Three PhD students emerged as prize-winners for their 3-minute talks at the 9th UCSF Grad Slam competition on April 2, but all 10 of the finalists engaged the capacity crowd with their carefully crafted research stories.
Produced by the Graduate Division Dean’s Office, Grad Slam challenges PhD students to offer a compelling presentation of their dissertation research in three minutes or less, using language that is accessible to a broad audience. Dean Nicquet Blake hosted the competition, with Assistant Dean D'Anne Duncan serving as emcee for the lively event. Byers Auditorium at Mission Bay was filled to capacity with a cheering crowd, and many more tuned into the YouTube live stream. Grad Slam is one of numerous events organized by the Graduate Division in celebration of National Graduate Student Appreciation Week.
Sophia Miliotis, a PhD student in the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics program working with mentor Nadia Roan, PhD, took the 1st prize of $4,000 and the People's Choice audience award for her talk Finding HIV: A Swipe in the Right Direction, in which she discussed her use of EpiScan, a high-speed screening tool, to rapidly identify HIV virus pieces on cell surfaces, helping to develop better therapies to detect, target, and eliminate HIV-infected cells.
► Learn more about Sophia's talk, and about the Grad Slam event as a whole, in the campus news story: "How Your Immune System Plays Matchmaker to Find and Kill HIV."
► Watch the UCSF Grad Slam event recording on YouTube.
Stay tuned for April 29, when Sophia will compete in the UC Systemwide Grad Slam with top prize winners from nine other UC campuses. The event will be hosted by UC President Michael Drake and live streamed to the public.
Congratulations to the prize winners and other finalists for an impressive showing:
First Prize & “People’s Choice” Prize
Sophia Miliotis
Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics Program
Nadia Roan, PhD, faculty mentor
Finding HIV: A Swipe in the Right Direction
Second Prize
Maggie Colton Cove
Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics Program
Hideho Okada, MD, PhD, faculty mentor
Building Biological Sleeper Agents to Fight Brain Tumors
Third Prize
Kaylee Wedderburn-Pugh
Biomedical Sciences Program
Tippi MacKenzie, MD and Elizabeth Crouch, MD, PhD, faculty mentors
UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Mapping the Blood-Brain Barrier's Blueprint in Development
Finalists
(In order of appearance)
Zach Cogan
Tetrad Program
Peter Walter, PhD, faculty mentor
Lost in Translation: Dissecting the Molecular Mechanisms of Stress-Dependent Protein Synthesis
Matt Arvedson
Biomedical Sciences Program
James Gardner, MD, PhD, faculty mentor
Clearing the Aire: How Cancer Hides from the Immune System
Madeleine Urbanek
Biomedical Sciences Program
Cathryn Cadwell, MD, PhD, faculty mentor
This Viral Astronaut is Mapping the Galaxy in Your Brain
Kingsley Chow
Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics Program
Laura van't Veer, PhD, faculty mentor
No One Left Behind: The Quest for Personalized Cancer Cures
Devin Schoen
Bioengineering Program
Melanie Morrison, PhD, faculty mentor
Smarter Stimulation: Putting the Pieces Together
Benjamin S. Sipes
Bioengineering Program
Ashish Raj, PhD, faculty mentor
The Brain as an Orchestra
Kai Trepka
Biomedical Sciences Program
Peter Turnbaugh, PhD, faculty mentor
Gut Check: How Our Poop Could Hold the Key to Better Cancer Treatment
