Discover USC grows in attendance and impact yearly. This year we are so excited to boast over 3,300 attendees and a variety of outstanding presentations. Thanks to the participation and efforts of every volunteer, reviewer, mentor and visitor, the event generated awareness of the excellent research and scholarship happening at USC, and celebrated the hard work of undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral and medical scholars from across the entire USC system.

Undergraduate Student Awards

There were 53 reviewed poster presentation sections for undergraduate student presenters at Discover USC 2025. Download the undergraduate awardee lists for the morning (pdf) and afternoon (pdf) sessions to view the award recipients from all these competitive groups. Congratulations to all 2025 undergraduate awardees.

 

Graduate Student Awards

For graduate students, there were 24 poster sections at Discover USC 2025. Congratulations to all 2025 graduate student award recipients.

Poster Session	Session Winner
A	Mikayla Carty, Biological Sciences
B	Stacey Oxendine, Biomedical Sciences
C	Bryce Nussbaum, Chemistry
D	Bashar Elkhatib, Biomedical Engineering
E	Pamela Lee, Marine Science
F	Logan Brown, Nurse Anesthesia
G	Macie Goodman, Pharmaceutical Sciences
H	Hayden Petee, Counseling and Rehabilitation
I	Tremaine Sails-Dunbar, Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior
J	Ibitein Okeafor, Health Services Policy and Management
K	Elizabeth Gillooly, Psychology
L	Angelica Williams, Public History
M	Ashita Bhan, Pharmaceutical Sciences
N	Sophia Salvatore, Genetic Counseling
O	Courtney Wright, Biomedical Sciences
P	Jennii Burrell, Chemistry
Q	Andrew Chang, Biomedical Engineering
R	Autumn Muhly, Geological Sciences
S	Bryel Frasch, Genetic Counseling
T	Pradeep Sahu, Exercise Science
U	Fahmida Akter, Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior
V	Nudrat Hassan, Epidemiology
W	Muyiwa Ategbole, Epidemiology
X	Dawson Petersen, Linguistics

 

Medical Scholar Awards

There were 12 awards given to medical scholar presentations at Discover USC 2025. Congratulations to all 2025 medical scholar award recipients.

Basic Medical Sciences
First Place	Parker Liggett, Medical Student, USC School of Medicine Columbia Impact of Aging on Brain Language Processing and Verbal Discourse Mentors/co-authors: Roger Newman-Norlund
Second Place	Olivia Strock, Medical Student, USC School of Medicine Columbia Identification of Non-Sedative Herbal Formulas for Chronic Pain Management Mentors/co-authors: Kandy Velazquez
Third Place	Trado Mayson, Medical Student, USC School of Medicine Columbia Developing a mouse model of repetitive, mild traumatic brain injury Mentors/co-authors: Michael Gower, Nicholas Colonna, Dana Joe

Case Reports/Small Series/Learning Innovation
First Place	Ashley Alex, Internal Medicine Resident, Prisma Health–Midlands Minocycline-Induced Hyperpigmentation in a Patient with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Diabetes Mentors/co-authors: Alexandria Lucas, Alec Curtis
Second Place	Elana Maccou, Surgery Resident, Prisma Health–Midlands Christopher Levy, Surgery Resident, Prisma Health–Midlands Complex resection of locally advanced splenic flexure colonic adenocarcinoma Mentors/co-authors: Irena Rupp
Third Place	Kathyrn Klein, Medical Student, USC School of Medicine Columbia Kendall Stalls, Medical Student, USC School of Medicine Columbia Enhancing Medical Education Through Clinical Skills Simulation Events Mentors/co-authors: Christopher Gainey

Populations Outcomes/Quality
First Place	Abigail Harrison, Family Medicine Resident, Prisma Health–Midlands Utility in Messaging Patients Regarding Advanced Care Planning at Annual Wellness Visits Mentors/co-authors: Matthew Nodelman
Second Place	Ryan Titus, Medical Student, USC School of Medicine Columbia A Novel Approach of Monitoring Stroke Recovery: Contactless Sensor for Gait Speed and Fugl-Meyer Action Duration Estimation Mentors/co-authors: Souvik Sen, Sanjib Sur, Zhuangzhuang Gu, Hem Regmi, Reza Tavasoli
Third Place	Michael DeFiori, Medical Student, USC School of Medicine Columbia A Holistic Approach to Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome: Enhancing Care Through the Eat-Sleep-Console Protocol Mentors/co-authors: Stephanie Gibson

Therapeutic Effectiveness/Efficiency
First Place	Mary McElveen, Medical Student, USC School of Medicine Columbia Levocarnitine Improves Heat Stress Survival in Caenorhabditis Elegans Model of Polyglutamine Disorders.  Mentors/co-authors: Miroslav Cuturic
Second Place	Jesse Fournier, Medical Student, USC School of Medicine Columbia Local injection of particles for retinoic acid drug delivery improves muscle structure and modulates inflammation in mice recovering from cast immobilization Mentors/co-authors: Michael Gower, Kelsey Krusen, Candice Cheung, Kidochukwu Atube
Third Place	Caleb Rashidian, Internal Medicine Resident, Prisma Health–Upstate The Use of Prolonged Antibiotic Treatment in Complicated Urinary Tract Infections: A Retrospective Chart Review Mentors/co-authors: Amanda Schnee

 

Postdoctoral Scholar Awards

For postdocs, there were two poster presentation competition sections at Discover USC 2025. Congratulations to all 2025 postdoctoral scholar award recipients.

Session and Award	Winner
Morning Session: First Place	Urmi Hadler Delta-9-Tetrahhydrocannabinol Abrogates Neurodegeneration by Regulating Microbial Dysbiosis in Transgenic Mice Expressing gp120 of HIV-1 Mentor: Prakash Nagarkatti
Morning Session: Second Place	Amarnath Satheesh Marudamuthu Indole-3-Carbinol Ameliorates SEB-Induced Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Mice by AhR-Mediated Production of Anti-Microbial Peptides Mentor: Mitzi Nagarkatti
Afternoon Session: First Place	Pablo Bonilla Villamil Molecular and Cellular Adaptations to Chronic Light Cycles Disruption in the Medial Amygdala during Adolescence Mentor: Alessandra Porcu
Afternoon Session: Second Place	Taylor Carter Effect of Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Administration on Hematopoietic Stem Cell Differentiation Mentor: Prakash Nagarkatti