STAR Symposium
The Annual Symposium of the UCLA Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) Program celebrates the innovative research led by trainees, their mentors, and alumni. Since 1993, The STAR Program has successfully guided over 235 physician-scientists towards successful research careers in medical and biomedical science. In 2023, we celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the Program’s founding, its accomplishments, and the innovative research led by trainees, with support from their mentors, and STAR alumni at the at the Fowler Museum at UCLA.
We invite you to explore the highlights from this inspirational evening of research which thrives in a creative and supportive research environment at UCLA.
Message from Michael V. Drake, MD, President, University of California
2023 STAR Symposium Poster Winners
A panel composed of 10 faculty members served on the judging committee for the 2023 STAR Poster Awards.
Current Trainees
Michael Oh, MD
Immunologic response to a CCL21-gene modified dendritic cell vaccine in advanced non-small cell lung cancer
Maria Velez, MD
Consent document translation expense hinders inclusive clinical trial enrollment
Amy Sun, MD, PhD
Chimeric orthogonal IL-9 receptor signaling promotes stemness and polyfunctionality?for adoptive T cell therapy of cancer in human in vitro model
Po Wei Kang, MD, PhD
Arrhythmia-associated Calmodulin Variants Interact with KCNQ1 to Confer Aberrant Membrane Trafficking and Function
Alumni
Kara Chew, MD, PhD
Including Env in an HIV Therapeutic Vaccine Blunts Gag/Pol-specific T Cell Responses
Melissa Lechner, MD, PhD
Clonally-Expanded, Thyrotoxic Effector CD8+ T cells Driven by IL-21 Contribute to Checkpoint Inhibitor Thyroiditis
Ching Zhu, MD, PhD
High-Resolution Structure-Function Mapping of Intact Hearts Reveals Altered Sympathetic Control of Infarct Border Zones
Meet the 2023 STAR Alumni Achievement Award Recipients
Three STAR alumni were honored that evening with STAR Alumni Awards for their achievements in research and mentorship of the next generation of physician-scientist leaders.
Honoring STAR Mentors
For three decades, the STAR program has trained leading physician-scientists, fostering new synergies and cross-disciplinary scientific discoveries. The STAR Alumni Award recognizes excellence in academic accomplishments and professional achievements lead by the program’s alumni.
