Keya Jonnalagadda, UC Santa Cruz, Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology

Keya works in molecular, cell, and developmental biology at UC Santa Cruz. She examines specific mechanisms in microscopic worms. According to her professors, she is "fearless and has great perseverance in meeting goals."  

Keya's research uses one of the smallest model organisms on our planet, a microscopic worm called C. elegans, to understand how animals grow and develop over time. Specifically, Keya studies how worms shed their skin, or molt, at precise time points in their development and how that process is regulated by the worm's genes and signals worms get from their food or environment. Studying worm molting can be surprisingly helpful to improve our understanding of human developmental events. For example, molting has genetic similarities with skin regeneration and our circadian rhythms, among other processes. For her thesis work, Keya plans to apply her research on molting to identify therapeutic targets against parasitic worm infections, which currently infect approximately one billion people globally. Keya has identified chemical compounds that disrupt the development of C. elegans and will investigate whether they activate or repress a key protein in molting. She hopes her work will serve as a starting point for future antiparasitic drug treatments and make a long-lasting impact on the field of developmental biology.

Margaret (Maggie) Kenney, UC Berkeley, Political Science

Margaret is studying political science at UC Berkeley, particularly the intersection of economics and political science. Her professors noted her "multifaceted talents, incredible intellectual prowess, and stupendous work ethic."She provided this summary.

Maggie is a PhD Candidate in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on international political economy, international cooperation, international taxation, and firm behavior. In her dissertation book project, she focuses on how countries reached agreement on new international rules about corporate income taxes, and how these new rules will affect countries’ ability to attract investment.  First, she considers how countries reached agreement on new international rules about corporate income taxes, and why international tax coordination was successful at this time, despite previous failures. Next, she analyzes how and to what extent firms influenced the negotiations of the international tax rules at the OECD. She also investigates the effects of these new tax rules on international investment. In the past, countries have given tax breaks to companies to compel them to relocate or invest in said country.  She considers how countries will attract foreign investment without the ability to use tax incentives to the same extent after implementation of these new international tax rules. She appreciates your generous support of her research!

 Katarina (Katie) Michel, UC Davis, Geography    

Katie is working in geography at UC Davis. She's studying the wildland-urban interface. Her professors note her "ability to think across disciplines and make a tangible impact beyond academia."

Katie is studying the ecology of the wildland-urban interface in California, particularly the adaptability of native foundation tree species to novel climate conditions. Her work is at the intersection of biogeography, fire, and landscape ecology and aims to produce data that can be used by land managers, conservation practitioners, and horticultural professionals as they steward these species and their landscapes into the future. Her dissertation aims to create an ecological definition of the wildland-urban interface, model the environmental niches of its foundation tree species, and identify areas of minimal climatic change as conservation priority areas. In doing so, she will use citizen science and open-source remote sensing data to create species distribution and landscape classification models that integrate fire ecology, biogeography, and socioeconomic data that can contribute to proactive conservation management.

 Cody Mowery, UC San Francisco, MD/Ph.D. Immunology (Norall award)

Cody is working toward an MD and a PhD at UC San Francisco. His professors called him "incisively intelligent, charismatic, and deeply curious." The following is a summary of information from his application.

Cody's road to UC San Francisco started when his mother was diagnosed with blood cancer. She was successfully treated, and watching the interaction between his mom and her oncologist inspired him. He wanted to know how her cancer developed, how her treatments cured her, and how he could perhaps make discoveries to help other peoples' loved ones.

He worked on a variety of projects before settling on his main PhD project. He tackled a fundamental scientific question: what collection of factors controls how genes--or specific sets of instructions for making cellular building blocks a la Legos--are appropriately controlled. Using a wide variety of DNA sequencing and computational tools, he led a collaborative team to generate one of the most comprehensive "maps" of gene regulation in human cells.

Moving forward, he is eager to continue doing research like this, eager to continue finding how best to help the most people.

  Brittany Peterson, UC San Francisco, Epidemiology

Brittany is studying epidemiology at UC San Francisco. Her professors noted that "she has a combination of skills we don't typically find."  

Brittany is a doctoral student in the Epidemiology and Translational Sciences program at UCSF. Her research focuses mainly on global child health and her main studies are set in West Africa which is home to some of the highest child mortality rates in the world. For the past few years, she has been working on trials which aim to reduce this child mortality through mass drug administration of azithromycin. So far, these trials have shown a 14-18% reduction in child mortality in participating communities. A new phase of these trials aims to scale up this intervention and convert these studies into a national program. Brittany's past research includes investigating risk factors for community antimicrobial resistance, potential spillover of this resistance to untreated populations, and discovering the role of malnutrition within these programs. Her future dissertation work will look into potential targeting strategies to limit the distribution of antibiotics in order to decrease the rate of antimicrobial resistance while still retaining the same reduction in child mortality.  

 Robert (Robbie) Shepherd, UC Santa Cruz, Chemistry (Hendess award)  

We have received a thank you note from Robbie

Robbie works in chemistry at UC Santa Cruz. He will talk about his work studying a family of proteins produced by a variety of marine algae species. He is "a team player with a natural curiosity and joy for learning."

Many of the drugs we use today found their origins in nature. Penicillin, a widely used antibiotic, was first discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming from the fungus “Penicillium notatum”, later sparking the golden era of antibiotic discovery (~1940-1962). Today, antibiotic resistance has become a major threat, presenting a need to find therapeutics with novel mechanisms of action. As we continue to look to nature to uncover molecules with unparalleled structural diversity, we have yet to overcome the ongoing antibiotic discovery plateau. Many traditional methods used to discover unknown chemical compounds from nature continue to result in the rediscovery of known compounds. My research aims to harness novel analytical technologies, namely high-throughput mass spectrometry and ion mobility spectrometry, to enhance drug discovery and drug design efforts. My goal is to design analytical workflows that can be applied across a variety of experimental scenarios, ranging from enzyme engineering to more traditional drug discovery approaches, with an emphasis on increasing screening volume, and streamlining data analysis.

 Sophia Simon, UC Davis, Ecology

Sophia works in ecology at UC Davis studying complex marine food webs. She was called"hard-working, rigorous, and insightful." She provided this summary.

Sophia is a PhD student at the University of California, Davis, studying how climate change-driven environmental disturbances affect the structure and function of complex marine food webs. Her research focuses specifically on the rocky tidepool ecosystems found along the coasts of California and Chile. If you’ve ever explored a tidepool, you’ll know they’re incredible hotspots of biodiversity—and they also serve as an important bridge between people and the ocean, inspiring care, curiosity, and stewardship. At the same time, these ecosystems are highly vulnerable to human impacts, environmental degradation, and climate change. Because they are so complex, with many species interacting in often unpredictable ways, it’s not always clear how these communities will respond to disturbance. To address this challenge, her research uses tools from network analysis to map the food web —  "who eats whom" — to understand how these species are connected and how the system functions as a whole. This big-picture view helps identify key species and interactions that support ecosystem resilience, and ultimately, could inform holistic management approaches. Alongside her research, She has also been committed to bridging science with policy and community-based stewardship. She has organized events that bring together scientists, decision-makers, and the public to collectively explore how we care for our marine ecosystems. Ultimately, she hopes my work contributes to more holistic and equitable approaches to ecosystem management — approaches that reflect the complexity of the natural and human systems we live within. Sophia says "I’m deeply grateful to PBKNCA for supporting this work and recognizing the importance of research that connects science, community, and the stewardship of our natural world."

  Charlotte Wang, UC San Francisco, Biomedical Sciences (Reed award)

Charlotte works in the biological sciences--specifically immunology--at UC San Francisco. She has "an unwavering commitment to scientific excellence and big-picture thinking."