These judges will choose the 1st, 2nd, and 3nd place awardees from among the finalists at the live Postdoc Slam event on September 22, 2026. A separate set of screening judges reviewed initial video entries and selected the finalists.
Erin Allday is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle who covers gender and sexuality. Previously, she was a longtime health writer with a focus on covering infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and the COVID pandemic. A Southern California native, Erin has lived in the Bay Area since graduating UC Berkeley. Before joining the Chronicle in 2006, Erin worked at newspapers all over the Bay Area covering topics such as business and technology, city government, and education.
Laura Dannels, PhD, MBA is the chief human resources officer at UCSF, bringing nearly two decades of experience in leading human capital strategy across health care, energy, and professional services. She serves as the associate vice chancellor of Human Resources for UCSF and senior vice president of Human Resources for UCSF Health. A Northern California native with deep Bay Area roots, Dannels specializes in workforce development and helping organizations adapt to change. Before joining UCSF in 2025, she served as the chief talent officer for Wellstar Health System in Atlanta. Dannels has held HR leadership roles with organizations including Kaiser Permanente and has been recognized nationally for innovation in workforce transformation and talent management.
Michelle Memran is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, and dementia advocate whose work threads collaborative storytelling with social change. A Senior Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at UCSF’s Global Brain Health Institute, and the UCSF Library’s 2025 Artist in Residence, she works to challenge stigma by amplifying the voices of those living with dementia. A former reporter and researcher for Newsweek, Vanity Fair, and The New York Times Magazine, Michelle now co-creates media projects that reframe cultural perceptions of illness, identity, and creativity. Her award-winning film The Rest I Make Up — a portrait of playwright María Irene Fornés and her creative life after an Alzheimer’s diagnosis — premiered at MoMA in New York City and continues to screen worldwide. Her UCSF Library exhibition Past Advocacy, Future Change: HIV/AIDS Campaigns Transforming Dementia Narratives opens with a reception on September 23.
Katherine Nielsen, MS, MA, is director of UCSF's Science and Health Education Partnership (SEP) and co-founder of the Bay Area Science Festival, which annually brings together tens of thousands of STEM role models, families, youth and adults to experience the wonder of science. This year’s festival will take place here at UCSF Mission Bay on Saturday, October 17. Her experience in education and science includes teaching science at the middle and high school, community college, and undergraduate level, and conducting research in developmental neurobiology. Katherine completed an MA in education at Stanford University, and an MS in biological sciences from Montana State University.
Jason Sello, PhD is a professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at UCSF. He is also associate director of opportunity in basic science faculty within UCSF’s Office of Opportunity and Outreach, and serves as co-principal investigator for UCSF’s Advocacy and Community through Empowerment (ACE) Program. He earned a PhD in biophysics from Harvard University, and did postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School with Dr. Christopher T. Walsh. In his independent career, Dr. Sello develops chemical tools for the study of complex biological phenomena, with the goal of creating new therapeutics for the treatment of infectious diseases, cancers, and neurological disorders. His findings have been reported in more than fifty journal articles and have led to five issued patents, and he has been the recipient of several awards, including career awards from the Burroughs Welcome Fund and the National Science Foundation.