School of Medicine Grad Day: Welcome to the Zotscars!

Graduate students got the red-carpet treatment, becoming celebrities for a day while spotlighting research achievements and socializing with faculty, staff and alumni at this year’s Oscars-themed Grad Day.

The UC Irvine School of Medicine rolled out the red carpet on May 15, 2026, for its ninth annual SOM Grad Day, transforming the courtyard between Sprague and Gillespie Halls into a stage fit for the Oscars. A shimmering chandelier and luxurious oversized feathers stood out against a black velvet backdrop, framing a center-stage podium that prominently featured a golden anteater statuette.

“The event gives our graduate academic community the chance to step out of the lab and into the spotlight, sharing science and networking in a relaxed, fun environment,” says Leora Fellus, director of the Office of Graduate Studies. “And this year, our students chose a theme that let their research breakthroughs take center stage — the Zotscars!”

Friendly Competition & Research Spotlights

The day started with some friendly competition between the students and faculty. Two teams raced to the finish during a treasure hunt that had everyone running from building to building and snapping movie-related photos, with the faculty coming out on top.

Following the treasure hunt, people took their seats in the outdoor “Oscars theater” for the elevator talk competition.

Michael J. Stamos, MD, dean of the School of Medicine, welcomed the crowd.

“It is a pleasure to once again kick off this special event during what has already been an exceptional year for our school,” said Stamos, “one marked by groundbreaking discoveries, academic excellence, remarkable achievements and continued growth in research funding.”

Stamos credited the students for their invaluable contributions.

“At the heart of our success is the transformative work of our graduate students,” says Stamos. “Your intellectual curiosity, rigorous inquiry, and perseverance fuel innovation and help shape the future of medicine and science.”

More than a dozen students pitched their research, covering topics such as cardiovascular health, breast cancer interventions, diagnostics, AI-enabled surgical guidance, drivers of dementia, improved immunotherapy, and much more.

Two 45-minute poster sessions followed the elevator talk competition, with around 25 research posters each session. Faculty, alumni, staff, postdocs and students walked around, discussing the wide range of work on display before breaking for lunch, where the conversations and networking continued.

The Zotscars Award Show

Later in the afternoon, the Zotscars officially kicked off with a toast from Dean Stamos, which he preceded with a quote from medical research advocate Mary Lasker: “If you think research is expensive, try disease.”

“We’re raising a glass to resilience and perseverance, to civility and humanitarianism, to collegiality and inclusiveness,” said Stamos. “Here’s to scientific discovery for global betterment! Cheers!”

Stamos then introduced the Zotscars masters of ceremonies, Aileen Anderson, PhD, and Brian Cummings, PhD. This School of Medicine power couple wooed the crowd with their wry sense of academic humor, keeping everyone entertained as they announced a variety of award winners.

“Today we celebrate the people who actually make this School of Medicine run — our graduate students and our postdocs,” said Anderson. “The people who can troubleshoot a confocal at 11 p.m. on a Tuesday but cannot, under any circumstances, get the Keurig in the break room to work!”

Cummings then presented the first award, the Robert & Sylvia Mapel Research Innovation Award.

“The award encourages pioneering high-risk research ideas in burgeoning fields of basic and applied biomedical science,” he said. “Supported by the Mapel endowment, it recognizes a School of Medicine mentor and PhD student team for innovative work in biomedical and translational sciences.”

And the award went to … PhD student Eleonora Risaliti, under the mentorship of Kris Palczewski, PhD, with the Department of Physiology & Biophysics PhD program. This highly innovative research team is investigating the application of genome editing to prevent vision loss in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), a leading cause of severe vision impairment worldwide.

Cummings and Anderson went on to present the Judges' Choice Award for the elevator pitches, which resulted in a first-place tie.

Tessa Chou, a PhD student studying molecular biology and genetics, won for her talk, “HIV’s Last Wake Up Call.” (She also placed second for this talk in UC Irvine’s 2026 Grad Slam competition.)

Casey Hudson, a PhD candidate in the Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, also took the top prize for her talk, “Curing Chemobrain with Stem Cell-Derived Cognitive Care Packages.”

Hudson took first place for the Audience Choice Award for the elevator talk competition as well.

For the poster sessions, Isam Adam, an MD/PhD candidate in the Department of Physiology & Biophysics, received the Judges' Choice Award for his work on how regulatory T cells control anti-tumor microglia function in brain cancer brain metastasis.

Theresa Vu, a PhD student in the Department of Physiology & Biophysics, received the Audience Choice Award for her poster on the creation of biosynthetic circuits to detect elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) associated molecules.

Also during the event, the School of Medicine’s Student and Postdoctoral Advisory Council, known as S-PAC, presented its own “Golden Zot” award, with Anatomy and Neurobiology PhD student Onwodi Ifejeokwu and Experimental Pathology PhD candidate Dahlia Ordaz taking the stage.

“This esteemed leader has been a guiding force for students pursuing a biomedical education and scientific discovery, all while balancing the extraordinary demands of clinical excellence, pioneering leadership in colon cancer and bowel disease, and of course, his legendary status as pickleball captain,” said Ordaz.

She and Ifejeokwu then honored Dean Stamos for “his tireless service, mentorship, and his ability to lead with brilliance and grit.”

There were also several awards celebrating the students’ more creative side, such as Best Live Action Short, Best Documentary and Best Sound. These submissions rounded out a day of dazzling fun, giving the students a much-deserved break from their critical investigations.

The following day, it was back to the lab, where the students returned to their true passion — conducting innovative research to advance scientific breakthroughs in medicine.

Learn more about the graduate studies programs at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. (Photos courtesy of Brian Bombarda.)

— Shani Murray