Promising cancer research earns top honors at 2025 Grad Slam

With three minutes, one sticky problem and a standout performance, Kirstin Rollins won the 2025 UC Santa Barbara Grad Slam.

A PhD student in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Rollins bested a competitive field of more than 40 graduate students and eight finalists to claim the $5,000 top prize for her presentation, "A Sticky Situation: Target Cell Adhesion Inhibits Macrophage Therapy." Her win was announced at the final round of the campuswide competition Grad Slam, held April 3 at Campbell Hall.

"I am honestly in such shock because of the caliber of all of my other competitors," said Rollins, whose talk described a technique for battling tightly bound tumor cancers by loosening their bonds with a protein before treatment with macrophage therapy. "It has been such a kind of camaraderie, and I wanted every individual to win."

Yuting Ma, a PhD student in statistics and applied probability, won $2,000 for second place. Selected by the audience, Tiffany Ta, a PhD student in the Department of Music, won the People's Choice $1,000 prize.

"As a Gaucho alum and a representative of the university's namesake city, I felt honored by the invitation to participate," said Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse, who served on the judges panel. "The size and enthusiasm of the audience was impressive, as were the presentations. I'll admit it felt awkward to sit and judge these incredible people, but getting to engage with them at the reception made me not only proud of the products of our university, it also enhanced my optimism for the future."

With the win, Rollins will next compete against other campus champions at the systemwide UC Grad Slam, emceed by UC President Michael V. Drake on April 29 at UC Center Sacramento. The event will be livestreamed, and viewers will be able to vote online for an overall People's Choice.

"I feel very honored to get to represent UCSB," Rollins said about the upcoming trip to Sacramento. "I believe that my lab is doing innovative and impactful research, and I would love to get to share that in a representative setting where legislators and other broader public faces could get to see what research is all about, and why it's important to fund research. That's my thing."

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The University of California, Santa Barbara is a leading research institution that also provides a comprehensive liberal arts learning experience. Our academic community of faculty, students, and staff is characterized by a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration that is responsive to the needs of our multicultural and global society. All of this takes place within a living and learning environment like no other, as we draw inspiration from the beauty and resources of our extraordinary location at the edge of the Pacific Ocean.