Watch Postdoc Slam 2023
Postdoc Slam has come and gone, but you can still catch all the action on the video recording. Congratulations to the prize winners and finalists for a fantastic job!!
UCSF Postdoc Slam 2023
Tuesday, September 19
4 p.m. PDT
#UCSFPostdocSlam
Read the campus news story: "Wormnado" Wiggles its Way to Win at Postdoc Slam
About Postdoc Slam
At Postdoc Slam, the annual research communications contest presented by the Office for Postdoctoral Scholars and the Graduate Division, ten postdoc finalists present their research 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 presentation of their research 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 18 to 22.
Cash prizes of $4,000, $2,000, and $1,000 were awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize winners chosen by the judges. And the live and remote audiences voted for the "People's Choice" winner, who will receive $750.
Congratulations to the prize winners and all of the finalists for an impressive showing:
Prize Winners
First Prize & People's Choice Award
Laura Persson, PhD
Noelle L'Etoile, PhD, faculty mentor
The Wormnado: What a Tiny Worm Can Teach Us About Collective Behavior
Second Prize
Kritika Khanna, PhD
John Fahy, MD, faculty mentor
Asthma on Fire: Keep Calm, It's a False Alarm
Third Prize
Chris Williams, MD
Atul Butte, MD, PhD, faculty mentor
Code Blue: Unmasking the Racial Disparities in Emergency Triage
Finalists
Biafra Ahanonu, PhD
Allan Basbaum, PhD, faculty mentor
The Path to Pain: It's Not Only in the Brain
Hélène Aschmann, PhD
Priya Shete, MD, faculty mentor
To Treat or Not to Treat: A Balancing Act in Tuberculosis Prevention
Tyler Huycke, PhD
Zev Gartner, PhD and Ophir Klein, MD, PhD, faculty mentors
How the Gut Got Its Spots
Amanda McQuade, PhD
Martin Kampmann, PhD, faculty mentor
Speaking to Cells
Jay Moltzau Anderson, PhD
Susan Lynch, PhD, faculty mentor
This Stool is Taken: Harnessing the Power of Poop
Fate Noohi, PhD
Virginia Sturm, PhD, faculty mentor
Life Without Emotions...A Symphony Without Music
Ayush Srivastava, PhD
Bjoern Schwer, MD, PhD, faculty mentor
Let's Help You Age Better
Live Event Judges
The panel of five judges selected the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize winners.
- Curtis Chinn, MA, SF public school science teacher at Galileo High School, and host of The InfatuAsian Podcast
- Harold R. Collard, MD, MS, UCSF’s vice chancellor for Research, and professor of Medicine and Health Policy
- Won Ha, MA, UCSF’s vice chancellor of Communications
- Audra Johnson, PhD, medical science liaison at Genentech, and UCSF postdoc alum
- Helen Willsey, PhD, assistant professor of Psychiatry and Behaviorial Sciences at UCSF, investigator with the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, and UCSF postdoc alum