Have you ever seen an interesting title for an article, open it up, and come to find that you have no understanding of the topic, let alone how to begin understanding it? Or, are you interested in scientific fields, but when you try to explain said interest to your friends or family, they just stare blankly in confusion?

At BioBuzz, we are a collection of UCSF PhD students who have gone through such experiences. Our hope is to overcome intellectual and communication barriers, so our peers and the general public can understand exciting advances in science while also developing skills and insight into how to make science digestible for everyone.

We are made up of students from differing fields, offering perspectives on multiple research areas ranging from women’s health, neuroscience, metabolism, and immunotherapies. At BioBuzz, we also take article and literature review submissions by other UCSF students from different disciplines. From our blog, we hope more people can share our love for science and get a true buzz for biology!

Meet our team!

Michelle Seeler is a PhD student in the Willsey lab investigating the effect of estrogen on mucus production and cilia, antenna-like organelles on cells responsible for fluid flow and signaling, which line the airway and fallopian tubes. Beyond the bench, she is passionate about communicating the importance of women’s health research to promote public understanding and drive advocacy to increase involvement in the field.

Mandy Buck is a PhD student ins Nadia Roan’s lab, where she she studies sex differences at the intersection of aging, inflammation, and HIV pathogenesis. She believes effective science communication is key to bridging the gap between research and the public and hopes to draw on her science education training and teaching experience from her master’s to help others confidently share their knowledge.

Christina Roca is a PhD candidate in the Willsey Lab, where she investigates how the autism-associated gene ASXL3 impacts microtubule formation and early development. She cares deeply about improving public scientific literacy, particularly among young learners, and believes that training the next generation of scientists to have strong scientific communication skills is key to achieving that goal.

Caitlyn Dang is a PhD student in the Jain Lab at the Gladstone and Arc Institutes studying brain lipid metabolism and hypoxia-induced vascular remodeling. As a first-generation student, she is passionate about scientific communication and making research accessible for diverse audiences, especially family.

Gwen Cusing is a PhD student in the labs of Greg Allen and Julia Carnevale, where she utilizes synthetic biology and functional genomics to designing better CAR T cell products for solid tumors. She believes that communicating research to broad audiences, especially to the general public, is a key responsibility of scientists and is passionate about increasing scientific literacy overall.

Emily Chen is a second-year PhD student in the Roybal Lab at UCSF, where she uses synthetic biology to enhance CAR-T cell therapies for solid tumors. She is especially passionate about scientific communication for patients, striving to bridge the gap between complex treatments and the understanding patients deserve when navigating their own care.

---

Written by: Michelle Seeler