Symposium Sets New Record

PPS Department's Annual Research Showcase Boasts Over 60 Presentations by Undergraduate, Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows

Aug. 12 — Hosted by the University of Houston College of Pharmacy's Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences (PPS), the 2025 PPS Research Symposium Aug. 5-6 in the UH MD Anderson Library Elizabeth Rockwell Pavilion set a new record in the number of poster and oral presentations at the annual showcase of work by postdoctoral fellows and undergraduate and graduate students. 

This year's event drew a total of 44 poster presentations and 20 podium presentations and short talks focused on trainees' findings from projects in UHCOP and the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics laboratories. Projects spanned investigative pursuits into the mechanisms and potential therapeutics from cancer and muscle dysfunctions to neurodegenerative, cardiovascular and infectious diseases as well as developments in analytical processes and drug delivery systems.

The symposium also featured scientific and career development seminars by the 2025 Scholar-in-Residence Li Quan, Ph.D., professor of medicine and co-director of the McAllister Heart Institute at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Quan presented a keynote on "Altering Cell Fate for Heart Repair: From Basic Science to Translational Medicine," and a career talk on "Reprogramming Fate: A Journey Through the Wonderland from Cell Identity to Career Identity."

Among the oral and poster presentations, trainees were recognized in several categories:

Graduate Student Poster Presentation — Hongyan Guo, First Place, "Myocardial compact zone rearrangement contributes to Left ventricular noncompaction," and Charles Owusu Ansah, Second Place (tie), "A trimeric peptoid that selectively targets surface plectin in non-small cell lung cancer stem cells," Netra P. Neupane, Second Place (tie), "Binding of BRYOSTATIN-1 with the C1-C2B domains of MUNC13-1," and Eunsun Park, Second Place (tie), "3 Dimensional (3D) peptoid-based pan-KRAS inhibitors for lung cancer treatment"

Graduate Student Oral Presentation — Mikayla Skillman, First Place (tie), "Dual Mitochondrial Blockade Using Repurposed Nebivolol and CPI-613 Suppresses Tumor Growth in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer," and Ying Xu, First Place (tie), "AKAP12 Interacts with Phosphodiesterase 8A (PDE8A) and β-Adrenergic Receptors (ADRBs)
in Cardiomyocytes"

Postdoctoral Research Presentation — Luqi Zhao, Ph.D., First Place, "Numb Family Proteins regulate ventricular compaction by modulating autophagic flux," and Kalyani Kulkarni, Ph.D. ('23), Second Place, "High Salt Intake Activates Transcription Factor-EB (TFEB) and Autophagy in Obese Mice Kidney"

Undergraduate Research Presentation — Anagha Joby, First Place, "Exploring the Role of TM4SF1 in Smooth Muscle Cell Dysfunction in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms," and Zhilin Wu, Second Place, "Development Bio-Layer Interferometry (BLI) Based Assay to Assess Binding Affinity of NK Cytoliposomes with Antibodies"

The symposium was launched in 2013 as an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to not only share their discoveries and learn from others, but also enhance their communications skills and network with peers and faculty members.