Year 4

The CIRM STAR High School Summer Research and Creativity Program is an 8-week summer science research experience that takes place at the USC Health Sciences Center. This program is integrated with USC’s current STAR Summer Research Program, in existence for 26 years. CIRM STAR focuses on stem cell and developmental biology research. Each CIRM STAR intern joins a research team at the USC CIRM Broad Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Once students are placed in their labs, they conduct research as a member of a scientific team which includes USC faculty, CIRM pre-doctoral, postdoctoral and clinical fellows. Throughout the CIRM STAR internship, students attended weekly journal club meetings, seminars, and weekly group discussions to learn about the various research projects their peers were working on.

CIRM STAR Summer Intern Projects:

Divya Patel: The Role of SOX9 Positive Cells in Bone Repair

Claudia Arenas: In Vivo Gene Modification by CRISPR/Cas9 System

Joanna Maddela: Functional Dissection of Alcohol-Mediated Self-Renewal of Liver Tumor-Initiating Cells via TLR4 Signaling

Krishna Bhakta: Functional Dissection of Alcohol-Mediated Self-Renewal of Liver Tumor-Initiating Cells via TLR4 Signaling

Esmeralda Lugo: 3D Micro CT Analysis of Tooth Development

Gerry Williams: Allopregnanalone Differentially Potentiates Mitochondrial Gene Expression In Human Neural Stem Cells

Leslie Dominguez: Wnt8b Gene Knockdown to Determine if Wnt8b is Essential for Forebrain Pericyte Development

Mirna El-khalily: Developing Novel Therapies for Gliomas

Harsheta Patel: Developing Novel Therapies for Gliomas

Megan Makabali: Developing Novel Therapies for Gliomas