To celebrate the successful laboratory move as well as our recent graduates (Nima Ghorasi with his B.S. in Biology and Shanxi Jiang with her PhD in Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology), Dr. Vondriska hosted the lab for an afternoon of barbecue, swimming, and fun in the sun.

In a thesis entitled "Epigenetic Regulators of Cardiac Hypertrophy and Failure", Dr. Jiang presented the work she conducted over the course of her PhD. We are grateful for her dedication to the laboratory and are excited to see what the future holds. Congratulations, Dr. Jiang!

We are glad Nima's hard work is being recognized by being published in the winter quarter edition of the UCLA Biomedical Research Publication. He would like to thank his mentor, Manuel, for his guidance and advice. His abstract pertaining to the remodeling of chromatin structure in heart failure can be read in full in the attachment below.

At this year's UCLA Undergraduate Research Poster Day, Elizabeth presented the culmination of her work in the lab with a poster entitled "Chromatin structure mediates cardiac hypertrophy and failure". Her efforts were recognized when she was selected to receive the Dean's Prize Science Award. Congratulations on your outstanding work, Elizabeth!

In her defense titled "Orchestration of Cardiac Gene Expression Mediated by Global Chromatin Architecture", Dr. Elaheh Karbassi captivated her audience as she explained the culmination of her work while a graduate student in the lab. Her years of hard work and dedication to scientific research were evident in the range and depth of data she had to present. Congratulations again, Dr. Karbassi!