At the 11th annual Grad Slam competition, held at UC Irvine’s Verano 8 Community Center on March 13, graduate students from the Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences earned both first and second place — an impressive showing that underscores the strength and promise of the school’s graduate research community. Grad Slam is a UC-wide contest that challenges graduate students to explain their research in just three minutes. It’s a celebration of not just groundbreaking science, but also the power of clear, engaging storytelling.
Casey Vanderlip, a graduate student in Professor Craig Stark’s lab, won first place and a $6,500 prize for his work on a self-administered memory game that could detect early signs of Alzheimer’s disease — years before symptoms appear. By identifying at-risk individuals sooner, this tool could lead to earlier interventions and a better chance of slowing the disease’s progression.
Sydney Prange, working in the lab of Assistant Professor Katherine Thompson-Peer, earned the second-place spot and a $3,500 prize. Her research explored how damaged parts of brain cells can trigger nearby areas to regenerate, opening up exciting new possibilities for therapies that might slow or even reverse the progression of neurodegenerative diseases.
Third place went to Emily Tom from the School of Medicine, who is studying how aging affects vision and what we can do to protect or restore eye health later in life.
This year’s Grad Slam highlighted the talent, creativity and commitment of UCI’s graduate students, and the Dunlop School’s strong performance is a sign of the exciting discoveries on the horizon. As these scholars work to unlock solutions to some of society’s most pressing health challenges, their achievements inspire hope for a healthier future.
To learn more about the finalists, visit here. To watch the full recording of the event, click here.