SRTP 2026 Symposium Schedule

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. Join us as this year's 39 students conclude their 10-week experience with 3 days of oral and poster presentations. 

Schedule at a Glance

Participants may attend in person or remotely via Zoom. Remote attendees can submit questions through the chat feature. Please note that only presentations from students with pre-authorization from research labs will be livestreamed 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 3, Mission Bay

9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Oral Presentations 1A, Byers Hall 212
Oral Presentations 1B,  Genentech Hall N114

1:00 p.m. -  3:00 p.m.
Day 1 Oral Presentations 2A, Byers Hall 212
Day 1 Oral Presentations 2B, Genentech Hall N114

Tuesday, August 4, Parnassus

10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Oral Presentations 3A, CS 1111 
Oral Presentations 3B, CS 1113 & 1114 

Wednesday, August 5, Mission Bay

9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. 
Day 3 Poster Session 1, Genentech Hall Atrium 

10:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. 
Day 3 Poster Session 2, Genentech Hall Atrium 

1:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. 
Day 3 Poster Session 3, Genentech Hall Atrium 
 

Detailed Schedule

Monday, August 3

Oral Presentations 1A – Byers Hall 212

Watch the presentations on Zoom

TimeNameTitle
9:00 a.m.Nicholas CormasPreclinical stem cell transplantation for a genetic neuroimmune disorder
9:20 a.m.Joy MuriogaCausal Impact of Type 2 Diabetes  Genetic Mechanisms on Vascular Disease Risk in East Asian Populations
9:40 a.m.Vincent LeCharacterizing the intramolecular dynamics of PARP14 through computational and biochemical approaches
10:00 a.m.  
10:20 a.m. BREAK
10:40 a.m.Rylee ChaisongkramMapping neuronal activity in a novel genetic model of frontotemporal dementia
11:00 a.m.Hannah PaigeMigration of Interneurons During Development in the Human Hippocampus
11:20 a.m.Lukas HammettSongbird Synchrony: Linking Behavioral Variation and Preference in Female Finches
11:40 a.m.Sambhav JainRestoring acidic pH in neuronal lysosomes extends C. elegans healthspan 

Oral Presentations 1B – Genentech Hall N114

Watch Presentation on Zoom

TimeNameTitle
9:00 a.m.Diego CarrancoMapping the Epigenetic Landscape of Cancer Initiation and Resistance
9:20 a.m.Kaitlyn DuStriatal Cholinergic Interneurons Invigorate Movement
9:40 a.m.Liam DavisCharacterization of candidate human disease variants in 5′ untranslated regions 
10:00 a.m.Perrine ChangkuonInvestigating the Effects of Steroid Hormone Signaling on Nervous System Physiology
10:20 a.m. BREAK
10:40 a.m.Keith GardnerMapping Hippocampal Dopamine Receptors to Identify New Targets for Schizophrenia Treatment 
11:00 a.m.Catherine GilesPerforming High-Throughput Behavioral Assay for Screening Novel Anxiolytics in Larval Zebrafish
11:20 a.m.Lisandro Herrera GalvezCharacterization of Designed Binders to BclxL Transmembrane Domain
11:40 a.m.Diego Velazquez VargasAn AI-Guided Design Framework Toward De Novo Multipass Membrane Proteins

Oral Presentations 2A – Byers Hall 212

Watch the presentations on Zoom

TimeNameTitle
1:00 p.m.Alexandra JoseGenetic Identification of Bacteriophage Anti-Defense Components in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
1:20 p.m.Jakai McCoy-MortonLower Extremity Health and Advanced Glycation End Products in Type 2 Diabetes and CKD
1:40 p.m.Melissa Perez-RodriguezOptimizing iPSC Initial Conditions for Reproducible Small Intestinal Organoid Differentiation for 3D Bioprinting
2:00 p.m.Alexander WilsonLower extremity anthropometrics and knee joint loading as predictors of clinical symptoms and structure in patella-femoral joint osteoarthritis
2:20 p.m.Cesar EstrellaDesigning a Survival – Based Gene Editing Reporter
2:40 p.m.Brianna FreeburgUncovering the Genetics Driving Variation in Human Body Temperature

Oral Presentations 2B – Genentech Hall N114

Watch Presentation on Zoom

TimeNameTitle
1:00 p.m.Lilah GibsonMolecular mechanisms by which m6A RNA modifications regulate tau turnover in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias
1:20 p.m.Fabrizio MalatestaIsoform-Aware Variant Annotation: Mapping Genetic Variants Across a Gene's Full Transcript Landscape
1:40 p.m.Angel Manzur-TorresInvestigating how Hydrophobic Interactions Between Rpt2 and a Conserved Arginine Impact Human Proteasome Activation
2:00 p.m.Adela SongIsolation and comparative structural analysis of cilia
2:20 p.m.Michelle VoongStructure-Activity Relationship (SAR) for FSP1 Inhibitor FSEN13
2:40 p.m.Hailey WeintraubExamining the Impact of TBK1 Haploinsufficiency on Glial Cells in Familial ALS

 

Tuesday, August 4

Oral Presentations 3A- Clinical Science 1111

Overflow Room CS 1107 & 1108 

Watch the presentations on Zoom

TimeNameTitle
10:00 a.m.Aryan SinghEvolutionary Determinants of Protein Stability Across Diverse Proteases
10:20 a.m.Grace PantojaIdentifying Prenatal Maternal Fecal Metabolites Associated with Epithelial Barrier Integrity and Childhood Asthma Prevention
10:40 a.m.Aadya PenchalaMarker-less Spine Pose Estimation Model
11:00 a.m.Tiffani ArmandAnalyzing the Oral Microbiome in Rel
11:20 a.m.Zarek Moore Developing a pooled screening platform for evaluating CRISPR knock-in loci
11:40 a.m.Logan JonesEngineering a Coin-Flip CRISPR system in T-Cells

Oral Presentations 3B - Clinical Science 1113 & 1114

Overflow Room CS 1116 & 1117 

Watch Presentation on Zoom

TimeNameTitle
10:00 a.m.Ash RosalesEstablishing CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing in the disease-associated gut bacterium Eggerthella lenta
10:20 a.m.Alexa RiosCharacterizing chemical exposures in agricultural communities and their associations with preterm birth
10:40 a.m.Yazmin OrtegaCharacterization and Modeling of Neural Cells in the Human Brain
11:00 a.m.Franklin Okey-IwobiTemporal Signaling Dynamics of Type I and Type III Interferons in Human Lung Epithelial Cells
11:20 a.m.Khady GayeCooking fuel links malaria susceptibility to microbiome composition in pregnancy
11:40 a.m.David MartinezFibrosis-Driven Neural Reprogramming in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) 

 

Wednesday, August 5

 Poster Session 1 - Genentech Hall Atrium, 9:00 - 10:15 a.m.

#NameTitle
1Nicholas CormasPreclinical stem cell transplantation for a genetic neuroimmune disorder
2Cesar EstrellaDesigning a Survival – Based Gene Editing Reporter
3Brianna FreeburgUncovering the Genetics Driving Variation in Human Body Temperature
4Lilah GibsonMolecular mechanisms by which m6A RNA modifications regulate tau turnover in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias
5Alexandra JoseGenetic Identification of Bacteriophage Anti-Defense Components in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
6Logan JonesEngineering a Coin-Flip CRISPR system in T-Cells
7Angel Manzur-TorresInvestigating how Hydrophobic Interactions Between Rpt2 and a Conserved Arginine Impact Human Proteasome Activation
8Fabrizio MalatestaIsoform-Aware Variant Annotation: Mapping Genetic Variants Across a Gene's Full Transcript Landscape
9Zarek Moore Developing a pooled screening platform for evaluating CRISPR knock-in loci
10Jakai McCoy-MortonLower Extremity Health and Advanced Glycation End Products in Type 2 Diabetes and CKD
11Grace PantojaIdentifying Prenatal Maternal Fecal Metabolites Associated with Epithelial Barrier Integrity and Childhood Asthma Prevention
12Melissa Perez-RodriguezOptimizing iPSC Initial Conditions for Reproducible Small Intestinal Organoid Differentiation for 3D Bioprinting
13Adela SongIsolation and comparative structural analysis of cilia
14Aryan SinghEvolutionary Determinants of Protein Stability Across Diverse Proteases
15Michelle VoongStructure-Activity Relationship (SAR) for FSP1 Inhibitor FSEN13
16Hailey WeintraubExamining the Impact of TBK1 Haploinsufficiency on Glial Cells in Familial ALS
17Alexander WilsonLower extremity anthropometrics and knee joint loading as predictors of clinical symptoms and structure in patella-femoral joint osteoarthritis

Poster Session 2- Genentech Hall Atrium, 10:45 - 12:00 p.m.

#NameTitle
1Tiffani ArmandAnalyzing the Oral Microbiome in Rel
2Diego CarrancoMapping the Epigenetic Landscape of Cancer Initiation and Resistance
3Perrine ChangkuonInvestigating the Effects of Steroid Hormone Signaling on Nervous System Physiology
4Rylee ChaisongkramMapping neuronal activity in a novel genetic model of frontotemporal dementia
5Liam DavisCharacterization of candidate human disease variants in 5′ untranslated regions 
6Kaitlyn DuStriatal Cholinergic Interneurons Invigorate Movement
7Keith GardnerMapping Hippocampal Dopamine Receptors to Identify New Targets for Schizophrenia Treatment 
8Catherine GilesPerforming High-Throughput Behavioral Assay for Screening Novel Anxiolytics in Larval Zebrafish
9Lukas HammettSongbird Synchrony: Linking Behavioral Variation and Preference in Female Finches
10Lisandro Herrera GalvezCharacterization of Designed Binders to BclxL Transmembrane Domain
11Sambhav JainRestoring acidic pH in neuronal lysosomes extends C. elegans healthspan 
12Hannah PaigeMigration of Interneurons During Development in the Human Hippocampus
13Aadya PenchalaMarker-less Spine Pose Estimation Model
14Diego Velazquez VargasAn AI-Guided Design Framework Toward De Novo Multipass Membrane Proteins
15Ahlam Ibrahim
Community College Research Training Program
Development of PRMT5-BRD4 Based RIPTACS for MTAP-Deleted Cancers
16Pricilla De Anna Guillen
Community College Research Training Program
Investigating CD8+ T Cell Phenotypes during Acute SIV Infection as Predictors of Viral Control Post-ART Cessation

Poster Session 3- Genentech Hall Atrium, 1:00 - 2:15 p.m.

#NameTitle
1Khady GayeCooking fuel links malaria susceptibility to microbiome composition in pregnancy
2Vincent LeCharacterizing the intramolecular dynamics of PARP14 through computational and biochemical approaches
3David MartinezFibrosis-Driven Neural Reprogramming in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) 
4Joy MuriogaCausal Impact of Type 2 Diabetes  Genetic Mechanisms on Vascular Disease Risk in East Asian Populations
5Franklin Okey-IwobiTemporal Signaling Dynamics of Type I and Type III Interferons in Human Lung Epithelial Cells
6Yazmin OrtegaCharacterization and Modeling of Neural Cells in the Human Brain
7Alexa RiosCharacterizing chemical exposures in agricultural communities and their associations with preterm birth
8Ash RosalesEstablishing CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing in the disease-associated gut bacterium Eggerthella lenta
9Christiene Dulay
Community College Research Training Program
From Cysteine to Serine to Threonine: Expanding Switch-II Pocket Inhibitors Beyond K-Ras
10Annaliese Phipps
Community College Research Training Program
RBMS Proteins Regulate CD69 Expression in T Cells
11Ibraheem Al-Shammaa
Arthritis Foundation Intern
Mapping IgM Antibody Signatures in Immune-Mediated Myocarditis
12Reza Ashrafi
Arthritis Foundation Intern
Rotator Cuff Tear: A Spatial Transcriptomic Analysis of the Cellular Landscape of Human Muscle Degeneration
13Madison Gensler
Arthritis Foundation Intern
Investigating the Role of TLR7 Deficiencies on Autoimmunity in Grn and C9orf72 deficient mice
14Ethan Greenberg
Arthritis Foundation Intern
Runx1R188Q/+ mutation does not appear to alter Alveolar Type II cell abundance in murine lung
15Leena Liang
Arthritis Foundation Intern
Characterizing Demodex Mite Prevalence and Association with Acne and Type 2 Immune Responses in Adolescent Skin
16Roshan Trivedi
Arthritis Foundation Intern
Microbial Metabolism of Related Antifolates, Methotrexate and Aminopterin