The Cancer Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) program is the undergraduate program of USC Michelson CSI-Cancer. Each student is assigned a mentor who helps them work on a specific project. CUREs can be seen in both 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 set their own goals and project!
Thank you for your interest in the CURE program. Currently, we are fully subscribed for the Spring 2021 semester. Please continue to follow us for updates and information. If you have any questions, please contact Allie Welsh, awelsh@usc.edu.
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. Students should review the prerequisites leading up to BISC 410.
Recapping 2020-2021
- Coordinated ACE the CURE, our virtual 8-week summer program with 17 students. At the end of the program, students presented the collaborative project on The Key Terms for Conversations About Race and research project to the team.
- Provost and SOAR undergraduate research fellowship recipients
- Fall 2020: 5 Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowships, 8 Dornsife SOAR Fellowships
- Spring 2021: 4 Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowships, 12 Dornsife SOAR Fellowships
- University and department awards
- Olivia Hart: Order of Troy Student Recognition Award
- Ryan Storgard: University Trustees Award and John Petruska Memorial Award in Biological Sciences
- Mihir Kumar: Okin Scholarship in Biological Sciences
- Organized Night at the Lab, Emerging Stronger: The Future of Cancer Care After Covid-19, held virtually in December 2020. The night included presentations from physicians, patient advocates and CSI-Cancer researchers, as well as a virtual tour to our new lab space on the 2nd floor of Michelson Center.
- Started our Research Exploration and Career Help Program in collaboration with the Neighborhood Academic Initiative to mentor students in the surrounding community
- Added 5 new students to the program
- Carla Collier, Carli Kaleta, Audrey Limb, Emmeline Lin, Maddie Walker
- Class of 2021
- Olivia Hart, B.A. Health & Human Services, Minor: Spanish, Health Care Studies
- Carlisle Maney, B.A. Global Health, Minor: Foundations of Data Science
- Ryan Storgard, B.A. Biological Sciences, M.S. Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine
- Alumni Updates
- Kate Cunningham (2020) – starting her MD-PhD at Columbia University Irving Medical Center
- Kate Rappard (2019) – accepted a new job with the Department of Justice
- Dillon McKinley (2019) – starting his MD at University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine
- Preeya Katti (2019) – starting her MD at St. George’s University School of Medicine
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
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
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, SURF Gupta Family Fellowship
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
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: USC Dornsife SOAR
Involvements on Campus: USC Climbing Club, SCHO, Jazz Ensemble
Talk to me about: Jazz and food
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
Alexander Hill
Team: Head & Neck Cancer
See MoreMajor: Quantitative Biology
Minor: N/A
Joined: Spring 2020
Research Focus: Identification of biomarkers for Head/Neck cancer and immunotherapy response using the HD-SCA 3.0 workflow.
Scholarships and Fellowships: USC Dornsife SOAR
Involvements on Campus: USC Triathlon
Talk to me about: Computers and Camping
Carla Collier
Team: Lung Cancer
See MoreMajor: Biochemistry
Minor: Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Joined: Fall 2020
Research Focus:
Scholarships and Fellowships:
Involvements on Campus: Colleges Against Cancer, Joint Educational Program, USC Interaxon, Young Scientists Program, Latino Students in Medicine
Talk to me about: Photography, music, and books
Carli Kaleta
Team: Multiple Myeloma
See MoreMajor: Quantitative Biology
Minor:
Joined: Spring 2021
Research Focus:
Scholarships and Fellowships:
Involvements on Campus:
Talk to me about:
Amanda Hmelar
Team: Prostate Cancer
See MoreMajor: Human Biology
Minor: Spanish
Joined: Spring 2019
Research Focus: NBDs Rare Cell Classification/Enumeration, HDSCA3.0 Longitudinal Sampling Data Analysis
Scholarships and Fellowships: Presidential Scholarship
Involvements on Campus: LAC + USC Department of Emergency Medicine Volunteer, Spanglish Tutoring, Troy Camp, USC American Medical Women’s Association, Foreign Service Society
Talk to me about: Snowboarding and sailing
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, USC Dornsife SURF
Involvements on Campus: Project RISHI, KDSAP, EMSC, Imagining America, SCHO
Talk to me about: Investing options
Vera Hsu
Team: Breast Cancer
See MoreMajor: Biochemistry
Minor: Applied Analytics
Joined: Fall 2019
Research Focus: Assessing Copy Number Alterations from Cell-Free DNA in HR+/HER2+ Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients.
Scholarships and Fellowships: Presidential Scholarship, USC Dornsife SOAR, USC Dornsife SURF
Involvements on Campus: Music Inspiring Community, USC TAO, Camp Kesem
Talk to me about: Mahjong and good food
Dean Tessone
Team: Multiple Myeloma
See MoreMajor: Biological Sciences
Minor: Health Innovation
Joined: Fall 2019
Research Focus: Enumeration and characterization of tumor-derived extracellular vesicles in multiple myeloma and precursor states, as well as analysis of their correlation with disease stage. In addition, focused on developing models that stratify patients based on DNA sequencing and RNA sequencing of tumors.
Scholarships and Fellowships: USC Dornsife SURF, USC Dornsife SOAR Gillman Fellowship
Involvements on Campus: Trojan Knights, Troy Camp
Talk to me about: The best fried chicken in LA
Rithik Rajani
Team: Prostate Cancer/Multiple Myeloma
See MoreMajor: Quantitative Biology & Computer Science
Minor: N/A
Joined: Fall 2019
Research Focus: Developing a ML model for prostate cancer patients based on CTC predicting patient lifespan
Scholarships and Fellowships: N/A
Involvements on Campus: Association of Innovative Marketing and Consulting, Photo Club, MEDLife, Project Rishi
Talk to me about: Stocks and options, photography, and electric skateboards
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: USC Dornsife SURF, USC Dornsife SOAR
Involvements on Campus: USC Mobile Clinic, USC Medesign, Intramural Soccer
Talk to me about: English Premier League!
Annie Amacker
Team: Normal Blood Donor
See MoreMajor: Human Biology
Minor: Health Care Studies
Joined: Spring 2020
Research Focus: Utilize the HDSCA 3.0 Normal Blood Donor reports to understand the underlying elements of immunity and disease in non-cancerous cohorts.
Scholarships and Fellowships: USC Dornsife SOAR
Involvements on Campus: Gamma Phi Beta Sorority, Trojan Tutoring, Colleges Against Cancer, Trojan Health Volunteers, Human Biology Association
Talk to me about: Brooklyn 99
Audrey Limb
Team: Normal Blood Donor
See MoreMajor: Human Biology
Minor: Health Innovation
Joined: Fall 2020
Research Focus:
Scholarships and Fellowships:
Involvements on Campus: Peaks and Professors, Science Outreach, Trojan Health Volunteers, Remedy Through Music
Talk to me about: Sustainable fashion, hiking, and ATLA
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, USC Dornsife SURF
Involvements on Campus: Community Health Connection, Interaxon, Residential Community Council, Project RISHI, Flying Samaritans
Talk to me about: LA restaurants
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
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, USC PURF
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
Andrew Chen
Team: Lung Cancer
See MoreMajor: Biochemistry
Minor: Computer Programming
Joined: Spring 2020
Research Focus: Early detection of lung cancer using HD-SCA
Scholarships and Fellowships: Presidential Scholarship, USC Dornsife SURF
Involvements on Campus: Chaotic 3 Hip Hop, NSQK Dance
Talk to me about: Anything boba related
Lily Bai
Team: Lung Cancer
See MoreMajor: Human Biology
Minor: Healthcare Studies & Piano Performance
Joined: Spring 2020
Research Focus: Tracking mutations for patients undergoing treatment with stage 3 and 4 non small cell lung cancer
Scholarships and Fellowships: Presidential Scholarship, USC Dornsife SOAR
Involvements on Campus: Science Outreach, Habitats of Humanity
Talk to me about: Traveling and dogs
Hari Mellacheruvu
Team: Lung Cancer
See MoreMajor: Quantitative Biology
Minor: N/A
Joined: Spring 2020
Research Focus: Predictive modeling for non-small cell lung cancer using the HD-SCA 3.0 assay.
Scholarships and Fellowships: N/A
Involvements on Campus: Science Outreach, Share a Meal
Talk to me about: Soccer
Emmeline Lin
Team: Pancreatic Cancer
See MoreMajor: Human Biology
Minor: Healthcare Studies
Joined: Fall 2020
Research Focus: Using liquid biopsy to identify and compare possible biomarkers in hepatic portal vein and peripheral blood of patients for earlier pancreatic cancer detection and characterization of disease progression
Scholarships and Fellowships: Presidential Scholarship, USC URAP, , USC Dornsife Continuing Students Scholarship, USC Dornsife SOAR
Involvements on Campus: Peer Health Exchange, Community Health Involvement Project, The Coastlander
Talk to me about: Cheese and snowboarding
Maddie Walker
Team: Normal Blood Donor
See MoreMajor: Human Biology
Minor: N/A
Joined:
Research Focus:
Scholarships and Fellowships:
Involvements on Campus:
Talk to me about: Backpacking and camping
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.
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!
Senior Presentations
At the end of every school year, our graduating seniors finish off their lab career with a presentation encompassing their college lives, both in and outside of the lab. We celebrate the end of late-night lab thoughts and all the hard work our seniors have put in throughout their time with us. Check out our latest virtual celebration of senior Kate Cunningham below!
Senior Celebration Spring 2021 
Night at the Lab 2020 
Night at the Lab 2020 Attendees 
Dr. Julia Beaver from the FDA presenting at Night at the Lab 2020 
Patient advocate Dr. Carole Baas presenting at Night at the Lab 2020 
Virtual celebration for Kate Cunningham’s graduation (2020) 
A look into Kate C.’s time in the lab 
Cheers, Kate! 
CURE students fighting on at the CURE Symposium 2020 
CURE student Mihir Kumar presenting at the 2020 CURE Symposium 
CURE student Dean Tessone presenting at the 2020 CURE Symposium 
Night At the Lab 2019 
Our CURE ushers at Night At the Lab (2019) 
CURE students leading Night at the Lab (2019)
Summer 2021
Over the course of summer 2021, our undergraduates returned to the lab for the first time in a year. The summer is the best time for our students to make significant progress on their projects, dedicating upwards of 20 hours a week.
Fellowship Awardees
Congratulations to our outstanding students!
Summer 2021| Arushi Agrawal | SURF Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Carla Collier | SURF Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Carli Kaleta | Trudi Berwin Student Support Fellowship |
| Nathan Kristanto | Trudi Berwin Student Support Fellowship |
| Audrey Limb | SURF Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Emmeline Lin | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Jaden Mullin | SURF Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Salmaan Sayeed | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Arushi Agrawal | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Lily Bai | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Alex Hill | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Amanda Hmelar | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Vera Hsu | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Mihir Kumar | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Audrey Limb | SOAR Dornsife Gupta Family Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Emmeline Lin | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Carlisle Maney | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Jaden Mullin | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Aidan Plant | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Rithik Rajani | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Salmaan Sayeed | SOAR Dornsife Stone Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Sean Solomon | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Jena Tran | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Maddie Walker | SOAR Dornsife Stone Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Arushi Agrawal | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Annie Amacker | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Lily Bai | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Olivia Hart | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Alex Hill | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Mihir Kumar | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Carlisle Maney | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Aidan Plant | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Salmaan Sayeed | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Sean Solomon | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Ryan Storgard | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Dean Tessone | SOAR Dornsife Gillman Fellowship |
| Eric Yang | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Arushi Agrawal | SURF Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Andrew Chen | SURF Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Vera Hsu | SURF Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Mihir Kumar | SURF Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Carlisle Maney | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Salmaan Sayeed | SURF Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Sean Solomon | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Dean Tessone | SURF Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Eric Yang | SURF Gupta Family Fellowship |
| 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 | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Mihir Kumar | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Daniel Liu | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Vera Hsu | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Sean Solomon | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Kate Cunningham | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Ayeshna Desai | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Ryan Storgard | Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship |
| Arushi Agrawal | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Vera Hsu | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
| Isabelle Vu | SOAR Dornsife Undergraduate Fellowship |
