These judges will choose the 1st, 2nd, and 3nd place awardees from among the finalists at the live Postdoc Slam event on September 17, 2025. 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.
Uwe Klein, PhD, is the senior vice president, biological sciences, at Septerna. Dr. Klein has deep expertise in GPCR biology and over 25 years of experience in small molecule drug discovery across a range of biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Before joining Septerna, Dr. Klein was vice president, biology at Myokardia (acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb), where he led the discovery of therapeutics targeting heart disease. Dr. Klein started his career in the biopharmaceutical industry at Theravance Biopharma, where he led a team of biologists and cross-functional project teams in the discovery of numerous development candidates and clinical compounds across multiple therapeutic areas and target classes. Dr. Klein completed postdoctoral fellowships here at UCSF and at Stanford University. He received his MS in Chemistry and a PhD in Biochemistry from Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, for his research on GPCR biochemistry at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysics. Dr. Klein is a current executive board member of the UCSF Graduate and Postdoc Alumni Association.
Leti McNeill Light is associate vice chancellor for University Development and Alumni Relations at UCSF. She is a leader in transformational higher education philanthropic partnerships, often in the form of cross-cutting, multidisciplinary initiatives. As associate vice chancellor, she directly oversees the design and focus of philanthropic engagement, including grateful patient, school, and basic science fundraising strategies at UCSF. She has more than 25 years of experience in the development field, 18 of which have been in service to the University of California system. Prior to joining UCSF, she served as executive director of principal gifts and strategic initiatives at UC Berkeley. Leti is also the President of the Strategic Initiatives Group for Advancement Professionals (SIGAP), a global community of fundraising executives dedicated to creating partnerships between the world’s leading philanthropists and the top academic leaders to make transformational impact at scale.
Julianna Mululu, MEd, is a high school CTE Health Science instructor within the Health & Behavioral Science Pathway in the San Francisco Unified School District. In addition to biotechnology, she also teaches anatomy & physiology and a robotics elective. Julianna is enthusiastic about giving students connections to the real world, and passionate about empowering women and girls in all areas, especially science and technology. She partners with UCSF's Science and Health Education Partnership (SEP), which forges connections between public schools and UCSF scientist volunteers. Julianna earned a Master's of Education at California State University, East Bay, and a BS from the University of Miami.
Jennifer Nazareno, PhD ʼ15, is the associate dean of academic affairs in the UCSF Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs, where she oversees academic programs, faculty development and support, academic policy development, and student academic support. Before joining UCSF in July 2024, Jennifer was an associate professor and associate dean for academic affairs and innovation at Brown University. She earned her PhD in medical sociology from UCSF, and her master’s and undergraduate degrees from UCLA. Her research and teaching expertise encompass medical sociology, structural and social determinants of health, qualitative methodology, women’s migration, labor, and entrepreneurship.