Participant presenting at poster competition

Elevating Excellence

JCCC Annual Retreat Scientific Poster Competition for Graduates, Postdocs, and Residents

Present Your Poster

UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center would like to invite graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and clinical fellows to submit an abstract to be considered for displaying poster at the Cancer Center's retreat.  This is a great opportunity for students and fellows to share their cancer-focused research projects and network with colleagues. Prizes are awarded in each category. 

Trainees having a conversation at the JCCC retreat poster competition.

Next Opportunity May 2025

Prizes are awarded in each category! Check out the call for poster announcement here.

Submit Your Abstract Here

Guidelines for Poster Abstracts 

The Guidelines for Poster Abstracts provide clear instructions to ensure consistency and professionalism in abstract submissions. Abstracts should adhere to a concise structure, limited to a maximum of 250 words, to effectively communicate the essence of the research. Formatted in Microsoft Word, the abstracts should be single-spaced, employing a legible size 12 Times New Roman font. By adhering to these guidelines, presenters can convey their research findings effectively, facilitating a comprehensive understanding amongst reviewers. 

Poster Judge and participant at all member retreat discussion poster board
Trainee presenting her poster at the JCCC retreat to judges.
Trainee presenting his poster to a judge at JCCC Retreat poster sessio

Previous Poster Awardees

2025 Awardees

Ryan Shih (Graduate Student)

Combinatorial armored CAR-T cell treatment remodels the glioblastoma tumor microenvironment for robust antitumor efficacy with minimal toxicity

Christopher Ochoa (Graduate Student)

Profiling of gynecologic carcinosarcomas reveals unique vulnerabilities to NK cell-based immunotherapies

Larissa Nicolas (Graduate Student)

Assessing College Students' Understanding of HPV's Link to Head and Neck Cancer: A Preliminary Investigation

Shivani Baisiwala, MD, MS (Clinical Fellow)

Developing A Novel Organoid Model to Investigate Tumor-Immune Interactions in Glioblastoma 

Jiamin Guo, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

PhaseID: A Tool for Decoding the Dark Proteome in Cancers

Xiao Zhang, PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Blocking Genomic Instability Prevents Acquired Resistance to MAPK Inhibitor Therapy in Melanoma

2024 Awardees

Jensen Abascal (Graduate Student)

In situ vaccination with Flt3l gene modified CD103+ type 1 conventional dendritic cells synergizes with anti-PD-1 checkpoint blockade in murine models of non-small cell lung cancer

Justin Clubb (Graduate Student)

Engineering Multi-Output CAR-T Cells to Treat Glioblastoma

Hailey Lee (Graduate Student)

Signaling requirements for optimized CD8 T cell responses in mRNA cancer vaccine immunotherapy

Brandon Tsai (Graduate Student)

Exercise Sculpts the Genome of Human Cancers

Yagmur Muftuoglu, MD PhD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

A novel highly brain-penetrant tyrosine kinase inhibitor for H3/IDH wild-type pediatric high-grade gliomas

Mengwei Ko, MD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Improving human PSC derived hematopoietic stem cell functional maturation

Houfu Leng, MD (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Impact of Tryptophan Metabolism on Multiple Myeloma

2023 Awardees

Shilin Chen (Graduate Student)

A Proimmunotoxin Nanodrug Targeting non-Hodgkin Lymphoma with Brain Metastases

Moe Ishihara (Graduate Student)

Statins as a novel anti-metastatic reagent in kidney cancer

Jack Dodson (Graduate Student)

Single-Cell Analysis in Lung Adenocarcinoma Implicates RNA Editing in Cancer Innate Immunity and Patient Prognosis

Suwen Li (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Strength of CAR signaling determines T cell versus ILC differentiation from pluripotent stem cells

Mingqi Han (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Spatial mapping of mitochondrial networks and bioenergetics in lung cancer

Charlie Li (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Off-the-shelf third-party HSC-engineered iNKT cells for ameliorating GvHD while preserving GvL effect in the treatment of blood cancers

2022 Awardees

Patrick Chang (Graduate Student)

Engineering the in vitro organoid microenvironment for positive selection of human psc-derived, class i-null, antigen specific t cells

Mathew Miller (Graduate Student)

Immunoengineering an Exclusive Fuel Source to Enhance Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocyte

Alice Yang Zhou (Graduate Student)

Development of Allogeneic HSC-Engineered iNKT Cells for Off-The-Shelf Cancer Immunotherapy

Roni Hass (Postdoctoral Scholar)

An Integrative Genomic Transcriptomic and Proteomic Investigation to Characterize Differences Between Isogenic Radioresistant Prostate Cancer Cell Lines

William Mu (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Chronic HIV infection generates dysfunctional antitumor responses and loss of tumor suppression in humanized mice

Amy Sun (Postdoctoral Scholar)

Chimeric orthogonal IL-9 receptor signaling promotes stemness and polyfunctionality for adoptive T cell therapy of cancer in human in vitro models