11:00am-5:00pm Registration/Check-in 📍[Foyer]

1:00pm-2:45pm Session 1- Emerging Breakthroughs in Neuroscience 📍[Studio ABC]

Welcome 

Kelly Shepard, PhD (CIRM)

Moderator: Matthew Dominguez, Bridges (CCSF/Gladstone)

Precision Medicine Diagnostics and Therapies for Ultra-rare Disorders

Nicole Coufal, MD, PhD (UCSD)

Fetal Oligodendrocytes Precursor Cells Development is Disrupted by Inflammation via Prostaglandin-dependent Mechanisms

Hana Horackova, PhD (CIRM Scholar, CHLA)

Single-Nucleus Atlas Reveals Early Mitochondrial Decline in Aging and ALS Mouse Spinal Cord Preceding Neurodegeneration

Michael Ramos (CIRM Scholar, Cedars-Sinai）

What If You're The One?

Jeffrey Randall Allen (Association for Creatine Deficiencies)

Cortical Cell Fate Regulation: The Role of Extrinsic Inputs

Aparna Bhaduri, PhD (UCLA)

2:45pm-3:15pm Break 📍[Studio ABC]

3:15pm-6:15pm Session 2- Professional Development Workshops

Talking About Research Mentoring: Advancing Our Mentor and Mentee Practices 📍[Doheny & Beachwood]

John Matsui, PhD & Emily King, PhD (UC Berkeley)

Scientific Communications 📍[Studio E/D]

Bri McWhorter, MFA (Activate to Captivate)

Workplace Navigation: Managing Expectations 📍[Studio ABC]

Karen Leung, PhD (CCSF-UCSF)

6:30pm-8:00pm Dinner & Networking 📍[Preston's Restaurant]

8:00am-9:45am Breakfast and Coffee Chats 📍[Foyer/Mezzanine]    

Table 1- Managing Grants: Mira Sarwal, PMP, CGMP, Grants Management Officer & Doug Kearny, Director, Grants Management (CIRM)

Table 2- Community Outreach: Aditi Desai, MPH, CPH, Community Outreach Manager (CIRM)

Table 3- Navigating a PhD: Raana Mogharrab (UCSC)

Table 4- Self-development and Growth: Keneth Munoz (CSUSM)

Table 5- Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: Welela Solomon (USC)

Table 6- How to Creatively Cultivate a Research Topic: Ahvital Artison (USC)

9:45am-10:45am Session 3- Career Panel: The Many Roads of Science 📍[Studio ABC]

Moderator: Keau Wong- Director (MiraCosta College)

Tisho Tefera, PhD- Biotech Researcher

Ying Tsu Loh, PhD- Executive Director (BABEC)

Tita Tavares- Chief of Staff (Parenteral Drug Association)

Tepring Piquado, PhD- CEO (National Science Policy Network)

Joe Gold, PhD- Sr. Director of Clinical Development (CIRM)

Vignesh Nadar, MS/MSc- Sr. Science Officer (CIRM)

Anthony Castro- Community Engagement Director (CSU San Bernardino)

11:00am-12:30pm Session 4- Concurrent Workshops

Project Management for Scientific Impact and Career Growth 📍[Los Feliz]

Tita Tavares- Chief of Staff (Parenteral Drug Association)

Fabio De Martino, MS- Founder (Biolygon LLC)

Celia Adelson, MBA- Executive Director (UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center)

Kate Kazaryan- Project Manager (PYRAMID Laboratories)

Ryan Coughlin- Vice President (Enterey Consulting)

Science in Action: Advocacy, Engagement, and Policy Change 📍[Silver Lake]

Tepring Piquado, PhD- CEO (National Science Policy Network)

Adrienne Shapiro- Founder/Science Admin (Axis Advocates)

Anthony Castro- Community Engagement Director (CSUSB)

Andrew Zingale- Director, State Government Affairs (Gilead Sciences)

Brought to you by Biocom California Institute- Careers Beyond the Lab 📍[Mt. Olympus]

Casey O'Neill- Workforce & Partnerships Manager (Biocom California)

Mikayla Ortega-Donahoo, MSc- Senior Manager (Biocom California)

Matthew Welsh- Government Affairs Director (Lundbeck)

Troy Barring, ME, MBA- CEO (TAB Diagnostic)

Julia Perederiy, PhD- Founder/President (OmBiome)

From Scientific Discovery to Therapies 📍[Whitley Heights]

Joe Gold, PhD- Sr. Director of Clinical Development (CIRM)

Peter Cho- cGMP Manufacturing Manager (Cedars-Sinai)

Jennifer Downey, PhD- Director (City of Hope)

Tanya LaCayo- Lead QA Officer (UCLA)

Resources for Program Directors 📍[Studio ABC]

Ying Tsu Loh, PhD- Executive Director (BABEC)

12:30pm-1:30pm Lunch & Networking📍[Foyer/Mezzanine]

Table 1 - Project Management: Tita Tavares & Fabio De Martino

Table 2 - Operations & Strategy: Celia Adelson & Ryan Coughlin

Table 3 - Advocacy, Engagement, and Policy: Tepring Piquado & Andrew Zingale

Table 4 - Advocacy, Engagement, and Policy: Adrienne Shapiro & Anthony Castro

Table 5 - Management Roles: Kate Kazaryan & Matthew Welsh

Table 6 - Research & Development: Troy Barring & Julia Perederiy

Table 7 - Biotech Education: Ying-Tsu Loh & Karen Leung

Table 8 - Manufacturing: Joseph Gold & Peter Cho

Table 9 - Quality: Jennifer Downey & Tanya Lacayo

Table 10 - Research & Mentorship: John Matsui & Emily King

Table 11 - Research & Professional Development: Vignesh Nadar & Tisho Tefera

1:30pm-3:30pm Poster Presentations I 📍[Doheny-Laurel, Studio E/D]

3:30pm-5:30pm Session 5- Advancing Therapeutics Through Scientific Innovation 📍[Studio ABC]

Moderator: Eman Youssef, PhD, Scholars (The Lundquist Institute) 

Minutia: Our Journey Towards a Nanoparticle Platform for Safety and Success of a Functional Cure for Type 1 Diabetes

Katy Digovich -  CEO and Co-Founder (Minutia) 

Sapna Puri, PhD -  VP of Cell Therapy Minutia) 

STEM - Oh The Places you Will Go!

Adrienne Shapiro- Founder/Science Admin (Axis Advocates)

The Aging Gut Microbiome Impairs Skeletal Stem Cell Niches 

Kelly Weldon- CIRM Scholar (UC Davis)

Improving the Health of Women and Girls through Stem Cell Technologies

Amander Clark, PhD (UCLA)

Decoding Leukemia Cell Identity and Functional States through Metabolic Optical Biomarkers

Hao Zhou, PhD- CIRM Scholar (USC)

Adolescent Cancer Survivorship: Navigating Care & Advocating for Personalized Support

Audrey Pakravan

5:30pm-6:00pm Break 📍[Studio ABC]

6:00pm-8:00pm Poster Presentations II and Reception 📍[Doheny-Laurel, Studio E/D]

8:00am-9:45am Poster Presentations III and Breakfast 📍[Foyer/Mezzanine]

10:00am-12:00pm Session 6- Trainee Talks: Concurrent Sessions 

Group 1- Host: Georgia Chaldaiopoulou (UCSD)📍[Echo Park]  

Maria Caballero (UCLA)- Investigating the Effects of MECP2 Mutations on Neurogenesis in a Mosaic Brain Organoid Model for Rett Syndrome

Keneth Munoz (CSUSM)- Development and Translation of mPPL-001, an autologous, gene-edited HSPC Therapy for Friedreich’s Ataxia

Dayanne Chartain (CCSF)- Characterization of neurons with selective excision of the APOE4 allele associated with Late Onset Alzheimer’s Disease

Talin Demirjie (CSUN)- Deriving Human Lumbar/Sacral Spinal Sensory Interneurons from hESCs for Regenerative Therapies

Henry Basila Rabamad (CSUSM)- Investigation of the Long-Term Effects and Post-Disease Onset Impact of Wild-Type Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

Rostislav Brichko (UCI)- Dendrites of Older Adult Neurons Are Delayed in Initiating Regeneration

Jessenya Mil (UCLA)- Metabolic Atlas of Early Human Cortex Identifies Regulators of Cell Fate Transitions

Zachary Fouladian (USC)- Production and Analysis of Retinal Organoids with Constitutive MYCN Knockout And Inducible Cone-Specific MYCN Regulation

Georgia Chaldaiopoulou (UCSD)- Mechanisms and therapeutic approaches for SETD5 syndrome

Group 2- Host: Marcel Rommel (UCSC) 📍[Silver Lake]

Alara Berkmen (USC)- Mechanisms of metastatic cell adaptation in Ewing sarcoma

Lu Jin (UCR)- An In Vitro Model for Demyelinating Spinal Cords

Kayla Kressin (CalPolySLO)- Optimizing Editing Conditions in Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for In Vitro Modeling and Cell Therapy Applications

Serena Ropersmith (CalPolySLO)- Assessing Vaccine-Induced T-Cell Response to Ovalbumin mRNA-Lipid Nanoparticles in Mice

Luis Mederos (CCSF)- Marophages The Mafia Boss of The Immune System Exploring The Immune Response to The Abolition of Macrophages

Hazar Kahveci (CSUCI)- Preclinical Target Validation for CAR-T Therapy in Pediatric T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (T-ALL)

Diana Gumber (UCSC)- Improving antitumor T cell therapy with membrane-tethered engineered cytokine agonists (MECAs)

Marcel Rommel (UCSC)- Perinatal Hematopoietic Stem Cells as Drivers of Lifelong Immune Competence and Healthy Aging

Group 3- Host: Hannah Greenfeld (UCSF) 📍[Los Feliz]

Janna Soliman (UC Riverside)- Wound models in Tardigrade-Modified Senescent Adipose Derived Stem Cells

Jingwen Ding (UCSF)- Dissecting Gene Regulatory Networks Governing Human Cortical Cell Fate

Azra Cruz Ordaz (UCLA)- Immunofluorescence Analysis on Mouse Stem Cell-Derived Germ Cells within a Reconstituted Ovary Reveals Abnormal Meiotic Progression

Catcher Salazar (USC)- Engineering Axial Elongation of Gastruloids with Genetic Circuits

Noah Linder (UCSB)- Partial reprogramming by Yamanaka factors extends the lifespan of C. elegans

Kalen Bunch (UCLA)- Elucidating the Regulation of a Critical Component of the SWI/SNF Chromatin Remodeling Complex

Yahir Verdin (UCLA)- Modulation of neuromesodermal progenitor duration to caudalize hESC derived dorsal interneurons

Remae Mackamul (CSUSM)- Derivation and characterization of induced trophoblast stem cells to model preeclampsia

Hannah Greenfeld (UCSF)- Decoding BMP signaling during patterning of the dorsal neural tube

Group 4- Host: Christian Wong Valencia (Cedars-Sinai) 📍[Mt. Olympus]

Spencer Thurman (Cal Poly SLO)- Advancing Cell Therapy: Formulating Solutions for Spheroid Cryopreservation

Jaden Tarter (Berkeley City College)- Synergistic Use of Cell-Assisted Lipotransfer and Allograft Adipose Matrix to Improve Fat Graft Volume Retention

Melissa Andrade (UCI)- Stem cell-derived fusable assembloids to model human liver development

Monica Silveira Wagner (Cedars-Sinai)- Personalized iPSC-derived organoids for human Paneth cell modeling

Vini John (CHLA)- Intestinal Epithelial Erbb3 maintains Gamma Delta (γδ) T cells in the Ileum

Yao Wang (UCI)- Modeling Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease and Subsequent Progression with Stem Cell-Derived Hepatocytes

Hasmik Soloyan (CHLA)- MiR-133a and miR-20a Regulate CD36-Mediated Lipid Uptake in Glomerular Endothelial Cells in Alport Syndrome

Christian Wong Valencia (Cedars-Sinai)- A Novel High-Throughput Screening Method for Intestinal Fibrosis Utilizing iPSC-derived Cells from Crohn's Disease Patients 

Group 5- Host: Reuben Franklin (UCR) 📍[Whitley Heights]

Welela Solomon (USC)- Structure-Function Analysis of Neurodevelopmental Disorder-associated Transcription Factor ZNF462

Nathalie Aquino (SFSU)- Metabolic Stress Tolerance: Vacuole Remodeling During Recovery from Starvation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Dakota McMillan (BCC)- Cellular Couriers: Decoding the Mysterious Messengers of Intercellular Communication

Namdev More (Cedars-Sinai)- Injectable Microgel Platform for Cell-Based Regeneration in Intervertebral Disc Degeneration

Saran Chattopadhyaya (UCSC)- Enhancement of mitochondrial activity mitigates age-progressive platelet generation from hematopoietic stem cells

Sean Escopete (Cedars-Sinai)- Investigating the Role of NOTCH1 Signaling in Cardiogenesis using hiPSC-Derived Cardiac Organoids

Yu-Ling Linda Chang (Sanford Burnham Prebys)- Transcription Factor-Mediated Control of Chromatin Accessibility During Cell Fate Reprogramming

Rodrigo Miguel dos Santos (Cedars-Sinai)- Biological Pacemaker Activity Induced by AAV-TBX18

Reuben Franklin (UCR)- Manipulating cell fate through histone chaperone pathways

12:00pm-1:00pm Lunch 📍[Studio ABC]

1:00pm-2:45pm Session 7- 20 Years of CIRM 📍[Studio ABC]

Moderator: Rosa Canet-Aviles, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer (CIRM)

From Bench to Bedside with Neurona Therapeutics

Catherine Priest, PhD (Neurona)

From an Idea to an Eye: Development of a Stem Cell-Based Therapy for Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Dennis Clegg, PhD (UC Santa Barbara)

Second Vision: A Light at the End of the Tunnel

Kristin MacDonald 

Closing Remarks

Jonathan Thomas, PhD, JD, President and CEO (CIRM)

2:45pm-3:00pm Awards, Surveys, & Goodbye 📍[Studio ABC]

4:00pm-6:00pm Program Director's Meeting 📍[The Panorama]

• Keau Wong - MiraCosta, Program Co-Director COMPASS

• Lily Chen, PhD - SFSU,  Program Director for Bridges and COMPASS

• John Mokili, PhD -SDSU, Program Co-Director for Bridges

• Peter Donovan - UCI, Program Director for EDUC4/Scholars

• Mike Fino, PhD - MiraCosta, Program Director COMPASS

• Carin Cass Zimmerman, PhD - CCSF, Program Director for Bridges

• Abbie Enriquez - UCI, Operations for Scholars and COMPASS

• Jacqueline Hantgan - Community Outreach Advisor to CIRM

We extend our thanks to Coast to Coast Conferences & Events for their expert event management and seamless coordination throughout. We’re also deeply grateful to our Steering Committee for their guidance during the planning process, and to the CIRM staff whose behind-the-scenes support made this event possible. 

A special thank you to all of the Program Directors for their efforts in organizing their student cohorts and contributing to such a strong and inspiring group of trainees. We also want to acknowledge our incredible speakers, who generously volunteered their time and expertise to enrich our sessions.

Most importantly, thank you to all the trainees for attending, engaging, and sharing your remarkable research. Your passion, curiosity, and talent are what make these gatherings so impactful.

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