2026's 3MT Competitors and Topics

Finalist

Christy Anthony, "Destigmatizing Dialogue as Violence Prevention: How Bystander Intervention Trainers Incorporate Culturally Relevant Pedagogy"

Doctorate in Education, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Advisor: Dr. Deniece Dortch

First Place and People's Choice Winner:

*Ashley Bastin, "Trained to Destroy: Uncovering the Causes of HIV-Associated Dementias"

PhD Biological Sciences, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Advisors: Dr. Tara Scully and Dr. Michael Bukrinsky

Third Place Winner:

*Nick Foreman, "Exercise Prevents the Negative Effects of High-Fat Foods"

PhD Exercise Physiology and Applied Nutrition, Milken Institute School of Public Health, Advisor: Dr. Matthew Barberio

Abigail Haffey, "Combination TCR-CAR T Cells Improve CAR T Cell Persistence and Cytotoxicity against High-Grade Gliomas"

PhD Cancer Biology, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Advisor: Dr. Dalia Haydar

Ashley Karraro, "Instructional Coaching on Teacher Retention and Self-Efficacy"

PhD Education Policy, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Advisor: Dr. Josh Glazer

Minsoo Khang, "Autonomic Sensitivity and ASMR: A Polyvagal-Theoretic Examination of Triggers, Misophonia, and Adverse Childhood Experiences"

PhD Counselor Education, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Advisor: Dr. Sylvia Marotta-Walters

Xinxia Li, "Understanding Peer Relationships for Adolescent Girls with ADHD: Content Analysis on Voices Shared on TikTok"

EdD Special Education, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Advisor: Dr. Elisabeth Rice

Qingyu Liu, "Decoding the Crash: Can We Predict Financial Bubbles?"

PhD Economics, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Advisor: Dr. Roberto Samaniego

Jahlani Odujole, "Addressing Algorithmic Bias in Facial Recognition: An AI-Driven Approach to Fairness"

PhD Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Advisor: Dr. John Fossaceca

Hasara Rathnasekara, "When Borders go Digital: Evidence from India's Ban on Chinese Apps"

PhD Economics, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Advisor: Dr. Maggie Chen

Matthew Rohn, "Going Going I Don’t Know Where": African American Migrating Campaigns in the Insular and Indian Territory

PhD History, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Advisor: Dr. Quito Swan

Leenu Sugathan, "The Aesthetics of Human Rights: Caste, Race, and Gender in Indian and South Asian American Literatures"

PhD English, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Advisor: Dr. Kavita Daiya

Second Place Winner:

*Elton VanNoy, "Epigenetic Modulation During CAR T Cell Manufacturing: Advancing Immunotherapeutic Strategies for Pediatric Glioma"

PhD Pharmacology & Physiology, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Advisor: Dr. Dalia Haydar

Sydney Woods, "Stress, Serotonin, and Social Status: If You Ain't First, You're Last!"

PhD Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Advisor: Dr. Abigail Polter

Donghao Wu, "Spending Shifts in Response to Remote Work: Evidence from Transaction Data in Metropolitan Areas"

PhD Economics, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Advisor: Dr. Leah Brooks

Preliminary Competitors

Christy Anthony, "Destigmatizing Dialogue as Violence Prevention: How Bystander Intervention Trainers Incorporate Culturally Relevant Pedagogy"

Doctorate in Education, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Advisor: Dr. Deniece Dortch

Ashley Bastin, "Trained to Destroy: Uncovering the Causes of HIV-Associated Dementias"

PhD Biological Sciences, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Advisors: Dr. Tara Scully and Dr. Michael Bukrinsky

Ananya Bhardwaj "The Empire Gives Meaning: Migrant Stories of Land Dispossession, Climate Crisis, and Planetary Exclusions"

PhD English, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Advisors: Dr. Kavita Daiya and Dr. Jennifer James

Nayoung Bishoff, "Multisensory Heterotopia: Women’s Spaces in East Asian Cinematic Adaptations of Shakespeare"

PhD English, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Advisor: Dr. Alexa Alice Joubin

Tommy DeStefanis, "Identifying HIV Resistance Pathways to Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Therapies"

PhD Microbiology & Immunology, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Advisor: Dr. Rebecca Lynch

Zhuqing Ding, "Adult Learners’ Exploration of Self/Other Relationship in Difficult Dialogues Through Embodied Theater-Based Learning: Polarization in Higher Education and Possible Ways Forward"

PhD Human and Organizational Learning. Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Advisor: Dr. Yoshie Nakamura

Amber Douglass, "How Platelets Shape the Antitumor Activity of Vδ2 T Cells"

PhD Cancer Biology, School of Medicine and Health Sciences , Advisor: Dr. Sanjay Maggirwar

Egemen Erbayat, "Optimizing Power-Enabled Fronthaul and Information Freshness in Mobile Edge Computing Networks"

PhD Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Advisor: Dr. Suresh Subramaniam

Mariana Fagundes Grilo, "Do Non-sugar-sweetener Warning Labels Change What Parents Buy? A Grocery Store Randomized Trial"

PhD Exercise Physiology and Applied Nutrition, Milken Institute School of Public Health, Advisor: Dr. Allison Sylvetsky

Nick Foreman, "Exercise Prevents the Negative Effects of High-Fat Foods"

PhD Exercise Physiology and Applied Nutrition, Milken Institute School of Public Health, Advisor: Dr. Matthew Barberio

Gabriel Galeotos, "Characterizing the Autologous CD4bs Antibody Response in HIV-1 Clinical Trial Participants"

PhD Microbiology & Immunology, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Advisor: Dr. Rebecca Lynch

Abigail Haffey, "Combination TCR-CAR T Cells Improve CAR T Cell Persistence and Cytotoxicity against High-Grade Gliomas"

PhD Cancer Biology, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Advisor: Dr. Dalia Haydar

Clarissa Halpern, "Investigating HIV Infection in Platelets and Megakaryocytes"

PhD Microbiology & Immunology, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Advisor: Dr. Sanjay Maggirwar

Zhenzhen He, "Peroxide Disinfection of Vesicle-Cloaked Murine Norovirus Clusters: Vesicle Membranes Protect Viruses from Inactivation"

PhD Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Advisor: Dr. Danmeng Shuai

Ashley Karraro, "Instructional Coaching on Teacher Retention and Self-Efficacy"

PhD Education Policy, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Advisor: Dr. Josh Glazer

Bridget Kelly, "Prioritization of Menstrual Health on the Global Agenda"

Doctor of Public Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, Advisor: Dr. Karen McDonnell

Minsoo Khang, "Autonomic Sensitivity and ASMR: A Polyvagal-Theoretic Examination of Triggers, Misophonia, and Adverse Childhood Experiences"

PhD Counselor Education, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Advisor: Dr. Sylvia Marotta-Walters

Xinxia Li, "Understanding Peer Relationships for Adolescent Girls with ADHD: Content Analysis on Voices Shared on TikTok"

EdD Special Education, School of Education and Human Development, Advisor: Dr. Elisabeth Rice

Qingyu Liu, "Decoding the Crash: Can We Predict Financial Bubbles?"

PhD Economics, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Advisor: Dr. Roberto Samaniego

Abby McClain, "Death and Friendship in Wild Chimpanzees: The Social Lives and Losses of our Closest Relatives"

PhD Anthropology, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Advisor: Dr. Carson Murray

Claudia Melo, "Engineered Antibodies Boost Immune Cell Killing of HIV"

PhD Microbiology & Immunology, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Advisor: Dr. Alberto Bosque

Jahlani Odujole, "Addressing Algorithmic Bias in Facial Recognition: An AI-Driven Approach to Fairness"

PhD Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Advisor: Dr. John Fossaceca

Shem Opolot, "A Blueprint for Health: Why Isn't It Built Yet?"

Doctor of Public Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, Advisor: Dr. Nino Paichadze

Hasara Rathnasekara, "When borders go digital: Evidence from India's Ban on Chineses Apps"