Past Major Events

Attendees of BHESS'21
The BUILD team was proud to present our new Black Health Equity Speaker Series (BHESS) where speakers from disparate disciplines share their research and personal journey with BUILD trainees. This speaker series provides a unique opportunity to address health disparities and this year’s theme of promoting “racial health equity” at BUILD.

You can learn about each year's event by clicking these links.

Annual Research Symposium
During the Summer program, BUILD holds its Annual Summer Symposium. This gives new BUILD trainees an opportunity to practice presenting their research to both scientific and lay audiences. Families of the trainees are invited to learn about the BUILD program, as well as the research their student and their fellow trainees are conducting. Having the families on board with the program and supporting the trainees research education can be critical to BUILD Scholars and Fellows completing the program and moving on to earn their Ph.D.

You can learn about each year's event by clicking these links.

CSULB BUILD Class of 2017 proudly poses

BUILD trainees work hard to complete their research training progam. We celebrate their success each May, sending off another cohort of future Ph.D.s into the world. The first cohort of BUILD trainees was honored during the first annual Commencement held at the Scottish Rite Event Center. Later Commencement events were held in the USU Ballroom.

You can learn about each year's event by clicking these links.

  • 2017 (Full recap and photos)
  • 2018 (Facebook photos)
  • 2019 (Facebook photos)
  • 2020 (Full story and videos)
  • 2021 (Full story and videos)

BUILD Trainees Attending a Colloquium
Regular research colloquia inform BUILD trainees on a variety of topics and give them opportunities to network with others.

Fall 2020

  • October 16 - Dr. Ghaidaa Kashgari, Department of Medicine, UC Irvine 
  • November 6 - Dr. Breauna Spencer, Department of Sociology, UC Irvine

Spring 2020

  • February 28 - Dr. Tatiane Lima, Postdoctoral Scholar, Immunology, UC Irvine
  • March 27 - Alma Patricia Olaguez, PhD Candidate, Psychological Science, UC Irvine

Fall 2019

  • September 27 - Dr. Camila Uzcategui
  • November 8 - Dr. Richard Watanabe, Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC

Spring 2019

  • March 8 - Dr. Alicia Izquierdo, Psychology, UCLA
  • March 29

Fall 2018

  • September 28 - Dr. Jacob Barrera, Harvard University
  • November 9 - Dr. Leonardo Leon, Postdoctoral Scholar, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science at UC San Diego

Spring 2018

  • March 10 - Dr. Carlos Bolános-Guzman, Behavioral & Cellular Neuroscience, Texas A&M
  • April 4 - Dr. Kim Barrett, Medicine, UC San Diego

Fall 2017

  • September 29 - Dr. Elisa Maldonado, Marine Biology, UC San Diego
  • November 17 - Dr. Adam Leventhal, Keck School of Medicine, USC

Spring 2017

  • March 10 - Carlos Bolaños-Guzmán, Texas A&M University
  • April 14 - Dr. Kim Barrett, UCSD

Fall 2016

  • September 30 - Martin Lee, Biostatistics, UCLA
  • November 4 - Dr. Brian Ruhe, VA Hospital

Spring 2016

  • January 29 - Dr. Ricky N. Bluthenthal, Keck School of Medicine, USC
  • February 26 - Dr. Christie D. Fowler, Neurobiology and Behavior, UC Irvine
  • March 25 - Dr. Roberta McKean-Cowdin, Keck School of Medicine, USC
  • April 29 - Dr. Marcelo Wood, Neurobiology and Behavior, UC Irvine

Fall 2015

  • October 2 - Dr. Lordes Baezconde-Garbanati, Keck School of Medicine, USC
  • November 9 - Dr. Elizabeth Jarvo, Chemistry, UC Irvine

Annual Research Symposium
During BUILD Phase 1, the program held its Annual Research Symposium during the Spring semester. This event featured a nationally recognized researcher engaged in NIH-funded research as keynote speaker, who would share his or her research journey, presentations by BUILD Faculty Mentors, research demonstrations, and a poster session where BUILD trainees could present their research.

You can learn about each of them by clicking the links below.

Recent Major Events

May 2020

2020 BUILD Virtual Commencement

2020 BUILD Virtual Commencement

Friday, May 29, 2020, 10 - 11am
The BUILD program celebrated the success of trainees on Friday, May 29th, 2020 at the BUILD Virtual Commencement 2020. This commencement was held online using the Zoom teleconferencing platform due to California's Stay At Home order and concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. While we were not able to…
2020 BUILD Virtual Commencement

2021 BUILD Virtual Commencement

Thursday, May 7, 2020, 11am - 1pm
The BUILD program will celebrate the success of trainees on Friday, May 7th, 2020 at the second BUILD Virtual Commencement 2020. This commencement will be held online using Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While we may not able to share the joy and pride we feel with our students in person, we are still able to commemorate and…

January 2020

Information Session

Thursday, January 30, 2020, 4 - 5am
Interested in Becoming a CSULB BUILD Scholar or Fellow? For undergraduates interested in advanced degrees in health-related fields in the Colleges of: Engineering (COE) Health and Human Services (CHHS) Liberal Arts (CLA) Natural Sciences & Mathematics (CNSM) Improve your chances of moving on to graduate school with: Mentored…

Information Session

Wednesday, January 29, 2020, 5 - 6am
Interested in Becoming a CSULB BUILD Scholar or Fellow? For undergraduates interested in advanced degrees in health-related fields in the Colleges of: Engineering (COE) Health and Human Services (CHHS) Liberal Arts (CLA) Natural Sciences & Mathematics (CNSM) Improve your chances of moving on to graduate school with: Mentored…

December 2019

BUILD Info Sessions

Information Session

Thursday, December 5, 2019, 4 - 5am
Interested in Becoming a CSULB BUILD Scholar or Fellow? The dates for our Fall 2019 Info Sessions are now finalized. For undergraduates interested in advanced degrees in health-related fields in the Colleges of: Engineering (COE) Health and Human Services (CHHS) Liberal Arts (CLA) Natural Sciences & Mathematics (CNSM) Improve your chances of…
BUILD Info Sessions

Information Session

Wednesday, December 4, 2019, 6 - 7am
Interested in Becoming a CSULB BUILD Scholar or Fellow? The dates for our Fall 2019 Info Sessions are now finalized. For undergraduates interested in advanced degrees in health-related fields in the Colleges of: Engineering (COE) Health and Human Services (CHHS) Liberal Arts (CLA) Natural Sciences & Mathematics (CNSM) Improve your chances…