The Cancer Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) program is the undergraduate program of USC Michelson CSI-Cancer. Each student is assigned a mentor which helps them work on a specific project. CURES can be seen in the wet and dry lab, developing assays and creating Markov chain models. Being a CURE student cannot be defined, it is up to the student to define their goals and project!
We are no longer accepting applications for the Spring 2020 semester. Please check back in August 2020. We encourage you to keep in contact and join us at our upcoming events. Follow us on Instagram @uscmichelsoncsicancer or look out for updates on this page.
USC undergraduates interested in the research in our lab are also encouraged to enroll in BISC 410: Applications of Molecular Biology to Medicine taught by professors Kuhn and Hicks.
The CURE Team
Sachin Narayan
Team: Colorectal Cancer/CAR-T
See MoreMajor: Global Health
Minor: Business Finance
Joined: Fall 2018
Research Focus: Applying the HD-SCA3.0 assay to colorectal cancer samples to identify potential prognostic markers from various rare cell populations. Also, developing a CAR-T identification assay for prostate cancer (PSCA/PSMA).
Scholarships and Fellowships: Trustee Scholarship
Involvements on Campus: LACI, Project RISHI, Trojan Knights, Doctors without Borders
Talk to me about: Hip hop and Bollywood dance
Eric Yang
Team: Multiple Myeloma
See MoreMajor: Quantitative Biology
Minor: N/A
Joined: Spring 2019
Research Focus: Developing Recommendation Algorithms for Therapy Response Prediction in Multiple Myeloma
Scholarships and Fellowships: Presidential Scholarship, BUGS, USC SURF, USC PURF, Trudi Berwin Student Support Award, Mastercard Global Scholarship
Involvements on Campus: Community Health Connection, WorldMed, Remedy Through Music, Phi Delta Theta Fraternity
Talk to me about: Duke basketball
Jaden Mullin
Team: Lung Cancer
See MoreMajor: Human Biology
Minor: N/A
Joined: Fall 2019
Research Focus: Improved classification of early stage non-small cell lung cancers through addition of HD-SCA work flow
Scholarships and Fellowships: University Scholarship
Involvements on Campus: Troy Philippines, Trojan Steel
Talk to me about: Cool jewelry
Jena Tran
Team: IMC
See MoreMajor: Quantitative Biology
Minor: N/A
Joined: Spring 2019
Research Focus: Immune Profiling: utilizing imaging mass cytometry (IMC) to characterize immune cells with up to 30 markers
Scholarships and Fellowships: N/A
Involvements on Campus: Community Health Involvement Project, USC Student Government, USC Food Recovery Network
Talk to me about: The best sad songs
Nathan Kristanto
Team: Mathematical Oncology
See MoreMajor: Biomedical Engineering
Minor: N/A
Joined: Spring 2020
Research Focus: Quantifying patient performance status via IoT technology to complement the clinical assessment for enhanced patient care
Scholarships and Fellowships: N/A
Involvements on Campus: Colleges Against Cancer
Talk to me about: Video Games
Aidan Plant
Team: Prostate Cancer
See MoreMajor: Neuroscience
Minor: Jazz Studies
Joined: Fall 2019
Research Focus: Case Study of AVPC in collaboration with Veterans Affairs
Scholarships and Fellowships: N/A
Involvements on Campus: USC Climbing Club, SCHO, Jazz Ensemble
Talk to me about: Jazz and food
Kate Cunningham
Team: Osteosarcoma
See MoreMajor: Quantitative Biology
Minor:
Joined: Spring 2018
Olivia Hart
Team: CAR-T
See MoreMajor: Health and Human Sciences
Minor: Spanish & Healthcare Studies
Joined: Spring 2019
Research Focus: Morphological analysis and comparison of circulating tumor cells in early and late stage breast cancer patients; Developing an HD-SCA rare cell identification assay to detect and analyze CAR-T cells through a liquid biopsy
Scholarships and Fellowships: USC Dornsife SOAR, BUGS
Involvements on Campus: Trojan Health Volunteers, Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority
Talk to me about: Skydiving in Switzerland
Carlisle Maney
Team: Multiple Myeloma
See MoreMajor: Global Health
Minor: N/A
Joined: Fall 2019
Research Focus: Predicting therapy response in patients with multiple myeloma
Scholarships and Fellowships: USC PURF, Gilman Scholarship
Involvements on Campus: Kicks for Kids, Keck Student Ambassador, Pi Beta Phi Sorority
Talk to me about: The outdoors
Vera Hsu
Team: Breast Cancer
See MoreMajor: Biochemistry & Health and Human Sciences
Minor: N/A
Joined: Fall 2019
Research Focus: Assessing Treatment Response and Acquired Drug Resistance of HR+/HER2+ Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients through Liquid Biopsy
Scholarships and Fellowships: Presidential Scholarship, USC Dornsife SOAR
Involvements on Campus: Music Inspiring Community, USC TAO, Camp Kesem, GlamourGals
Talk to me about: One Direction and mahjong
Dean Tessone
Team: Osteosarcoma/Multiple Myeloma
See MoreMajor: Biological Sciences
Minor: Healthcare Studies
Joined: Fall 2019
Research Focus: Assay development focused on detecting circulating osteogenic lineage cells in the peripheral blood in order to better detect osteosarcoma metastases and disease progression through states of multiple myeloma.
Scholarships and Fellowships: N/A
Involvements on Campus: Troy Camp, Trojan Knights, Global Medical Training
Talk to me about: The best fried chicken in LA
Salmaan Sayeed
Team: Bladder Cancer
See MoreMajor: Computational Neuroscience
Minor: Linguistics
Joined: Spring 2020
Research Focus: Investigating rare cells in bladder cancer samples to identify prognostic markers of the disease. Developing proteomic biomarkers for phenotypic characterization of CRCs.
Scholarships and Fellowships: N/A
Involvements on Campus: USC Mobile Clinic, USC Medesign, Intramural Soccer
Talk to me about: English Premier League!
Cameron Baab
Team: Prostate Cancer
See MoreMajor: Computer Science
Minor: Computational Biology & Bioinformatics
Joined: Fall 2018
Research Focus: Machine learning/artificial intelligence work with patient data to develop models to predict anything from CTC enumeration to optimal treatment for retinoblastoma patients
Scholarships and Fellowships: N/A
Involvements on Campus: N/A
Talk to me about: Music production and poker
Arushi Agrawal
Team: Breast Cancer
See MoreMajor: Neuroscience
Minor: Healthcare Studies
Joined: Spring 2019
Research Focus: Single Cell Analysis of Treatment Responses and Tumor Evolution in Hormone Receptor-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer patients
Scholarships and Fellowships: Presidential Scholarship, USC PURF, USC Dornsife SOAR
Involvements on Campus: Community Health Connection, Interaxon, Residential Community Council, Project RISHI, Flying Samaritans
Talk to me about: LA restaurants
Mihir Kumar
Team: Lung Cancer/CAR-T
See MoreMajor: Human Biology & Economics
Minor: Mathematical Finance
Joined: Spring 2019
Research Focus: Characterization of Small Cell Lung Cancer & Tracking/Monitoring CAR-T cells in HER2+ Breast Cancer
Scholarships and Fellowships: Trustee Scholarship, USC Dornsife SOAR
Involvements on Campus: Project RISHI, KDSAP, EMSC, Imagining America, SCHO
Talk to me about: Investing options
Sean Solomon
Team: Multiple Myeloma
See MoreMajor: Economics/Mathematics
Minor: Healthcare Studies
Joined: Fall 2019
Research Focus: Temporal Dynamic Modeling of Multiple Myeloma Progression from Precursor States
Scholarships and Fellowships: Presidential Scholarship, University Scholarship, USC Dornsife SOAR
Involvements on Campus: Science Outreach, Trojan Youth Soccer League, JEP, USC Cycling Team, International Consulting Club, Phi Delta Theta Fraternity
Talk to me about: Triathlon and backpacking
Daniel Liu
Team: Prostate Cancer
See MoreMajor: Biochemistry
Minor: N/A
Joined: Fall 2019
Research Focus: Integrative molecular characterization of circulating and disseminated tumor cells from high-risk localized prostate cancer patients
Scholarships and Fellowships: USC Dornsife SOAR
Involvements on Campus: Troy Camp, Dornsife Ambassador, USC Resident Assistant
Talk to me about: Pokemon and food
CURE Events
The CURE Symposium
The CURE Symposium is held twice a year in order to give CURE students an opportunity to present their work. Faculty, mentors, friends, and family are invited to attend this wonderful event showcasing the hard work of our CURE students. Check out some of the videos above in order to learn more about the type of work our students do and what they present at symposiums!
Night at the Lab
Night at the Lab is held once a year in the fall. This event is put on entirely by undergraduates and invites cancer patients, researchers, clinicians, and community members to explore the type of work we do in the lab. Presentations by undergraduates, Drs. Peter Kuhn and Jim Hicks, collaborators, and patient advocates give attendees an in depth view of the current state of cancer care. We hope to see you at the next one!
Spring 2020 Fellowship awardees
Congratulations to our outstanding students!
| Kate Cunningham | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Eric Yang | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Ryan Storgard | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Carlise Maney | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Arushi Agrawal | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Olivia Hart | Dornsife SOAR |
| Mihir Kumar | Dornsife SOAR |
| Daniel Liu | Dornsife SOAR |
| Vera Hsu | Dornsife SOAR |
| Sean Solomon | Dornsife SOAR |