2025 Next Generation Faculty Symposium
Wednesday, September 10th 2025 9:30AM - 1:45PM (Pacific Time)
Registration and Tentative Schedule:
https://czbiohub.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_I5xR9QzZR7u0hfbHYXD8EA
2025 Next Generation Faculty Symposium Speakers
Last Update:
08/2025
9:40AM - 10:15AM (Pacific Time)
Session 1: Deciphering How Sequence Encodes Transcription
Joan Pulupa, PhD
is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Columbia University.
Sebastian Castillo-Hair, PhD
is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Washington.
Isaac López-Moyado, PhD
is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at La Jolla Institute for Immunology.
10:15AM - 10:50AM (Pacific Time)
Session 2: Genomics and Nucleic Acid Therapies
Noa Katz, PhD
is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University.
Jingxun Chen, PhD
is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University.
Brea Manuel, PhD
is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Maryland - Baltimore County.
11:00AM - 11:35AM (Pacific Time)
Session 3: Immunology and Cell-Cell Interactions
Saria McKeithen-Mead, PhD
is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University.
Juan Inclan Rico, PhD
is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania.
Christian Dzuvor, PhD
is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University.
11:35AM - 12:10PM (Pacific Time)
Session 4: Physical Forces and Mechanobiology
Joshua Francois, PhD
is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University.
Rikki Garner, PhD
is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University.
Piere Rodriguez Aliaga, PhD
is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University.
12:20PM - 12:55PM (Pacific Time)
Session 5: Sensors and Actuators, From Understanding to Design
Eman Akam-Baxter, PhD
is an Instructor at Harvard University & Massachusetts General Hospital.
Maia Kinnebrew, PhD
is a Distinguished Fellow at Stanford University.
Fernando Medina Ferrer, PhD
is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of California - Berkeley.
12:55PM - 1:30PM (Pacific Time)
Session 6: Organisms to Networks and Engineering Health
Colwyn Headley, PhD
is an Instructor at Stanford University.
Thomas Pomberger, PhD
is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Duke University.
Brenda Cabrera-Mendoza, PhD
is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Yale University.
2025 Next Generation Faculty Symposium Honorable Mentions
Philip Adeniyi - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Oregon Science and Health University
Maria Bustillo - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at New York University
Ava Carter - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University
Jason Casar - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University
Christian Cazares - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of California - San Diego
Michael Coulter - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of California - San Francisco
Kelsey DeFrates - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of California - San Francisco
Erin Doherty - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of California - Berkeley
Stanna Dorn - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the California Institute of Technology
Mohamed El-Brolosy - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University & the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Christian Figueroa-Espada - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Catherine Freije - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Rockefeller University
Nathan Gamarra - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University
Anita Gola - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Rockefeller University
Elizabeth Hart - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University
Katie Hatstat - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of California - San Francisco
Last Update:
08/2025
Miriam Hernandez Morales - Associate Specialist at the University of California - Berkeley
Ryan Hulett - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Carnegie Institution for Science
Kathryn Kapp - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University
Elizabeth Kaweesa - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Illinois - Chicago
Kangjoo Lee - Associate Research Scientist at Yale University
Yuanwei Li - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University
Lindsey Lin - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of California - San Francisco
Cody Loy - Graduate Student at the University of California Irvine
Bria Macklin - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Gladstone Institutes
Kaia Mattioli - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University & Brigham & Women’s Hospital
Reinner Omondi - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Kansas
Morwan Osman - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of York
Kali Pruss - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Washington University in St. Louis
Carlos Rivera - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University & Massachusetts General Hospital
Julia Rogers - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Columbia University
Fernando Rossine - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard University
Samuel Thompson - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University
Iris van’t Erve - Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University
Last Update: 04/2025
Next Generation Faculty Symposium Alumni
Since 2020, the Next Generation Faculty Symposium has featured 39 aspiring faculty talks in a short ten-minute format. Thirty-two of the featured speakers have gone on to obtain faculty positions, as well as many of the honorable mention participants in the program. Alumni of the symposia and updates on their career paths are featured below. Read more about the past symposia and the impact of the program in this Stanford Engineering Science and Technology article.
Last Update: 04/2025
2023 Alumni
14 Selected Speakers - 11 Faculty, 2 Postdocs and 1 in another career opportunity
Kolade Adebowale, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at the University of California - San Diego.
Ismail Ahmed, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Neurobiology at the University of Utah.
Meli'sa Crawford, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Animal Sciences at Rutgers University - New Brunswick.
Selasi Dankwa, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst.
Lisa Eshun-Wilson, PhD
is a Scientist II at Profluent Bio.
Shawna Follis, PhD
is an Instructor at Stanford University.
Eva González Diaz, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Immunology & Immunotherapy at Mount Sinai.
Lauren Hagler, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University.
Luis Hernandez-Nunez, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Stanford University.
Antonio Tinoco Valencia, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry at the University of California - Los Angeles.
Louai Labanieh, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Immunology and Immunotherapy at Mount Sinai.
Kekoa Taparra, MD, PhD, MPH
is an Assistant Professor of Health Policy & Management and of Oncology at the University of California - Los Angeles.
Claudia Varela, PhD
is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Juan Vazquez, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the Pennsylvania State University.
Last Update: 04/2025
2021 Alumni
13 Selected Speakers - 10 Faculty and 3 in additional career opportunities
Fayal Abderemane-Ali, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Physiology at the University of California - Los Angeles.
Basem Al-Shayeb, PhD
is a Co-Founder of Amber Bio.
Joel Babdor, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania.
Mairin Balisi, PhD
is the Augustyn Family Curator at the Raymond Alf Museum of Paleontology.
Arnaldo Carreira-Rosario, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Biology and of Neurobiology at Duke University.
Valerie Darcey, PhD
is a Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.
Maria Maldonado, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Plant Biology at the University of California - Davis.
Juliane Sempionatto Moreto, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineer at Rice University.
Jaimie Marie Stewart, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at the University of California - Los Angeles.
Maxine Umeh Garcia, PhD
is an Instructor in the School of Medicine at Stanford University.
Natoya Peart, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Waterloo.
Claudia Vasquez, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Washington.
Yvon Woappi, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics at Columbia University.
Last Update: 04/2025
2020 Alumni
12 Selected Speakers - 11 Faculty and 1 in an additional career opportunity
David Cox, MD, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Genetics at Stanford University.
Kyle Daniels, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Genetics at Stanford University.
Chantell Evans, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Cell Biology at Duke University.
Mireille Kamariza, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at the University of California - Los Angeles.
Geoffrey Lovely, PhD
is a Staff Research Scientist at Pumpkinseed Technologies.
Nicole Martinez, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Chemical & Systems Biology and of Developmental Biology at Stanford University.
James Nuñez, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California - Berkeley.
Caroline Palavicino-Maggio, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital.
Thomas Stewart, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the Pennsylvania State University.
Catherine Tcheandjieu, DVM, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at the University of California - San Francisco and an Assistant Investigator at the Gladstone Institute.
Ottman Tertuliano, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at the University of Pennsylvania.
Hawa Racine Thiam, PhD
is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering and of Microbiology & Immunology at Stanford University.
Last Update: 05/2025
Honorable Mentions (2020, 2021, 2023)
55 Honorable Mentions (Total) - 35 Faculty, 11 Postdocs and 9 in additional career opportunities
2020
17 Honorable Mentions - 11 Faculty, 2 Postdocs and 4 in additional career opportunities
Eman Akam
Instructor at Harvard Medical School - Massachusetts General HospitalLindsey Backman
Valhalla Fellow at the White Head InstituteR. Konane Bay
Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado - Boulder
Lab WebpageCheavar Blair
Assistant Professor of Physiology at the University of KentuckyJohn F. Brooks II
Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University
Lab WebpageDavid Castillo-Azofeifa
Principal Scientist at GenentechAhmed El Hady
Group Leader at the Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour - Universität Konstanz
Lab WebpageMariana Gomez-Schiavon
Principal Investigator at the International Laboratory for Human Genome Research - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Lab WebpageChristian Guerrero-Juarez
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of California - IrvineColwyn Headley
Instructor at Stanford UniversityRogelio Hernandez-Lopez
Assistant Professor of Bioengineering and of Genetics at Stanford Unviersity
Lab WebpageManuel Razo-Mejia
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford UniversityFlorentine Rutaganira
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and of Developmental Biology at Stanford University
Lab WebpageMelody Smith
Assistant Professor of Medicine at Stanford University
Lab WebpageChristina Termini
Assistant Professor of Human Biology and of Translational Science & Therapeutics at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center
Lab WebpageLinda T. Vo
Director of New Opportunities at Curie.BioAsher Williams
Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University
Lab Webpage
2021
20 Honorable Mentions - 15 Faculty, 1 Postdoc and 4 in additional career opportunities
Hoda Abdel Magid
Assistant Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences and Spatial Sciences at the University of Southern CaliforniaJuan Angueyra
Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Maryland
Lab WebpageDaniel Bayless
Assistant Professor of Molecular Neurobiology at the Salk Institute
Lab WebpageFatima Enam
Consultant at Boston Consulting GroupDiego Fernandez
Assistant Professor of Opthalmology - Science of Light Center at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Lab WebpageLeah Guthrie
Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at the University of California - Berkeley
Lab WebpageShuo Han
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology at Duke University
Lab WebpageColwyn Headley
Instructor at Stanford UniversityMaia Kinnebrew
Distinguished Fellow of Biochemistry at Stanford University
Lab WebpageHuong Kratochvil
Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Lab WebpageShan Meltzer
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University
Lab WebpageRachel Niederer
Assistant Professor of Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Michigan
Lab WebpageJasmine Nirody
Assistant Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago
Lab WebpageAgostina Palmigiano
Lecturer at the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit at University College LondonCandice Price
Program Director at the National Institutes of Health - National Heart, Lunch and Blood InstituteNuttida Rungratsameetaweemana
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University
Lab WebpageShelbi Russell
Assistant Professor of Biomolecular Engineering at University of California - Santa Cruz
Lab WebpageTrevor Sorrells
Assistant Professor of Genetics at Yale University
Lab WebpageJacob Steenwyk
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of California - BerkeleyValerie Tornini
Assistant Professor of Integrative Biology and Physiology at the University of California - Los Angeles
Lab Webpage
2023
18 Honorable Mentions - 8 Faculty, 9 Postdocs and 1 in an additional career opportunity
Samira Abdulai-Saiku
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of California - San FranciscoNeville Bethel
Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California - San Diego
Lab WebpageRashmi Chandra
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of California - San FranciscoJustin Conner
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of California - BerkeleyMaria Fernanda Forni
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Yale UniversityMelanie Hannebelle
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Swiss Tropical and Public Health InstituteColwyn Headley
Instructor at Stanford UniversitySergio Hidalgo Sotelo
Assistant Professor of Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience at Washington State University
Lab WebpageRose Hill
Assistant Professor of Chemical Physiology and Biochemistry at Oregon Health and Science University
Lab WebpageChinyere Iweka
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at Case Western Reserve University
Lab WebpageVineet Joag
Assistant Professor at the Center for Immunity and Immunotherapies at the University of Washington - Seattle Children’s HospitalAhmad Nabhan
Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California - BerkeleyRenato Navarro
Assistant Professor of Material Science and Engineering at the University of FloridaJean Jacques Noubiap
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of California - San FranciscoLenore Pipes
Assistant Professor at the University of Hawaii - Manoa
Lab WebpagePiere Rodriguez-Aliaga
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford UniversityMarielena Sosa
Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at University of Colorado - BoulderJacob Steenwyk
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of California - Berkeley