Group photo of YPA members at the 2022 YPA Symposium on the YSB terrace

Annual Postdoc Symposium

Each year, the symposium is held towards the end of the spring semester. 

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9th Annual Postdoctoral Symposium

symposium-poster-2026

📅 Friday, June 5, 2026
📍 OC Marsh Lecture Hall, Yale Science Building (260 Whitney Avenue) 

Registration is OPEN! 
Submit abstracts by May 18th!
Join us for the 9th Annual Yale Postdoctoral Symposium — a celebration of the entire Yale postdoctoral community.
This event is for ALL postdocs and Associate Research Scientists (ARS) across Yale University, from every school, department, and discipline.
Whether you’re in biomedical sciences, engineering, public health, social sciences, humanities, law, policy, arts, or beyond, this symposium highlights the full diversity, talent, and impact of Yale’s postdocs.
Why attend?
  • đŸŽ€ Discover the incredible breadth of work happening across Yale and communicate your own projects.
  • đŸ€ Connect with colleagues beyond your department or school.
  • đŸ’Œ Gain insights and expand your professional network through our career panels.
  • 🌟 Hear from an inspiring keynote speaker.
  • 🌍 Build interdisciplinary connections across the university.
This symposium is more than a research showcase. It’s about visibility, professional growth, interdisciplinary connection, and community.
If you’re a Yale postdoc and/or ARS, this is your symposium.
Let’s come together and showcase the strength and diversity of postdoctoral scholars across Yale. 💙
đŸ“©  Questions:ypa.symposium@yale.edu
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Time Presenter Abstract Title
8:45–8:55 Jeadran MalagĂłn Rojas Persistent inequities in pneumoconiosis mortality in Colombia’s mining regions: a 25-year ecological analysis
8:55–9:05 Eman Salih Assessment of War-Induced Structural Damage to Pharmaceutical Infrastructure in Sudan Using Remote Sensing and GIS Analysis: Implications for Essential Medicines Availability
9:05–9:15 ChloĂ© BĂątie Pathway toward consensus: Lessons from the WHO Pandemic Agreement negotiations
9:15–9:25 Clare Tonks William Bullock: A Natural History Showman

Session Moderator: Cameron Gardner

Time Presenter Abstract Title
11:00-11:10 Claire Laxton Herpesviruses and their role in Long COVID
11:10-11:25 Swapnil Chandrakant Devarkar Redefining the mechanism of action of tetracyclines
11:25-11:35 Lin Li KLF15 Acts as a Brake on Adipocyte Progenitor Expansion
11:35-11:45 Suparna Basu Targeting metabolic–DNA repair vulnerabilities in SDHB- and FH-deficient renal cell carcinoma with the novel alkylating agent KL-50
11:45-11:55 Chetna Dhembla Insights into the nuclear import of 26S proteasomes using a nuclear pore complex (NPC) mimic system
11:55-12:05 Linhui Xie Benchmarking generative scaffold design methods for peptide engineering in TCR–MHC complexes
12:05-12:15  Michael Chung Discovering interpretable low-dimensional dynamics from high-dimensional scientific data

Session Moderator: Meredith Gwin & Devika Gireesan

Time Presenter  Abstract Title
2:15 - 2:25 Fatma Zehra Calikusu Multi-locus genetic dosage shapes cognitive disease progression in Parkinson’s: 15-year meta-analysis of 24 cohorts
2:25-2:35 Buket Esen Evaluating the Effect of Continued FIT Screening: A Target Trial Emulation Using the Clone–Censor–Weight Method
2:35-2:45 Amit Kumar Nagwani Cryptobiosis and Aging: A Multilevel Framework for Studying Stress Resilience in Tardigrades
2:45-2:55 Alexandra Scalici Phenotype risk scores identify distinct clinical features and genetic correlates of eating disorders
2:55-3:05 Siyuan Cheng ATHENA: A deep learning–based AI for functional prediction of genomic mutations and synergistic vulnerabilities in prostate cancer
3:05-3:15  Anne-Marie Rickmann Using Foundation Models as Pseudo-label Generators for Pre-clinical 4D Cardiac CT Segmentation

Session Moderator: Jesslyn Hariyanto & Bingqing Yao

keynoteposter
Introducing our 9th annual postdoc symposium Keynote Speaker, Dr. MĂłnica FeliĂș MĂłjer! Register for the symposium today to attend her talk, “Identity as a Superpower: On Belonging and Building a Career That’s Yours” to kick off the day!
panelists
We will be featuring 4 panelists in non-academic careers. Please attend the symposium to engage with them and attend the networking session that follows the panel. Submit a question for the panelists!

Session Host: Anubha Seth, PhD

Moderator: Montrell Seay, PhD

Panelists: 

Tyler Goddard, PhD – Patent Agent

Samantha Rossano, PhD – Medical Science Liaison

Morag Grassie, PhD – B.F. Executive Director, Yale Ventures

Theresa Allio, PhD – Global Regulatory Lead, Sanofi

afterpartyposter
Announcing… đŸ„ the symposium after-party at Blue Orchid! Register + submit an abstract for the symposium then join us at Blue Orchid! Keep the momentum going after the symposium! RSVP

📍 Blue Orchid — 130 Court St, New Haven, CT
🕗 Friday, June 5 | 8:00 PM

Meet new people, connect with fellow postdocs, and celebrate the close of YPA Symposium 2026 with us!

The 2026 Yale Postdoctoral Symposium was organized by: 

Nebal Abu-Hussein, PhD – Co-Coordinator, YPA 2026 Symposium Committee

Eunate Gallardo, PhD – Co-Coordinator, YPA 2026 Symposium Committee

Anubha Seth, PhD – Sponsorship Subcommittee Leader

Chetna Dhembla, PhD – Events Subcommittee Leader

Nicole DeMarais, PhD – Communications Subcommittee Leader

Meredith Gwin, PhD – Schedule and Judging Subcommittee Leader

Other committee Members:  Cameron Gardner, PhD; Danielle Sohai, PhD; Gizem Nur Sahin Kayabolen, PhD; Ziwei Zhang, PhD; Tianyu Zhu, PhD; ChloĂ© BĂątie, PhD; Quinton Ng, PhD; Nikolaos Papachatzis, PhD; Jesslyn Hariyanto, PhD; Nai Yang Yeat, PhD; Bingqing Yao, PhD; Manisha Saini, PhD; Marielle Jensen-Battaglia, PhD; and Devika Gireesan Sudha, PhD.

The Symposium Committee also extends its sincere thanks to all abstract and poster judges for their invaluable contributions to the success of this program.

We hope you enjoy the symposium, and we look forward to seeing you again next year!

Volunteer

Become a member of the Symposium Planning Committee today!

Help out today!

Check out the previous symposiums