Blau Lab Congratulates Nmesoma Onyejekwe on Stanford CVI Poster Prize

The Blau Lab is pleased to announce that our CVI summer intern Nmesoma Onyejekwe was awarded the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute Poster Prize at the 2025 Bay Area Cardiovascular Research Symposium, held at Stanford University August 14 and 15.

Nmesoma’s poster, entitled “Modulation of Human Muscle Stem Cell Behavior via PGE2 Signaling”, explored how chemical signals like PGE2 can influence the function of muscle stem cells—cells that are crucial for repairing and regenerating muscle tissue after injury. Understanding how to guide these stem cells with specific signals is a key step toward developing therapies that help restore muscle health, particularly for people recovering from injury or dealing with muscle-related diseases.

Stem cells are sometimes described as the body’s “repair crew". They have the ability to become different types of cells and replace damaged ones. Nmesoma’s research looked at how tweaking a natural signaling molecule, PGE2, changes how these muscle stem cells behave in a controlled environment. Insights from her project could eventually contribute to new ways of promoting healing or slowing muscle degeneration.

Throughout her internship, Nmesoma worked closely with members of the Blau Lab, particularly postdoc Minas Nalbandian, gaining hands-on experience with advanced laboratory techniques and sharing thoughtful perspectives in group discussions.

Winning the poster prize was a well-deserved and highlights the Blau Lab’s commitment to mentoring students and advancing research that addresses real challenges in health and medicine.