2026 Biomedical Research Day: Bridging Science and Health
Thursday April 30 2026 | 9:00am - 3:20pm
This event showcased 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.
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
Event Recap
Biomedical Research: Bridging Science and Health focused on the research discoveries of faculty, as well as undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral trainees at the College of Medicine – Phoenix.
The day was divided into three central areas of research: cardiopulmonary, neuroscience, and cancer cell, biology and immunology. And those areas were divided into several talks — selected from the top abstracts that were submitted — and headlined by college faculty. The faculty presentations included Camila de Avila Dal Bo, PhD Assistant Research Professor of Translational Neurosciences, Christian Bime, MD Division Chief, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine and Iannis E. Adamopoulos, BSc (Hons), MPhil, DPhil Vice Chair of Research, Internal Medicine.
In addition, trainees were invited to present their findings through posters. The top two oral and poster presentations of the day were:
Oral:
- First Place – Shriya Singh, Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of Atomic Drugs.
- Second Place – Ashkan Khanishayan, MS, Point-of-care radiation biodosimetry via a body-heated RT-RPA coupled to a paper-based VFI.
Poster:
- First Place – Christina Lyons, BS, The Role of CD36 in Erythroid Differentiation of Human Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells.
- Second Place – Nicole Jimenez, PhD, Exploring the Interconnection Between Endometriosis, Anxiety, and the Vaginal and Rectal Microbiome at Time of Gynecologic Laparoscopic Surgery.
2026 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.