Recent Headlines

SF BUILD celebrates first alumni PhD and former co-director turned Dean
Read about the exciting accomplishments of two SF BUILD community members—the first program alum to get a PhD and a university leadership appointment for a former SF BUILD co-lead.

SF BUILD alumna's research shines light on excessive lead levels in city neighborhoods
March 25, 2022 - SF State and SF BUILD alumna Chinomnso Okorie is using community-engaged research to fight health disparities in her hometown. Written by Kanaga Rajan

Designing a biomedical coding program focused on inclusivity and agency
April 15, 2021 — Black Lives Matter protests and outcries to transform academic structures led to the creation of SF BUILD's Virtual BUILD Research Collaboratory, an online summer program focused on diversity and inclusion.

Turning Anger Into Action: Minority Students Analyze COVID Data on Racial Disparities
August 12, 2020 — Minority students, whose communities suffer disproportinately throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, mobilize to pursue biomedical careers in hopes of closing the gap on data on racial disparities.

New SF BUILD-funded study shows importance of inclusive science
March 4, 2020 — Lead author Cathy Samayoa, an adjunct assistant professor at SF State and former SF BUILD core leader, discusses her work recruiting Latina breast cancer survivors to a biomedical study in an SF State News article.

SF BUILD Scholar wins presentation award at ABRCMS conference
Jan. 24, 2020 — SF BUILD Scholar Steven Lomeli credits his success to his martial-arts discipline and mentor support.
Look Back Into Our Past
"Lab Partners" — an SF State Magazine feature about SF BUILD
Dec. 10, 2019 — A four-page article in SF State's magazine focuses on SF BUILD efforts to create a more welcoming space in science.
SF BUILD and USCF receive $14.8 million to continue the SF BUILD program
Aug. 8, 2019 — The National Institutes of Health will fund the SF BUILD program for an additional five years. The announcement was picked up by KRON and Hispanic Outlook on Education Magazine.
New SF State News story about the Alma Project
July 16, 2019 — A new story on the SF State News website focuses on the Alma Project, which is funded through SF BUILD. Recent graduate Khanh Tran was quoted in the article, as well as recent graduate Imani Davis and student Mireya Arreguin, both SF BUILD scholars.
SF BUILD Assistant Directors Speak at 2019 Pacific Student Research Symposium
May 10, 2019 — Dr. Kelechi Uwaezuoke (Assistant Director Diversity, Inclusion and Community Partnerships) and Dr. Audrey Parangan-Smith (Assistant Director) shared their stories as keynote speakers at the 2019 Pacific Student Research Symposium. Drs. Uwaezuoke and Parangan-Smith discussed their life paths and role models in science, as well as their commitment to increasing diversity in STEM.
Dr. Leticia Márquez-Magaña reflects on being an ICCE Faculty Fellow
May 7, 2019 — As she completes her time as an ICCE Faculty Fellow, Dr. Márquez-Magaña reflects on her experience and her story in the May ICCE newsletter.
Faculty Agents of Change member Federico Ardila awarded a Simons Fellowship
May 6, 2019 — Professor of Mathematics Federico Ardila, a member of the Faculty Agents of Change group, was awarded a 2019 Simons Fellowship to advance his international collaborations. Ardila is this year's only awardee from a non-Ph.D.-granting institution.
Study reveals the hidden contributions of women to science
Feb. 7, 2019 — Research funded by SF BUILD and published in the journal Genetics was covered by the Atlantic, the San Francisco Chronicle, and KCBS. In the study, researchers showed that female programmers made substantial contributions to the field of theoretical population genetics — but historically, they were often mentioned only in acknowledgements sections of research papers rather than being credited as authors. Co-author and SF State Assistant Professor of Biology Rori Rohlfs received funding for the research through the SF BUILD Faculty Agents of Change group to implement a collaborative research model for undergraduate students. All seven of the students she worked with, now SF State alumni, are co-authors on the paper.
Students combine science and social consciousness
Dec. 17, 2018 - Patrick Monahan from SF State News interviews SF BUILD scholars Thai Hill, Jake Gibson, and Alexandra Shiffer.
Featured Scholar: Bethany Morin
Congratulation to Bethany Kristi Morin and her mentor, Dr. Joseph Chen for winning top poster award in microbiology at the 2017 ABRCMS conference!
Maria Contreras: BUILD Scholar Uses Research Success as Weapon Against Stereotype Threat
Along with supporting research and career development activities, SF BUILD offers education and training to assist students and their faculty mentors, in creating a productive research environment, and maintaining a healthy mentor/mentee relationship.
SF BUILD Scholar Prepared For Challenges Of Graduate Programs
This spring, the first cohort of SF BUILD Scholars received letters of acceptance to top graduate programs across the country. Being accepted into graduate school is a milestone in the lives of these SFSU students and great news for SF BUILD faculty and staff at SFSU and UCSF who have been working to prepare these students for the next step in their biomedical science careers.
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Feature article dives deep into SF BUILD's approach to building diversity
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SF BUILD focuses on new faculty in push for inclusive classrooms
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In the Shadows of the Chemical Sciences: Answers for Science Students Taking the Path Less Traveled
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SF BUILD & The CVP! Preventing Chronic Disease Under Challenging Circumstances
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A Message from Madeline Flamer, concerning Jabulani/Black Grad for Summer 2017
Ongoing Programs & Events

SF BUILD Scholars Program
Scholars investigate biomedical research questions that are of interest to them and relevant to local communities.

UCSF LCOE APP at SFSU Info Webinar
The UCSF LCOE Aspiring Physicians Program hosted an informational webinar on Monday 11/8 from 5-6pm.
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VBRC Summer 2021
June 21, 2021 - July 28, 2021 - SF BUILD VBRC is a 6-week course in basic bioinformatics coding open to current NIH BUILD students nationwide. The theme for this year was COVID-19 resilience and resistance and scholars presented their work on July 23, which is now available on Youtube.

Summer 2021 Virtual Writing Retreat
June 14, 2021 - June 16, 2021 - SF BUILD has traditionally hosted two annual writing retreats in person at off campus locations in the Bay Area (i.e., Mercy Center in Burlingame and Westerbeke Ranch in Sonoma), however, due to the pandemic the writing retreat was held online for 2021.