What do the Tinder dating app and our immune system have in common? They are both committed to swiping candidates to screen for the perfect match. However, instead of love, our immune system is looking for signs of viruses in cells that should be destroyed, according to Sophia Miliotis, a UC San Francisco PhD student and winner of UCSF’s 2025 Grad Slam, the university’s annual PhD student research communication competition.
But, there’s a catch with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, Miliotis pointed outs. It doesn’t play by the matchmaking rules. HIV evades immune detection by rapidly mutating and generating millions of unique pieces of the virus, called peptides, that our immune system can’t recognize. As a result, some HIV-infected cells escape and lay dormant for decades, possibly coming to the surface if medication is interrupted.
Miliotis’ presentation, “Finding HIV: A Swipe in the Right Direction,” earned her first place from judges as well as the People’s Choice award. Each of the 10 graduate student finalists delivered a three-minute presentation of their complex work to a combined live and remote streaming audience of more than 600. Finalists were challenged to explain their research in an engaging, lay-friendly manner to a panel of five judges, a few of whom were past competition winners.
As in past years, this year’s Grad Slam, organized by the Graduate Division Dean’s office, was a featured event held in celebration of National Graduate Student Appreciation Week.