UC Davis medical student awarded prestigious grant to advance maternal-fetal research

Maria Clarke always knew she wanted to be a doctor. What she didn't know was that studying mouse eyes in an ophthalmology lab would spark a passion for research and open a pathway to becoming a physician-scientist.

"I learned how to work with mice and do a bunch of experiments, and I really liked it," Clarke said of her undergraduate experience at UC Davis.

After graduating with a degree in neurobiology, physiology and behavior, she took a job conducting research at UCSF, and four years later got into the UC Davis School of Medicine. She's now in the ARC-MD pathway program, short for Academic Research Careers for Medical Doctors.Clarke, who recently completed her third year of medical school, has been named the 2026 recipient of the Daniel T. O'Connor, M.D. Memorial Research Grant (DTOC).

The prestigious grant, named for a 1974 alumnus, is given annually to a research-minded medical student who embodies O'Connor's values: High-quality research in translational medicine, through a multi-disciplinary, highly collaborative, "bench to bedside" approach. After graduating from the UC Davis School of Medicine, O'Connor became a distinguished professor of medicine and pharmacology at UC San Diego. He was internationally known and published more than 400 journal articles before his death in 2014.

His widow Kellie Evans-O'Connor helps administer the DTOC award. The grant provides a stipend and health insurance for an academic year.

An 'exceptional student' with a promising future

"Maria is an exceptional student physician-scientist whose accomplishments, professionalism, drive and clear vision for a career in translational research distinguish her from her peers," said Jennifer Rosenthal, the UC Davis School of Medicine's executive director of research, training and development.

The award seemed perfectly timed for Clarke.

Medical students who aspire to be physician-scientists usually step aside from the classroom and conduct unpaid research for at least a year. Clarke was about to complete her third year of medical school and anxious about entering a research year she couldn't afford.

Then she got the news: She was selected for the grant.

"I was very, very excited," Clarke said. "This gives me the ability to pay rent, the bills and support myself. And it also supports me if I want to attend conferences, which is very important when applying for residency."

Clarke proposed to spend her research year, which includes a career development and training plan, under the mentorship of Elisa Zhang. She'll be in a lab that studies the biology of female physiology and pregnancy.

The lab's research focus expands on Clarke's work in Tippi MacKenzie's lab at UCSF, where she developed fetal and stem cell gene therapies to treat pediatric disease "in utero" or before birth.

Developing lab-grown 'mini placentas' to cure disease

At Zhang's lab on the Davis campus, Clarke will grow placental organoids - "mini placentas" that mimic the structure and function of real human placentas. She'll do this by starting with placenta tissue, then growing multiple layers of cells into 3D spheres.

"The idea of the project is to build a better model to study the placenta because that field has been under researched and underfunded for a long time, as most things in women's health have been," Clarke said.

Existing models, such as placentas from mice and sheep, are unreliable, she added, because the animals' placentas are too different from human placentas.

Under the best-case scenario, the models can eventually be used to test drugs to treat pregnancy-related diseases such as preeclampsia.

Clarke is impressing her mentors even before starting her research year.

"Maria's commitment to addressing important unmet needs in maternal-fetal health are genuine and unwavering," said Rosenthal, a professor of pediatrics and pediatric hospital medicine.

"I have no doubt that Maria will have a successful career as a physician-scientist. The DTOC award provides her with the necessary support to develop critical skills that will help her achieve her career goals."