ngiusti, Author at Sanford Burnham Prebys
Institute News

Summer interns SPARK interest in regenerative medicine

AuthorGreg Calhoun
Date

August 7, 2025

Eleven participants presented posters at event marking the end of six weeks of hands-on biomedical research experience at Sanford Burnham Prebys

The institute welcomed its fourth cohort of interns this year for the Summer Program to Accelerate Regenerative Medicine Knowledge (SPARK). SPARK is an initiative by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) that provides research opportunities for high schoolers from underrepresented groups throughout California.

The SPARK participants completed six-week internships at Sanford Burnham Prebys and completed projects under the supervision of their faculty mentors.

“My internship experience has been terrific,” said Aanika Tipirneni, a rising senior who worked in the lab of Evan Snyder, MD, PhD. “I learned about stem cells a few years ago in school, and I never thought I’d actually have a chance to work with them as a high school student.”

“I was able to do a ton of research and even had my own project, which was a truly rewarding experience,” said Ananya Asudani, a rising senior who interned in the lab of Sanjeev Ranade, PhD, director of the SPARK internship program.

“I met a lot of interesting people from all over the world this summer,” said Daniel Ruiz, who will be attending Loyola University of Chicago this fall after his internship in the lab of Xueqin (Sherine) Sun, PhD. “I also enjoyed learning the sterile procedures for growing cells in culture and how to prepare gels for my experiments.”

SPARK intern presenting poster. Image credit: Sanford Burnham Prebys

Image credit: Sanford Burnham Prebys

The interns delivered poster presentations at an event held on campus on August 1, 2025. The students detailed their projects and what they had learned over the course of their internships.

“These students are amazing,” said Ranade. “They are so motivated already as high school students, and they all will go on to do great things.”

SPARK intern presenting poster. Image credit: Sanford Burnham Prebys

Image credit: Sanford Burnham Prebys

“I think the most important thing I learned this summer was the ability to design and carry out a research project,” said Asudani. “It also was motivating to see how everyone in the lab brings different expertise to the table, and yet they all work together cohesively for the overall goal of studying congenital heart defects in Down Syndrome.”

“I’m hoping to continue working in the Snyder lab throughout the school year while applying to universities with opportunities to continue studying stem cells and regenerative medicine,” said Tipirneni.

The SPARK internship culminated with CIRM’s annual SPARK conference at The Alexandria at Torrey Pines from August 3-4, 2025. The participants from Sanford Burnham Prebys presented their work and networked with more than 110 interns from other institutions across the state.

“I would definitely recommend the SPARK internship to any high school student interested in biology, stem cells and regenerative medicine,” said Ruiz. “It’s such an outstanding opportunity to learn, gain experience and get connected in the field, and it absolutely was a highlight of my summer.”

2025 Sanford Burnham Prebys SPARK interns

Institute News

Preuss School interns wrap up unforgettable research experience

AuthorGreg Calhoun
Date

August 4, 2025

Aspiring biomedical researchers and health care professionals gained hands-on research training during three weeks at Sanford Burnham Prebys

On Friday, July 25, 2025, the Sanford Burnham Prebys community celebrated the contributions of six high school student interns from the Preuss School. Located on the University of California San Diego campus in La Jolla, the Preuss School educates students striving to be first-generation college graduates.

Participants in the Preuss internship program gained valuable hands-on research experience over three weeks. This program is generously funded by Peggy and Peter Preuss, and Debby and Wain Fishburn.

The students were split into teams of three to complete complementary experiments while studying the common fruit fly.

“The interns have learned biological concepts and experimental techniques, and also participated in career development workshops,” said Yuk-Lap (Kevin) Yip, PhD, a professor and the interim director of the Center for Data Sciences at Sanford Burnham Prebys, during the July 25 capstone presentation.

“Over the course of just three weeks, they have learned about how an unhealthy diet will affect the health of fruit flies.”

The interns discussed what attracted them to the program and presented the results of their experiments.

“I chose this program because I wanted to learn more about biology and the biomedical research field,” said intern Ahmed Ahmed.

Preuss Interns conducting experiment using fruit flies, pipetting in the lab

Image credit: Sanford Burnahm Prebys.

“I want to become a forensic scientist,” said intern Mia Gidey. “I know I need to have hands-on lab experience, so this program was really beneficial for me.” 

“This program has helped me develop a better understanding of what I would like to pursue as a career,” said intern Joshua Hernandez.

In addition to studying the effects of high-fat and high-sugar diets on fruit flies, the participant teams also had the opportunity to learn additional research techniques during workshops.

Preuss Interns conducting experiment using fruit flies, pipetting in the lab

Image credit: Sanford Burnahm Prebys.

“We were able to conduct flow cytometry experiments with our mentor, Theo Tzaridis,” said intern Bella Dinh. Flow cytometry is a technology that analyzes single cells or particles as they flow past one or more lasers while suspended in a fluid. The interns used the technique to examine proteins on the surfaces of cancer cells that affect the activity of immune cells and the effectiveness of immunotherapy.

“Our group took part in an STK4 inhibitor screening workshop with our mentor, Josh Minyard,” said intern Daniela Ledesma. The participants learned about the drug discovery and development process and went hands-on to compare the efficiency and potency of three drug candidates.

“Thank you so much to everybody that helped us throughout this journey,” said intern Kenia Avila. “We appreciate all of you and we are so grateful for everything that you’ve done.”

Katya Marchetti, a graduate student at Sanford Burnham Prebys and coordinator of the 2025 Pruess internship program, provided closing remarks following the interns’ capstone presentations.

“I am just completely blown away by how incredible every single one of you are,” said Marchetti. “Beyond the techniques and protocols you learned, I hope that you walk away from this summer with a better idea of what you might want to pursue as a career as well as the ability to think like a scientist.”

Institute News

Science in Pictures

AuthorScott LaFee
Date

August 4, 2025

The face of a 6-day-old zebrafish larva, one of science’s preferred animal models. What look like eyes will develop into nostrils and the bulges on either side will become eyes.

Image courtesy of Oscar Ruiz and George Eisenhoffer, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Institute News

Science in Pictures

AuthorScott LaFee
Date

July 28, 2025

Micrograph of mouse keratinocytes, a major cell type of the epidermis or outermost layer of skin.

Image courtesy of Nancy Kedersha, ImmunoGen, Inc.

Institute News

Opinion: How long are we going to live? The question should be: How well?

AuthorDavid A. Brenner
Date

July 24, 2025

It’s not hard to estimate life expectancy. Online calculators abound, from very simple to more complex, from the ominous (Death Clock) to the optimistic (Living to 100).

The information they require for predictions range from minimal, such as gender and age (Social Security), to fairly detailed. The Living to 100 calculator, for example, asks dozens of questions about diet, sleep habits, stress factors and incorporates data from the on-going The New England Centenarian Study at Boston University.

It’s hard to estimate life expectancy.

While these calculators are fun (barring unhappy results) and sometimes informative, they are guesstimates. However, scientists are developing tools that more precisely predict life expectancy based upon empirical indicators, such as mutation rates, blood biomarkers, telomere length and DNA methylation patterns that measure how your body is aging at a cellular level.

I am a principal investigator in the CIAO Study, an international effort to divine the longevity secrets of centenarians living in the Cilento-Salerno region of Italy. Some of the factors that help them live long and well are plainly apparent: They have active, social lives. They eat right, i.e., the Mediterranean diet. They are mentally resilient.

But these centenarians also have lower blood levels of metabolites (substances produced or used during metabolism) linked to cardiovascular disease and diabetes. They enjoy robust microcirculation of blood, comparable to persons 30 years younger, with lower levels of fasting glucose levels and LDL (bad) cholesterol.

Their telomeres are longer. Telomeres are the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, like the plastic tips of shoelaces. Telomeres naturally shorten with age, and shorter telomeres are associated with an increased risk of cancer, heart disease and other age-related ailments. But telomere shrinkage is not fixed. It can be affected, good and bad, by lifestyle and other factors.

Our goal should be to accurately compare biological age versus chronological age. The latter can be deceiving: Some 60-year-olds are frail and have heart disease while others are pictures of health. A biological age lower than a chronological age suggests healthier aging and a longer life despite what the calendar says.

More and more, there are tests that effectively measure biological age, though none you can do online at the moment.

For example, a new blood test powered by machine learning analyzes hundreds of proteins to estimate a person’s risk of developing 18 major age-related diseases, such as  heart disease, cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s, and of dying prematurely from any cause. Other blood-based tests estimate the biological age of individual organs, a potential predictor of future, organ-specific health problems.

Key among these organs is the brain. Imaging technologies are helping researchers measure the rate of age-related cognitive decline and risk of dementia — sometimes with a single MRI scan.

Another approach, notes Xiao Tian, who studies aging processes and mechanisms at Sanford Burnham Prebys, is the frailty index, which combines key elements of a person’s medical history, functional status (like ability to dress or prepare meals) and performance tests, such as gait speed and handgrip strength.

“A higher frailty index suggests that the biological systems in the body are under greater decline or faster aging, regardless of chronological age,” said Tian. “Frailty assessments are now being adapted to middle-aged populations to catch early signs of accelerated aging.”

The body provides plenty of peeks into its biological future, from how it modifies DNA to perform necessary functions and how each of us uniquely converts food and drink into energy to whether we can lift modest weights or walk without immediate fatigue.

This data, combined with important lifestyle factors like marital status, smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity, can help predict life expectancy more accurately. But the value of these tests isn’t in predicting how old you might become, but rather in helping determine how many of those years are likely to be spent in good health if you do the right things.

And that, after all, is the answer we’re all really seeking.

View the original piece in The San Diego Union-Tribune

Institute News

Q & A with Postdoctoral Researcher Meena Sudhakaran, PhD, from the Kersten Lab

AuthorCommunications
Date

July 23, 2025

Meet one of our early-career scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys: Meena Sudhakaran, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Kelly Kersten, PhD. Sudhakaran studies cancer immunology to improve immunotherapy for breast cancer.

When and how did you become interested in science?
I was always curious as a child. When one of my family members was diagnosed with cancer, I grew up watching how it affects people. That made me really interested in how diseases work. I wanted to know the causes and the biological reasons beneath it.

What did you imagine you would be doing professionally, and how did it evolve?
When I was done with my master’s degree, I was sure I wanted to work in industry. I was determined to join a biopharma company where I could make medicines.

I worked as a scientist and as a senior scientist for three and a half years on a team at Biocon in India developing drugs for head and neck cancer. During my time in the company, I realized that I wanted to do a PhD to dive deeper into understanding the biology of cancer and how every cancer type is different.

During my PhD, I was introduced to immune cells and how immune cells affect tumor progression. I wanted to be in a cancer immunology lab for my postdoctoral training, so the Kersten Lab here was a perfect fit.

What are the key areas of research you focus on?
Breast cancer patients do not really respond to most immunotherapy drugs. We don’t yet know why they are ineffective.

Our immune system protects our bodies from pathogens, foreign particles or any abnormal cells like cancer. T cells, a type of immune cells in the tumor environment, can get activated and attack the tumor cells. But what often happens is that they become dysfunctional due to continuous exposure to the immunosuppressive environment and lose their ability to kill. Additionally, there are other immune cells such as macrophages that create a tumor-promoting environment.

Kelly previously showed that macrophages and T cells interact, creating a communication loop where the macrophages drive the T cells to exhaustion. The focus of my research is to understand how this interaction creates an anti-tumor immune response in breast cancer. This will help us get closer to the ultimate goal of making immunotherapy more effective in breast cancer patients.

What do you like about working here?
Kelly is a great mentor. She is very supportive. She is easy to approach, and our discussions are always encouraging yet stimulating. I believe it is really important for a successful lab that trainees feel comfortable discussing ideas and challenges openly.

Outside of my lab, there are lots of shared resources and training opportunities available. Everything is nearby and easy to access. People here are also very open to collaboration, which creates a strong and supportive research environment.

What motivates you about your research?
I love doing research! I like being in the lab, planning experiments and looking at the results.

It’s like solving a puzzle, so that keeps me excited.

What are your hopes for the next stage in your career?
I plan to return to industry and continue focusing on the translational side of biomedical research. My goal is to combine my experience in both industry and academia to help develop new medicines and improve treatments.

Although I am still early in my postdoctoral training, I can already see how much I’m learning. When I go back to industry, I’ll have stronger problem-solving skills, more knowledge, and more confidence in making decisions. I have definitely made progress, and I know that growth will continue and support me throughout my career.

Postdocs at Sanford Burnham Prebys are pushing the boundaries of science every day through curiosity, collaboration, and innovation. This series highlights their unique journeys, what inspires their work, and the impact they’re making across our labs.

Explore the Full Series

Institute News

Science in Pictures

AuthorScott LaFee
Date

July 21, 2025

Darkfield micrograph of human scalp section.

Image courtesy of Anita L. Tellier, Rochester Institute of Technology.

Institute News

Ani Deshpande promoted to professor in the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys

AuthorGreg Calhoun
Date

July 16, 2025

The newly promoted scientist will continue studying how blood cancers sabotage stem cells’ special features to grow and spread

As of July 1, 2025, Ani Deshpande, PhD, was promoted to professor in the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys.

The Deshpande lab studies developmental processes in stem cells that get hijacked by cancer, focusing specifically on acute myeloid leukemia (AML), one of the most common types of blood cancer. Several attributes of normal stem cells, including the ability to self-renew, are known to be co-opted or reactivated by cancer cells.

In addition, Deshpande collaborates within and beyond the institute on several large categories of AML research, including studying the genetics of AML, studying how the disease works in animal models and working to develop drugs that can target specific mutations associated with the disease, which are numerous.

“AML has many different subtypes, so it’s been difficult for researchers to make major advances to treat all cases of AML,” said Deshpande. “Most patients with AML are given the same treatments that have been used since the 1970s, which is why we want to look at AML from as many angles as possible.”

Deshpande joined the institute in 2015 and was promoted to associate professor in 2022. Prior to arriving at Sanford Burnham Prebys, he held positions at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School. Recently, Deshpande and colleague Pamela Itkin-Ansari, PhD, launched The Discovery Dialogues Podcast, which explores  groundbreaking discoveries in science and medicine.

“I’m deeply grateful for the incredible support of my trainees, mentors and colleagues,” said Deshpande. “And for all who made this scientific journey so meaningful and worthwhile.”

Institute News

Q & A with Postdoctoral Researcher Ranajit Das, PhD, from the Cosford Lab

AuthorCommunications
Date

July 15, 2025

Meet one of our early-career scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys: Ranajit Das, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Nicholas Cosford, PhD. Das is a medicinal chemist focused on designing and synthesizing new potential therapies, with a focus on cancer treatment.

When and how did you become interested in science?
During my early childhood education, I developed a deep curiosity about the world around me. Over time, I became more interested in chemistry. I found it fascinating that two colorless things can mix and make something colorful, or that two liquids can merge and produce a solid.

Then, when I was introduced to organic chemistry in my undergraduate years, it was eye-opening. I realized that organic chemistry is connected to nearly everything we use or do in our everyday lives. Everything from the blue dye in denim jeans to fading vegetable colors, fragrances, and even the medicines we take, are made of organic molecules. That realization drew me even deeper into the subject.

As I continued studying organic chemistry, I got into synthetic organic chemistry and building molecules. If you have the right knowledge, you can use simple building blocks that are usually made of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, and assemble them into compounds that can be functional, beautiful and even lifesaving.

How has your scientific career evolved?
While earning my master’s degree, I was learning about drug discovery and how organic molecules can be useful for treating human diseases. Then, during my PhD, I trained in how to use those chemical components to build a probe to study a disease and ascertain how to potentially cure that disease.

Ever since, I have wanted to build something which will improve human health. That is the reason I decided to pursue a scientific career.

What brought you to the Cosford lab at Sanford Burnham Prebys?
I chose to pursue my postdoctoral training at Sanford Burnham Prebys because of its strong emphasis on drug discovery. The Cosford lab has been working for almost two decades on a wide range of disease models—including cancer, central nervous system and infectious diseases—which are key areas in today’s therapeutic landscape.

This provides an unusual opportunity to gain practical experience with diverse targets. Furthermore, several of the lab’s drug candidates are in preclinical or phase I/II clinical trials, reflecting its strength in translational research.

What are the key areas of research you focus on?
Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is a natural process in our body. It allows us to remove unwanted cells as we grow and develop. Cancer, however, can disrupt the system of apoptosis.

One way this happens is through the action of inhibitor of apoptosis proteins, which block caspases and help regulate cell survival and cell death during cancer. The second mitochondrial activator of caspases, or SMAC, can bind to and neutralize these inhibitor of apoptosis proteins, thereby promoting apoptosis.

We’re trying to make molecules that can mimic SMAC in order to treat cancer.

What motivates you about your research?
It’s the creativity and complexity around creating 3D chemical architecture to have potential medicinal properties. As we test and refine the compounds, I enjoy using my knowledge of how they react with protein molecules and how that affects the activity of those proteins, which can be useful for targeting diseases.

It is essential to nurture a feedback loop of biological activity and synthesis that keeps the drug discovery process dynamic and purposeful. For me, it is motivating to see that we are designing something and synthesizing something that is having the biological activity necessary for any potential candidate therapy. From there, we can work on finetuning in terms of potency, selectivity, pharmacodynamic stability and other characteristics of successful treatments.

What do you like about working here?
I like the collaborative and supportive research environment here at the institute. We have scientists and students from many different backgrounds and areas of expertise all focused on the same goal, the advancement of biomedical research.

The core research facilities and interdisciplinary expertise make this place ideal for pursuing very complicated targets for translational research. The Institute also has an emphasis on mentorship and career development, which is very important. I feel I’m growing as a scientist in a community which values curiosity, integrity and teamwork.

How would you describe the culture here?
There is a culture of open communication. Sharing ideas, discussing challenges and seeking feedback are encouraged. I’ve found this helps foster personal and professional growth, as well as scientific innovation.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not in the lab?
I have a deep appreciation for world cinema, particularly Hollywood classics from the 80s and 90s. Bengali literature holds a special place in my heart, as does Indian classical music—especially the rich, melodic tones of the sitar and sarod.

Postdocs at Sanford Burnham Prebys are pushing the boundaries of science every day through curiosity, collaboration, and innovation. This series highlights their unique journeys, what inspires their work, and the impact they’re making across our labs.

Explore the Full Series

Institute News

Science in Pictures

AuthorScott LaFee
Date

July 14, 2025

A confocal micrograph of blood vessel networks in the intestine of an adult mouse.

Image courtesy of Satu Paavonsalo and Sinem Karaman, University of Helsinki.