SRTP 2025 Research Symposium

Each year, the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs’ Summer Research Training Program (SRTP) welcomes outstanding undergraduate students to UCSF to work with faculty members on graduate-level research projects.

All are welcome to join us as this year's 48 students conclude their 10-week experience with 3 days of oral and poster presentations. This is a great opportunity to support our scholars' work and to learn about the range of research projects they have engaged in at UCSF's research labs. 

Symposium Schedule 

Schedule at a Glance

Monday, August 4 | Oral Presentations at Mission Bay

ActivityTimeLocationDetails
Breakfast, Welcome 
& Opening Remarks 		8 AM - 9 AMMH 1401/1402Only for SRTP
 Students & Staff
Oral Presentation Session 1A 9 AM - 12 PMMH 1406 
Oral Presentation Session 1B 9 AM - 12 PMMH 1407 
Lunch12 PM  - 1 PMMH 1401/1402Only for SRTP 
Students & Staff
Oral Presentation Session 2A1 PM - 3:30 PMMH 1406 
Oral Presentation Session 2B1 PM - 3:30 PMMH 1407 

Tuesday, August 5 | Oral Presentations at Parnassus

ActivityTimeLocationDetails
Breakfast8 AM - 9 AMHSW 300/302 AtriumOnly for SRTP 
Students & Staff
Oral Presentation 3A9 AM - 12 PMHSW 300 
Oral Presentations 3B 9 AM - 12 PMHSW 302 
Lunch12 PM - 1PMHSW 300/302 AtriumOnly for SRTP 
Students & Staff

Wednesday, August 6 | Poster Presentations at Mission Bay

ActivityTimeLocationDetails
Breakfast & Poster Set Up8 AM - 9 AMGenentech Atrium 
& Byers Auditorium 		Only for SRTP 
Students & Staff
Research Poster Session 19 AM - 10:30 AMGenentech Atrium 
Research Poster Session 211 AM - 12:30 PMGenentech Atrium 
Lunch12:30 PM - 1:30 PM Only for SRTP 
Students & Staff
Research Poster Session 31:30 - 3 PMGenentech Atrium 
Group Photo3 PM - 3:30 PMGenentech Hall StepsOnly for SRTP 
Students & Staff
Awards & Closing Ceremony  3:30 PM - 4 PMByers Auditorium 
Farewell Dinner4 PM - 5:30 PMSF KebabOnly for SRTP 
Students & Staff

Oral Presentations | Monday, August 4 & Tuesday, August 5

Details 

Join In-Person or via Live Zoom Webinar

Participants may attend in person or remotely via Zoom. Remote attendees can submit questions through the chat feature. Please note that only presentations from individuals with pre-authorization from research labs will be available on Zoom and recorded. Sessions will be recorded for internal purposes only and shared with students and SRTP staff. 

Timing

Each student session will begin promptly at the time listed in the schedule. If breaks occur between sessions, we will pause and resume at the next scheduled time.
Each student will have a total of 15 minutes:

  • Presentation: 10–12 minutes
    Q&A: 3–5 minutes

Judging 

Presentations will be evaluated by graduate student judges. The top three presenters will be recognized during the Awards Ceremony on Wednesday.

Monday, August 4 Presentations

Session 1A 

Monday, August 4
Mission Hall 1406 | 9 AM - 12 PM

Zoom Information passcode: 889423

TimePresenter NamePresentation Title
9 AMBenét SingletonInvestigating the maturation of Alzheimer’s tau tangles across the lifespan of individuals with Down Syndrome
9:20 AMClaire SchleicherDesignability of dynamic multi-state proteins for use in chemically induced dimerization systems
9:40 AMKareem AlbaDissecting Type III Interferon Function Using a Dual shRNA Vector
10 AMSimoun RagaEffects of Inverted Terminal Repeats on Viral Performance
10:20 AMAlisa Xie Mechanism of activation of the bacterial immune system II-A CBASS in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
10:40 AMMaria SneedTesting the Causal Role of Basal Ganglia Dysfunction in a Mouse Model of Dystonia
11 AMLia SorrellInvestigating the Impact of KRAS Expression on Chromatin Accessibility and Epigenetic Plasticity
11:20 AMDiego Suchenski LoustaunauAntiviral proteins use insertion and deletion mutations to win molecular arms races  
11:40 AMDean RamosCharacterizing the Spatial and Temporal Progression of Tau Aggregation and Cell Death in Mouse Models of Tauopathy
Session 1B 

Monday, August 4
Mission Hall 1407 | 9 AM - 12 PM

Zoom Information passcode: 293730

TimePresenter NamePresentation Title
9 AMSonali FeeleyCortical Signatures of Pain and Analgesia after Rotator Cuff Injury
9:20  AMYeison Samayoa HernandezThrombospondin-1 Promotes Neuroprotection in Organotypic Mouse Retinal Explants 
9:40 AMMarie LiDesigning a NanoBiT Assay to Identify Regulators of NF1–KRAS Interaction
10 AMLinh NguyenBiochemical Screens Identify 5-Amino Indazole-Based Compounds Potentially Inhibit EV68 RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
10:20 AMKatrina SamethAnalysis of Phage-encoded Broad-Spectrum Anti-Immunity Protein
10:40 AMJhaydine BandolaAutomating the Conversion of Free-Text Interventional Radiology Reports into Structured Data Using Large Language Models (LLMs)
11 AMMark NorrellComparing Markerless and Marker-Based Motion Capture During Gait in Hip Osteoarthritis: A Focus on Knee Biomechanics
11:20 AMCara SusiloHigh-Throughput Gene Essentiality Profiling in Bacteriophage Bas51 Using Retron Recombineering 
11:40 AMAlicia Naylor GuerreroDemographic Effects on Emotion Communication Accuracy in a Novel Affect Production Task for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Session 2A 

Monday, August 4
Mission Hall 1406 | 1 PM - 3:30 PM

Zoom Information passcode: 889423

TimePresenter NamePresentation Title
1 PMJocelyn Cantero Synthesis of Active Site Fragment Hits Targeting the EVD68 RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
1:20 PMDaniel Santos Multi-augmented nnU-Net for Automated Ventricular Segmentation in 3D Cardiac Ultrasound
1:40 PMToluwanimi AdepojuCharacterizing Neural Progenitor Cells for In-Vitro Ependymoma Mouse Models
2 PMGwen McKayEvaluating Substrate Susceptibility to Ubiquitin-Independent Proteasomal Degradation
2:20 PMJanine MedranoRegional specialization of proliferation and cytoarchitecture in the caudal ganglionic eminence
2:40 PMTrent CamposEngineered Tregs Sustain FOXP3 and Compete with synSuppressors in Antigen-Restricted Immune Control
3 PMHannah StewartSystematic Identification of Ligand-Binding Human Transcription Factors
Session 2B  

Monday, August 4
Mission Hall 1407 | 1 PM - 3:30 PM

Zoom Information passcode: 293730

TimePresenter NamePresentation Title
1 PMJoseph Knudsen Validating protein biomarkers for pancreatic cyst malignancy potential
1:20 PMJohn FanRainBar - A new method of CRISPR-based pooled screening
1:40 PMIsabella IbalioDistribution of histone modifi cations throughout regeneration in Stentor coeruleus
2 PMKrishna AjjarapuIdentifying Genetic Modifiers of Neuronal Survival in Tauopathy Mice
2:20 PMTeija SuhasAssay Development for a Deep Mutation Scan of Polycystin-1 Variants
2:40 PMLandon BattinDistribution of Inhibitory Neurons in the SCN2A+/- Mouse Model
3 PMJohn CollingeElucidating the bile salt transport mechanism of NTCP

Tuesday, August 5 Presentations

Session 3A 

Tuesday, August 5
Health Science West 300 | 9 AM - 12 PM

Zoom Information passcode: 802952

TimePresenter NamePresentation Title
9 AMEmilio GarciaFrequency of Cyclic Mechanical Loading as a Mechanism of Particle Transport in Pore-Channel Microfluidic Networks
9:20 AMJuliette JacquesInvestigating TM4SF1 as a Tumor-Selective CAR-T Target in Cholangiocarcinoma
9:40 AMSigne Begalske Expression of ORFeome-Derived Proteins Tagged with circRNA Barcodes at the Cell Membrane
10 AMTrey LawrenceCharacterization of phage resistance in prevalent gut bacterial species Eggerthella lenta
10:20 AMBreak 
10:40 AMAbigail Lee TM4SF1 Targeted Bispecific T Cell Engagers Demonstrate Therapeutic Potential in Prostate Cancer
11 AMAbigail TramellInvestigating ZAP-70 binding and signaling mechanisms
for next-generation CAR T Cell Therapies
11:20 AMAvi GuptaFine-mapping STAT6 3’ UTR Cis Regulatory Elements
11:40 AMKatrina CulmanDifferential signaling profiles of B cell-confinement receptor P2RY8 missense variants
Session 3B 

Tuesday, August 5
Health Science West 302 | 9 AM - 12 PM

Zoom Information Passcode: 423765

TimePresenter NamePresentation Title
9 AMSnit WeldeCharacterizing Mutations in the Aromatic Network of a Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Precursor
9:20 AMEmilie PetitDetermining the Role of Protein Condensates in Pro-
Metastatic NRF2 and P63 Signaling in Breast Cancer
9:40 AMZoe ZhangTranscriptomic Insights into Multiplex Base Editing for Therapeutic Enhancement of Erythropoiesis
10 AMSerena FindleyInvestigating JMJD3-Mediated Immune Mechanisms in Macrophages During Periodontitis 
10:20 AMBreak 
10:40 AMMariah SmithInvestigating Lentiviral Vectors for Gene Editing in Mouse NK Cells
11 AMAndy MoranEngineering Fluorescently Tagged PER1 to Elucidate
Circadian Protein Rhythms in Murine Lung Epithelial Cells
11:20 AMMatthew MezaFAM83H-Notch1 Interplay Regulates Epithelial Architecture and Cell-Cell Adhesion
11:40 AMCameron PontonParaspinal Muscle Quality as a Biomarker for Recovery in Chronic Low Back Pain

Research Poster Presentations
Wednesday, August 6 | Genentech Atrium

Light beverages and snacks will be provided during poster sessions.

Poster Session 1:  9 - 10:30 a.m. 
Poster NumberPresenter NamePresentation Title
1Toluwanimi AdepojuCharacterizing Neural Progenitor Cells for In-Vitro Ependymoma Mouse Models
2Krishna AjjarapuIdentifying Genetic Modifiers of Neuronal Survival in Tauopathy Mice
3Trent CamposEngineered Tregs Sustain FOXP3 and Compete with synSuppressors in Antigen-Restricted Immune Control
4Jocelyn CanteroSynthesis of Active Site Fragment Hits Targeting the EVD68 RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
5Gwen McKayEvaluating Substrate Susceptibility to Ubiquitin-Independent Proteasomal Degradation
6Janine MedranoRegional specialization of proliferation and cytoarchitecture in the caudal ganglionic eminence
7Daniel SantosMulti-augmented nnU-Net for Automated Ventricular Segmentation in 3D Cardiac Ultrasound
8Hannah StewartSystematic Identification of Ligand-Binding Human Transcription Factors
9Kareem AlbaDissecting Type III Interferon Function Using a Dual shRNA Vector
10Simoun RagaEffects of Inverted Terminal Repeats on Viral Performance
11Dean RamosCharacterizing the Spatial and Temporal Progression of Tau Aggregation and Cell Death in Mouse Models of Tauopathy
12Claire SchleicherDesignability of dynamic multi-state proteins for use in chemically induced dimerization systems
13Benét SingletonInvestigating the maturation of Alzheimer’s tau tangles across the lifespan of individuals with Down Syndrome
14Maria SneedTesting the Causal Role of Basal Ganglia Dysfunction in a Mouse Model of Dystonia
15Lia SorrellInvestigating the Impact of KRAS Expression on Chromatin Accessibility and Epigenetic Plasticity
16Diego Suchenski LoustaunauAntiviral proteins use insertion and deletion mutations to win molecular arms races
17Alisa XieMechanism of activation of the bacterial immune system II-A CBASS in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

 

Poster Session 2:  11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Poster NumberPresenter NamePresentation Title
1Signe BegalskeExpression of ORFeome-Derived Proteins Tagged with circRNA Barcodes at the Cell Membrane
2Katrina CulmanDifferential signaling profiles of B cell-confinement receptor P2RY8 missense variants
3Emilio GarciaFrequency of Cyclic Mechanical Loading as a Mechanism of Particle Transport in Pore-Channel Microfluidic Networks
4Avi GuptaFine-mapping STAT6 3’ UTR Cis Regulatory Elements
5Juliette JacquesInvestigating TM4SF1 as a Tumor-Selective CAR-T
Target in Cholangiocarcinoma
6Trey LawrenceCharacterization of phage resistance in prevalent gut bacterial species Eggerthella lenta
7Abigail LeeTM4SF1 Targeted Bispecific T Cell Engagers Demonstrate Therapeutic Potential in Prostate Cancer
8Serena FindleyInvestigating JMJD3-Mediated Immune Mechanisms in Macrophages During Periodontitis 
9Matthew MezaFAM83H-Notch1 Interplay Regulates Epithelial Architecture and Cell-Cell Adhesion
10Andy MoranEngineering Fluorescently Tagged PER1 to Elucidate
Circadian Protein Rhythms in Murine Lung Epithelial Cells
11Emilie PetitDetermining the Role of Protein Condensates in Pro-
Metastatic NRF2 and P63 Signaling in Breast Cancer
12Cameron PontonParaspinal Muscle Quality as a Biomarker for Recovery in Chronic Low Back Pain
13Mariah SmithInvestigating Lentiviral Vectors for Gene Editing in Mouse NK Cells
14Abigail TramellInvestigating ZAP-70 binding and signaling mechanisms
for next-generation CAR T Cell Therapies
15Snit WeldeCharacterizing Mutations in the Aromatic Network of a Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Precursor
16Zoe ZhangTranscriptomic Insights into Multiplex Base Editing for Therapeutic Enhancement of Erythropoiesis
17Joseph KnudsenValidating protein biomarkers for pancreatic cyst malignancy potential
18Teija SuhasAssay Development for a Deep Mutation Scan of Polycystin-1 Variants
Poster Session 3:  1:30 - 3 p.m.
Poster NumberPresenter NamePresentation Title
1Jhaydine BandolaAutomating the Conversion of Free-Text Interventional Radiology Reports into Structured Data Using Large Language Models (LLMs)
2Sonali FeeleyCortical Signatures of Pain and Analgesia after Rotator Cuff Injury
3Marie LiDesigning a NanoBiT Assay to Identify Regulators of NF1–KRAS Interaction
4Alicia Naylor GuerreroDemographic Effects on Emotion Communication Accuracy in a Novel Affect Production Task for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
5Linh NguyenBiochemical Screens Identify 5-Amino Indazole-Based Compounds Potentially Inhibit EV68 RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
6Mark NorrellComparing Markerless and Marker-Based Motion Capture During Gait in Hip Osteoarthritis: A Focus on Knee Biomechanics
7Yeison Samayoa HernandezThrombospondin-1 Promotes Neuroprotection in Organotypic Mouse Retinal Explants 
8Katrina SamethAnalysis of Phage-encoded Broad-Spectrum Anti-Immunity Protein
9Cara SusiloHigh-Throughput Gene Essentiality Profiling in Bacteriophage Bas51 Using Retron Recombineering 
10Landon BattinDistribution of Inhibitory Neurons in the SCN2A+/- Mouse Model
11John CollingeElucidating the bile salt transport mechanism of NTCP
12John FanRainBar - A new method of CRISPR-based pooled screening
13Isabella IbalioDistribution of histone modifi cations throughout regeneration in Stentor coeruleus
14Ritika PuttaDo physicians Trust AI? Clinical Confidence in AI Scribes
15Lavanya GirishSKG Mice Develop CD4⁺ T Cell–Driven, Innate-Dependent Psoriasis and Enable Study of Endogenous Antigen-Specific T Cell Responses
16Aliana TangEffect of Rosnilimab on the immune cell repertoire in rheumatoid arthritis
17Max CalcoenExamining Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) Severity Through Multi-Omic Integration and Novel Antibody Profiling
18Devi ShahTech, Trust, and the White Coat:  Exploring Patient Perceptions of AI Scribes

 

 Schedule by Student Name 

Student by Last Name
Student NameOral PresentationPoster Presentation
Toluwanimi Adepoju2A1
Krishna Ajjarapu2B1
Kareem Alba1A1
Jhaydine Bandola1B3
Landon Battin2B3
Signe Begalske3A2
Trent Campos2A1
Jocelyn Cantero2A1
John Collinge2B3
Katrina Culman3A2
John Fan2B3
Sonali Feeley1B3
Serena Findley3B2
Emilio Garcia3A2
Avi Gupta3A2
Isabella Ibalio2B3
Juliette Jacques3A2
Joseph Knudsen2B2
Trey Lawrence3A2
Abigail Lee3A2
Marie Li1B3
Gwen McKay2A1
Janine Medrano2A1
Matthew Meza3B2
Andy Moran3B2
Alicia Naylor Guerrero1B3
Linh Nguyen1B3
Mark Norrell1B3
Emilie Petit3B2
Cameron Ponton3B2
Simoun Raga1A1
Dean Ramos1A1
Yeison Samayoa Hernandez1B3
Katrina Sameth1B3
Daniel Santos2A1
Claire Schleicher1A1
Benet Singleton1A1
Mariah Smith3B2
Maria Sneed1A1
Lia Sorrell1A1
Hannah Stewart2A1
Diego Suchenski Loustaunau1A1
Teija Suhas2B2
Cara Susilo1B3
Abigail Tramell3A2
Snit Welde3B2
Alisa Xie1A1
Zoe Zhang3B2