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Abstract or Project Description

Renews professional learning services for Oakland Unified School District’s Tier 2 literacy intervention model.

Abstract or Project Description

To support the alignment of Collaborative Classroom’s core curricula with California’s Designated English Language Development requirements.

Abstract or Project Description

Central Stage is a non-affiliated organization with a mission to promote arts and culture. They emphasize Persian arts and culture by providing an affordable space where the artistic community can explore creative expression, promote cultural dialogue and share knowledge through performing and visual arts.

Abstract or Project Description

To support trainee travel for conferences and professional development in IBD research associated with Dr. Meenakshi Rao’s project.

Abstract or Project Description

To support trainee travel for conferences and professional development in IBD research associated with Dr. Jose Ordovas-Montanes’s project.

Abstract or Project Description

We currently lack cures for chronic intestinal diseases. Despite incredible advances in understanding and targeting inflammation that promotes diseases like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis, many patients develop resistance to treatment, suggesting alternative disease drivers beyond immune cells and the inflammatory molecules they produce. While the gut has remarkable regenerative capacity due to specialized stem cells that can rapidly generate all mature epithelial cells, diseases may impact underlying structural cells called fibroblasts which typically guide epithelial cell regeneration. 

Our research vision is to identify the root causes of inflammatory diseases in the human gut. Our work suggests that fibroblasts play a central role, and our experiments to date have developed a unique and simple way to test how fibroblasts work closely with inflammatory immune cells. The specific internal cellular wiring diagrams and external cellular communication systems responsible for the identity and variety of fibroblasts that exist in the gut remain elusive. Our project aims to realize an integrative research plan that bridges careful human observation, computation and mechanistic experimental models. Our group is fundamentally interested in determining whether and how fibroblasts store and propagate disease in intestinal tissues to develop cures for IBD.

Abstract or Project Description

Males and females with IBD differ in terms of incidence of disease, symptoms and response to treatments. The underlying reasons are largely unknown. Understanding why these sex differences exist could reveal why many patients develop IBD as they enter young adulthood. Sex hormones such as testosterone surge during adolescence and then circulate at very different levels in males and females. These hormones are powerful signaling molecules that regulate diverse aspects of physiology and may play a role in IBD. Clinical studies hint that testosterone signaling is protective in IBD, but it is largely unclear which cells this hormone signals to in the gut and how this signaling might influence intestinal inflammation. We have discovered that testosterone signals to an important population of nerve cells along the gut-brain axis, called nociceptors, that communicate information about the gut to the brain and regulate local immune responses. Using mice in which we can specifically disable testosterone signaling in nociceptors without altering it in the rest of the body, we will determine how testosterone influences inflammation and tissue repair in colitis. The results will advance the understanding of how sex hormones impact disease activity in IBD, potentially explain sex-dependent outcomes and inform therapeutic strategies.

Abstract or Project Description

The epithelial cells lining the intestine control responses to gut bacteria, limiting intestinal damage in Crohn’s disease. A critical gene in this pathway is DUOX2, which is up-regulated in response to bacteria and helps maintain intestinal health. We discovered that Crohn’s disease patients who carry genetic variants in DUOX2 are more likely to progress to fibrotic disease complications requiring surgery. We tested an intestinal gene signature for refractory pediatric Crohn’s disease in a database containing 2000 small molecules, identifying 140 which might be more effective therapies. Our studies will now utilize a novel Human Intestinal Organoid, or “mini-gut” model system for refractory pediatric Crohn’s disease that we have developed informed by genetic factors like DUOX2. We have prepared stem cells from pediatric Crohn’s disease patients who did or did not have DUOX2 genetic variants, and will differentiate them into white blood cells and human intestinal organoids. This novel model system will be used to test ways to modulate pathways linked to fibrosis in patients, by screening the top small molecules which we have identified as potentially beneficial. Our studies will advance precision medicine, by developing a platform to screen new therapies in patient-derived intestinal organoids with clinically important genetic variants.

Abstract or Project Description

To support trainee travel for conferences and professional development in IBD research associated with Dr. Lee Denson’s project.

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Operating under the belief that filmmakers are essential to our culture, Cinemama is fostering connectivity, building a culture and furthering the pro-filmmaker movement in the Bay Area.

Abstract or Project Description

Instigated by Keith Hennessy in 2001, Circo Zero makes live performances responding to political crises, while centering queer bodies and ideas. Producing in unceded Ramaytush Ohlone territory/San Francisco, the broader Bay Area and on tour since 1982, their performances are interdisciplinary and experimental, motivated by anti-racist and decolonial practices.

Abstract or Project Description

“Figure it out (a temporary commune)” is a two-month community residency for creative experiments, workshops and performances taking place October-November 2025 at Space 124. Directed by Circo Zero, “Figure it out” creates a context for queer, cross-racial and intergenerational collaboration centering politically-engaged dance.

Abstract or Project Description

Hip-hop theater ensemble Felonious explores commodification, ageism and survival, as told through the eyes of an almost washed-up band in this new play.

Abstract or Project Description

To support the City of Oakland Cultural Funding Program, the Oakland Arts Pooled Fund, which will restore critical funding for 25 Oakland-based arts and culture organizations whose City of Oakland grants were cut by nearly 80% due to the 2024 budget deficit. Held at the East Bay Community Foundation, the fund will make these organizations whole for their 2025 awards.

Abstract or Project Description

Abstract or Project Description

To support trainee travel for conferences and professional development in IBD research associated with Dr. Hyun Jung Kim’s project.

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The Color of Gastrointestinal Illnesses (COGI) Equity in GI conference focuses on addressing health disparities in gastroenterology for Black and Brown patients. Topics include patient advocacy, provider perspectives and access to care.

Abstract or Project Description

Community Vision is a community development financial institution that has invested more than $607 million in financing and $39 million in grants to support nonprofits and small businesses in disinvested communities. Through grants, flexible capital and real estate and financial advising, Community Vision helps Black, Indigenous and People of Color led arts and community organizations curb displacement and secure permanent cultural spaces.

Abstract or Project Description

CONNI MCKENZIE is a multidisciplinary artist and producer working across dance, theater, video production, mixed media and photography. Her work explores embodied experience, environmental connection and the social histories embedded in place.