The 10^th annual Graduate Student Research Day on Thursday, July 9, brought together more than 300 students, faculty, alumni, judges, summer research students, and other guests to celebrate the outstanding research and scientific discoveries taking place across The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Sponsored by Dr. Sue and Logan Brown and the John P. McGovern Foundation, the event provided a forum for scientific discussion while showcasing student research through oral presentations, poster sessions, and elevator pitch competitions. See some of our moments from the event.

Led by Cherilynn R. Shadding, PhD, associate dean for student affairs, and Tanieka Young, MBA, MSHRD, program manager, with the support of the Student Affairs team and other staff at UT MD Anderson UTHealth Houston Graduate School, this event gives students a forum for strengthening presentation skills while sharing their research with the broader scientific community.

Exploring the science behind addiction

Erin Calipari, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and director of the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research at Vanderbilt University, delivered this year’s keynote presentation, “Hunger Accelerates Reward Learning Through a Movement-Specific Dopamine Signal.”

Her research examining the neural mechanisms underlying reward learning and psychiatric disorders generated thoughtful discussion and complemented the innovative work presented by students.

A celebration of research and community

Graduate Student Research Day highlighted the depth of scientific discovery taking place across the UT MD Anderson UTHealth Houston Graduate School while celebrating the curiosity, collaboration, and innovation that define its research community.

As always, the event also welcomed alumni—this year's attendees included John J. Kopchick, PhD ’80; George Thornton, PhD ’79; and Jacqueline Peltier Horn, PhD ’79—providing students with opportunities to connect with scientists whose careers began at the Graduate School.

Recognizing outstanding student research

Each of the 69 finalists spent weeks of preparation and practice, dedicating countless hours to analyzing data, developing their presentations, and learning how to communicate complex scientific discoveries to diverse audiences. The experience challenged students to present their work clearly, respond to questions, and refine their scientific communication skills.

Students presented their work through oral presentations, poster sessions, and elevator pitches before panels of faculty judges, including postdocs from both UT MD Anderson Cancer Center and UTHealth Houston. Graduate school faculty moderators included Danielle Garsin, PhD, professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, who moderated the Pre-Candidacy and Master's Oral Presentation Skills Competition, and Kyle A Jones, PhD, professor in the Department of Imaging Physics at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, who moderated Post-Candidacy Oral Presentations. Graduate school alum Tamara Laskowski, PhD ’14, global head of Clinical and Process Development in Personalized Medicine at Lonza, moderated elevator pitches.

The day concluded with the annual awards ceremony recognizing outstanding presentations and scientific achievement (winners listed below). Jeffrey Frost, PhD, associate dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs, presented the awards and recognized two graduating students for exceptional dissertation research.

• Spencer Lea, PhD, received the Alfred G. Knudson Jr. Outstanding Dissertation Award for his dissertation, “Leveraging Innate Immune Sensors to Generate Durable Anti-Glioma Adaptive Immune Responses.” Lea’s advisor is Michael Curran, PhD.
  
  
• Khondakar Sayef Ahammed, PhD, received the Michael R. Blackburn UTHealth Houston Dissertation Award for his dissertation, “Functions of RNA Exosome and tRNA Splicing Ligase in Mendelian and Infectious Diseases.” Ahammed’s advisor is Ambro van Hoof, PhD.

Congratulations to the following students, who were recognized for their outstanding research presentations and scientific achievement during Graduate Student Research Day 2026!

Oral Presentation Skills – Pre-candidacy PhD, MS, and SMS

• 1st: Jose Pinelo, Molecular and Translational Biology | Advisor: Callie Kwartler, PhD
• 2nd: Muxin Wang, Neuroscience | Advisor: Pratip Bhattacharya, PhD

Oral Presentation Skills – Post-candidacy PhD

• 1st: Julia Zickus, Molecular and Translational Biology | Advisor: Pratip Bhattacharya, PhD
• 2nd: Teresa Sullivan, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases | Advisor: Anna Konovalova, PhD

Poster Competition – Top 4 – Pre-candidacy PhD, MS, and SMS and Best – 1st Year

• Sohitri Mukherjee, Genetics and Epigenetics | Advisor: Andrea Stavoe, PhD
• Trithi Jaya Sunder, Immunology | Advisor: Shervin Assassi, MD
• Chia Hsin (Alex) Lin, Quantitative Sciences | Advisor: Nicholas Navin, PhD
• Alec Solis, Immunology | Advisor: Kristen Pauken, PhD
• Best 1st Year: Kun Yuan (Ivan) Chu, Cancer Biology | Advisor: Jun Ichi Abe, MD, PhD

Poster Competition – Top 4 – Post-candidacy PhD

• Sruthi Kannan, Immunology | Advisors: Pavan Bachireddy, MD, and Jeffrey Molldrem, MD
• Sydney Wilbon, Molecular and Translational Biology | Advisor: Mikhail Kolonin, PhD
• Peyton High, Molecular and Translational Biology | Advisor: Kendra Carmon, PhD
• Alexandra Miller, Therapeutics and Pharmacology | Advisor: Ji Young Yoo, PhD

Elevator Pitch Contest – Pre-candidacy PhD, MS, and SMS

• 1st: KM Salim Andalib, Cancer Biology | Advisor: Steven Lin, MD, PhD
• 2nd: Lisa Abe, Neuroscience | Advisor: Alexis Bavencoffe, PhD
• 3rd: Katy Ayers, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases | Advisor: Michael Lorenz, PhD
• People’s Choice: Lisa Abe, Neuroscience | Advisor: Vincent Bernard Pagan, MD, PhD

Elevator Pitch Contest – Post-candidacy PhD

• 1st: Diana Carrasco Rojas, Medical Physics | Advisor: Paige Taylor, PhD
• 2nd: Mya Rodriguez, Neuroscience | Advisor: Andrea Stavoe, PhD
• People’s Choice: Diana Carrasco Rojas, Medical Physics | Advisor: Paige Taylor, PhD