It wasn’t until he met one of his colleagues and mentors in a lab at Cal State San Marcos that Alvizo realized he needed to change his answer to that question.

Alvizo was diagnosed with testicular cancer the day before his high school graduation. He attended a physical required for his high school golf team that didn’t thoroughly examine for testicular cancer. After his appointment, he felt the need to self-screen, and that’s when he noticed something was off. 

He requested another appointment – disguising it as an HPV vaccination so his parents wouldn’t worry – where he was advised to receive an ultrasound and meet with a urologist. After a month-and-a-half of anxiously waiting, Alvizo met with Jeffrey Zeitung, a urologist at the Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, who delivered devastating news: Alvizo had testicular cancer and needed an orchiectomy, which is the removal of one or both testicles.

Alvizo remembers thinking: “I'm 18, I graduate tomorrow, my mom is in the waiting room, I was just told I have testicular cancer and now I have to get an orchiectomy next week. This is a lot at once.”

But Zeitung made Alvizo feel comfortable in a very uncomfortable situation, assuring him that they would get through this diagnosis together. He guided Alvizo through the process, teaching him about the disease and comforting him with the knowledge that 99% of testicular cancer patients end up fine.

“Seeing how my urologist comforted me during this time made me want the privilege to be in that same position for other patients as well,” Alvizo said. “It inspired me to move down the path of becoming a physician.”

Since his diagnosis, Alvizo, who is graduating from CSUSM this month with a bachelor's degree in biology and a minor in Spanish, has involved himself in numerous opportunities to further his education and spread awareness for cancer patients. His biggest contribution has been the creation of a nonprofit organization called Bricks for Change.

Started by Alvizo and a few friends, Bricks for Change aims to spread awareness for all types of cancer.

“You usually hear about Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is in October, and outside of that, maybe Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September. But you don't often hear about the other ones, so our goal is to spread awareness for the cancers of every month,” Alvizo said.

The nonprofit raises money to donate Lego sets to kids in the hospital with cancer. Since the organization launched in October 2024, it have donated 550 Lego sets ($9,000 total value) between Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego and MemorialCare Miller Children's & Women's Hospital in Long Beach.

Included in every child’s Lego set is a card that allows patients to share a photo of themselves with the set they built. The pictures are posted to the Bricks for Change Instagram page and website with clearance from the hospital.

Alvizo plans to continue this organization for the rest of his life and is working toward making it a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to attract the involvement of larger companies and more funding. He also hopes to build connections with more hospitals as he begins medical school.

This isn’t the only advocacy Alvizo has done for cancer awareness. He is heavily involved with the Testicular Cancer Awareness Foundation and ran his first marathon to raise money for testicular cancer awareness. Since then, he has found a passion for running and has completed seven marathons and 19 half-marathons for various charities.

He has been asked to speak at the American Urological Association on behalf of the Testicular Cancer Awareness Foundation.

Alvizo is finishing his last semester at CSUSM, where he has been a member of professor Julie Jameson’s biology lab since he was a senior in high school. After reaching out to her via email while in high school, Alvizo was invited to join her lab, in which they studied inflammation in the skin relating to various diseases like psoriasis and obesity. Alvizo co-published two scientific papers during his time in the lab and traveled with his lab colleagues to conferences to present their findings.

Alvizo is also a STEM ambassador for CSUSM's Center for Research and Engagement in STEM Education (CRESE). Every week, CRESE ambassadors visit middle and elementary schools in the region to lead after-school programs and STEM-based projects to get kids interested in science. In addition, they staff a booth every March at Super STEM Saturday, which is where Alvizo first found his love for science as a middle schooler many years ago.

Clinical experience is required to apply for medical school, so Alvizo has been interning at Palomar Hospital for the last two years as a weekly hospice volunteer. He has worked on both the ICU floor and in the emergency department, checking in on patients and providing them comfort. Alvizo also is in the process of obtaining his EMT license so he can transition into a paid clinical position during his gap year before medical school applications open in June 2026.

Recently, Alvizo has had the opportunity to shadow Aditya Bagrodia, a urologist researching testicular cancer tumor markers in the blood at UC San Diego, as well as urologist Ramdev Konijeti, who works closely with Alvizo’s urologist at the Scripps Clinic.

“It's been a privilege to have a full-circle moment where I'm at the same cancer center, in the exact same room I was diagnosed, but now I get to see it from the other way around. It's really surreal,” Alvizo said.

So now, when asked why he wants to be a doctor, Alvizo isn’t hesitant to tell his story. He is reminded of words from a former lab colleague, Alex Gonzalez, who is also a cancer survivor:

“Every cancer patient has their own story. Just even hearing a diagnosis of cancer is a big deal. But you have a way of advocating that a lot of other people don't because you are young and healthy. Your interest in becoming a doctor will go a long way for spreading the word about cancer awareness.”

Which is exactly what Alvizo plans to do.

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

“Being in Dr. Luna’s lab has been such a great experience. He’s not only an amazing PI, but also a really great mentor,” said Oscar Loyola Torres, a molecular and cellular biology student.  

Luna, a biology professor at Cal State San Marcos, received a bachelor’s degree in physics from Universidad de Sonora in Mexico and a Ph.D. in bioengineering from the University of Maryland. He decided to pursue postdoctoral research closer to his parents, who live in Mexico, which brought him to UC San Diego. 

Luna always knew he wanted to pursue a career in the STEM field, as his father is a mechanical engineer and his mother a nurse. During his Ph.D. studies, he joined the Summer Program in Neuroscience, Excellence and Success (SPINES), where he met a former CSUSM biology professor who further inspired his move to San Diego and his pursuit of a job at CSUSM. 

Luna believes that finding a good balance between research and teaching is important. He explained that one of his biophysics professors would play soccer with his students and invite them to important seminars, creating a meaningful relationship with the students beyond just research. So when he was told of the community between faculty and students at CSUSM, it felt like the right choice to apply. 

Luna has taught upper-division cellular and molecular biotechnology classes as well as biostatistics and bioengineering classes at CSUSM since 2017. He also occasionally teaches advanced molecular seminars, and currently he and his lab students are studying the effects of fat cells on breast cancer growth. 

The tests examine how lipid metabolism is driving parts of cancer growth. Lipid metabolism is the process of creating or breaking down lipids (fats) to help with energy storage, structural cell membrane support and cell signaling. Since breast tissue is full of lipids, it creates the perfect environment for cancer cells to thrive, utilizing these functions to their advantage.  

Luna and his students monitor the interactions between cancer cells and two different types of fat cells, white and brown adipocytes. These cells work to store energy, produce hormones and regulate body temperature, all basic functions crucial to the success of the human body.  

Utilizing his background in engineering, Luna and his students built a device that creates spheroids, 3D circular clusters of cells. The spheroid is made of biomaterials replicating human tissue, allowing the students to get the most accurate results from their cancer research. 

“There are so many things I get to learn from him and the lab that are helping me grow as both a student and a future physician,” Loyola Torres said. 

Luna said this is only a portion of what their research encapsulates. Every time a new discovery is made, it opens a door for further questioning, and the research continues. 

“When you have something in your mind and you get the chance and the resources to be able to put that into the world, it’s so exciting,” Luna said. 

Luna loves watching his students grow and be creative, as it reminds him of when he was a kid. Not only can he exercise his own creativity, but he gets to bring his students along for the journey. With him having watched some of them grow from first years to graduating Ph.D. students, the relationship Lopez has been able to create with his students makes his job all the more rewarding.  

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Interim Assistant Director of Editorial and External Affairs

ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

Students are selected based on academic achievements, financial need, excellence in community service and personal hardship. Awardees have all demonstrated inspirational resolve along the path to college success, and many are the first in their families to attend college. 

The CSU recognizes 23 students every year – one from each campus – with the Trustees’ Award. Loyola Torres was named a CSU Trustee Emeritus Kenneth Fong Scholar.

Loyola Torres and the other awardees will recognized during a ceremony as part of the CSU Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 9.

Growing up, Loyola Torres was interested in filmmaking and acting. But he found himself gravitating toward the medical field after taking anatomy and a biomedical elective course at San Marcos High School. A molecular and cellular biology major, he’s the first person in his family to attend college.

Loyola Torres is a Pathmaker intern at Palomar Medical Center Escondido, working alongside health care professionals to provide patient support under the guidance of staff. He also serves in CSUSM's COMPASS research internship, which recruits local high school students and trains them in stem cell science.

Loyola Torres works in biology professor Carlos Luna Lopez’s lab, studying breast cancer cells. Along with a master’s student, Loyola Torres investigates cell culture and how breast cancer cells grow.  

This fall, Loyola Torres is acting as president of the campus’ MedLife club, which aims to combat health care shortages and help increase essential health care services to low-income communities in Latin America and Africa.

Almost 500 students have been honored with the Trustees' Award since the scholarship program was established in 1984 by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. In 1999, the Hearst Foundation partnered with the CSU Board of Trustees to supplement the endowment with contributions from CSU Trustees, CSU Foundation board members and private donors. Each student scholarship bears the name of a donor. 

The plankton that she has devoted her career to researching consist of just a single cell, but the things that happen in that one cell enchant her. A particular species of plankton, for example, acquires its energy both like a human (through consumption) and a plant (through photosynthesis). Another type can devour a cell that’s photosynthesizing, steal its chloroplasts (essentially the machinery for energy production) and use it to photosynthesize itself.  

Some plankton can, like a python, ingest things considerably larger in size. They do this either by inserting the single-celled equivalent of a straw into their prey and sucking out the insides, or by releasing a veil of sorts around the prey, digesting it outside the cell and then slurping it in.  

And those are just feeding habits. It’s not to mention the brilliant blue glowing that plankton generate off the coast at certain times of year – otherwise known as bioluminescence. 

“I'm just amazed at all the cool things that plankton do,” Taniguchi said. “It's fascinating to me how a single cell can do so much. And they have so many behaviors that we just are learning to appreciate now.” 

Taniguchi has been a biology professor at Cal State San Marcos since 2018, but her deep personal and professional interest in plankton dates back much farther, to when she was an undergraduate student at UC San Diego almost two decades ago. It helped fuel her through a master’s and Ph.D. program in biological oceanography at UCSD, as well as three stints as a postdoctoral researcher, two at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and one at MIT. It motivated her to embark on five different ocean expeditions to conduct intensive studies for weeks at a time with no land in sight.  

It also drives her to keep advancing scientific understanding of what are easily the most abundant organisms of the sea, with an estimated population of over one billion in a single liter of seawater. Plankton serves as the base of the food web; without it, there would be no whales or dolphins or penguins.  

“They're sort of like the grass of the ocean,” Taniguchi said. “That's why studying this biology that forms the foundation for all the sea creatures that the public knows about is important because anything that happens to plankton is going to have ramifications for all the bigger things that we tend to notice as humans. That’s why I really like studying them – not only because they do such cool stuff, but they are fundamentally important to life in the ocean, which as a biologist I'm very passionate about.” 

As an undergrad at UCSD, Taniguchi actually earned bachelor’s degrees in biology and math (she graduated summa cum laude in both disciplines in 2006), and she relies heavily on this dual expertise in her plankton research. Taniguchi the biologist makes frequent treks to the coast to gather water samples, though she saves her most important collections for her sea voyages. 

Her most recent one came during the pandemic, in the summer of 2020 (she had to quarantine in a hotel for a week beforehand), on a ship based out of Scripps Oceanography in La Jolla. For more than two weeks, she collected water at varying depths using special bottles ranging from 3 to 4 feet tall and 10 liters in volume. Then Taniguchi analyzed the specimens to determine what type of plankton were found where, how quickly they were growing and how quickly they were being eaten. The twist in her experiment was looking at how the results vary during the day versus the night, which meant even more hours of work on top of the normally grueling schedule at sea, and precious little sleep.  

“If plankton are growing more during the day and then being eaten at night,” she said, “that’s going to have a really big effect on how their populations are changing just over a 24-hour period.” 

One of Taniguchi’s students, Anissa Garcia (who’s in the biology master’s program at CSUSM after graduating from the university last year), carried on the experiment through her own ocean expedition in 2021, and the pair now is collaborating with CSUSM biology professor Elinne Beckett to examine the DNA of the collected plankton.

Then there’s Taniguchi the mathematician. She taught herself computer programming through a college internship with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and before being hired at CSUSM, she took a brief detour into working as a software developer for a private company. That experience now proves invaluable. She has built a mathematical model that uses computer code to simulate interactions between plankton. The objective is to examine how predator and prey communities interact in an environmental setting, with the findings having significant repercussions.  

“Dr. Taniguchi's ability with dynamic models allows us to look at complex processes in a realistic but simplified way,” said Susanne Menden-Deuer, a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island and one of Taniguchi’s mentors. “We can turn things on and off and ask ‘what if’ questions: What if this predator eats only smaller prey. What if it eats only every other day? These questions are important, as the answers determine how much production of organic matter will result. Organic matter is the basis for fisheries but also how carbon cycles through the ecosystem. 

“Dr. Taniguchi’s research is addressing crucial questions about how plankton dynamics in the ocean can be incorporated into predictive, global model simulations to understand the large-scale ramifications of the biogeochemical processes that are driven ultimately by individual, microscopic cells. Her work is essential to gain a predictive understanding of how organisms might respond to a changing planet and thus is at the heart of solving critical problems involving global biogeochemical cycles, fisheries production and the ocean’s response to and role in climate change.” 

As vital as Taniguchi’s research is to oceanography, she’s more than just a scholar on a ship or in front of a computer. After studying and working at UCSD for more than a decade, she was drawn to CSUSM because of its strong commitment to teaching in addition to research. She’s dedicated to incorporating students in her studies and she’s determined to increase opportunities in science for historically and presently excluded students.  

Taniguchi’s second postdoc project at Scripps Oceanography involved helping develop and run a marine science education program for middle school students in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego – some of them had never seen the Pacific Ocean despite their proximity. She’s currently part of a project led by Scripps Oceanography and funded by the Office of Naval Research that aims to enhance participation by historically and presently excluded groups in oceanography.  

Garcia, the student who went on the ocean trek three summers ago, has worked in Taniguchi’s lab since 2019, even to the point of volunteering for the spring 2022 semester between when she graduated and began her master’s program.  

“When I first started, I was very, very intimidated,” Garcia said of Taniguchi’s research. “But she’s so accommodating and so good at explaining complex ideas. And she cares so much about her students. She’s like our lab mom.” 

The daughter of parents who both were college professors, Taniguchi grew up in the Central Valley city of Merced, which doesn’t exactly suggest a future in oceanography. But her mother was an ocean lover, and even though it was a two-hour drive, she bought an annual membership to the famed Monterey Bay Aquarium.  

Taniguchi recalls one trip when she went tide-pooling with her family after a visit to the aquarium. Her father pointed to a squishy creature about half the size of a football and asked Darcy what it was. She correctly identified it as a gumboot chiton, having retained the knowledge from her stop at the aquarium’s touch tank.  

“Clearly I did absorb a lot,” Taniguchi said. “Those experiences of going to the ocean and having hands-on interactions with organisms was definitely what led me on my path.” 

Her burgeoning zeal for the ocean attracted her to UCSD’s Scripps Oceanography, and she discovered plankton through her first course in biological oceanography. Twenty years later, Taniguchi’s childlike wonder and academic rigor toward these so-called “drifters of the sea” show no signs of abating.  

“The oceans are so big and plankton are so small, and there’s so much we don’t know about both of them,” she said. “There’s lots of room for real exploration, which I think is really neat.”  

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Students are selected based on academic achievements, financial need, excellence in community service and personal hardship. Awardees have all demonstrated inspirational resolve along the path to college success, and many are the first in their families to attend college. 

The CSU recognizes 23 students every year – one from each campus – with the Trustees’ Award. Mora was named a Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation Scholar, which includes a donor-funded scholarship of $7,000. 

Mora and the other awardees will recognized during a ceremony as part of the CSU Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 12.

Mora has been a biology student at CSUSM since 2017. Her passion for behavioral ecology was first sparked during an undergraduate research project in the lab of professor Diego Sustaita; the project was aimed at uncovering the functional significance of wing-flashing behaviors in San Clemente loggerhead shrikes. Mora continued her work with Sustaita throughout her undergraduate career, presenting her research at more than a dozen local and national conferences.

During her third year, she was one of 10 students accepted into CSUSM’s URISE (Undergraduate Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement) program, supported by the National Institute for General Medical Sciences to prepare talented and motivated minority undergraduate students to succeed in doctoral programs.

In addition to her research, Mora has enjoyed facilitating educational experiences for K-12 students by volunteering at events that inspire curiosity and excitement for STEM education in young children.

Now a master’s student in biological sciences at CSUSM, Mora continues to pursue her passion for scientific discovery and animal ecology by advancing her research on the wing-flashing behavior of shrikes.

More than 440 students have been honored with the Trustees' Award since the scholarship program was established in 1984 by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. In 1999, the Hearst Foundation partnered with the CSU Board of Trustees to supplement the endowment with contributions from CSU Trustees, CSU Foundation board members and private donors. Each student scholarship bears the name of a donor. 

The event was held April 28-29 at San Diego State University.

Biological sciences student Jaeden Flury received first place in Session 7, Biological and Agricultural Sciences with her research titled “Investigating Wound Microbiome Composition in Type 2 Diabetic Mice.” Flury’s faculty mentor is Elinne Becket.

Mariella Castaneda, a graduate student in psychology, received second place in Session 18, Behavioral, Social, and Public Administration with her research “Effects of Repeated Exposure to Animals in Anthropomorphic Contexts.” Castaneda’s faculty mentor is Nancy Caine.

Twelve CSUSM students made 10 of the 195 presentations at the two-day event. The university was represented in four disciplinary categories: Biological and Agricultural Sciences; Physical and Mathematical Sciences; Health, Nutrition and Clinical Sciences; and Behavioral, Social Sciences and Public Administration.

The CSU Student Research Competition is an annual event that brings together scholars from the system’s 23 campuses. The competition showcases undergraduate and graduate research, scholarship, and creative works by recognizing outstanding student accomplishments. Undergraduate and graduate student participants from all disciplines are judged by experts for their oral presentations and written abstracts. Students who compete can win $500 for first place and $250 for second place in their session.

Media Contact

Eric Breier, Public Affairs Specialist
ebreier@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7314

Mothé received the award at the ​35th annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium this month.

Her service is highlighted by leadership as interim executive director of the California State University Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB), a funding organization that supports diversity and mentorship in the fields of biotechnology.

“I have always focused on serving underrepresented students and ensuring that they have opportunities for career advancement, including work and further education,” Mothé said. “I was also able to step in as interim executive director of CSUPERB during the pandemic and work with committed and incredible faculty and staff. This award is a recognition of these efforts, and I am incredibly honored to have received it this year.”

Mothé also serves as director of the COMPASS (Creating Opportunities through Mentorship and Partnership Across Stem Cell Science) program, which aims to provide a diverse group of students with hands-on training and mentorship in the field of regenerative medicine. Under her leadership, the COMPASS program last fall received a nearly $3 million, five-year grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), which will fund stem cell awareness at three North County high schools; support 30 students for two years of training; and provide diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training for research mentors.

In receiving the award at a ceremony on Jan. 13, Mothé was saluted by a former student, Sergio Ita, who’s a principal investigator at Thermo Fisher Scientific.

“I came to CSUSM as a recent Marine veteran, first-generation and transfer student,” Ita said. “At that fragile time, I had taken a course in immunology with Dr. Mothé. In one of those moments of clarity, I realized not only that I wanted to pursue this fascinating intersection of infectious disease and immunology, but that I wanted to work with Dr. Mothé.

“Bianca accepted me into her lab and taught me some of the most fundamental skills in molecular biology, genetics and immunology.”

Mothé is currently serving as a visiting scientist in the lab of professor Sujan Shresta, Ph.D., at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI). For Mothé, spending time at LJI is one part of bringing the wider biotechnology community together.

“As a scientist and educator, I want to create opportunities for underrepresented students to engage in cutting-edge science,” she said. “As a scientist, this involves staying connected and fostering collaborations with other scientists. As an educator, this involves exposing students and allowing them to immerse themselves in science.”

The Andreoli Award is named for late Cal State LA chemistry professor Anthony Andreoli, an advocate for providing opportunities in higher education for underrepresented and non-traditional students.

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist
bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Monkeypox, of course, has not spread with anything close to the speed or ferocity of COVID, but more than three months after it first appeared in the United States, there remains a good deal of confusion (and even ignorance) among the public about the disease.  

At Cal State San Marcos, there’s no better person to clear that up than James Jancovich. The biological sciences professor has almost 15 years of experience working in a lab dedicated to poxviruses, a family of double-stranded DNA viruses that includes smallpox and, yes, monkeypox.

Question: How does monkeypox compare with other viruses that people might be familiar with, such as chickenpox and smallpox? 

James Jancovich: Monkeypox is a member of the genus Orthopoxvirus, family Poxviridae, a group of poxviruses that can infect vertebrate animals. Monkeypox is closely related to smallpox, the primary pathogen of humans. But they are each a unique virus in the genus. Poxviruses, like monkeypox and smallpox, are not closely related to chickenpox viruses. Chickenpox is caused by the varicella zoster virus – an alphaherpes virus (also known as human herpesvirus 3) and not by a poxvirus. 

Q: Have there been spikes of monkeypox before, and why is it spiking now? 

JJ: Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease. That is, it is a virus that occasionally jumps from animals to humans. Contrary to the name, monkeypox infections usually jump from rodents to humans, not monkeys to humans. Typically, zoonotic diseases are difficult to transmit from human to human after jumping from animals. However, occasionally, zoonotic pathogens have the ability to cause person-to-person transmission after a jump, and the current monkeypox seems to be this type of pathogen.  

That said, previous outbreaks of monkeypox have occurred in humans, and the virus is considered to be endemic in Africa. However, most of the previous outbreaks were limited regarding the spread of the virus; the reason for this is unclear. Our current situation may be the result of infected individuals unknowingly having the disease – or maybe not knowing what it was – and transmitting the virus. If signs and symptoms were not that severe, but the virus was still present and transmissible, this would make it difficult to identify infected individuals and thus increase disease transmission. 

Q: How does monkeypox spread? What is the risk of catching it? 

JJ: The monkeypox that is currently spreading throughout the world appears to be transmitted primarily via direct contact with an infected individual.  The virus also can be spread by direct contact with fabrics such as clothing, bedding or towels, and other surfaces that have been used by an infected individual. Poxviruses are very stable outside of a host, unlike other viral pathogens like HIV, for example. This property most likely helps spread the pathogen to new hosts. 

Immunocompromised individuals are typically more susceptible to virus infections, but this monkeypox outbreak appears to infect primarily healthy individuals. That said, in this situation, sexual activities seem to drive disease transmission – reducing these activities when one is infected and/or covering a rash and cleaning items touched by an infected individual can significantly reduce the spread of the virus. The monkeypox outbreak has an extremely low fatality rate – actually, I do not think anyone has yet died because of the viral infection – so even if someone catches the disease, the probability of surviving the infection is extremely high. 

Q: Are there any precautions that people should be taking? 

JJ: This outbreak does not appear to be transmitted via aerosolization, a mode of transmission that is difficult to contain, so the best precautions to take are limiting close interactions with someone infected with the virus or exposure to items used by an infected individual. Eliminating these interactions is the best approach to reduce the spread of the virus. Again, this outbreak seems to be disseminating because of sexual activities. Limiting these activities when someone is showing signs of infection would help prevent disease spread. 

Q: How would someone know if they had monkeypox? What are the most common symptoms? 

JJ: A monkeypox virus infection typically begins with the presence of a rash that can be painful and itchy – the rash looks like small blisters or pimples on the skin. The rash/pustule/pox/blister (I see a lot of different terminology used for a “pox,” the classical term and the reason for the virus’ name) grows and becomes filled with virus particles before drying out and becoming a scab that falls off once new skin has grown underneath. Individuals are typically considered infectious once the rash is observed until after the scab has fallen off. 

Symptoms of a monkeypox infection also can include fever, chills, muscle/back aches, headache, etc. – typical signs of being infected with something (i.e. being sick) – also known as flu-like symptoms. Symptoms can start within three weeks of exposure to the virus. Sometimes infected individuals show a rash first before the flu-like symptoms. Other individuals have flu-like symptoms before the rash is present. Others experience only a rash and no other symptoms. The reason for this variation in symptoms is unknown and currently being investigated. This variation in the timing and presentation of symptoms also may explain how the virus was able to spread so quickly. 

Q: Do you think it can still be contained, and how long might that take? 

JJ: The virus can be contained, especially if the primary mode of transmission is direct person-to-person contact. Avoiding interactions with infected individuals can be the difference in eliminating the spread of the virus. My guess is it would take a month or so to contain the spread if infected individuals changed their habits. 

One unique aspect about poxvirus infections is that post-exposure vaccination has been shown to help protect individuals from the disease. There are currently two vaccines being used for monkeypox, and it will be interesting to see if post-exposure vaccination also will work in this situation. ACAM2000 is a vaccina virus vaccine originally developed/used for smallpox vaccinations. The second vaccine is based on a highly attenuated modified vaccinia virus Ankara strain called MVA (the name of vaccine is JYNNEOS). ACAM2000 is a single dose vaccine while JYNNEOS is a two-dose vaccine regime. There also is a treatment, recently approved through emergency use authorization, called TPOX that appears to help monkeypox infections. This treatment was initially developed to fight against smallpox, but since monkeypox viruses are related, it can be used to treat those infections as well. 

Poxvirus infections also have been treated with viral immunoglobulins – antibodies that help fight the infection. These are typically used in the most severe cases, and since monkeypox is not causing high mortality rates in infected individuals, this treatment may not be necessary. 

Q: How do you think the nation’s ongoing experience with COVID-19 has changed the way we’re reacting to this crisis? 

JJ: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic caused a lot of fear and anxiety in society – in some cases, family and friends turned against each other because of differences of opinion or belief about the virus and the best way to deal with it. These wounds are hard to mend, but I believe our collective experience with this pandemic has helped calm society regarding disease outbreaks while educating them about viral infections and host immunity.  

Recent data suggest that some of the initial responses to COVID-19 could have been better to help reduce fear and anxiety in society. For example, natural immunity to a viral infection, the gold standard for over a century, was initially dismissed during the COVID-19 pandemic (we now know that natural immunity to SARS-CoV-2 is helpful to fight against infection). Again, regardless of one’s opinion, I believe society collectively has learned a lot about viral pandemics that will help if this ever happens again in the future. 

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Do I belong here? Is this really for me?

That self-doubt started to dissipate as Sanders became enmeshed in the lab of biology professor Elinne Becket, doing research on the impact of antibiotic pollution of coastal microbiomes. And it was all but chased away last year when she was chosen as a peer mentor in Summer Scholars, a 10-week program that prepares students for graduate school and careers in STEM through hands-on research and networking opportunities.  

“Summer Scholars really impacted my development as a scientist,” Sanders said. “It exposed me to the collaborative nature of research, and I realized what was missing in my graduate school experience – human interaction. I’ve gained a lot of confidence since doing the program.”

So much confidence that she decided to pursue a doctorate. This fall, she will begin a Ph.D. program in molecular biology at Princeton University.

Sanders’ story of success is exceptional, and yet it’s illustrative of the impact that Summers Scholars has been having on students for more than a decade. Now, the program’s reach will be even broader and deeper.

CSUSM has received a $110,250 grant from Hologic, a Massachusetts-based global medical technology company that has a major presence in San Diego, to launch the Hologic Pathway to Success in STEM. The new program will expand Summer Scholars to serve STEM students throughout their college path, from their first year to graduation.

The pathway program is building upon Summer Scholars in three ways. First, it provides rising sophomores who are first-generation college students, low income, from underrepresented groups in STEM or academically struggling with exposure to Summer Scholars programming, lab shadowing and peer mentorship.

“Those students are our apprentices who learn from the students in our Summer Scholars program,” said Julie Jameson, who coordinates Summer Scholars with fellow biological sciences professor Betsy Read.

Second, the Hologic Pathway to Success in STEM supports six current Summer Scholars (who are anywhere between their sophomore and senior year) and five graduate-level peer mentors to do research and receive career development and professional mentoring.

Third, it’s sponsoring three high-achieving Summer Scholars to continue their research into the fall and spring semesters, turning a seasonal program into a year-round one.

“When we track our students and we look at the alumni, we see the success that they have from being in Summer Scholars,” Jameson said. “So having the ability to support this many students in this large of a wraparound program, I know what it will do for them and I know it will change their lives. And that is extremely rewarding to see happen.”

CSUSM first approached Hologic about supporting Summer Scholars two years ago, and the company heartily consented because it has a strong focus on increasing representation of underrepresented minorities in STEM (61% of STEM majors at CSUSM are from such groups). Hologic broadened its funding last year to include the peer mentoring piece that Sanders participated in.

Earlier this year, Jameson, Read and Christine Anderson (CSUSM’s director of corporate and foundation relations) shared a report from the 2021 edition of Summer Scholars with Hologic's philanthropy committee. Suitably impressed, Damon Getman, Hologic’s scientific director, presented Jameson with a thrilling hypothetical:

What would you do if money weren’t a limitation, if you could dream about doing something really special?

The CSUSM team drew up a proposal, which became the Hologic Pathway to Success in STEM.

“I’ve been with the company for 23 years, and I’ve stayed for so long because here we have the chance to dream about how we can use science and engineering to help patients in the most effective way,” Getman said. “As scientists and engineers, it’s a rare privilege and honor to have that opportunity, and we want to afford that opportunity to all students from every walk of life who aspire to do something great, something that is bigger than themselves. We recognized years ago that the faculty and staff at CSUSM shared that vision with us; we are kindred spirits in a sense. We can’t wait to see how the young scholars in the program exceed their own expectations.”

Jameson can’t wait, either.

“We've seen students who really didn't think that they belonged in the STEM field become Ph.D. candidates,” she said. “We've seen them go into industry and become leaders. Watching our students come and give back to our programs, it shows how much it means to them. The growth and development is, for me, the most rewarding aspect of this program.”

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

That was when the number of confirmed U.S. cases was only in the hundreds, and the number of deaths was fewer than 25. Almost two years later, of course, more than 900,000 Americans have perished from COVID-19, and the cases total is roughly a quarter of the U.S. population.

With the latest variant, Omicron, clearly on the wane and daily life returning to some version of normalcy, we decided to check in again with Mothé to talk about where the pandemic stands now and the endemic phase that could soon be our reality.

Question: What do you think about the current situation with Omicron? Case numbers are declining rapidly, though hospitalizations and deaths remain distressingly high.

Bianca Mothé: The overall numbers will continue to decrease. But I think there's a cautionary tale in that there are still lot of unvaccinated individuals. In the U.S., we have about 35% of the population who are still unvaccinated, but that doesn't represent what's happening internationally. In African countries, there still are places where only one in 10 people have been vaccinated. Those are places where a variant like Omicron can really take hold. Unvaccinated adults have a 15 times higher risk of dying from COVID than those who are vaccinated. We have all the tools, but we haven't distributed them equally. So while we may take comfort that, in San Diego, we've definitely hit the peak and are coming out on the other side, there's still potential for this particular variant to take hold in other places, and lead to much more death, because there's greater unvaccinated rates in some of these countries.

Q: And that can also go for parts of the U.S. where the vaccination rate remains low?

BM: Correct. I think we're pretty lucky here in California with the vaccination rates that we have, close to 70%. That definitely doesn't represent the entire country. We're probably going to continue to see, even with Omicron, these outbreaks that are regionally-serving just based on vaccination rates, or lack thereof.

Q: You mentioned countries where only one of 10 people is vaccinated. What is the specific threat to the U.S. of vaccines still not achieving a global spread?

BM: I think Omicron is a cautionary tale of that. It emerged in Botswana, but it was really detected in South Africa, where it was first reported. Then it progressed super quickly in terms of being able to spread to other countries. So I think what you're creating in these countries that have low vaccination rates is an opportunity for this particular virus to continue to create variants that might have an even more rapid rate of transmission. We can't take comfort in the U.S., even though we may have higher rates of vaccination. We might be threatened by a new variant that is emerging from somewhere that has a low rate of vaccination.

Q: When you first heard about Omicron late last year, could you have imagined that it would turn into the beast that it has?

BM: It was interesting because, at that point, we were all really concerned about Delta. Delta is much more dangerous in its ability to cause disease. When Omicron first emerged, we didn't know a whole lot. Scientists were sequencing it and identifying which mutations it had. The Omicron variant has over 60 mutations compared to some of the original strains, and it was surprising at that time to realize there was a specific variant that could carry as many mutations as it had and still be fit. When I say fit, I mean it's a virus that can still infect effectively and transmit, because ultimately that's what the virus wants. The virus wants to be able to go through a replication cycle in a new host. Omicron is unique in that it multiplies 70 times faster than what we were worried about, Delta, and especially in the upper airways. The way it does this is it has specific mutations at a cleavage site that allows for this particular SARS-CoV-2 variant to get swallowed up by the cell instead of having to fuse in a step-by-step manner. This variant can effectively infect cells in the upper airways. We had seen other variants with other mutations, but in the spike protein, which is what it uses to attach and get into the cell. That was new. Omicron also has additional mutations that allow it to escape immunity created by previous infection and/or vaccination.  So that's what was surprising about Omicron, that you could have a variant with as many mutations that gave it an ability to become more fit.

Q: What new information do you think scientists have learned about COVID and its many variations from the encounter with Omicron that will help us going forward?

BM: I think Omicron was a great tale of international collaborations. South Africa was very forthcoming in saying they had identified a new variant. And while they didn't know all the details, they were able to share with the international community information about the virus and give it to people who would be able to model and see, based on these mutations, that this was what we would predict would happen. I think that's a real evolution, countries deciding that collaboration is going to be one of the best ways to deal with this. Now there's heightened surveillance in most countries so that as a new variant emerges, it's rapidly detected and the international scientific community can tackle it and determine the situation with those specific mutations. Is it leading to something that's more infectious or can transmit better? We're probably going to continue to see new variants coming from some of these countries that don't have the vaccination rates of others. But we have gotten better at surveying those and distributing that information internationally.

Q: What is your perspective on the variants out there right now? How would you sum it up?

BM: When we talk about Omicron, everybody is thinking about the original Omicron sequence, which is called BA.1 and has been studied pretty intensely at this point. There are two more variations of Omicron. One of them is called BA.2, and then there's another new one that's emerging that's BA.3. BA.2 is less prolific, but in some countries, it has overtaken BA.1. The specific countries that we can point to are Denmark, Nepal and the Philippines, and it has a minor presence in India. If you look at India, for example, with its lower vaccination rates, that is a place where BA.2 could continue to mutate into a new strand. The third one, BA.3, has yet to take off; there are only a few hundred cases where it's been detected. But that's something where people are beginning to monitor and look at the sequence to see how different it is from BA.1 and BA.2 and whether it’s giving the virus any additional advantage based on mutations.

Q: BA.2 has been discovered in California, right?

BM: Yes, we already have BA.2 here. But it hasn't taken over BA.1, which is the original Omicron.

Q: Is it too early to say how BA.2 might affect the population here?

BM: There's a lot of investigation right now to determine the extent that people can get reinfected. Can someone who has had the original Omicron get reinfected with the original Omicron or BA.2? If someone has been infected with BA.1, the original Omicron, can they even catch BA.2 or BA.3? There's some indication that reinfection can occur, but we don't know what these additional variants will represent in terms of reinfection. I think that's one of the big questions right now: Can you keep getting it over and over and over again, because the immune response that you'd get from infection maybe isn't that strong or that durable.

Q: What about the question of whether vaccines and boosters are as protective against BA.2 and BA.3 as BA.1?

BM: That's still to be determined. We're still working on getting more booster shots into people. You don't want to have a false sense of security just because you've had two shots. That booster shot really does help your immunity, even in the context of something like Omicron that isn't as severe. We have a tool out there in vaccination, and that will protect you from severe disease.

Q: We’ve been discussing two new variants in the Omicron family. Could something still come along that's entirely different?

BM: Yes. Omicron has taken over in terms of numbers, but Delta is still out there. There's still a possibility of going back to some of those original sequences, like Alpha or Delta, and something mutating from that. Given the ability that Omicron has to infect new people, most of the infections are coming from Omicron, but that doesn't mean you still couldn't get mutations from Delta.

Q: There was a time not too ago when the general public didn't think about the word “pandemic” and maybe didn't even know what it means. Now, of course, it's fundamental to daily discourse. These days, we’re beginning to hear the word “endemic” more and more often, and some people might not have a clear grasp of it. How do you define it, and how does it differ from pandemic?

BM: Pandemic is the introduction of something new, a new pathogen into the population and the ability that it has to spike and get a lot of infections. Once something becomes endemic, it is really in our population. A good analogy is that influenza is endemic, but in a seasonal way, meaning that we can all anticipate that there's going to be a flu season and roughly how many individuals are going to get infected and how the flu is spreading throughout regions based on the time of year. I think what we’ll get with COVID-19 is that it's going to be around and we have the tools now to control it more effectively. We've got vaccines, we know that masks are protective. We're going to have to learn how to deal with it, and hopefully we’ll see in the next couple of months that some of the indoor mask mandates might go away. But we're introducing new public health tools like sewer water testing that will determine regional locations where there might be increases in numbers of infection. And then some of the usual public health tools can be reintroduced. So when we think of it being endemic, it's going to be around. It's not going to go away tomorrow or next month or even in six months or a year. But now we have the tools to better control it and even predict what's going to happen next.

Q: Will it go away in our lifetimes?

BM: Well, coronaviruses have been around. Some of them are responsible for common colds. So I don't think so. This has really taken hold, and I don't see it going away. I think the way that we're going to be able to interact with it, we probably won't go back to our previous normal. We'll just be using public health tools more effectively to be able to monitor it.

Q: Regarding the comparison to influenza, do you think COVID will turn into a seasonal thing?

BM: The goal originally was that it would be seasonal. In the winter, people are indoors, and that would lead to increased transmission rates. That didn't happen in our first two seasons with COVID, though there were some peaks. I think it’s still to be determined whether there will be increases and decreases in infection based on season. I haven't seen any data that will clarify that for us at this point.

Q: What do you think about the increasingly expressed idea of learning to live with COVID and how our society might deal with that?

BM: In thinking of how to live with COVID, there's a flu vaccine that is available to everyone every year, and it's pretty successful at preventing severe flu outbreaks. That's a tool we now have with COVID, and we've had to implement booster shots, so it could turn into something where you're just going to have to get a vaccine periodically. I think that's one way we're going to live with it, by boosting our immune system with a periodic COVID vaccine. And if we can, as a society, increase those vaccination rates, hopefully we would hit herd immunity and protect those individuals who can't be vaccinated. That would ultimately be the goal. Are we headed in that direction? Well, we're seeing a moderate increase in vaccination rates. If we can continue with that philosophy, these vaccines are what we’re going to need to continue to live with COVID.

Q: Reflecting on when we first talked in March 2020 to where we are now, what has surprised you most about the arc of COVID?

BM: This virus has thrown out all the models that anybody would have had for a new virus being introduced into the human population. But as several of my colleagues have said, this has really tested scientists. And ultimately, it's probably going to go down in history as one of the greatest accomplishments of science and medicine in being able to introduce a vaccine in nine or 10 months after the discovery of a new pathogen. So while it has really tested us in terms of not being able to predict what was going to happen next, it did provide an opportunity for a new vaccine generation. And now taking those tools that have come through in terms of COVID and applying them to other pathogens that we’ve been dealing with for a long time, like HIV, that's exciting.

I think this is also an opportunity for us to realize that, as scientists, we have to do much better in terms of communicating with the public and utilizing platforms that are much more accessible. For me, it's exciting to have a whole science Twitter section that I can go to where there are multiple papers every day in peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed literature that are really moving science forward. Even for scientists, you can't keep up with all the new information that's coming through.

What surprised me most is that there was a pathogen that was introduced into the human population that no one could have predicted would have taken hold and replicated so effectively, and from an optimistic perspective, scientists were able to respond to it in a way that has never happened before. I think if this was 10 or 15 years ago, we still wouldn't have a vaccine for it; we wouldn't have had the platforms that we have now to generate new vaccines. And that's really exciting to see. The virus evolved, and our tools to deal with it had to evolve even faster.

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306