SRTP 2024 Research Symposium Schedule

Each year, the Graduate Division's 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 54 students conclude their 10-week experience with 3 days of oral and poster presentations. This is a great chance to support their hard work and to learn about the range of research projects they have engaged in on campus.

Monday, July 29
Opening Remarks by Dr. Ryan Hernandez - 8:30 a.m. 
Day 1 Oral Presentations, Byers Auditorium – 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Day 1 Oral Presentations, Mission Hall 1401 & 1402 – 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Day 1 Poster Session, Genentech Hall Atrium – 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Tuesday, July 30
Day 2 Oral Presentations, HSW 300 – 9:00 a.m. to 11:40 a.m.
Day 2 Oral Presentations, HSW 301 – 9:00 a.m. to 11:40 a.m.

Wednesday, July 31
Remarks by Dean Niquet Blake & Dr. D'Anne Duncan - 8:30 a.m. 
Day 3 Oral Presentations, Byers Auditorium – 9:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Day 3 Oral Presentations, Genentech Hall N-114 – 9:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Day 3 Poster Session, Genentech Hall Atrium – 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. 
Closing Remarks & Awards - 3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. 

Monday, July 29

Oral Presentations – Byers Auditorium

Watch the presentations on Zoom (Meeting ID: 949 0173 4024, Passcode: 547129)

Time Name Title
9:00 a.m. Jason Tello Engineering Cell Fate Transitions for Multicellular Systems
9:20 a.m. Lindsay Odell Organelle Trafficking Defects in the Retinal Pigment Epithelium of Macular Degeneration Model
9:40 a.m. Adriann Brodeth Developing RetroDecoys for Transcriptional Regulation in Human Cells
10:00 a.m. Jocelyn Chavez Rios Elucidating the transport mechanism of ABCG2
10:20 a.m. Davion James McFall Establishing a system to determine a diatom cue that induces multicellular development of a choanoflagellate.
10:40 a.m.   BREAK
10:50 a.m. Anna My Nguyen Artificial Placenta: Improving production and hemocompatibility of Silicon Membranes
11:10 a.m. Emma Harms Targeting DDX39B in MYCN activated neuroblastoma
11:30 a.m. Zheous Abalos Development of a Legumain-Targeted Restricted Interaction Peptide (Leg-RIPs) for Cancer Detection
11:50 a.m. Diego Montoya Optimizing PEG Density on Fusogenic Liposomes for Membrane Fusion
12:10 p.m. Maria Solache Nava Catalytic Mechanism of Macrodomain 1 in SARS-CoV-2

Oral Presentations – Mission Hall 1401 & 1402

Watch the presentations on Zoom (Meeting ID: 937 7243 8588, Passcode: 279301)

Time Name Title
9:00 a.m. Jalen Ellis Altered Intersegmental Foot Kinematics across Functional Tasks due to Diabetes, Neuropathy, and Chronic Kidney Disease
9:20 a.m. Quynh Le WSB2-Apoptotic Protein Interactions: Specificity and Validation
9:40 a.m. Sara Alsaifi The effects of dopamine depletion on sleep state regulation in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease
10:00 a.m. Aurchana Manickavasagan Investigating the effects of CRISPR editing and repeat length on C9ORF72 FTD/ALS pathology 
10:20 a.m. Carter Brand Effect of Alzheimer's disease characteristic tau aggregation on neuronal activity and C1q binding
10:40 a.m.   BREAK
10:50 a.m. Yusuf Ashktorab (remote) Leveraging Machine Learning Models and Cytokines to Predict Vaccine Response: Exploring Demographic Influences
11:10 a.m. Nandini Mannem Optimizing Single-Neuron Transcriptomics in Patch-seq
11:30 a.m. Titus Haley Biomechanical Analysis of Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis During Stair Descent
11:50 a.m. Emme Leao How do KDM5A Interactions with the Nucleosome Regulate its Catalytic Activity?
12:10 p.m. Nicole Lav The spatiotemporal distribution of CGE-derived interneuron proliferation

Poster Session - Genentech Hall Atrium, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.

# Name Title
1 Zheous Abalos Development of a Legumain-Targeted Restricted Interaction Peptide (Leg-RIPs) for Cancer Detection
2 Yusuf Ashktorab (poster available for viewing) Leveraging Machine Learning Models and Cytokines to Predict Vaccine Response: Exploring Demographic Influences
3 Carter Brand Effect of Alzheimer's disease characteristic tau aggregation on neuronal activity and C1q binding
4 Adriann Brodeth Developing RetroDecoys for Transcriptional Regulation in Human Cells
5 Jocelyn Chavez Rios Elucidating the transport mechanism of ABCG2
6 Hunter Dyche Mesolimbic dopamine dynamics during precisely timed, self-initiated movement
7 Jalen Ellis Altered Intersegmental Foot Kinematics across Functional Tasks due to Diabetes, Neuropathy, and Chronic Kidney Disease
8 Faith Enriquez Mapping Intergenerational Microbial Transmission with Significantly Different Rates of Allergy and Asthma in Mexican Americans.
9 Andrew Gabagat Examining Pseudomonas aeruginosa Defense Systems Against a Broad Host Range Lytic Phage Family
10 Titus Haley Biomechanical Analysis of Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis During Stair Descent
11 Emma Harms Targeting DDX39B in MYCN activated neuroblastoma
12 Sara Hussin Cloning, Expression, Purification, and High-Throughput Screening of NIMA-Related Kinases for Small Molecule Discovery
13 Sayuri Jayawardena Rigidity Alters Macrophage Activation, Influencing Response to Breast Cancer Exosomes
14 Nicholas Jimenez CRISPR-Cas9 mediated knockout of a regulatory element related to a light-dark preference behavior in larval zebrafish
15 Quynh Le WSB2-Apoptotic Protein Interactions: Specificity and Validation
16 Emme Leao How do KDM5A Interactions with the Nucleosome Regulate its Catalytic Activity?
17 Ali Lydecker Role of LPA in naïve B cell exclusion from germinal centers
18 Aurchana Manickavasagan Investigating the effects of CRISPR editing and repeat length on C9ORF72 FTD/ALS pathology 
19 Nandini Mannem Optimizing Single-Neuron Transcriptomics in Patch-seq
20 Diego Montoya Optimizing PEG Density on Fusogenic Liposomes for Membrane Fusion
21 Carolyn Nguyen CRISPR Editing of CD8 T Cells to Improve Cancer Immunotherapy Response in the Tumor-Draining Lymph Node
22 Lindsay Odell Organelle Trafficking Defects in the Retinal Pigment Epithelium of Macular Degeneration Model
23 Kennedi Pyper TM4SF1 as a novel cell-surface target for CAR-T therapy in Triple Negative Breast Cancer cell lines
24 Maria Solache Nava Catalytic Mechanism of Macrodomain 1 in SARS-CoV-2
25 Jason Tello Engineering Cell Fate Transitions for Multicellular Systems
26 Marissa Todesco Linking Pre-Stimulus Neural States to Perceptual Accuracy
27 Gabrielle Walker Cortical Lamination and Neuronal Density in Focal Cortical Dysplasia Type I

Tuesday, July 30

Oral Presentations - HSW 300

 Watch the presentations on Zoom (Meeting ID: 959 8876 4072, Passcode: 521782)

Time Name Title
9:00 a.m. Marissa Todesco Linking Pre-Stimulus Neural States to Perceptual Accuracy
9:20 a.m. Nicholas Jimenez CRISPR-Cas9 mediated knockout of a regulatory element related to a light-dark preference behavior in larval zebrafish
9:40 a.m. Amber Carter Dissecting the Function of PUM2 in Cranial Neural Crest Cell Migration
10:00 a.m. Faith Enriquez Mapping Intergenerational Microbial Transmission with Significantly Different Rates of Allergy and Asthma in Mexican Americans.
10:20 a.m.   BREAK
10:40 a.m. Alvin Cheng Single-Cell Electrophysiological Profiling of Cortical Neurons in Glioma Microenvironment
11:00 a.m. Ivonne Pauneto Delgado Investigation into how age-related changes in ovarian somatic cells impact reproductive fitness
11:20 a.m. Devin Hemmans

UBXD8 is an adapter protein that assists p97/VCP in unfolding ubiquitinylated proteins.

Oral Presentations - HSW 301

Watch the presentations on Zoom (Meeting ID: 985 0229 9090, Passcode: 432570)

Time Name Title
9:00 a.m. Sayuri Jayawardena Rigidity Alters Macrophage Activation, Influencing Response to Breast Cancer Exosomes
9:20 a.m. Melissa Solem Investigating changes in lateral septum μ-opioid receptor expression following prenatal fentanyl exposure.
9:40 a.m. Kennedi Pyper TM4SF1 as a novel cell-surface target for CAR-T therapy in Triple Negative Breast Cancer cell lines
10:00 a.m. Ali Lydecker Role of LPA in naïve B cell exclusion from germinal centers
10:20 a.m.   BREAK
10:40 a.m. Carolyn Nguyen

CRISPR Editing of CD8 T Cells to Improve Cancer Immunotherapy Response in the Tumor-Draining Lymph Node

11:00 a.m. Hanna Whitney In Vitro Validation of Identified Regulatory Genetic Targets of Osteosarcoma
11:20 a.m. Daniel Torres Pomares Optimization of Highly Effective Irreversible Covalent SARS-CoV-2 MPro Inhibitor

 

Wednesday, July 31

Oral Presentations - Byers Auditorium

Watch the presentations on Zoom (Meeting ID: 970 2162 8461, Passcode: 898897)

Time Name Title
9:15 a.m. Hunter Dyche Mesolimbic dopamine dynamics during precisely timed, self-initiated movement
9:35 a.m. Richard Song Examining mechanisms of protein-feeding behavior in Drosophila melanogaster
9:55 a.m. Isabel Suarez Gene gp124 in jumbo phage phiKZ is necessary for phage replication
10:15 a.m. Andrew Gabagat Examining Pseudomonas aeruginosa Defense Sytems Against a Broad Host Range Lytic Phage Family
10:35 a.m. John Arriola Investigating Rotator Cuff Tissue Pathology: A Survey of Available Murine Model System
10:55 a.m.   BREAK
11:05 a.m. Lucas Esqueda Investigating the Role of Candida albicans Surface Proteins in Immune Interactions during Phagocytosis 
11:25 a.m. Jonathan de Montagnac Functional Validation of CAR T-Cells against CCR10 for Multiple Myeloma
11:45 a.m. Christina A. Valtierra

Phyloscan: Identifying the Evolutionary Origins of Retrovirus Inhibition by the Antiviral Protein TRIM5

12:05 p.m. Hillary Hernandez Tau-mediated mRNA transport in FTD-mutant iNeurons

Oral Presentations - Genentech Hall N-114

Watch the presentations on Zoom (Meeting ID: 967 4266 7435, Passcode: 917819)

Time Name Title
9:15 a.m. Sara Hussin Cloning, Expression, Purification, and High-Throughput Screening of NIMA-Related Kinases for Small Molecule Discovery
9:35 a.m. Issachar Lopez Evaluating TDP-43 dynamics with progranulin loss using a novel rodent model for frontotemporal dementia
9:55 a.m. Brianna Harris Using iPSCs to Explore CRISPR Inactivation Strategies for Sensory Neuropathy
10:15 a.m. Jessica Lam Application of AI to Optimize Protein Tools for CRISPR-Cas9 Regulation
10:35 a.m. Gabrielle Walker Cortical Lamination and Neuronal Density in Focal Cortical Dysplasia Type I
10:55 a.m.   BREAK
11:05 a.m. Joshua Lopez Investigating the consequences of ALSP-causing mutations in CSF1R at the protein and cellular level
11:25 a.m. Aleah Camacho (remote) Finding the 'NEK' Big Thing in Drug Discovery
11:45 a.m. Rishika Patil Elucidating the Physiological Roles of the Steroid Hormone ADIOL and its Receptor, ERβ
12:05 p.m. Christian Davalos Gutierrez Primary CD4+ T-cells with Constitutively Expressed STAT5A as a Model For Latent HIV Infection

Poster Session - Genentech Hall Atrium, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.

# Name Title
1 Sara Alsaifi The effects of dopamine depletion on sleep state regulation in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease
2 John Arriola Investigating Rotator Cuff Tissue Pathology: A Survey of Available Murine Model System
3 Aleah Camacho Finding the 'NEK' Big Thing in Drug Discovery
4 Amber Carter Dissecting the Function of PUM2 in Cranial Neural Crest Cell Migration
5 Alvin Cheng Single-Cell Electrophysiological Profiling of Cortical Neurons in Glioma Microenvironment
6 Christian Davalos Gutierrez Primary CD4+ T-cells with Constitutively Expressed STAT5A as a Model For Latent HIV Infection
7 Jonathan de Montagnac Functional Validation of CAR T-Cells against CCR10 for Multiple Myeloma
8 Lucas Esqueda Investigating the Role of Candida albicans Surface Proteins in Immune Interactions during Phagocytosis 
9 Brianna Harris Using iPSCs to Explore CRISPR Inactivation Strategies for Sensory Neuropathy
10 Devin Hemmans UBXD8 is an adapter protein that assists p97/VCP in unfolding ubiquitinylated proteins.
11 Hillary Hernandez Tau-mediated mRNA transport in FTD-mutant iNeurons
12 Jessica Lam Application of AI to Optimize Protein Tools for CRISPR-Cas9 Regulation
13 Nicole Lav The spatiotemporal distribution of CGE-derived interneuron proliferation
14 Joshua Lopez Investigating the consequences of ALSP-causing mutations in CSF1R at the protein and cellular level
15 Issachar Lopez Evaluating TDP-43 dynamics with progranulin loss using a novel rodent model for frontotemporal dementia
16 Davion McFall Establishing a system to determine a diatom cue that induces multicellular development of a choanoflagellate.
17 Anna My Nguyen Artificial Placenta: Improving production and hemocompatibility of Silicon Membranes
18 Rishika Patil Elucidating the Physiological Roles of the Steroid Hormone ADIOL and its Receptor, ERβ
19 Ivonne Pauneto Delgado Investigation into how age-related changes in ovarian somatic cells impact reproductive fitness
20 Melissa Solem Investigating changes in lateral septum μ-opioid receptor expression following prenatal fentanyl exposure.
21 Richard Song Examining mechanisms of protein-feeding behavior in Drosophila melanogaster
22 Isabel Suarez Gene gp124 in jumbo phage phiKZ is necessary for phage replication
23 Daniel Torres Pomares Optimization of Highly Effective Irreversible Covalent SARS-CoV-2 MPro Inhibitor
24 Christina A. Valtierra

Phyloscan: Identifying the Evolutionary Origins of Retrovirus Inhibition by the Antiviral Protein TRIM5

25 Hanna Whitney In Vitro Validation of Identified Regulatory Genetic Targets of Osteosarcoma