Tune in on September 22 to watch UCSF Postdoc Slam!
⇒ After all the talks are completed, vote ONCE for your favorite presentation at tiny.ucsf.edu/pslam2026.
Voting will be open for 5 minutes only!
UCSF Postdoc Slam 2026
Tuesday, September 22
4 p.m. PDT
#UCSFPostdocSlam
Follow us on Instagram @UCSFPostdocLife
About Postdoc Slam
At UCSF Postdoc Slam, the annual research communications contest presented by the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs, 7-10 postdoc finalists will share their research stories in three minutes or less, in language accessible to a general audience. It's a celebration not only of the finalists and contest winner, but also of postdoctoral research at UCSF and of scientific inquiry.
Postdoc Slam challenges postdocs in a range of disciplines to present a compelling research story in three minutes or less, using language that not only their peers but also non-specialists will understand. The intention of Postdoc Slam is not to dumb-down or trivialize research; rather, it is meant to incentivize postdocs to clarify their ideas and to help others appreciate and understand their work.
Postdoc Slam is the centerpiece of UCSF's celebration of National Postdoc Appreciation Week, September 21 to 25.
Cash prizes of $4,000, $2,000, and $1,000 are awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize winners chosen by the judges. And the live and remote audiences vote for the "People's Choice" winner, who will receive $750. Finalists not awarded a cash prize each receive a $100 gift card.
Finalists
(in order of appearance at the event)
Chaitali Anand, PhD
Carlo Condello, PhD, faculty mentor
Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Before the Storm: Mapping Tau in Down Syndrome to Predict Alzheimer's Next Move
Abhilash Barpanda, PhD
Arun Wiita, MD, PhD, faculty mentor
Department of Laboratory Medicine
Hidden in Plain Sight
Yolanda Martí Mateos, PhD
Isha Jain, PhD, faculty mentor
Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease / UCSF Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics
A Bloody Secret to Lower Sugar
Puspangana Singh, PhD
Shaeri Mukherjee, PhD, faculty mentor
Hooper Foundation
The Art of Cellular Sabotage: Lessons from a Master Hacker
Mahima Choudhury, PhD
Christopher Hernandez, PhD, and Kelsey Collins, PhD, faculty mentors
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
The Secret Phone Calls Between the Knees and the Gut
Shoshana Williams, PhD
Melanie Ott, MD, PhD, faculty mentor
Department of Medicine
No Lab, No Power, No Problem: Improving the Accessibility of Diagnostics
Bryan Ryder, PhD
Jason Gestwicki, PhD, faculty mentor
Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Clearing Protein Garbage through Unlocking the Proteasome
Christine Olson, PhD
Peter Turnbaugh, PhD, faculty mentor
Department of Microbiology and Immunology / Hooper Foundation
Missing the Brain Train
Deanna Halliday, PhD
Pamela Ling, MD, MPH faculty mentor
Department of Medicine
How Do You Quit a Quit Aid?
Meng Liu, PhD
Param Priya Singh, PhD, faculty mentor
Department of Anatomy
The Secret to a Younger Body Is in Your Brain