On Tuesday, May 19, 2026, the UCSF Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics (DEB) celebrated a major milestone with the inaugural DEB Student Research Day—a dynamic new annual event showcasing the extraordinary talent, innovation, and scientific excellence of our student community.
Sponsored and organized by the DEB Culture and Collaboration Committee, led by Chair Sophie Huddart and an outstanding organizing team, Student Research Day brought to life two key priorities of the DEB2025+ Strategic Plan: Investing in DEB Culture & Collaboration and Enhancing Communications. The event created a vibrant forum where students, faculty, staff, postdoctoral scholars, and incoming students converged to share research and strengthen connections across the department.
Designed to be engaging, informative, and energizing, students from across DEB were invited to submit abstracts highlighting their research. The response reflected the tremendous enthusiasm within the department: 31 abstracts were submitted, with 22 selected for the juried poster session, 2 student abstracts selected in Best Applied Epidemiology as well as Best Statistical & Computational Methods, and 3 students invited to deliver oral presentations.
The impressive breadth and depth of research on display underscored the department's commitment to advancing population health through diverse scientific approaches. Student presenters represented the DEB Education programs across the department:
- Epidemiology and Translational Science (ETS) PhD
- Advanced Training in Clinical Research (ATCR)
- Clinical and Epidemiological Research
- Implementation Science
- Health Data Science (HDS)
Following a morning of light refreshments and an engaging juried poster competition, attendees gathered for a curated afternoon program featuring keynote speaker Dr. Jean Digitale, an alumnus of the UCSF ETS PhD Program and now a PhD Epidemiologist, Data Scientist, and EHR & Real-World Evidence Analytics expert at Kaiser Permanente, who addressed her career path highlighting both the pitfalls and successes of her journey.
For student presenters, the event offered invaluable experience communicating their research to diverse audiences while receiving thoughtful feedback from faculty. It also provided a unique opportunity for students at different stages of their training to connect across programs and learn from one another.
The enthusiasm generated throughout the day was echoed in the post-event survey. With a 30% response rate, attendees rated the symposium highly across multiple measures, including their willingness to recommend the event to colleagues, interest in attending future Student Research Days, improvement in scientific communication skills, networking value, and stronger connection to the DEB community. Faculty also recognized the event as an opportunity to celebrate the next generation of researchers and the department's growing culture of scholarly exchange.
These outcomes reflect more than a successful event—they demonstrate meaningful progress toward strengthening scientific communication, fostering community integration, and recognizing research excellence across the department.
The inaugural Student Research Day affirmed the essential role that student scholarship plays in sustaining a vibrant, collaborative, and thriving academic community. By creating a dedicated platform to celebrate emerging investigators and encourage interdisciplinary engagement, DEB has established a signature event that embodies the department's shared commitment to excellence, innovation, and collaboration.
With an outstanding first year now complete, DEB Student Research Day is building on this strong foundation, and planning is already underway for 2027, with goals to expand participation, deepen engagement, and further amplify the scholarly impact of our student researchers. Thanks to the attendees who helped make the day such a success, and special appreciation to the DEB Culture and Collaboration Committee for transforming a strategic vision into an inspiring new tradition for the DEB community.
Top Juried Poster Awardees
- Belinda Chen, HDS MS -- From Gut Signals to Meals: Non-invasive Meal Detection Using Dilated CNNs.
- Ariktha Srivathsan, ETS PhD -- Geographic spillover of antimicrobial resistance resulting from mass distribution of azithromycin.
- Oscar Peng, ClinRsrch MS -- Predicting 90-Day Odontogenic Disease Progression from Routine Dental Visits Using Structured Electronic Health Record Data.
Selected poster presenters are recognized. From left: June Chan, Education Vice Chair; Belinda Chen, HDS MS; Ariktha Srivathsan, ETS PhD; Oscar Peng, ClinRsrch MS; Sophie Huddart, Culture & Collaboration Chair.
Best Applied Epidemiology Abstract
- Carolyn Smith-Hughes, ETS PhD -- Cost-effectiveness of safer conception strategies for HIV-discordant couples in Zimbabwe.
Best Statistical & Computational Methods Abstract
- Steve Tungjitviboonkun, ClinRsrch MS -- Development and Validation of Machine Learning Models for Survival Prediction in Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia (ML-AML).
Best Statistical & Computational Methods Abstract is recognized. From left: Sophie Huddart, Culture & Collaboration Chair; Steve Tungjitviboonkun, ClinRsrch MS; June Chan, Education Vice Chair.
Invited Oral Presentations
- Shwetha Kandhalu Bhaskar, HDS MS -- Effects of bilingualism on cognitive decline in ADRD Syndromes.
- Brittany Peterson, ETS PhD -- The impact of vision center establishment on patient visits and cataract surgical volume: a multi-country staggered adoption difference-in-differences analysis.
- Rong Wu, ClinRsrch MS -- A Bayesian Semi-parametric Framework for Aligning Disease Trajectories.
Invited oral presenters are recognized. From left: Sophie Huddart, Culture & Collaboration Chair; Rong Wu, ClinRsrch MS; Brittany Peterson, ETS PhD Student; Shwetha Kandhalu Bhaskar, HDS MS; June Chan, Education Vice Chair.