UAlbany Biology Students win Best Poster Awards at 2025 Gordon Research Conference

Weston, Larsen, Ramesh, and Tavarez at GRC Ventura 2025

The University at Albany Department of Biological Sciences is excited to announce that Joey Tavarez, Kennedi Weston, and Pujhitha Ramesh were recognized with Best Poster Awards at the recent Salivary Glands and Exocrine Biology Gordon Research Conference (GRC) held in Ventura, California from January 26 to 31, 2025. This prestigious international conference promotes collaboration and showcases cutting-edge research in Exocrine Biology with a focus on exocrine tissue biology, aging, cancer, autoimmune diseases, and artificial intelligence. During the event, members of the GRC announced the recipients of the 2025 Best Poster Awards. Among the University at Albany’s awardees were two graduate students, Joey Tavarez and Kennedi Weston, from Professor Mindy Larsen's lab in the Department of Biological Sciences, and Dr. Pujhitha Ramesh, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the labs of Drs. Yubing Xie and Susan Sharfstein at College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering. This prestigious honor includes $500 in a travel scholarship for each Best Poster Award. 

 

Before joining UAlbany’s MCDN Ph.D. program, Joey completed his B.S. in Biology studies at University at Albany. His current research investigates the role of fibroblast cells in salivary gland fibrosis, a condition due to radiation treatment for head and neck cancer and Sjögren’s Syndrome. By using single-cell RNA sequencing and bioinformatic analysis, Joey identified three fibroblastic cells that respond to injury thus providing possible mechanisms of fibrosis and potential therapeutic targets for promoting regeneration.  In addition to his poster presentation at the GRC, Joey contributed to organizing and co-chairing a session focused on "Visualizing Exocrine Biology in Health and Disease" and he also had time to host four podcasts interviewing fellow salivary gland researchers. 


Kennedi earned her bachelor's in chemistry at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and she is currently enrolled at UAlbany as a doctoral student. Her research examines the effects of aging on salivary gland function by focusing on cellular senescence and salivary gland hypofunction. These conditions are common in diseases like Sjögren’s syndrome and as a side effect of radiation therapy. By conducting histological experiments in aged mice and microarray analysis of human salivary glands, Kennedi’s main goal is to discover miRNAs and cellular markers that contribute to age-related dysfunction in exocrine tissue of which could lead to identifying future salivary gland treatments.


Pujhitha completed her undergraduate degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering at SASTRA University, Thanjavur, India and Ph.D. at UAlbany’s Nanoscale Engineering program at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE).  As a current postdoctoral fellow at UAlbany’s CNSE, Pujhitha is exploring new bioengineering methods to develop new regenerative treatments for salivary fibrosis. Her research focuses on elastin-alginate cryoelectrospun scaffolds (CES) as a means to deliver Mesenchymal Stromal/Stem Cells (MSCs) to combat fibrosis. Early results demonstrate that CES outperforms traditional methods in reducing fibrotic markers, however further studies are needed to address fibrotic triggers such as TGF-β1.
These outstanding achievements highlight the cutting-edge research happening at UAlbany, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. 

We extend our congratulations to Joey, Kennedi, and Pujhitha for their dedication and well-deserved recognition of their research accomplishments.