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Institute News

LEAP scholars share research and celebrate a year of growth

AuthorCommunications
Date

June 16, 2025

LEAP Capstone - Group
From left: Rachel Khoury, Makeh Shah, Emerald Adeyan, Sarina Safavi, Kai Rauda, Isabel Sakowicz, Kyle Alvarez. Not pictured: Monica Jensen. Image credit: Sanford Burnham Prebys.

Last week, scholars in the LEAP (Lab Experience As Pathway) program shared their research at a capstone presentation event, marking the culmination of a year-long journey in the lab. Designed to bridge the gap between college graduation and graduate school, the LEAP program provides recent grads with hands-on research experience, professional development, and mentorship to prepare them for advanced studies in STEM.

The program was first launched by Dr. Ani Deshpande and has since been championed by Dr. Kevin Yip, who continues to lead and shape its success. With generous support from the Prebys Foundation, the LEAP program is led by the Sanford Burnham Prebys NCI-designated Cancer Center, with significant contributions from the Office of Education, Training and International Services (OETIS), Workforce Engagement and Belonging (WEB), a dedicated team of mentors, and many other Sanford Burnham Prebys colleagues.

In his closing remarks, Dr. Deshpande reflected on the purpose and promise of the program. “This is about you,” he told the scholars. “Your energy, your growth, your potential. I’ve been so impressed by your scientific curiosity and your confidence.”

Dr. Yip added, “It’s been a privilege to work with such a talented and motivated group. Watching them grow as scientists and individuals over the past year has been truly inspiring.”

As the event wrapped up, students headed to a poster session and photo session with plenty to celebrate: a year of lab experience, new skills, and a clearer path to graduate school and beyond.

The LEAP program students include:
Emerald Adeyan (Chavez and Heynen-Genel Labs)
Developing an Innovative Assay for High-Throughput Detection of ecDNA in MYC-Amplified Medulloblastoma
Kyle Alvarez (Jackson and Sinha Labs)
Tissue Morphology Predicts Telomere Shortening in Human Tissues​
Monica Jensen (Huang Lab)
Development and Validation of TREM2 Overexpression Lines in H9 Embryonic Stem Cells
Rachel Khoury  (Wang Lab)
Motor Neuron Rewiring in Aging & Cachectic Muscle Wasting Conditions​
Kai Rauda (Osterman Lab)
Skin-Deep Discovery: A Novel Vitamin C Metabolic Pathway in Cutibacterium acnes​
Sarina Safavi (Yip Lab)
Exploring Differential Expression in Alzheimer’s Disease Resilience​
Isabel Sakowicz (Kumsta and Tharp Labs)
Glucose-Driven Fibrotic Pathways: Connecting Metabolic Stress to Ovarian Fibrosis​
Mahek Shah (Spruck Lab)
Validating F5446 as an Inducer of Viral Mimicry in Human Breast Cancer Cells​

Institute News

Sanford Burnham Prebys celebrates newest graduate school alumni

AuthorGreg Calhoun
Date

June 4, 2025

2025 Grad School Graduation Ceremony group photo
Left to right: Diane Klotz, PhD; Alexandre Colas, PhD; Ryan Loughran, PhD; Guy Salvesen, PhD; Zhouting Zhu, PhD; Andrei Osterman, PhD; Alessandra Sacco, PhD; Barbara Ranscht, PhD; Jordan Friedlein, PhD; and Caroline Kumsta, PhD. Not pictured: Zong Ming Chua, PhD. Image Credit: Sanford Burnham Prebys.

The Institute’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences held its second Commencement ceremony to celebrate four recent graduates

Family, friends and colleagues gathered at the end of May 2025 to applaud the four newest alumni of the Sanford Burnham Prebys Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. These early-career scientists are the latest graduates to leave their mark on the institute and carry forth the graduate program’s motto, “Knowledge is the power to heal.”

On Friday, May 30, 2025, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences held its graduation ceremony at the institute’s La Jolla campus in the Victor E. LaFave III Memorial Auditorium.

“Each of you has made significant contributions to your field of science, created new knowledge and demonstrated the ability to perform independent research,” said Alessandra Sacco, PhD, dean of the institute’s graduate school and professor and director of the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program in the Center for Cardiovascular and Muscular Diseases.

“Today, we celebrate not only your academic journey, but also your years of dedication to get to this point, and the perseverance and intellectual curiosity that enabled you to reach this milestone.”

Following her remarks, Sacco introduced Ryan Loughran, PhD ’24, to speak on behalf of his fellow graduates.

“Graduate school is an experience unlike any other,” said Loughran. “You’re constantly drinking from a fire hose, learning new techniques, running experiments, coding data pipelines, writing and reviewing papers, preparing posters and giving talks.

‘I came to realize that it’s overwhelming by design. Somewhere in that chaos, something incredible happens. You’re forged by the fire. You begin to absorb information with an insatiable hunger. You think more critically and more creatively when confronting problems, and that is the true gift of the PhD experience.”

Loughran turned the podium over to Guy Salvesen, PhD, the inaugural dean of the graduate school, who provided the Commencement address.

“The graduates in front of you display the success of the program,” he said. “More importantly and more fundamentally, though, they have reached this milestone based on the merits of the hard-won accomplishments that they share with their mentors.”

Diane Klotz, PhD, chief learning officer at Sanford Burnham Prebys, then discussed the meaning of the hoods and symbols that are used in Commencement ceremonies. She invited the graduates forward and instructed faculty members to adorn them with the doctoral academic hoods signifying completion of a PhD program.

This year, the following graduates were recognized:

Andrei Osterman, PhD, the graduate school’s vice dean and associate dean of curriculum and a professor in the Center for Metabolic and Liver Diseases, provided the ceremony’s closing remarks.

“While today is primarily a celebration of individual intellectual achievements, it also recognizes your meaningful contributions to and interactions with the scientific community,” he said. “You have grown through peer review and collaborating with others, and these experiences will benefit you wherever your career takes you.”

More on this year’s graduates

Zong Ming Chua, PhD ’24, was born in Singapore. He developed a deep and early interest in biology after reading Darwin’s seminal work “On the Origin of Species” and various books by Richard Dawkins.

At Sanford Burnham Prebys, Zong Ming investigated the mechanisms that link cellular senescence and epigenetics. He discovered a new role of the histone variant H2A.Z R80C. He found that the histone variant influenced the transcriptomic profile of senescent cells.

Zong Ming moved to the Bay Area after graduating and is currently a computational biologist at GigaGen.

Jordan Friedlein, PhD ’24, was born and raised in Minnesota. From an early age, he expressed a desire to understand how the world worked. In high school, biology and physiology were his favorite classes.

Jordan joined the Bagchi Lab in 2019 and worked on investigating the role of circular RNA derived proteins in Myc-driven cancers. During his five years, Jordan enjoyed contributing to cutting-edge research and building lasting relationships with other grad students and institute members.

Ryan Loughran, PhD ’24, was born and raised in Greensburg, Penn. Growing up in a family with four generations of pharmacists, Ryan always imagined following in their footsteps and taking over the family-owned Loughran’s Pharmacy.

However, his path took a different turn during his undergraduate studies when he had the opportunity to spend a summer in New York City as an intern in the Emerling lab at Weill Cornell Medicine. He later moved with Emerling to help establish her new lab at Sanford Burnham Prebys as her lab manager. He later joined the Emerling lab as a graduate student.

Ryan plans to undertake a short postdoctoral position before transitioning into the pharmaceutical industry, where he aims to apply his knowledge and experience in cancer research to real-world applications.

Zhouting Zhu, PhD ’24, grew up in Changzhou city in the Jiangsu province of China. After completing a Master of Science in Surgery degree from Nanjing University in 2018, Zhouting joined the graduate program at Sanford Burnham Prebys.

She conducted her doctoral research in the lab of Tariq Rana, PhD, an educational affiliate professor in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Zhouting focused on RNA biology and cancer immunotherapy. Her work explored immune cell dynamics in tumors and spleens under various treatment conditions in mouse cancer models.

Zhouting is currently working toward MD-equivalency certification, with the long-term goal of becoming a board-certified physician-scientist.

Institute News

Welcoming rising stars in science to Sanford Burnham Prebys

AuthorGreg Calhoun
Date

May 6, 2025

Rising Stars 2025 group photo - image credit: Sanford Burnham Prebys

The annual Rising Stars Symposium featured nine doctoral-degree candidates representing the next generation of scientists

Nine doctoral-degree candidates from across the U.S. visited Sanford Burnham Prebys for the fourth annual Rising Stars Symposium, a research meeting and networking opportunity for future postdoctoral researchers.

James Marchant, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Alexandre Colas, PhD, at Sanford Burnham Prebys, opened the meeting by introducing the symposium’s keynote speaker, Mark Mercola, PhD, a professor of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine and a professor in the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute.

“We’re so pleased to have a keynote address from a stem cell biology expert responsible for identifying many of the factors that guide the formation of the heart,” said Marchant. “This also is a homecoming for Mark, who was previously on the faculty here and continues to be an extended family member through collaborations and service on dissertation committees.” 

Mercola held a joint appointment as a professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys and the University of California San Diego from 2003-15 before joining Stanford. He began his lecture with a discussion of how his research evolved throughout his career, including the opportunities provided by the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells. Mercola now focuses on developing treatments for heart failure that target mechanisms rather than symptoms.

“While drugs for heart failure have improved over time, they continue to generally improve heart function by altering conditions such as blood pressure and heart rate rather than target the underlying causes,” said Mercola. “I envision a day when treatment begins to resemble modern cancer therapies that are targeted based on understanding characteristics of tumors.”

Mercola also offered career advice to the Risings Stars. He emphasized the importance of pursuing a long-term vision that can guide how you seek training, apply for funding and build your network. Mercola suggested that this vision needs to be balanced with measurable short-term goals that can show your intermediate progress along the way. He also implored early career scientists not to stay isolated in their own labs.

“Be collaborative, and you’ll find that the work is always more enjoyable and successful when you are part of a team,” said Mercola.

Following the keynote address, four Rising Stars discussed their research projects:

  • Paola E. Peña García, a PhD candidate in the Poynter lab at the University of Vermont
  • Jaquesta Adams, a PhD candidate in the Landry lab at the University of California Berkeley
  • Michell Carroll, a PhD candidate in the Pattenden lab at the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy
  • Janice Reynaga, a PhD candidate in the Blanco lab at the University of Pennsylvania

Lukas Chavez, PhD, an associate professor in the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys, offered concluding remarks at the end of the symposium’s first day.

“With their excellent presentations, our Rising Stars have lived up to their name,” said Chavez. “It is exciting and reassuring to see that the next generation of biomedical research is in capable hands.”

David Brenner, MD, the president and chief executive officer of Sanford Burnham Prebys, began the symposium’s second day by sharing an overview of the institute and San Diego’s scientific community.

“There is something special in the intellectual environment here at Sanford Burnham Prebys and our neighboring research institutions,” said Brenner. “If you conduct a postdoctoral fellowship here, you will find it to be a very welcoming, collaborative and interactive ecosystem.”

Sanju Sinha, PhD, an assistant professor in the Cancer Metabolism and Microenvironment Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys, added his reflections on the importance of scientific meetings for early career researchers.

“I place great value on these kinds of symposia,” said Sinha. “I met many of my collaborators at a similar symposium in New York, so I encourage the Rising Stars to take advantage of this opportunity to get to know each other and investigators throughout the institute.”

After the opening remarks, five Rising Stars presented about their research:

  • Lanette LaComb, a PhD candidate in the Almo lab at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine
  • Danielle Johnson, a PhD candidate in the Jewett lab at the University of Arizona
  • Tracey Porter, a PhD candidate in the Wingert lab at the University of University of Notre Dame
  • Sarah Brashear, a PhD candidate in the Smith lab at the University of California Davis
  • Ariell Smith, a PhD candidate in the Eguiluz lab at the University of University of California Merced

In addition to the two days of scientific talks, the Rising Stars toured the Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics, learned about the institute’s core facilities and shared research resources, networked with institute scientists, and gained a better understanding of postdoctoral opportunities at Sanford Burnham Prebys.

The 2025 Rising Star Symposium was sponsored by the NCI-designated Cancer Center and was planned collaboratively by the institute’s Workforce Engagement and Belonging Council and planning and selection committees.

The planners expressed their gratitude to everyone who contributed to this institute-wide effort, including session moderators and facilitators, Cancer Center administration, the Research Administrative Services team, the Communications team and many volunteers.

Institute News

Theo Tzaridis named 2024 recipient of Eric Dudl Endowed Scholarship

AuthorGreg Calhoun
Date

February 6, 2025

Theophilos Tzaridis profile photo
Theo Tzaridis, MD, a postdoctoral fellow at Sanford Burnham Prebys, was named the 2024 recipient of The Eric Dudl Endowed Scholarship.

Tzaridis, a postdoctoral fellow at Sanford Burnham Prebys, received the honor in recognition of his achievements in research on pediatric brain cancer

Theo Tzaridis, MD, was named the 2024 recipient of The Eric Dudl Endowed Scholarship at Sanford Burnham Prebys.

The scholarship fund was established at the institute to remember Eric Dudl, a postdoctoral researcher whose life was tragically cut short by cancer at the age of 33. Since 2007, 17 postdoctoral scientists have received support for their research from the endowed scholarship fund.

Tzaridis is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Peter Adams, PhD, director of the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys. He studies ways to enhance immunotherapy for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), the deadliest brain tumor in children.

Tzaridis found that targeting a checkpoint molecule called CD155 leads to an enhanced immune response and tumor control. He presented the work at the annual American Association for Cancer Research conference. There he established a collaboration with a company that produces the only available antibody against CD155, enabling Tzaridis to continue his research by testing the antibody’s potential efficacy for treating DIPG in order to pave the way for a clinical trial to improve survival for patients.

David Brenner, Kevin Yip, Theo Tzaridis, the Dudls and Peter Adams

David Brenner, MD, Kevin Yip, PhD, and Peter Adams, PhD, with Robert James and Barbara Dudl and scholarship recipient Theo Tzaridis, MD.

Eric Dudl

The Eric Dudl Endowed Scholarship at Sanford Burnham Prebys was established at the institute to remember Eric, a postdoctoral researcher whose life was tragically cut short by cancer at the age of 33.

Tzaridis has garnered recognition and extramural funding throughout his career as a physician-scientist, including the 2023 Lenka Finci and Erna Viterbi Fishman Fund Award from Sanford Burnham Prebys and the best oral presentation from the American Association of Immunologists during the 2024 La Jolla Immunology Conference. His career goal is to advance research findings into clinical trials that benefit patients, including trials regarding the effective use of immunotherapy as a treatment for brain cancer.

“I’m truly grateful for the support of The Eric Dudl Endowed Scholarship,” said Tzaridis. “Eric’s inspiring legacy as an immensely dedicated postdoctoral cancer researcher lives on through the important work the scholarship helps fund.”

“Theo is an outstanding physician and a superb scientist,” said Adams. “I have no doubt that he will advance the science of brain cancer while also contributing to meaningful improvements for patients and their families.” 

For more information on setting up a scholarship or to learn more about our philanthropy program, please contact giving@sbpdiscovery.org.

Institute News

Alexandre Colas named 2024 Mentor of the Year at Sanford Burnham Prebys

AuthorGreg Calhoun
Date

October 8, 2024

Alicia Llorente Lope, PhD, presenting the 2024 Mentor of the Year Award to Alexandre Colas, PhD
Alicia Llorente Lope, PhD, a postdoctoral associate at Sanford Burnham Prebys, presented the 2024 Mentor of the Year Award to Alexandre Colas, PhD. Colas is the associate dean of admissions for the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and associate professor in the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program.

Colas was applauded for enthusiastically promoting mentees’ professional and scientific development.

Alexandre Colas, PhD, was named as the 2024 Mentor of the Year at Sanford Burnham Prebys. This honor is jointly awarded by the institute’s Office of Education, Training and International Services (OETIS) and the Postdoctoral Training Advisory Group (PTAG).

Colas is the associate dean of admissions for the Sanford Burnham Prebys Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and associate professor in the institute’s Development, Aging and Regeneration Program.

The Mentor of the Year awardee was determined following a selection process driven by postdoctoral scholars. After a committee reviewed nomination letters submitted by postdoctoral associates and graduate students, Colas was announced as the recipient on September 19 at the 23rd Annual Biomedical Research Symposium.

“It is evident that Colas has remarkable mentorship skills and a genuine commitment to fostering both the scientific and professional development of his postdocs and graduate students,” said postdoctoral associate and PTAG representative Alicia Llorente Lope, PhD, during her presentation of the Mentor of the Year award.

“Colas’ nominators described him as kind, compassionate and someone who creates a positive, collaborative and intellectually stimulating environment in his lab. His enthusiasm for science is infectious, and it inspires those around him.”

Additional comments from Colas’ nominators include:

“He promotes participation in career development and events, encouraging all his mentees to attend scientific workshops and training events, conferences, talks and symposia that will benefit our scientific and personal growth.”

“As an enthusiastic leader, Colas organized events to celebrate achievements and milestones. He used these opportunities to promote team-building and collaborative efforts among his lab members and beyond the lab.”

“Whether discussing complex scientific hypotheses or the latest developments in our field, Colas has a unique ability to make even the most challenging concepts accessible and exciting.”

“His influence and guidance have allowed me to push myself outside my comfort zone and to become a better scientist.”

“He guides students through difficulties, offering thoughtful advice and constructive feedback that helps us overcome obstacles and strengthens our resilience and confidence as researchers. His mentorship has helped me achieve great scientific discoveries in the lab and grow closer to becoming an independent research scientist.”

“Should I establish my own lab, I aspire to follow Colas’ mentoring and leadership style, which I believe is the epitome of mentoring perfection.”

Institute News

Treasuring science and fun at the 2024 Annual Biomedical Research Symposium

AuthorGreg Calhoun
Date

October 2, 2024

Ye Zheng giving keynote address at 2024 Biomedical Research Symposium

Annual event shines spotlight on research conducted by postdoctoral associates and graduate students at Sanford Burnham Prebys.

“When I reflect on the most fun I’ve had during my career as a scientist, it was during my postdoctoral fellowship,” said Ye Zheng, PhD, Becky and Ralph S. O’Connor Chair and professor in the NOMIS Center for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis at the Salk Institute, during his keynote address at the 23rd Annual Biomedical Research Symposium at Sanford Burnham Prebys on September 19, 2024.

“As a postdoc, every time I woke up, I would think about my scientific projects and then go to lab to work with interesting people and do exciting experiments. I had few, if any, distractions. It’s a unique opportunity, and I hope you treasure it.”

Zheng’s words of encouragement helped set the stage for a day filled with a variety of presentation formats to showcase the work of postdoctoral associates and graduate students at the institute. Peter D. Adams, PhD, director of the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys, underscored the event’s importance in his opening remarks.

“This is how science works. You all convening and discussing your work today provides a platform for building new and innovative collaborations.

“You are the next generation of biomedical researchers, and there is no greater pleasure for me as a scientist than to see postdocs and students partnering with one another and enjoying working together.”

The symposium featured three scientific sessions with keynote presentations, podium lectures and brief “flash talks” in which speakers were limited to two minutes and a single slide to entice attendees to visit their posters. Participants voted in a science art competition and for best podium and flash talks.

Following the scientific sessions, Alicia Llorente Lope, PhD, a postdoctoral associate in the lab of Brooke Emerling, PhD, presented the 2024 Mentor of the Year Award to Alexandre Colas, PhD, the associate dean of admissions in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and associate professor in the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program.

Linda Bradley, PhD, a professor in the Cancer Metabolism and Microenvironment Program and the faculty advisor for postdoctoral training, provided the symposium’s closing remarks. She reminded the audience that the symposium was planned for this week because it was National Postdoc Appreciation Week from September 16-20.

“I want to thank our postdocs for their incredible efforts driving the research forward in our labs,” she said. “I hope we can continue to enhance our environment and provide the best possible opportunities for training and mentorship here at the Institute.”

The 23rd Annual Biomedical Research Symposium concluded with a poster session and happy hour reception. Postdoctoral associate and graduate school alumni were invited to these events to meet with current graduate students and postdoctoral associates and reconnect with their colleagues.

Symposium planning is coordinated by the Sanford Burnham Prebys Science Network, a group of postdoctoral associates and graduate students interested in professional development, networking and social events, and the institute’s Office of Education, Training and International Services.

Tatiana Moreno presenting her post to Soda Diop with other poster presentations in the background

The 23rd Annual Biomedical Research Symposium concluded with a poster session and happy hour reception. Postdoctoral associate and graduate school alumni were invited to these events to meet with current graduate students and postdoctoral associates and reconnect with their colleagues.

“It was a terrific experience working together to build this year’s program,” said Valeria Guglielmi, PhD, a postdoctoral associate in the lab of Maximiliano D’Angelo, PhD, and member of the institute’s Science Network. “I’m especially grateful to our speakers, poster presenters and scientific artists for bringing excellent work that we could highlight.”

Additional awards given at the symposium included:

  • Best podium talk – Judges’ selection
    Valeria Guglielmi, PhD
    Postdoctoral associate in the D’Angelo lab
  • Best podium talk – Popular vote
    James Marchant, PhD
    Postdoctoral fellow in the Colas lab
  • Best flash talk – Popular vote
    Theophilos Tzaridis, MD
    Postdoctoral fellow in the Adams lab
  • Best poster – Judges’ selection
    Armin Aabish Gandhi, PhD
    Pstdoctoral associate in the Adams lab
  • Best science art – Popular vote
    Carolina Cano Macip
    Graduate student in the Tian lab

Speakers at the symposium included:

Scientific Session I—moderated by Michaela Romero and Armin Aabish Gandhi, PhD

Carolina Cano Macip's winging science art image

Participants at the symposium were able to submit votes for a science art competition and the best podium and flash talks. Carolina Cano Macip, a graduate student in the lab of Xiao Tian, PhD, won the science art competition with her piece called “Love is in your gut <3” featuring a heart-shaped section of a mouse colon.

  • Cheng-Ju Kuo, PhD
    Postdoctoral associate in the Kumsta lab
    “Temporal and spatial regulation of the autophagy-regulating transcription factor TFEB/HLH-30 in hormesis and aging”
  • Ximena Diaz Olea
    Graduate student in the Ronai lab
    “Control of melanoma development by B. rodentium in germ free mice”
  • Huijie Huang, PhD
    Postdoctoral associate in the Huang lab
    “SORLA upregulation suppresses global pathological effects in aged taupathy mouse brain”

Scientific Session II—moderated by Katya Marchetti, Namratha Nadig and Chiara Nicoletti, PhD

  • Adarsh Rajesh
    Graduate student in the Adams lab, “A novel role of P21-CyclinD1-CDK6 complex in regulating interferon signaling in senescence and aging” 
  • James Marchant, PhD
    Postdoctoral fellow in the Colas lab, “Single-construct cardiac programming gene therapy for heart failure”
  • Valeria Guglielmi, PhD
    Postdoctoral associate in the D’Angelo lab
    “The nuclear pore complex component Nup358 regulates intestinal epithelium homeostasis”
  • Theophilos Tzaridis, MD
    Postdoctoral fellow in the Adams lab, flash talk
  • Evodie Koutouan
    Graduate student in the Pasquale lab, flash talk
  • Sviatlana Zaretski
    Graduate student in the Adams lab, flash talk

Scientific Session III—moderated by Linda Chang and Theophilos Tzaridis, MD

  • Gabriele Guarnaccia
    Graduate student in the Sacco lab
    “Serum amyloid protein A1 (SAA1) impairs myogenesis and myotube size in pancreatic cancer cachexia”
  • Jessica Proulx, PhD
    Postdoctoral associate in the Adams lab
    “Investigating the role and therapeutic potential of HNF4α in loss of hepatocyte cell identity with age”
  • Michaela Romero
    Graduate student in the Colas lab, flash talk
  • Shanshan Yin, PhD
    Postdoctoral associate in the Adams lab, flash talk
  • Guillem Lambies Barjau, PhD
    Postdoctoral associate in the Commisso lab, flash talk
Institute News

Ceremony celebrates recipients of 2024 Fishman Fund awards honoring exceptional postdoctoral scholars

AuthorScott LaFee
Date

September 18, 2024

2024 Fishman Award winners from left: Huijie Huang, Kelly Yichen Li, Chiara Nicoletti, James Marchant, Jessica Proulx, Zinia D’Souza
2024 Fishman Award winners. From left: Huijie Huang, Kelly Yichen Li, Chiara Nicoletti, James Marchant, Jessica Proulx, Zinia D’Souza

Six young scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys, whose research spans genetic disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, heart failure and aging, were honored September 17 at the 23rd annual Fishman Fund awards ceremony.

The Fishman Fund was created in 2001 by Sanford Burnham Prebys supporters Mary Bradley and Reena Horowitz to honor Dr. William and Mrs. Lillian Fishman, who founded the institute in 1976. In 2010, Jeanne Jones became a co-founder designee.

The awards are intended to support and promote early career scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys. Four career development awards provide $10,000 stipends that can be used to attend workshops, network and travel to national and international conferences to learn about the latest developments in their research fields. In addition, the prizes include a two-year fellowship award, and an honor focused on rewarding research excellence. The fund is made possible through the generosity of many donors.

The ceremony, which included poster presentations, was held at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine. The 2024 recipients are:

Reena Horowitz and Mary Bradley Fishman Fund Award

Zinia D’Souza, PhD, is a postdoctoral associate in the laboratory of Hudson Freeze, PhD, director of the Sanford Children’s Health Research Center and the director of the Human Genetics Program.Her research is focused on identifying new congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDGs), rare disorders caused by mutations that impair glycosylation—the complex process by which cells build long sugar chains that are attached to proteins called glycoproteins. D’Souza also works to uncover how these rare genetic mutations cause the observed symptoms.

Zinia Dsouza headshot

Don Barach Memorial Fishman Fund Award

Huijie Huang, PhD, is a postdoctoral associate in the lab of Timothy Huang, PhD, an assistant professor in the Degenerative Diseases Program. Her research focuses on uncovering the fundamental causes of Alzheimer’s disease AD), a pressing public health concern as the U.S. population ages and faces an increased risk of this leading cause of dementia. Specifically, she studies the SORL1 (SORLA) gene, a known risk factor for sporadic early- and late-onset AD. Huang believes that developing treatments to boost SORLA’s beneficial effects may prove to be an innovative treatment approach.

Huijie Huang headshot

Fishman Fund Fellowship Award

James Marchant, PhD, is a postdoctoral associate in the lab of Alexandre Colas, PhD, an associate professor in the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program. His research focuses on developing a gene therapy to treat heart failure. Heart attacks reduce blood and oxygen flow to heart muscle, leading to scar tissue that can increase the risk of future attacks. Marchant aims to convert cells within this scar tissue back into healthy muscle cells.

James Marchant headshot

Cynthia Schwartz Shenkman Fishman Fund Research Excellence Award

Chiara Nicoletti, PhD, is a postdoctoral associate in the laboratory of Pier Lorenzo Puri, MD, co-director of the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program. She studies epigenetic patterns, which are genetic changes that don’t alter DNA itself yet modify how genes are expressed to make proteins or other products. She studies epigenetic patterns in skeletal muscle development and disease. Nicoletti hopes to help develop personalized medicine tools for patients suffering from muscular dystrophy.

Chiara Nicoletti headshot

Jeanne Jones and Kathryn Fishback Fishman Fund  Award

Jessica Proulx, PhD, is a postdoctoral associate working in the lab of Peter D. Adams, PhD, director of the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program. Proulx investigates how aging alters our bodies at the cellular and molecular levels, a key factor in the increased risk for diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, cardiovascular disease and metabolic conditions like type 2 diabetes. She uses biological techniques that study the entire landscape of a sample’s genes, proteins or other features. Her work seeks to identify underlying changes that predispose an aged liver to liver disease and liver cancer.

Jessica Proulx headshot

Lenka Finci and Erna Viterbi Fishman Fund Award

Kelly Yichen Li, PhD, is a postdoctoral associate in the lab of Kevin Yip, PhD, a professor in the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program and the director of the Bioinformatics Shared Resource. She studies a phenomenon called cellular senescence that is associated with aging. Senescent cells no longer grow and divide, which can reduce the growth of cancer, but the condition is also  associated with chronic inflammation and age-related diseases. Yichen LI is working to find molecular signatures of senescence to advance aging research, treatments and diagnostics.

Yichen Li h eadshot
Institute News

Michael Alcaraz awarded Melvin and Phyllis McCardle Clause Scholarship

AuthorGreg Calhoun
Date

September 18, 2024

Michael Alcaraz, headshot in lab
Michael Alcaraz is a fourth-year graduate student in the Sanford Burnham Prebys Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

The scholarship program for graduate students was created by the Clause family’s generous donation to Sanford Burnham Prebys.

Michael Alcaraz, a fourth-year graduate student in the Sanford Burnham Prebys Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, was selected as the 2024 recipient of the Melvin and Phyllis McCardle Clause Scholarship.

“I am very excited about being chosen for this scholarship,” said Alcaraz. “I’ll be gaining mentorship opportunities from researchers in neuroscience that complement my lab’s focus on aging.

“This funding will make a big difference as my research moves forward. The scholarship also provides support for professional development, which will allow me to attend conferences to share what I’m studying and grow my network.”

The McCardle Clause Scholarship was established in honor of Phyllis McCardle Clause after her long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The award supports graduate student education in age-related neurodegeneration within the Institute’s graduate school.

Alcaraz conducts research in the laboratory of Peter D. Adams, PhD, the director of the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program, with a focus on the mechanisms of aging.

With support from the scholarship, Alcaraz will be investigating the fundamental connections between aging and the increased risk of AD, the most common cause of dementia. His project is focused on the role of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), an essential metabolite and building block for enzymes.

NAD+ levels decrease with age in several tissues, including in the brains of humans and mouse models of AD. The decline of this important metabolite is associated with insufficient energy metabolism that is a major hallmark of AD.

“In collaboration with the Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics, we will test a potential drug to promote production of NAD+ in the brain by activating a key enzyme involved in NAD+ biosynthesis,” said Alcaraz.  The compound was developed by the Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics led by Michael Jackson, PhD, senior vice president of Drug Discovery and Development.

“The goal of my project is to raise the levels of NAD+ in mice suffering from an analogous condition to AD and test its effects on improving brain metabolism, function and behavior,” added Alcaraz.

“The objective is to build the preclinical foundation for one day achieving benefits for patients. We all know how devastating AD is for patients and families, and the need for new treatments grows greater every single day.

“This project will require a lot of collaboration between experts in aging, drug discovery, neuroscience and behavioral analysis. We have all this expertise available across the Institute, and I’m looking forward to working with an interdisciplinary team on this effort thanks to the generosity of the Clause family.”

Institute News

Chiara Nicoletti, PhD, garners inaugural Fishman Fund Cynthia Schwartz Shenkman Research Excellence Award

AuthorGreg Calhoun
Date

September 12, 2024

Chiara Nicoletti, profile photo in office
Chiara Nicoletti, PhD, studies epigenetic patterns in skeletal muscle development and disease in the laboratory of Pier Lorenzo Puri, MD, director of the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program.

This annual award was established in 2024 to recognize the contributions of postdoctoral fellows at Sanford Burnham Prebys.

Chiara Nicoletti, PhD, a postdoctoral associate at Sanford Burnham Prebys, was selected as the first recipient of the Fishman Fund Cynthia Schwartz Shenkman Research Excellence Award. 

This award is one of two new honors being given during the 23rd Fishman Funds awards ceremony on September 17, marking 2024 as a special year for the Institute and the supporting donors.  

The inaugural Don Barach Fishman Fund Career Award adds a fourth prize in the category of career awards focused on providing professional development opportunities for postdoctoral fellows. In addition, the Fishman Fund Cynthia Schwartz Shenkman Research Excellence Award adds a new third category of honors.  

This award recognizes and rewards experienced postdoctoral fellows who have achieved a track record of research excellence. It is designed to help offset the cost of living in the region, and to benefit recipients as they prepare for the next step in their careers.

“For me, this award provides recognition of my hard work and that of my colleagues,” said Nicoletti. “It also acknowledges my mentor at Sanford Burnham Prebys and how he supports members of his laboratory.”

Nicoletti studies epigenetic patterns in skeletal muscle development and disease in the laboratory of Pier Lorenzo Puri, MD, director of the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program.

“My graduate school mentor met Lorenzo at a conference in 2016,” said Nicoletti. “Lorenzo wanted to apply what was then a very new technique called Hi-C to better understand how the MyoD protein—a key player in the establishment of muscle cell identity—is able to transform non-muscle cells into muscle.

“He wanted to study how changes in the three-dimensional organization of DNA can trigger alterations in gene expression, leading to a switch in cell identity. Few people in the world could analyze the data from these experiments at that time. And one of those people was me.”

Chiara’s accomplishments since joining Sanford Burnham Prebys and the Puri lab in 2018 include her work on dysferlinopathy, a rare form of muscular dystrophy. In collaboration with the laboratory of Jyoti K. Jaiswal, MSc, PhD, at Children’s National Research Institute in Washington, D.C., she developed an atlas mapping how the disease causes changes in the transcription of genes in skeletal muscle. This compendium follows the disease progression of dysferlinopathy at the single-cell level.

Dysferlinopathy patients suffer from progressive muscle loss in which muscle cells are replaced by fat and scar tissue. Understanding how this process takes place may accelerate research to find new drugs to improve muscle function. For her work on this project, Nicoletti was recently recognized with the Young Investigator Award by the Jain Foundation, a nonprofit foundation focused on finding a cure for dysferlinopathy.

“When you get to know people with muscular dystrophy, you immediately see that their minds are bursting with life,” reflected Nicoletti. “Someone I met recently said his dream was to bring his daughter to the altar at her wedding and have a father-daughter dance. If we can do something to improve his quality of life, imagine the ripple effects of what that would mean to his daughter, to his whole family.”

When Nicoletti completes her postdoctoral fellowship, she would like to remain in academia as an independent principal investigator.

“As a bioinformatician with experience in bench research, I hope to bring different labs together to build interdisciplinary collaborations focused on how diverse biological systems and organs interact.

“I also would like to teach as I feel it is our fundamental duty as scientists to train the next generation. I believe it is especially important to educate students and postdoctoral fellows about basic bioinformatics skills so that they are better equipped to evaluate published data and collaborate with computational biologists.”

Nicoletti also expressed a long-term goal of applying computational biology methods to advance knowledge of why patients are more or less susceptible to disease and have different responses to medications. These learnings are critical to personalizing treatment plans for individuals rather than populations.

Nicoletti is thankful for the support of the Fishman Fund Cynthia Schwartz Shenkman Research Excellence Award during the remainder of her postdoctoral training.

“The work I do is very rewarding. It feels close to the best that humanity has to offer when scientists and patients collaborate to achieve a common goal.

“I’m so grateful for this award, which serves as even more motivation for me, my mentor and collaborators. We’re each only given one life, and I’m determined to give back as much as I can to society through science.”

Institute News

Summer interns gain invaluable hands-on research experience at Sanford Burnham Prebys

AuthorGreg Calhoun
Date

August 7, 2024

2024 Preuss interns
The 2024 Preuss interns

Aspiring biomedical researchers and health care professionals spent up to six weeks at Sanford Burnham Prebys participating in meaningful experiments and learning about career opportunities

This summer, Sanford Burnham Prebys welcomed high school students to the Institute to participate in one of two internship programs. One group came from the Preuss School, which is located on the University of California San Diego campus in La Jolla and educates students striving to be first-generation college graduates. Participants in the Preuss internship program gained valuable experience while spending three weeks in Sanford Burnham Prebys laboratories learning research techniques and contributing to ongoing projects. This program is generously funded by Peggy and Peter Preuss, and Debby and Wain Fishburn. 

The Institute welcomed its third 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. 

The Preuss and SPARK interns delivered poster presentations at a joint event held on campus on July 26, 2024. The students detailed their projects and what they had learned over the course of their internships. 

“I enjoyed the experience and know it will help me in the future,” says Lizeth Villa Bardeles, a Preuss intern who worked in the lab of Sanju Sinha, PhD, an assistant professor in the Cancer Molecular Therapeutics Program. “I also learned that artificial intelligence and computational biology methods are important for the future of biomedical research.” 

“The whole internship was super fun,” says Saanvi Dogra, a SPARK intern who worked in the lab of Sanjeev S. Ranade, PhD, an assistant professor in the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program. “I loved being in the lab and trying to get things to work. It really improved my ability to solve problems and confirmed how exciting science can be, and that it could be a great career path for me.” 

SPARK interns 2024

The 2024 SPARK interns with (at left) Evan Snyder, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine and a professor in the Human Genetics Program, and (second from right) Sanjeev S. Ranade, PhD, an assistant professor in the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program.

In addition to working in labs, the Preuss and SPARK interns had other educational opportunities such as conversations with scientists and staff members with a variety of roles supporting research. 

“The career talks were really helpful as a way of seeing how many kinds of expertise are needed to run a research organization,” says Fernando Pech, a Preuss intern who worked in the lab of Peter D. Adams, PhD, director of the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program. “I believe you can find your passion at Sanford Burnham Prebys, so I would recommend this experience to other students.” 

The Preuss and SPARK interns delivered poster presentations at a joint event held on the institute campus on July 26, 2024. The students detailed their projects and what they had learned over the course of their internships.

“I believe this was an outstanding chance for these students to learn if research is a potential career they would like to pursue,” says Donmonique Chambliss, a senior administrator of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Education and Training Programs in the Institute’s NCI-designated Cancer Center, and the coordinator of the Preuss internship program. 

“These students are amazing,” says Ranade, the director of the SPARK internship program. “They are so motivated already as high school students. They all will go on to do great things, and we’re thrilled that several students are staying on to continue conducting research with their mentors.” 

This year’s SPARK internship culminated with a group trip to the University of California Riverside on August 6 for CIRM’s annual SPARK conference, where the participants from Sanford Burnham Prebys presented their work and networked with interns from other institutions across the state.