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Abstract or Project Description

Abstract or Project Description

Explores gender-based sexual violence and challenges today’s pervasive rape culture through dance, theater, music and video. Drawing from specific dance forms pioneered by gay men and women of color and engaging with intergenerational, racially diverse stories of survivors, CUNTI seeks to add complexity to narratives of sexual violence.

Abstract or Project Description

Supporting youth programs for Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ). CURYJ (pronounced ‘courage’) unlocks the leadership of young people to dream beyond bars. They look to young people to lead the way in transforming our communities by investing in their healing, aspirations and activism.

Abstract or Project Description

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) can be a devastating illness. For reasons that are not clear, the cells that line the intestine in patients with IBD mount inappropriate immune responses toward the harmless bacteria that normally inhabit our gastrointestinal tracts. Treatments for IBD therefore involve suppressing immune responses to limit the damage caused by this immune hyperactivation. These medications have many complications, particularly in children who may be more susceptible to the infectious complications associated with their long-term use. The goal of our research is to facilitate the development of new therapies for IBD that specifically limit the hyperactivation of intestinal immune responses. We have identified a novel regulator of inflammatory responses in the cells that line the intestine and in this proposal we explore the mechanism by which this receptor acts to suppress deleterious immune responses. We hypothesize that these discoveries will offer important insights into the pathophysiology of IBD and will suggest a new therapeutic strategy for this disease.

Abstract or Project Description

A biennial festival that brings together local and national performing artists for performances, panels and workshops. The festival provides participants with unique opportunities for artistic exchange and cross-pollination.

Abstract or Project Description

Fresh Lifelines for Youth is a youth justice organization disrupting the pipeline to prison ang changing the juvenile justice system.

Abstract or Project Description

Oakland Public Library will purchase 14,000 giveaway books for distribution through multiple programs, including but not limited to: Día (Diversity in Action) events, Books for Wider Horizons  preschool graduation giveaways, Summer Reading, Winter Bingo, and Share the Love outreach (distribution at the Oakland Housing Authority picnics, hospital waiting rooms, laundromats).

Abstract or Project Description

Friends of the Lobkowicz Collections is a non profit organization that supports the mission of preserving, studying, and sharing the Lobkowicz Collections in the United States and abroad.

Abstract or Project Description

A series of screen and digital printmaking residencies to explore displacement and the housing crisis affecting San Francisco’s Mission District. Housed in a mobile unit, the residences will travel along the 16th Street corridor between Mission and Bryant streets.

Abstract or Project Description

The intestinal microbiota is the collective term used to described the microbial community living in our intestine and playing important roles. However, the intestinal microbiota is also playing a central role in the development of many chronic inflammatory diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We previously reported, in mice, that the consumption of dietary emulsifiers, a food additive broadly used by the food industry to improve texture and extend shelf life of processed food, is able to detrimentally alter the intestinal microbiota, promoting the development of intestinal inflammation. In the current research project, we propose to test the impact of dietary emulsifier on human microbiotas from IBD patients, including IBD patients carrying pathogenic bacteria, named adherent-invasive Escherichia coli and known to be involved in disease susceptibility. We predict that IBD microbiotas will be very prone to disturbance by emulsifiers and that such disturbances may initiate/drive intestinal inflammation. The study of the impact of dietary emulsifiers on IBD-derived microbiota may advance a general paradigm of understanding non-genetic factors that can drive IBD development and promote disease flares. Moreover, our studies may result in dietary advice for those at risk of or suffering from IBD.

Abstract or Project Description

Confronts racial politics and hierarchical structures in dance. The project will examine Neil Greenberg’s seminal work Not About AIDS Dance and Bill T. Jones’ Still/Here, both of which premiered in 1994 in the midst of the AIDS crisis.

Abstract or Project Description

To support the operations of Building Blocks Christian Academy.

Abstract or Project Description

Sycamores, formerly known as Hathaway-Sycamores Child and Family Services, has been dedicated to supporting individuals and families in Southern California for over a century, offering vital care and services during challenging times. With a rich history dating back to 1902, Sycamores continues to provide innovative and impactful behavioral health programs, positively affecting over 18,000 lives annually,

Abstract or Project Description

So far, most research on the microbiome in IBD has mostly focused on gut bacteria. However, there is increasing evidence to support that other members of the microbiome, such as viruses, may also have an important role. Herein we plan to study the role of viral exposures in IBD development. A major challenge of this type of study is to disentangle what is cause, and what is consequence of the inflammatory process. However, having access to a unique cohort of pre-clinical samples, where we were able to gather thousands of samples from patients with Crohn´s disease and ulcerative colitis, years before their diagnosis, as well as matched healthy individuals, addresses some of the challenges. Acquiring mechanistic information into preclinical disease can therefore potentially uncover key pathogenic events. In this unique cohort, we will use also a unique method, recently described, called the VirScan. This is a very sensitive and specific assay, that has the ability assess all viral exposures that happened throughout the life span of an individual. By combining this unique technique in a distinctive cohort, we hope to be able to identify whether there are specific viral exposures that may act as triggers for the development of IBD.

Abstract or Project Description

Inspired by Kurosawa’s 1950s masterpiece that explored the intersection of memory, perspective and fact. Told through the stories of five main characters, this contemporary adaptation will use theatrical design, dance and a layered sound scape to conjure our present economic and political divide along with our society’s inability to grapple with objective truths.

Abstract or Project Description

This performance draws its title from an emancipation era African-American expression, which revealed the reality that while slavery had been abolished, the promise of freedom was not real. Using physical theater, site specific performance and experimental movement, the work will comment on the state of African American theater today and its lack of freedom from the “standard” cannon.

Abstract or Project Description

IMPACT offers violence-prevention programs for people to embody their own power, set effective boundaries, defend their physical and emotional safety, and heal.

Abstract or Project Description

Indian People Organizing for Change (IPOC) is a Bay Area organization working toward social and environmental justice. IPOC advocates for the preservation of Shellmounds, Indigenous villages and burial sites, many of which have been leveled, destroyed and paved over to allow for new development.

Abstract or Project Description

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is caused by the accumulation of genetic, microbial and lifestyle factors that increase the susceptibility to the disease beyond a red line. The number and complexity of such factors makes prediction of pathogenesis and therapy particularly difficult. Nevertheless, clinical and experimental observations demonstrate a strong association of early life events with susceptibility to IBD later in life. In particular, a loss in microbiota, for example after prolonged antibiotic therapy, leads to higher incidence in pediatric IBD. We have observed, using a mouse model, that the vigorous reaction of the immune system to the expanding microbiota during weaning protects from high susceptibility to IBD later in life. We further found that early life diet provided to the mother and pups is an important element that determines the composition of the microbiota and the reactivity of the immune system. In particular, high fat diet (HFD) given early imprints high susceptibility to IBD in adulthood, through mechanisms that we explore in this project. As the human population is increasingly hygienic and exposed to HFD, normalization of diet and complementation with key bacteria may become effective strategies to prevent, early in life, the development of IBD later in life.

Abstract or Project Description

A multi-faceted performance celebrating 100 years of outcast activism in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. The event will focus on the culture of liberation among young, working women in the early 20th century; 1960s transgender activism; the stories of Vietnamese immigrants, and of the longstanding single room occupancy Cadillac Hotel.