LEAP Postbacc Program

2 scientists collaborate at a whiteboard

LEAP Program

Lab Experience As Pathway

Thank you for your interest in the LEAP to Graduate School Postbacc Program!

The Lab Experience As Pathway to Graduate School (LEAP to Grad School) is a one-year mentored training and career development experience designed to prepare recent college graduates with new skills and lab experience to become more competitive and succeed in STEM PhD programs.

Goals

The overarching goal of this one-year program is to provide recent college graduates with the mentored training, laboratory skills, and professional development needed to be competitive and successful in STEM PhD programs.

Eligibility

Eligible students are current college seniors and recent graduates (2022 or later) in a science-related field.
International students currently pursuing their bachelor’s degree on an F-1 visa in the US*
Applicants must reside in the greater San Diego area for the duration of the program.

*Must be approved for OPT prior to starting in the program in order to participate

Research Experience

The program will provide both classroom and laboratory training. The classroom portion will be focused on professional development topics such as grad school prep, effective mentorship, and science communication. The laboratory portion will provide hands-on training in basic experimental techniques and research experience. Participants will be matched with a lab for a year, contributing to ongoing research and gaining hands-on experience in wet-lab and/or dry-lab (computational) techniques.

During the one-year program, each participant is expected to participate full-time. Our program consists of 80% research and 20% professional development modules and workshops. Participants will convene on a weekly basis for cohort meetings, training modules and workshops.

Program Competencies

Professional and Career Development Skills
Graduate School Readiness
Effective Mentorship
Foundations of Scientific Research, Research Comprehension, and Communication Skills
Research Identity, Confidence, and Independence

Workshop Examples

Oral and Written Scientific Communication – will explain principles of effective scientific communication and provide corresponding practical training.
Leadership Development – this workshop series will cover self- assessment, understanding others, communication preferences, navigating conflict, developing cultural competence, and creating an inclusive lab environment.
Graduate School Application Preparation – this workshop will explain the graduate school application and selection process. Topics to be covered include preparation of CV, writing personal statements, selecting a school, obtaining strong reference letters, and preparing for interviews.

When Does the LEAP Program Start?

The LEAP Program will run from July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026.

Applying to the LEAP Program

Our application portal will open on Friday, April 4, 2025. The last day to submit your application is Friday, April 25, 2025.

Apply Now

Selection Process

The Review Committee will evaluate all completed applications received by the deadline. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive an invitation for a virtual interview in May. Notifications of acceptance to the program will be sent in May.

Benefits

$41,500 annual stipend plus benefits.
Gain research experience for PhD admissions.
High quality 1:1 mentorship from our world-renowned scientists.
Cohort structure to enhance your social and professional network.

Mentors

Mentors are established principal investigators whose research spans a broad array of topics, from autophagy to metabolism and more, impacting many disease areas, such as cancer, neurodegeneration, and metabolic disorders.

See below for the current list of potential mentors and their associated projects.

combined image of Ani Deshpande and Kevin Yip

Investigation of Novel Cancer Associated Microproteins

A computational and wet lab project
Exciting new studies have revealed that our genomes contain many small proteins that have eluded discovery and may carry out major biological roles. The Deshpande and Yip Labs have ongoing projects in which we have identified several novel microproteins that may play important and causal roles in blood cancer, and the characterization of such microproteins will form the basis of this jointly mentored computational and experimental research plan.

combined image of Ani Deshpande and Alessandro Vasciaveo

Investigating Cancer-Associated Transcription Using Dry and Wet Lab Approaches

A computational and wet lab project
Childhood cancers such as synovial sarcoma and leukemia are characterized by the rewiring of normal transcription. Understanding the factors that are involved in this dysregulation may help develop targeted therapies. This project will focus on the study of gene regulatory networks that are disrupted in childhood cancer, using a combination of experimental and computational approaches.

The Shape of Aging

Sanju Sinha, PhD
TBD

A computational project
While we observe and experience it, we yet do not understand how different tissues in our body age and their regulators. Our project will use 500TB images from post-mortem tissues to establish how tissue shapes changes with age, their critical deterioration periods and master regulators of these deterioration. This will use a combination of computer vision and general machine learning. If successful, this will establish novel ways to protect critical tissues of our body.

combined image of Caroline Kumsta and Victoria Blaho

Investigating the Effects of Repeated Low-Dose Ionizing Radiation on Aging

A wet lab project
This project aims to establish C. elegans and C57BL/6 mouse models to examine how repeated low-dose ionizing radiation influences key hallmarks of aging, and how these effects are modulated by dietary quality. These studies will be the first to assess the systemic impact of chronic low-dose radiation on healthspan across two evolutionarily distant model organisms. This work addresses a critical knowledge gap, as a recent National Academies of Sciences report highlighted that low-dose radiation exposure is more widespread than previously recognized, driven by rising medical, environmental, and occupational sources. Despite this growing public health concern, the long-term consequences of such exposure on aging remain poorly understood.

2024-2025 Mentors