Congratulations to Adam for passing his qualifying exam in the UC Davis Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology (MCIP) graduate program! Adam now joins Victor and Tory, who now have all advanced to the PhD Candidate stage. Adam was also recently elected as the MCIP Graduate Group representative to the Graduate Student Association. Congrats, Adam!

Victor, a PhD Candidate in the Molecular, Cellular & Integrative Physiology program, has been awarded the Predoctoral Fellowship Award from the American Heart Association for his proposed study on ‘’Elucidating the Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Calcium Dependent CaM/RyR2 Interaction.’’ This prestigious fellowship recognizes Victor’s outstanding research potential and provides funding to support his work on calcium signaling and RyR regulation in cardiac myocytes. Congrats, Victor!

Ben is awarded the 2025 Geneen Charitable Trust Award for Coronary Heart Disease Research for his proposed study on "Targeting CaMKII O-GlcNAcylation in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction." This is a 2-year award that supports research in the area of the prevention of coronary heart disease or circulatory failure. Congratulations, Ben!

Don was appointed as an Honorary Fellow of The Physiological Society. This is the highest honor that The Physiological Society presents in recognition of distinct persons in science who have contributed to the advancement of physiology. Click here for more information about this honor and Don's contributions to the field of cardiac physiology. Congratulations, Don!

Esther was appointed as Relations Officer of the Postdoctoral Scholars Association of UC Davis for the 2024-2025 academic year. Congrats, Esther!

Victor, Esther, and Renée won Lightning Talk Competition Awards at the XLIII North American Section (NAS) Annual Meeting of the International Society for Heart Research (ISHR) held this year (2024) in Long Beach, CA. They were among 12 awardees among 50+ participants. Congrats!!!

CBS News Sacramento featured an interview of Don (July 15, 2024) on our HFpEF sex-differences study, bringing greater awareness of the risks of heart failure to the general public.

Our study spearheaded by Ben, with key contributions from Juliana, Erin, Chris, and Don, was published this year (2024) in Cardiovascular Research and identifies key sex-differences in the murine HFpEF (Heart Failure with preserved Ejection Fraction) Hegyi model that provides key translational mechanistic insights into HFpEF in humans. This publication was featured in a press release by UC Davis Health and 12 other media outlets!
Photo courtesy of Dr. Esther Asamudo

Dera gave a talk entitled, "Connecting molecules and society: CaMKII activation & community engagement" at the inaugural Department of Pharmacology Retreat in May 2024. Her talk, highlighting her accomplishments in both science and service, was voted as one of three best Trainee Talks at the retreat!

Photo courtesy of Dr. Esther Asamudo

Eve was awarded the 2024-2025 Wilton W. Webster Research Fellowship in Electrophysiology of the Heart Rhythm Society. Her study focuses on investigating the localizations of various types of voltage-gated sodium (NaV1.x) channels in cardiomyocytes, particularly in complex with regulatory proteins called intracellular fibroblast growth factors (iFGFs). Eve will investigate the microdomains of NaV-iFGF interactions and determine how these interactions are altered in disease.

Esther was invited as a guest speaker for the annual theirStory Seminar Series organized by the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences for Women's History Month in 2024. The goal of theirStory is to celebrate underrepresented scientists at UC Davis by inviting them to share their stories, struggles, and achievements throughout their career journey in STEM.

Dera was invited to speak as a guest for the theirStory Seminar Series, funded by the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences, for Black History Month in the 2023-2024 academic year. theirStory is a graduate student-led group that celebrates underrepresented scientists at UC Davis to foster hope and spark motivation within the diverse UC Davis STEM community.

Ben was awarded a 2023 Regional Pilot Feasibility Award by the Stanford Diabetes Research Center (SDRC) for his unique and innovative research proposal aiming to uncover the link between diabetes and heart failure using a new clinically relevant heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) mouse model.

Dera was invited as a Keynote Speaker for the 2023 2nd Annual Graduate Scholars of Color+ Graduate Summer Symposium. This meeting showcased the outstanding quality and diversity of graduate-level research being conducted at UC Davis by masters and doctoral students from historically marginalized communities.

Our work on SparkMaster 2 published this year (2023) in Circulation Research and co-authored by Jakub, Chris, and Don, along with our collaborators Madeline and Manuel, was featured in press releases by UC Davis Health and the University of Oxford. Download the SparkMaster 2 (SM2) software here!

Don was awarded the Eric N. Olson Mentorship Award (ENOMA) of the International Society for Heart Research - North American Section (ISHR-NAS) at the ISHR-NAS meeting in Madison, WI this June (2023). Don was nominated by a team of a dozen current and former trainees from around the world and was competitively selected from a prestigious pool of nominees. Click here to learn more!