Research Week - Biomedical Research Day

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Biomedical Research Day: Bridging Science and Health

April 30, 2026

This event showcases the latest discoveries by featured faculty speakers as well as undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral trainees at the U of A College of Medicine – Phoenix. All trainees are invited to prepare posters to present their research findings, and top abstracts in Cardiopulmonary, Neuroscience, and Cancer, Cell Biology & Immunology are selected for oral presentations. Thanks to our generous sponsors, the Arizona Biomedical Research Centre and the Flinn Foundation there is no cost to attend.

We are excited to announce Dr. Christian Bime, Dr. Iannis Adamopoulos and Dr. Camila de Avila Dal Bo as our featured faculty speakers. 

 

2026 Agenda

• 8:00 - 9:00 – Registration opens and poster setup
• 9:00 - 9:10 – Welcoming remarks - Fredric Wondisford, MD, MS, MBA; Dean, U of A College of Medicine – Phoenix

Session One – Cardiopulmonary

• 9:10 - 9:35 – Christian Bime, MD; Division Chief, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine
  “Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Translational Approaches to Uncover Novel Therapeutic Targets”
• 9:35 - 9:50 – Jonathan Do, BS (MD/PhD Student)
  “NANOPARTICLE DELIVERY OF MINICIRCLE FOXM1 MITIGATES PULMONARY AND VASCULAR INJURY IN BRONCHOPULMONARY DYSPLASIA"
• 9:50 - 10:05 – Milana Withee, BSc (Undergraduate)
  “LOSS OF FOXF1 IN PULMONARY PERICYTES DISRUPTS ALVEOLOGENSIS DURING DEVELOPMENT”
• 10:05 - 10:20 – Marjan Esfahani, MS (Graduate student)
  “REGULATION OF CARDIOKINE SECRETION AND CARDIAC FUNCTION BY PEPTIDYLGLYCINE Α-AMIDATING MONOOXYGENASE (PAM)”

10:20 - 10:40 – Break

Session Two – Neuroscience

• 10:40 - 11:05 – Camila de Avila Dal Bo, PhD; Assistant Research Professor, Translational Neurosciences 
  “The Nucleus Incertus of the Brain: What Do We Know?”
• 11:05 - 11:20 – Pritha Bisarad, PhD (Postdoc)
  “STUDY OF MULTIPLEX, AUTOZYGOUS COHORT HIGHLIGHTS RECESSIVE FORMS OF CEREBRAL PALSY”
• 11:20 - 11:35 – Edie Gobel (Undergraduate)
  “NEXT-GENERATION PRECISION MEDICINE FOR MOOD DISORDERS: REPRODUCIBLE BLOOD BIOMARKERS ENABLE OBJECTIVE DIAGNOSTICS, SUBTYPING AND TARGETED THERAPEUTICS”
• 11:35 - 11:50 – Monique Martinez, MS (Graduate Student)
  “MID-GESTATION MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION IN RATS IMPACTS BOTH MATERNAL AND OFFSPRING OUTCOMES”

12:00 - 1:00 – Lunch and Posters Session 1

1:00 - 2:00 – Lunch and Posters Session 2

Session Three – Cancer, Cell Biology and Immunology

• 2:00 - 2:15 – Ashkan Khanishayan, MS (MD/PhD Student)
  “DEVELOPMENT OF A BODY-HEATED RT-RPA-BASED POINT-OF-CARE VERTICAL FLOW IMMUNOASSAY FOR THE DETECTION OF BLOOD RADIATION DOSIMETRY BIOMARKERS”
• 2:15 - 2:30 – Nicole Salazar, BS (Fellow)
  “CDK5 PHOSPHOPROTEIN BIOMARKERS FOR NEUROENDOCRINE TUMORS"
• 2:30 - 2:45 – Shriya Singh (Undergraduate)
  “COMPUTATIONAL MAPPING OF XENON LOCALIZATION IN P38 MAPK REVEALS A HYDROPHOBIC SUBPOCKET ADJACENT TO THE CATALYTIC CLEFT WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR INFLAMMATORY SIGNALING”
• 2:45 - 3:10 – Iannis E. Adamopoulos, BSc (Hons), MPhil, DPhil; Vice Chair of Research, Internal Medicine
  “Cytokine Regulation of Autoimmunity”

3:10 - 3:20 – Oral presentation awards and closing remarks

Location

All oral presentations take place in HSEB C104, the poster session and lunch take place in Piper Auditorium.

• Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB) – 435 N. 5^th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004
• Virginia G. Piper Auditorium - 600 E. Van Buren Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004
• PBC Parking Garage - 555 E. Fillmore, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Biomedical Research Day Planning Committee

• Taben Hale, PhD - Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Associate Dean, Graduate Studies
• Marjan Fakhrizadeh Esfahani, MS - CTS PhD Student, Internal Medicine and Translational Cardiovascular Research 
• Brittany Phelps, MS - CTS PhD Student
• Kaitlin Webster - CTS PhD Student
• Hunter O'Brien - Graduate Student
• Madelyne Toney - Research Program Administration Officer II, Research Office

If you have any questions please email PBC-TREO-EVENTS@arizona.edu.