FIRE Presents: Pitch Perfect Research Competition Winners

On Monday, November 10, 2025, First-Year Innovation & Research Experience (FIRE) Semester 3 students and Peer Research Mentors had the exciting opportunity to pitch their research in the Pitch Perfect Research Competition. The prize? The coveted first-place trophy with flame embellishments to display in their streams lab until the next Pitch Perfect event!

This year, teams shared many great research pitches on topics ranging from democratic backsliding in Venezuela to the right antibiotic levels to increase sperm counts. With just 90 seconds to pitch their research, all fifteen groups did a great job explaining their research to their audience in a clear and concise way.

After the presentations, attendees voted for the pitches they found clear, concise, informative, and creatively presented. Tied for third place were two teams: Abigail Phillips from FIRE Bacterial Pathogenesis (BP) with their project “Breaking Down Biofilms in Pseudomonas Aeruginosa,” and the second team, Jordan Bloom, Brandon Bao, Owen Serra, Advait Anilal, and Luke Rippeon with their project “Impact of LeuA Knockout on Escherichia coli Growth and Bacteriophage Reproduction” from Host-Pathogen Interactions (HPI). 

The second-place winner was from FIRE’s Gene Silencing stream (GS), Lauren Lobo, with her project, “Gene Silencing: The Future of Medicine.” 

In first place was Sabeen Kirwi with her project “Printing Hope” from Global Development & Design (GDD). As winners of the 2025 Pitch Perfect Competition, GDD students will display their FIRE Pitch Perfect Trophy for the next year in their lab. However, GDD students will have to defend their right to retain the prize next year when the Pitch Perfect Research Competition is held again.

Attending this event as a FIRE Semester 3 student and event journalist, I paid close attention to the wording and how each group presented their research. Conveying complicated information to an audience that might not know everything about your subject is an important skill to develop. In and out of FIRE, it is good to know how to communicate one’s ideas in an accessible way, and this event is an excellent place to practice that skill. 

To learn more about the FIRE Pitch Perfect Research Competition and how FIRE Students prepared this year, check out the FIRE Pitch Perfect event description here.