Research Opportunities at ucla

Mechanisms to rejuvenate and protect livers from graft rejection following organ transplantation

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**THIS POSITION IS NOW CLOSED FOR APPLICATIONS AND WILL REOPEN IN SPRING 2026**

UCLA PI Name: Jerzy Kupiec-Weglinski
Division/Department: Liver and Pancreas Transplantation/Department of Surgery
Expected Weekly Time Commitment: 8-10 h

Our lab focuses on molecular approaches to study the immunology of liver graft rejection, with a particular emphasis on ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). We study how immune responses, gene regulation, and cellular interactions contribute to liver damage and explore novel therapeutic strategies to prevent graft rejection. We seek motivated individuals eager to learn cutting-edge techniques, contribute to our collaborative efforts, and gain valuable experience in this innovative field. We are specifically interested in understanding how the interface of the hepatocytes interact with infiltrating immune cells during sterile inflammation. We are developing small molecules to modulate the antigen expression of certain surface receptors to negatively regulate the immune response. The methodologies we use involve mouse animal models, molecular and cellular based assays, and flow cytometry. The student should be available for at least 8-10 h per week. The research opportunity may be used in conjunction with independent research study or appropriate class for a class grade.

Please register at this site: https://forms.gle/TUH1w29Zetvf5yRj6

Research Opportunities at ucla

Strategic Collection Plan: Living Collections Inventory

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UCLA PI Name: Anthony Baniaga
Division/Department: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology/UCLA Mathias Botanical Garden
Lab website (if applicable): https://www.botgard.ucla.edu/
Expected Weekly Time Commitment: 5 hours

The UCLA Mathias Botanical Garden needs 2-3 students for Fall 2025 to aid in the assessment of the living collections at the Garden. Students are responsible for locating plants in the garden and recording information about them into a database. A basic understanding of plant taxonomy is important as is keeping to a disciplined schedule. Students should be able to work independently or on a small team outside in dense vegetation for 5 hours per week. Additionally, a small independent project on an aspect of the garden and the living collections is required. Open to 1 unit of SRP credit.

Interested students should send a resume or CV and a brief description of their interest and relevant skills to Josh Brindley (joshbrindley@ucla.edu). We are hoping to field high quality candidates and the positions start Fall 2025 but interviews start mid August.

Research Opportunities at ucla

Research Position with Dr. Bruno Peault’s Lab

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Dr. Bruno Peault is looking for an undergraduate student to join their research team.

UCLA PI Name: Bruno Peault, PhD

Our laboratory has identified organ resident mesenchymal stem cells, which can differentiate into bone, cartilage, adipose tissue, smooth and skeletal muscle, and developed several projects to uncover the role of those stem cells in 1- tissue turnover and regeneration, and 2- pathologic development: fibrosis (joint, kidney, skeletal muscle) and atherogenesis (atheroma plaque formation in blood vessels).

We are now recruiting undergraduate students to work on the following themes:

– Gene therapy of OA (osteo-arthritis). In OA, irreversible degradation of joint cartilage is accompanied by inflammation and fibrosis, causing pain and severely affecting motion. The project aims to control joint pain, inflammation, and fibrosis by transducing siRNAs (small interfering RNAs) into relevant affected cell types.

– Stem cell dysfunction in lipedema. Lipedema is the dramatic and uncontrolled accumulation, in affected females (around 1/10), of subcutaneous abnormal adipose tissue in lower limbs, and eventually in the upper part of the body (arms, belly). Long misdiagnosed as obesity, lipedema has specific features: pain, fibrosis. The etiology of lipedema is unknown and we have hypothesized that qualitative and/or quantitative defects in mesenchymal stem cells are causing this severe, invalidating disease. The projects consists in the localization and quantification of mesenchymal stem cells in lipedema tissues, followed by their purification, culture, and functional assessment.

Candidates should commit to work at least 20 hours/week at the Orthopaedic Hospital Research Center, UCLA.

Please send resume and cover letter to Bruno Peault at bpeault@mednet.ucla.edu.

Research Opportunities at ucla

Correlation of Patient Imaging with Pathology: Correlating Radiological and Pathological Features

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The Department of Radiological Sciences is seeking highly dedicated undergraduate students to assist with ongoing research projects involving the correlation between radiological (patient imaging) and pathological features, to help improve image-based detection, diagnosis, and treatment of different abdominal cancers. Responsibilities include:

– Data Entry/ Data Validation: includes medical chart review, data extraction, and image analysis for departmental research projects.
– Administrative tasks such as filing and making copies as instructed by study coordinators.
– Other Duties: Produce reports and contribute to Department surveys. Assemble and organize accurate information to meet deadlines for the School of Medicine. Participate in teams, committees, events and other group activities. Perform special projects and other duties as assigned.

Time Commitment: 5-20 hours per week, Year-round (1 year with the possibility of extension)

Preapproved for: SRP-99 credit

Documents to submit: Resume & transcript. Send as PDF.

Send materials to: nbarroso@mednet.ucla.edu

Qualifications: Students with an interest in gaining research or clinical experience are preferred. Must be detail-oriented, organized, work well with others, and be unafraid to ask questions. Life science majors or students on pre-med, pre-health tracks are preferred, but anyone interested in the opportunities is encouraged to apply.

If interested, please e-mail Alondra Prado at alondraprado@mednet.ucla.edu with your resume/CV.

 

Research Opportunities at ucla

Research Opportunity: Study of antipsychotic medication adherence in schizophrenia

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Qualifications: 

Students with an interest in schizophrenia and psychopathology research are encouraged to apply. This position is particularly appropriate for undergraduates with a minimum overall GPA of 3.5. First and second year students are preferred so that they have longer to serve the position. Must be extremely reliable and dependable (excessive tardiness and absences are NOT acceptable). Must be able to balance competing demands and must be competent in multitasking and adapting to fluctuating priorities. Candidate must be detail-oriented, organized, accurate, and efficient with minimal supervision. Candidate must have excellent oral and written English communication skills. Ability to understand issues of patient confidentiality and safety is required. Proficiency in the use of standard PC office equipment and standard PC software (i.e. MS Office, Word, Excel, Internet searching) is also required. Must have excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrate appropriate interpersonal boundaries with patients and staff and be able to work in a shared workspace with a diverse team of mental health professionals. Some experience in library literature reviews, use of Pubmed on UCLA library website, some experience in reading and summarizing psychology research articles. Experience in the use of SPSS is preferred.

Approximate hours per week: 8 hours

Document to submit: Resume, Cover Letter, Unofficial Transcript, Writing Sample

Applications accepted until: Rolling applications

Send materials to: ksubotnik@mednet.ucla.edu

Company/department website: https://www.semel.ucla.edu/aftercare

Document Submission Notes: Please name each file with the following format (in the following example, the applicant’s name is “Jane Doe”, the content is “Resume” and date (e.g., Jane Doe Resume 9-1-2017). Other documents should use a similar file naming format. Writing sample can be a term paper for college level class, preferably one with a literature review included.

Job Description:

The UCLA Aftercare Research Program has been on the UCLA campus for over two decades, and provides free psychiatric treatment for patients with a recent onset of schizophrenia who participate in the research study. Our longitudinal research program examines whether we can accentuate our effort to get first break patients back to work to precent the onset of chronic disability. For this SRP position, the student will help maintain our extensive database on medication adherence among our schizophrenia patients. In addition, the student will assist in the review of the literature on medication adherence in schizophrenia and summarize articles related to medication adherence.

Approved for credit: SRP-99 credit only