BRI Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (BRI-SURE)

The 2025 BRI Summer Undergraduate Research Poster Fair was held on August 08, 2025.

Student Presenter	Faculty Mentor	Project Title
Jacob Chaudhry	Pavak Shah	Metabolic Regulation of Embryonic Sleep in C. elegans
Naomi Cole	Andrew Wikenheiser	Rat Foraging Decisions in a Virtual Floor Patch Task
Penelope Figueroa	Jeff Donlea	Astrocytic Uptake of Synaptic Debris Following Sensory Injury in Drosophila: A Role for Sleep in Synapse Pruning
Ella Kye	Ketema Paul	DNA After Dark: Sleep Homeostasis Governs Learning-Evoked Double-Stranded DNA Breaks and Retrotransposon Regulation
Orobooghene Oboh	Laura DeNardo	Optogenetic Stimulation of VTA Terminals in Mouse mPFC During Shock Omission May Disrupt Avoidance Learning and Trigger Vigilance Posturing

BRI-SURE Trainee Jacob Chaudhry Named the 2025 Department of Biological Chemistry Honorary Summer Fellow

Thanks to a generous contribution from the UCLA Department of Biological Chemistry (BC), we are proud to announce Jacob Chaudhry as the 2025 BC Honorary Summer Fellow! Jacob spent 8 weeks in the laboratory of Dr. Pavak Shah investigating the metabolic regulation of embryonic sleep in C. elegans.

Jacob is a current student at UC Santa Cruz in Neuroscience. With an interest in both neuroscience and ethics, he hopes to produce sustainability frameworks and ethical responsibility when investigating the structures of biological mechanisms. We can’t wait to see where you go from here, Jacob!

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:

The UCLA Brain Research Institute (BRI) sponsors a summer undergraduate research experience (BRI-SURE) pathway program for students currently participating in honors research programs at other colleges and universities across the nation. BRI-SURE is an 8-week, hybrid, intensive summer training for exceptional students seeking to pursue research careers in Neuroscience or Physiology. The program is designed to provide a rigorous, in-depth research experience to prepare participants for top-quality Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. graduate programs. BRI-SURE participants will:

Conduct independent research with outstanding faculty mentors, working in a cutting-edge scientific and technological environment
Gain exposure to some of the nation’s finest biomedical investigators and an extensive variety of research topics
Receive individualized career counseling and develop career interests
Participate in workshops, seminars, and journal clubs
Build a social network with student peers and faculty
Prepare to apply to the best Neuroscience and Physiology Ph.D. programs

SURE4 — Naomi Cole (Howard University) presenting her research from the lab of Dr. Andrew Wikenheiser.

SURE1 — Orobooghene Oboh (Fisk University) presenting her research from the lab of Dr. Laura DeNardo.

ALL6 — 2025 BRI-SURE students visiting the California Science Center.

BRI-SURE selects participants based on academic achievement and leadership. We will engineer a robust and rewarding research experience, including (1) analysis of data from ongoing experiments, (2) modeling of biological or behavioral systems, (3) computerized coding, and a variety of other analysis tools/methods. During the summer research experience, host labs will train scholars to conduct a rigorous research project, culminating in a poster competition. Apart from conducting experiments, students will be involved in activities that enrich their summer experience, including (1) writing a research paper, (2) exploring the Ph.D. career path, (3) learning about applying to programs and funding opportunities, (4) participating in research journal clubs, seminars, and career panels, (5) preparing abstracts and posters, and (6) visiting cultural centers in Los Angeles (e.g. California Museums, the California Science Center, the Hammer Museum, the Getty Center). The program is under the administration of the UCLA Summer Programs in Undergraduate Research (SPUR) umbrella.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:

Completion of UCLA SPUR online application form
Be in good academic standing with a minimum GPA of 3.0
Academic transcript
Personal statement (limit: 1000 words) describing your past, present, or future leadership in / commitment to scientific research
Summary of prior research, if any (limit: 1000 words)
Two letters of recommendation from science faculty* (due February 11, 2026)
Paragraph (limit: 500 words) summarizing your interest in neuroscience or physiology
In a separate file, rank your top three research training areas:
- Neuroendocrinology, Sex Differences, and Reproduction
- Neural Repair
- Neural Microcircuits
- Neurobehavioral Genetics
- Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology
- Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology

This is an 8-week experience run in conjunction with the UC-HBCU Neuroscience Pathways and UC-HSI SOMA programs from June 15 to August 07, 2026.

Student Applications are due by January 21, 2026, at 11:59 PM PST. Please send all supplementary application materials to BRI-SURE at brisure@ucla.edu.
- Use “BRI-SURE Application Materials – First_Name Last_Name” in the subject line for tracking purposes.
*Faculty recommendation letters are due by February 11, 2026, at 11:59 PST, also to brisure@ucla.edu.

For additional information about BRI-SURE, please contact Program Director Dr. Ketema Paul or Program Coordinator Ethan Snook. For more details about SPUR, click here.

SURE2 — Jacob Chaudhry (UC Santa Cruz) presenting his research from the lab of Dr. Pavak Shah.

APPLY NOW

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR:

Ketema Paul, Ph.D. is a Professor of Integrative Biology and Physiology at UCLA and Director of Summer Programs for the Brain Research Institute (BRI), where he leads initiatives that expand research opportunities for undergraduate students in neuroscience. He also directs the BRI Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (BRI-SURE), working with faculty mentors to foster scientific growth, professional development, and inclusive excellence in research. In addition, Dr. Paul is the Director of the Integrative Center for Sleep and Performance at UCLA, a cross-disciplinary initiative focused on how sleep and circadian rhythms affect health and human performance.

Dr. Paul’s research investigates the genetic, molecular, and neural mechanisms of sleep. His primary focus is on understanding the biological processes underlying the adverse effects of sleep deprivation and the sex/gender differences in recovery from sleep loss. By applying forward genetics approaches, his lab seeks to identify the core genes responsible for sleep-wake regulation and develop new therapeutic targets for sleep disorders, particularly those that disproportionately affect women.

Dr. Ketema Paul
Professor, Department of Integrative Biology & Physiology
Director, BRI Summer Programs
Director, BRI Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (BRI-SURE)
Director, BRI Integrative Center for Sleep and Performance
Faculty Co-Director, Bunche Fellows Program
ketema.paul@ucla.edu
(310) 794-7755