Talbot Research Group

Dr. Song's article "Susceptibility of human neural stem cells to SARS-CoV-2: Entry mechanisms and glycocalyx influence" is available in PLOS ONE. The work shows the potential infectability of ectodermal derivatives. journals.plos.org/plosone/ar… @PLOSONE @UCRiverside @UCRCNAS

The Talbot lab welcomes our latest lab member & CIRM intern, Roberto Gonzalez. He joins us from CSUSB. We also say goodbye to Yara Hassan who became a valuable member of Dr. Phandthong’ team. We wish her the best at dental school. @CIRMnews @CSUSBNews @UCRCNAS

UC Riverside News has published a press release "High-puff e-cigarettes may become more toxic with use" on work done by Dr. Omaiye and our colleagues in Dr. Pankow’s lab on thermal degradation byproducts in high puff ECs such as Elfbar and Flum. news.ucr.edu/articles/2026/0…

Congratulations to Jon Wong who recently received a prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. A former member of the Talbot lab, Jon now works with Dr. Garcia-Castro. Way to go Jon! @UCRCNAS @UCR_ScienceNews @NSF

Congrats to Dr. Omaiye, Man Wong & colleagues at Dr. Pankow's lab on the publication of "Methylglyoxal & Glyoxal in High-Puff Disposable Electronic Cigarette Liquids: Unexpected Accumulation & Enhanced Cytotoxicity" in ACS Omega. pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs… @ACSPublications @UCRCNAS

Congrats to Samantha Vargas, a Talbot lab alumnus, for her acceptance into the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. We share in your excitement at beginning the next stage of your education. You will be a great asset there as you were in our lab. @cdrewu @UCRCNAS

Yara Hassan presented her CIRM Internship poster “Comparative Toxicity of 6-Methyl Nicotine and Nicotine Using a 3D Human Tracheobronchial Epithelial Tissue (hTET) Model” at CSUSB. Congrats to her and her mentor, Dr. Phandthong, on the great work. @CIRMnews @CSUSBNews @UCRCNAS

UCR news has published a press release on Dr. Song's work titled "Early Human Embryonic Cells may be Vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 Infection". It is available at the link below. news.ucr.edu/articles/2026/0… @UCRiverside @UCRCNAS #COVID

Congrats to Ann Song! Her manuscript, "SARS-CoV-2 pseudoparticles preferentially infect ectoderm in human embryonic tissues" is now available to read in the journal Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. @UCRCNAS @UCR_ScienceNews @FrontiersIn frontiersin.org/journals/cel…

Join me and make a gift to 2026 UCR Give Day! #UCRGiveDay givecampus.com/s/mcmhnc

Audrey Choi presented her poster “Quantitative Assessment of Airway Remodeling and Genotoxic Stress in 3D Human Tracheobronchial Epithelium Induced by Nicotine and Nicotinamide Electronic Cigarette Aerosols” at the Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting. @SOToxicology @UCRiverside

The UCR Stem Cell Center’s Best Stem Cell Paper Award was won by Dr. Etemadi for her paper “Menthol, a Consumer Product Additive, Adversely Affects Human Embryonic Cells via Activation of TRPM8 and TRPA1 Channels”. Congrats Shabbi! @UCR @UCRBCOE @UCRCNAS #vape

Congrats to Dr. Phandthong on winning the Audience Choice 1st place and Faculty’s Choice 1st place awards at the annual MCSB and CMDB Symposium for his work using the hTET model that he and his team developed in our lab. @UCR @UCR_ScienceNews @CIRMnews

Congratulations to Dr. Etemadi! She won an Outstanding Poster Presentation Award at the 13th Annual Symposium of the Inland Empire Stem Cell Consortium hosted by City of Hope. @UCRCNAS @UCR_ScienceNews @UCRStemCell #stemcell @cityofhope

Shane Kennedy, Academic Coordinator at the UCR Stem Cell Core Facility, participated in the UCR Core Symposium organized by Dr. Meera Nair. Shane manned a table and gave a platform presentation on the Stem Cell Core and its services. @UCRStemCell @UCRCNAS #stemcells

Congratulations to Man Wong and his team! His manuscript on toxic electronic cigarette degradation products, acetaldehyde and methylglyoxal, has been published in the journal Frontiers in Toxicology! frontiersin.org/journals/tox… @FrontiersIn @UCRCNAS @UCR_ScienceNews

To celebrate Stem Cell Awareness Day, the UCR Stem Cell Core sponsored an Open House that was attended by 200 people. CIRM TRANSCEND trainees and other volunteers guided guests, introduced Core services, and demonstrated equipment. @UCRStemCell @CIRMnews @UCRCNAS @UCRSoM @UCRBCOE

The Talbot Lab members, current and past, recently celebrated the end of the academic year. Congratulations to everyone on all the publications, graduations, poster awards, and all the other special recognitions you earned this year!

The Talbot lab celebrated two of our students at UCR’s Graduate Division Hooding Ceremony. Congratulations to Ann and Shabbi on earning their PhDs! Their incredible dedication and hard work made this milestone possible. @UCRiverside @UCRCNAS @UCRBCOE #UCRGrad

Congrats to Dr. Phandthong and his team! Their work on vaping and SARS-CoV-2 infection, doi.org/10.1152/ajplung.0030…, published in the "American Journal of Physiology" won the journal's 2024 Best Impact award. @APSPhysiology @UCR_ScienceNews @UCRCNAS #TRDRP #Ecig #vape