The Next Chapter: Future Directions for Biomedical Research

8:30 a.m.

Breakfast & Check-In

9:00 a.m.

School Of Medicine State of the School

Michael J. Stamos, MD, Dean, UC Irvine School of Medicine
• The Next Chapter for the School of Medicine

9:45 a.m.

State of Research at UC Irvine

Aileen Anderson, PhD, Vice Chancellor for Research
• The State of Research at UCI: 2026 and Beyond

10:30 a.m.

Break (Visit the resources tables)

11:00 a.m.

New Faculty Showcase (5 @ 15 min)

Jonathan LoTempio, PhD, Pediatrics
• Our Pangenomic Future: A Double Helix of Ethics and Informatics

Gerard Slobogean, MD, MPH, Orthopaedic Surgery
• A New Era of Clinical Trial Infrastructure, Translational Science Training, and Program Growth

Kim Gokoffski, MD, PhD, Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
• From Injury to Insight: Rebuilding the Optic Nerve

Momoko Watanabe, PhD, Anatomy & Neurobiology
• Human Brain Organoids to Study Development and Disease

Alvin Yu, PhD, Physiology & Biophysics
• Multiscale Simulations of HIV Replication

12:30 p.m.

Lunch (Visit the resources tables)

1:45 p.m.

Future Directions: Pathways to Accelerate Bench to Bedside Research (3 @ 15 min)

Cellular Therapies: Brian Cummings, PhD, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
• Developing a Stem Cell Therapy for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Genome Editing Program: Rui Chen, PhD, Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
• Unraveling the Genetic Basis of Human Ocular Disease

Small Molecules Pipeline: Brian Paegel, PhD, Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Automated and Ultra-Miniaturized Chemical Synthesis and Screening Technology for Next-Gen Drug Discovery at UC Irvine

3:00 p.m.

Break

3:30 p.m.

Future Directions: Charting Research for the Next Decade (3 @ 20 min)

Future Directions for Artificial Intelligence in Research: Peter Chang, MD, Radiological Sciences
• The Future of AI in Healthcare Research

Future Directions for Epigenetics and Metabolism: Ivan Marazzi, PhD, Biological Chemistry
• Genetics and Epigenetics of Infection, Inflammatory and Neurodegenerative diseases

Future Directions for Dementia Research & Therapies: Joshua Grill, PhD, Psychiatry & Human Behavior; Neurobiology and Behavior
• The Future of the UCI Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center

5:00 p.m.

Reception in recognition of A Decade of Leadership: The School of Medicine 10 years later.