The Rutter Center at UCSF Mission Bay campus buzzed with the excitement and potential of basic science research on the evening of Oct. 21 as dozens of students, faculty members, donors, alumni, staff, family, and friends gathered for the 2025 Discovery Fellows’ Michael Page, PhD Research Symposium. Launched in 2016, this event is a favorite opportunity to celebrate the next generation of discovery science leaders with short research talks and poster presentations by PhD candidates and to express appreciation to the many generous donors who have made the Discovery Fellows Program possible.
Sir Michael Moritz and his wife, Harriet Heyman, established the Discovery Fellows Program in 2013 with an initial landmark gift of $30 million to ensure the future of PhD education programs in the basic sciences. They have since been joined by more than 1,200 donors in order to build an endowment that is currently more than $150 million – the largest endowed program for PhD students in the history of the 10-campus University of California.
The Discovery Fellows endowment provides financial support for all PhD students in the basic sciences, but each year, 80 PhD candidates are designated as Discovery Fellows, charged with using their demonstrated leadership potential, excellence in research, community-mindedness, and communications skills to serve as ambassadors for the initiative and for basic science education.
The annual symposium is a key opportunity for fellows to perform this role and to acknowledge the donors who’ve made it possible. The symposium is named in memory of Michael Page, PhD, who worked as a postdoc in the Craik Lab until his untimely death at 36, and who embodied the spirit of scientific inquiry that is celebrated by the Discovery Fellows program. His father, Roger Page, created an endowed Discovery Fellows Leadership fund in his son’s honor, which garnered support from more than 60 additional donors.
Organized by University Development and Alumni Relations with help from the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA), the event was hosted by Nicquet Blake, PhD, vice provost and dean of GEPA, and included remarks from Catherine Lucey, MD, executive vice chancellor and provost of UCSF, and from Professor Charles Craik, PhD, who reflected on Michael Page's legacy and how Roger Page’s gift helps keep Michael’s spirit of scientific exploration alive through the research symposium and the Discovery Fellows program.
Five 5th-year Discovery Fellows were chosen to share their dissertation research in short, accessible talks, after which guests enjoyed a reception and poster session featuring scientific posters from 4th-year fellows. Also attending was the newest cohort of fellows, who were appointed in September.
Symposium Speakers
This year’s speakers were (in order of appearance):
Alex Lee
PhD candidate in Biological and Medical Informatics
Using Deep Learning to Create New Atlases of the Brain
Naz Dundar
PhD candidate in Neuroscience
A Gut-Brain Circuit for the Control of Gastrointestinal Function
Kevin Chen
PhD candidate in Biomedical Sciences; MSTP program
Darwin’s Finches and the Immune System
Sneha Rao
PhD candidate in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology
In or Out? Decoding the Signals That Guide the Embryo’s First Cell Fate Decision
Sydney Williams
PhD candidate in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics
Blinded by Build-Up: Exploring Ceramide’s Role in Macular Degeneration
Make a gift to the Discovery Fellows Program.
All photos by Sonya Yruel