Pharmacy Research Day

Research Day is an annual College-wide event that brings together our trainees, alumni, faculty members, and staff as well as industry and academic colleagues from the Chicago area.

Organized in the fall, the event showcases the research of our students and postdoctoral trainees, with ~80 posters presented. We invite exciting keynote speakers whose cutting edge research appeals to campus-wide audiences. The day concludes with award ceremonies and reception. We recognize our outstanding students, faculty members, and alumni as well as top poster presenters.

SAVE THE DATE: The 17th Annual Research Day will be held on Thursday, October 29, 2026.

2025 Poster Award Winners

Category	Place	Authors	Title	Winner
Biology: Molecular & Cell Biology; Mechanism of Action	UIC Retzky College of Pharmacy Award for Excellence in Research 1st Place	Andrea Ochoa-Raya, Samuel J. Eallonardo, Mercy Kremer, An N. Tran, Nancy E. Freitag	Listeria monocytogenes Virulence Factor Inlb as a Key Modulator of Vertical Transmission and Human Trophoblast Infection
Biology: Molecular & Cell Biology; Mechanism of Action	UIC Retzky College of Pharmacy Award for Excellence in Research 2nd Place	Angela Nguyen, Yu-Shiuan Cheng, Ricky Chen, Alison E. Ondrus	Characterizing the Ligand-Sensitive TMEM97 Interactome in Alzheimer's Disease
Biology: Molecular & Cell Biology; Mechanism of Action	UIC Retzky College of Pharmacy Award for Excellence in Research 3rd Place	Joohyun Im, Amrita Salvi, Yi-Chien Wu, Dan D. Lantvit, Steve Seung-Young Lee, Barbara C. Vanderhyden, Joanna E. Burdette	PAX8-Dependent Signaling Networks as Drivers of Progression and Immune Evasion in High Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer
Chemistry: Discovery, Modeling, Design & Evaluation of Novel Drugs; Detection & Delivery Systems	UIC Retzky College of Pharmacy Award for Excellence in Research 1st Place	Bo Zhou, Leticia Do Amaral, Emily K. Bremers, Reagan S. Haney, Emilio F. Merino, Yuexin Li, Mairi Buchanan, Delphine Baud, Steve Brand, Marcus C. S. Lee, Jane X. Kelly, Max Totrov, Maria B. Cassera, Paul R. Carlier	Pharmacokinetics, in vivo Efficacy, Phenotyping, and Safety Pharmacology of the Irresistible Antimalarial PRC1910
Chemistry: Discovery, Modeling, Design & Evaluation of Novel Drugs; Detection & Delivery Systems	UIC Retzky College of Pharmacy Award for Excellence in Research 2nd Place	Shan He, An Lu, Endong Zhang, Chih-Jia Chao, Luyu Zhang, Zongmin Zhao	A Macrophage-based Therapy for Immune Reprogramming in Acute Lung Injury Treatment
Chemistry: Discovery, Modeling, Design & Evaluation of Novel Drugs; Detection & Delivery Systems	UIC Retzky College of Pharmacy Award for Excellence in Research 3rd Place	Sonia Alavi, Mohammadali Ashraf, Angeliki Andrianopoulou, Hajirah N. Saeed, Richard A. Gemeinhart	Co-Network Reinforcement of Gelatin Methacryloyl Enables Mechanically Robust Hydrogels for Ocular Microneedles
Clinical, Social, and Applied Sciences	UIC Retzky College of Pharmacy Award for Excellence in Research 1st Place	Ibrahim Warsi, Aaron N. Winn	Evaluating the Impact of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Out-of-Pocket Caps on Patient Assistance Fund Efficiency and Coverage Expansion
Clinical, Social, and Applied Sciences	UIC Retzky College of Pharmacy Award for Excellence in Research 2nd Place	Hadeel Fouad, Melissa Badowski, Joy Lee, Jennifer Flores,Jane Park, Mahesh Patel, Brian Drummond, Scott Borgetti, Drew Halbur, Emily Drwiega	Evaluation of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Virologic Suppression Among Reincarcerated Individuals Within the Illinois Department of Corrections
Innovate@UIC Innovation Award	1st Place (tie)	Dua H. Al-Smadi, Emily R. Smith, Yitao Dai, Manead Khin, Joanna Burdette, Brendan M. Duggan, James J. La Clair, Alessandra S. Eustáquio, Michael D. Burkart	Biosynthetic Engineering of the Pladienolides
Innovate@UIC Innovation Award	1st Place (tie)	An Lu, Chih-jia Chao, Qing Bao, Philana Phan, Zongmin Zhao	Membrane-destabilizing Expansion Lipid Derived LNPs for mRNA Targeting Delivery
UI Cancer Center Cancer Science Prize	1st Place	Monica A. Haughan, Hannah J. Lusk, Carlismari Grundmann, Tova M. Bergsten, Aloysius J. Klingelhutz, Laura M. Sanchez, Joanna E. Burdette	Adrenergic Signaling in Adipocytes Drives Ovarian Cancer Cell Invasion
UI Cancer Center Cancer Science Prize	2nd Place	Chih-Jia Chao, An Lu, Zongmin Zhao	In situ Dendritic Cell Therapy enabled by Lipid Nanoparticle-mRNA Formulations
American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Student Chapter Choice Award	1st Place	Edidiong Udofa,Siwar Hamdi, Shan He, Zongmin Zhao	Bone Voyage: Nanoparticle-mediated Reprogramming of Monocyte Trafficking for Bone Marrow Targeting
Pharmaceutical Sciences Graduate Student Association Student Chapter Award	1st Place	Edward Huang, Sara Elgendy, Marko Bogosavljevic, Cory Matsumoto, Yu Gao	Development of an Optimized Low-Input Workflow for Highly Sensitive Proteomics
ISPOR Student Chapter Choice Award	1st Place	Mohammad Alnuman, Kibum Kim	Suggestions for the Economic Analysis of Pharmaceutically Assisted Weight and Obesity Management: All Kilograms are not Equal
ISPE Student Chapter Choice Award	1st Place	Lilah Khoja, Kibum Kim	Trajectory of Cardiometabolic Risk Profile During and After Use of Anti-Obesity Medications