On Tuesday, April 11, seven Berkeley graduate students did a stellar job at showcasing their research in three-minute talks at this year’s campus Grad Slam event, making the process of selecting winners very difficult indeed. 

All seven semi-finalists should be very proud of the incredible work they did in creating, revising, and presenting their talks to a broad, public audience. We were pleased to have viewers not just from Berkeley but from across the state, the nation, and even some international viewers. If you would like to watch the event, you can view the recording here.

Congratulations to our Berkeley Grad Slam 2023 winners!

Berkeley’s Grad Slam 2023 first-place winner, Madison Browne

Madison Browne’s presentation, Shedding Light on Alzheimer's Disease, took first place!

As the Campus Grad Slam Champion, Madison Browne will now move on to compete with campus winners from the other nine UC campuses on May 5, 2023 for prize money and the chance to take home the “Slammy.” Madison is a 4th year PhD candidate from Alabama, currently using her training in animal behavior, immunology, and circadian biology to explore a non-invasive light therapy for Alzheimer’s Disease. She is passionate about developing diagnostic and therapeutic tools to improve quality of life for those suffering from brain disorders, and plans to devote her career to this cause.

Claire Gasque, the Grad Slam 2023 second-place winner

Second Place

Claire Gasque’s talk, What Can Volcanoes Teach Us about Space? took second place.

Claire Gasque is a fourth-year student pursuing her PhD in physics. She conducts research at UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory, where she uses satellite data to probe plasma processes in various space environments. Claire is passionate about effective scientific communication, both for public outreach and within the scientific community.

Andrea Anaya Sanchez, the Grad Slam 2023 People’s Choice Award winner

People's Choice Award

The People's Choice Award, decided upon by the audience, went to Andrea Anaya Sanchez, for her presentation titled The Role of Aldehydes during Bacterial Infection.

A third-year PhD student from Mexico, Andrea is fascinated by bacteria and how sophisticated they can be. She is currently a joint student in the Stanley and Portnoy labs where she is interested in understanding how bacteria have adapted to their host in order to succeed in infection. In particular, she studies the role of aldehydes in host-pathogen infection dynamics.

We wish to thank our distinguished panel of judges, Wendy Tokuda, Eric Stern, Fiona Doyle, and Justin Lee and also the many audience members who weighed in on the People’s Choice Award.  We look forward to next year’s competition!

Interested in participating next year? Learn what it takes to join the competition.

Watch the 2023 Grad Slam