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03/02/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/02/2026 10:33

Medical and Pharmacy Students Showcase Research with Real-World Impact

Published Date

March 02, 2026

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Each summer between the first and second years of medical school, students at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine are encouraged to participate in a research project driven by their specific interests or experiences. The students and their mentors then gather each February to present their research posters at the annual Summer Research Symposium.

"It is moments like this that I look forward to most," said Barbara Jung, MD, associate vice chancellor and dean for the School of Medicine, in the event's opening remarks. "This symposium offers a vibrant interprofessional showcase of the innovation and collaboration that defines our campus community. I am so proud of the incredible research projects you are showcasing this evening. Research takes time and dedication, but I am confident that your work will contribute to improving the lives of the communities we serve."

This year students from the School of Medicine and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences gathered to share, celebrate and discuss research that spanned a vast range of topics including oncology, surgery, cardiovascular medicine, mental and behavioral health, infectious diseases, community outreach and artificial intelligence (AI) in health care.

"I think it's essential for students to conduct research, particularly medical students who are going to someday be seeing patients," said Catriona Jamieson, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, chief of the Division of Regenerative Medicine and director of the Sanford Stem Cell Institute. "Patients sometimes need high quality data to understand their options, and they need doctors who actually understand high quality scientific data to assist them."

Faculty and staff from the Catriona Jamieson lab came to support Redublo (center) and his research presentation.

Jamieson mentored second-year medical student Peter Redublo, one of four students selected to present their summer research orally at the symposium.

Redublo's research project, RNA-Editing ADAR1 Deaminase APOBEC3 Responsive (READAR) Platforms for Dynamic Detection of Clonal Myeloproliferative Neoplasm Progression, looked at potential earlier warning signs that a patient's blood cancer is getting worse.

"This work is a collaborative effort by members of Dr. Jamieson's laboratory," Redublo told the audience at the symposium, which included about a dozen colleagues from Jamieson's lab who came out to support the presentation. "This experience has been important to me. Just being able to get acquainted with my mentor, work directly on something so meaningful and being able to continue to work after the summer has been impactful."

Prior to medical school, Redublo worked as a clinical research coordinator, so he had a bit of experience before beginning his research project. He says the summer research experience was still eye opening for him.

"I didn't realize how much behind the scenes work goes into even coming up with an idea to test," said Redublo. "For me personally, the summer research experience was a really good way to develop the skills I will need in my future career. For patients, the research showed us that there are different options for choosing a treatment path. We are still working on how best to apply this knowledge, but it will make a difference."

Jamieson agreed that this research is fundamentally important.

"These predictive tools that Peter has delved into and helped to create give us early warning signs in terms of which patients are likely to progress, and which can maybe not go to transplant anytime soon are going to be vital in the clinic for patients ranging in age from 16 to 95," said Jamieson. "I'm so proud of him as his lab mentor, but also as a fellow scientist for the work he has done."

AI Physician Messaging

Second-year medical student Vincenzo Cusi studied the intersection of AI and health care, evaluating patient sentiment toward AI-assisted physician electronic communication.

"We are at a point where the use of AI in health care is really starting to emerge, and we are working to learn how best to implement it," said Cusi. "This specific research looked at a feature in the electronic medical record which allows AI to draft responses to patient messages. Physicians can edit and clarify the responses before they are sent to patients. We wanted to see how patients felt about this option."

Cusi surveyed patients who had exchanged electronic messages with their physicians. For each participant, two messages included AI-assisted responses and two messages that were physician created. Cusi found that there was not a significant difference in the patient satisfaction between either set of messages.

"Purely physician drafted messages were rated good," said Cusi. "And those that used AI assistance were also rated as good messages. However, in the open response portion of the survey, we found a really strong anti-AI sentiment with a lot of patients. I think it brings up a point of trust within the patient-physician relationship. If technology starts to erode that trust, we have to be cautious about how we are implementing the technology."

Vincenzo Cusi discusses his research findings at the Summer Research Symposium.
Gaby Araujo and Bryan Trieu worked with a team of students to assess the impact of a summer outreach program.

Inspiring the Future

Second-year medical student Gaby Araujo and a cohort of other medical students presented their findings on research confidence and college readiness for participants at the conclusion of the OPTIMUS /SPARK Pipeline Program. The 8-week outreach program provides high school students opportunities to participate in cancer and regenerative medicine research, while providing exposure to clinical medicine and experiences under the mentorship of medical students and School of Medicine faculty.

"The high school students participated in research projects and present posters similar to what we as medical students do," said Araujo. "The program is geared toward helping the students to gain the confidence to pursue careers in medicine. We surveyed the students before and after the program to see if participating in the program made a difference in their confidence levels with regard to pursuing a career in medicine. According to the results, the program worked!"

Araujo noted that it was incredibly rewarding to know that the program was making a difference.

"I didn't have a lot of resources growing up," said Araujo. "For me, applying to medical school was a reach, almost like a pipe dream. Now that I am a medical student, it's really nice to be able to give back. This research shows the importance of providing exposure to the medical field to high school students. Programs like this can make a difference in any field. It's important to show young people that their dreams aren't so far out of reach."

Healing en Pointe

Many ballet dancers endure injuries to their ankles, feet and toes. For second-year medical student Adam Clements, those painful injuries inspired an idea of incorporating mental health practices into the injury recovery processes.

As an acrobat and performing artist, Clements is interested in performance medicine, an evidence-based approach which focuses on optimizing physical, mental, emotional and cognitive health along with medical treatment for injury.

"When a dancer is en pointe, there is a lot of stress on their ankle, feet and toes," said Clements. "Because they are putting all their body weight on a very small area, the level of injury can be really high. In professional ballet, the injury recovery doesn't usually come with time off in the same way that it does for other sports because there are no seasons- ballet is year-round, so dancers are constantly training."

Clements' research study was a prospective, randomized controlled trial of participants, 13-18-year-old dancers who were undergoing non-operative treatment for foot or ankle injuries. The participants were treated with a Pilates-based physical therapy regiment or the Pilates-based regiment plus a designated amount of time using the Super Better app. The app incorporates gameplay and maintaining a sense of community through personalized challenges, interactive quests and evidence-based exercises.

Adam Clements' research focused on performance medicine to aid non-operative treatment options for foot and ankle injuries.

"Because there's also a very high incidence of conditions such as body dysmorphia, eating disorders, depression, anxiety and burnout in the dance community, I thought this was a great way to utilize injury recovery and mental health to bolster the ability for dancers to come back strong and healthy from injuries," added Clements.

Clements' study will follow the dancers for two years to track how the variants in the recovery process impact long-term health. Although the study is ongoing, Clements and the research team have already discovered the importance of community and engagement provided through the app can make a difference.

"The ability to engage with dance when dancers are outside of actually dancing is important," they said. "I've learned that continuing to engage with dance is one of the biggest things you can do when you're in the injury recovery process. Through activities like marking, where you visualize the technique of dance in your head and then mark it with your hands, watching a dance that you really enjoy, thinking about a routine you did really well and connecting with friends that you met at the dance studio can help with recovery."

Real world impact

From pioneering early detection tools for blood cancers to examining trust in AI-assisted care, strengthening the medical pipeline for high school students and reimagining injury recovery for young dancers, this year's Summer Research Symposium highlighted more than scientific discovery-it underscored the heart of academic medicine. The projects reflected a shared commitment to innovation, mentorship and service, demonstrating how early research experiences are shaping future physicians who are not only skilled scientists, but compassionate leaders ready to improve health in their communities and beyond.

Related content

Top Posters

As part of the Summer Research Symposium, a panel of School of Medicine faculty members select outstanding posters for recognition. The posters are judged on the following criteria: scientific merit, clarity and visual impact. Winners were Lina Vo, first place; Atul Saha, second place; and Vaibhavi Patankar, third place.

The Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion awarded two prizes for excellence in empathy and compassion research and superior communication of the narrative of the project. Winners were Vanessa Ho, first place and Samira Torna, second place, both are participants in the Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion Sanford Scholar Award Program.

The UC San Diego Library recognized posters for excellence in the use of cited literature. Winners from the School of Medicine were Shane DeGrace, first place and Marea Gordon, second place. Winners from the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences were Jahfreen Alam, first place and Julia Spong, second place.

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