Abalone Research along the California Coast

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In collaboration with National Park Service (NPS) and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boz Institute is implementing eDNA methodology to investigate the distribution of endangered black and white abalone populations along the Southern California Coast.  Recently in May 2022, after establishing positive lab eDNA controls, Boz and NPS researchers and students collected eDNA samples from Channel Islands, CA  in areas known to have  abalone cluster populations.  The purpose of this phase of the study is to establish field positive controls and test the methods’ sensitivity to distinguish white from black abalone wild populations, before sampling more challenging sites with historically populated but currently unknown abalone distribution. 

Boz Scholars Published ADHD Study in Scientific Reports

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Boz Institute research team, including scholars Katie O’Connell, Natalie Olander, and Sora Haagensen, have published their work about pre-COVID-19 ADHD childhood and adolescence trends in U.S. in the journal Scientific Reports (Nature Portfolio). The team analyzed public health and socioeconomic data and discovered underlying associations between ADHD diagnosis in children and critical factors related to socioeconomic status, including race, financial status, family structure, and neighborhood characteristics. Upon completion of the research immersion programs Boz offers in partnership with UCSD Extension, Katie, Natalie, and Sora joined our research team. Click here to read about their experience.

Boz Scholar Receives Co-author Credit in Scientific Journal

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Summer 2019 research immersion program scholar, Sora Haagensen, fellow Boz researchers and Dr. Keith Lombardo from the National Park Service have published their work Relative genetic diversity of the rare and endangered Agave shawii ssp. shawii and associated soil microbes within a southern California ecological preserve in the journal Ecology and Evolution. This was a collaborative research project between Boz and the National Park Service.

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Virtual Career Panels

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We hosted virtual career panels for our fall 2020 pre-college research immersion scholars. Industry Professionals (scientists, project manager, CEO/founder) from Janssen, Catalent and Hemex Health joined a medical student from Northstate University and spoke with our scholars about their career journeys, ethics, workplace culture, lessons learned from good and bad career decisions and more.

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Boz Scholars Compete at Oregon Bio Pitch & Partner 2020

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Two Oregon High School students and Boz research immersion scholars, Angela Zhao (fall 2020) and Natalie Olander (summer 2020), competed in the translational and basic research categories respectively at the Oregon Bio Digital conference – Pitch & Partner 2020 event. Angela’s presentation entitled Putting the Brakes on Parkinson’s Disease from work done as an intern at the VA Portland Healthcare System. Natalie presented the research she worked on at Boz, the Effects of HFPO-DA Stress on C. Elegans. Natalie and Angela were two high school students among 19 competitors including graduate students, scientists and entrepreneurs competing for prizes in four categories at the three-day virtual bioscience conference.

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No Barriers Too Big

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As the world learns to adapt to a virtual reality this year, Boz Institute reached students that would not ordinarily have an opportunity to participate in the Research Immersion Program. This fall we launched a scholarship-funded, online program for students from underserved communities in California, Oregon, and a group of students from Ghana, Africa. Boz co-founder Liisa Bozinovic, a Board member of a Ghana focused nonprofit, Learn Grow Lead, helped implement the program to include scholars from Ghana. This article presents the story of this collaboration through interviews with the program participants and instructors.

Athena Honors Pinnacle Award Winner Maysoon Lehmeidi

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Athena – California’s premier leadership advocate for women in STEM – revealed its “Pinnacle Winners” during its 22nd Annual Pinnacle Awards on August 6. This distinguished industry award recognizes leaders that continuously champion the advancement, promotion and career success of women leading in STEM. Selected from an extraordinary list of nominees, winners in four categories were “virtually” cheered and celebrated across our region’s STEM community.

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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Annual Report Recognition

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Boz Life Sciences Research and Teaching Institute’s collaboration with the National Park Service (NPS) was featured in the 2019 NPS Annual Report titled  “Cabrillo Hosts Cutting-Edge Genetics Research”. The NPS and Boz’s collaboration was an effort to quantify the genetic diversity of Shaw’s agave in Southern California and Mexico. Read about our high school student leaders working on this project through Boz’s summer research immersion and internship program.

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