrad Program (Sandy Johnson, faculty adviser), How Yeast Genomes Evolve
Laura Simpson, Biomedical Sciences Program (Mark Ansel, faculty adviser), Micro-managing Asthma: MicroRNA Regulation of Asthmatic Airway T Cells
Ivan Vujkovic-Cvijin, Biomedical Sciences Program (Susan V. Lynch & Mike McCune, faculty advisers), HIV and Gut Bacteria: Partners in Crime
Event Judges:
Sam Hawgood, MBBS, UCSF Chancellor
B. Joseph Guglielmo, PharmD, Dean of UCSF School of Pharmacy
Ben Lillie, PhD, Physicist and Co-Founder of The Story Collider
Gabriela Quiros, MA, Science Journalist and Producer at KQED Science and Environment
Indre Viskontas, PhD, Neuroscientist and Opera Singer
