Spring 2025 Newsletter
2024 Fellows Complete Communications Training; Share Their Research
From Left to Right: Pamela Basto, M.D., Ph.D.; Debra Van Egeren, Ph.D.; Jennifer Yonan, Ph.D.; Richard Jin, M.D, Ph.D; Kristen Mengwasser, M.D., Ph.D.; Rachael Chanin, Ph.D.; and Mia Konjikusic, Ph.D.
The A.P. Giannini Foundation’s 2024 Fellows met in person on January 15, 2025, for the culminating event of their communications training. After working for six months with Jerry Kay, the Foundation’s Journalist-in-Residence, and Brian Cooley, a long-time senior technology editor at CNET, the fellows each gave short presentations of their research. An emphasis was placed on making these presentations, which spanned topics from adult-onset epilepsy to developing therapies to kill precancerous cells, accessible to a lay audience. The presentations were filmed, and the videos have been added to the Foundation’s website under its “Crossroads” series.
In between each of the fellows’ presentations, Brian shared public-speaking tips. As one example, he noted that laser pointers often don’t show up well on screens and monitors, so he recommended instead pointing with one’s hand while standing in front of the screen. He also stressed the importance of using one’s personal laptop when giving a presentation but reminded participants to first activate the “do not disturb” function.
The foundation extends its gratitude to Scientific Advisory Committee member Mark Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., who provided his office space at the Immune Tolerance Network in San Francisco for this gathering.
2017 Fellow Launches Lab Studying Female Reproductive System & More
2017 Fellow Elisa T. Zhang, Ph.D., was recently named an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Davis in the departments of Physiology & Membrane Biology and Obstetrics & Gynecology. Having earned her Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, Elisa completed her postdoctoral research at Stanford University School of Medicine, first in Dr. Julie Baker’s lab where Elisa developed a novel mouse model of uterine injury and its impact on subsequent pregnancy outcomes. Elisa continued her postdoctoral work in Dr. Calvin Kuo’s lab where she used uterine endometrial organoids or “mini-organs in a dish” to model human endometrial dynamics and disease.
Launched in July 2024, the Zhang Lab is interested in the basic biology of female physiology and pregnancy, focusing on the uterus, the embryo, and interactions thereof. The Zhang lab combines animal models with human tissue and organoid approaches to address two major questions:
- How does the uterus regenerate itself in the context of the menstrual/estrous cycle and upon injury?
- How does the maternal-fetal interface between embryo and uterus form and develop into the placenta?
Elisa’s research has obvious implications for women’s health. For example, women suffering from endometriosis experience chronic pain, and women with infertility may experience issues related to the uterus’ ability to support an embryo. The Zhang Lab’s work could lead to new therapies to address these issues. In studying the uterus, which sheds its lining every month only to grow back without scarring, Elisa’s research may yield implications for regenerative tissue more broadly. Similarly, in studying the development of the embryo and the placenta, which emerges from the fetus, Elisa hopes to learn why the mother’s immune system does not attack these tissues. As she explained, “What is it about the maternal-fetal interface that could inform how we target cancer cells or how to suppress the immune system in a transplant setting so that the body does not reject a new organ?”
As she reflects on her fellowship with the A.P. Giannini Foundation, Elisa values highly the program’s communications and leadership training. In fact, in preparation for an important video presentation as a finalist for a prestigious multi-million dollar grant for early-career scientists, Elisa sought feedback from Jerry Kay, who had provided Elisa one-on-one communications training during her fellowship. Elisa also praised the foundation’s seminars for fellows and alumni, as well as the leadership retreat that addressed management skills and conflict resolution. “These kinds of topics are key to success regardless of one’s chosen path, and I’m trying to teach the people in my lab those same skills,” she said.
To learn more about Elisa’s research, click here.
2023 Fellow Draws Attention to the Needs of Siblings of Pediatric Cancer Patients
2023 Fellow Christopher Kuo, M.D.