It was mid-morning in mid-July when students in UConn Health’s Biomedical Science programs began gathering in the research-in-progress academic rotunda to collect their name badges and pins.
Directing her fellow students to their poster placements was outgoing Graduate Student Organization (GSO) Vice President Dea Gorka. Due to COVID restrictions, Gorka was the only student there to present his own poster in 2019, the last time the Biomedical Science Graduate Student Research Day (GSRD) was able to include this live part of the event.
Participants in this annual celebration of the research achievements of the biomedical science students in the UConn Graduate School of Health programs at the Farmington campus were delighted to have the opportunity to gather once again to share their research with their classmates and the University community at large.
“As the pandemic drags on, many of our students have had very few opportunities to give a poster presentation. This particular medium of interaction is essential for training scientists because it allows them to develop informal communication skills that all scientists need to have,” said second place poster presenter award winner Blake Torrance.
“These types of events are essential training opportunities to be able to practice science communication and presentations with our peers and other academics from diverse backgrounds,” said new GSO President Rachel Gilmore. “I am passionate about science communication; I truly believe that if we cannot explain and disseminate our science, then it does the world no good. As a rising fourth-year student, this was only my fourth personal opportunity to be able to share my work, and all have happened within the last four months.”
The impact of the pandemic on education and research cannot be underestimated, and although seminars and virtual classes have kept things going, it is the sense of community that has taken the most significant hit.
“During the pandemic a lot of contact with peers or other students has been limited to my area of concentration (AoC). It is through events like this that I can understand and appreciate how large and supportive the UConn Health biomedical science community really is,” said a combined M.D./Ph.D. student and winner of the Raisz Patrick McMullan Award.
Gilmore agrees: “It’s so important to have events like GSRD’s Biomedical Science for a sense of graduate school community. This is really the only merger event we have. COVID has prevented so much interaction within and between factions at UCH; it is essential to return to these events.”
“Especially now,” notes Torrance, “it’s been difficult to foster intellectual interactions across AoCs and it’s so exciting to see our friends and colleagues present the work they’ve been doing.”
In addition to the poster session, the July 14 program included in-person science talks by student representatives from each of the seven biomedical science concentration areas and last year’s Lepow Award winner, Andrew Harrison. These talks, along with the keynote from new faculty member Pedro Miura, were also live streamed for a wider audience.
Miura, who joins the biomedical science program’s genetics and developmental biology AoC, began his research talk with a plug for scientific careers in academia in a slide titled “Life as a DP is amazing!” While it was once assumed that most Ph.D. graduates would pursue employment at a college or university as a principal investigator themselves, years of limited academic job opportunities and increased exposure to industry and other careers in science have made pursuing a professorship less advantageous. However, before launching into his research talk, Miura assured those present that the “PI life” is full of discovery, freedom, friendship, travel, and satisfaction in successfully training future scientists.
Archived presentations from the 39th Annual Graduate Student Research Day will be available soon. Visit health.uconn.edu/graduate-school for more information.
After the presentations, the program announced their annual award recipients, including:
Edward G. Henderson Memorial Award for Ph.D. Thesis in Biomedical Science: Dr. Nathan Leclair, MD/Ph.D. student, Genetics and Developmental Biology AoC, DP: Brenton Gravely and Dr. Olga Anczuków-Camarda
Lepow Award for Outstanding Biomedical Science PhD Student Entering 4th Year of Study: Pengyu Zong, AoC Neuroscience, DP: Lixia Yue
Lawrence G. Raisz Award for Excellence in Musculoskeletal Research: Patrick McMullan, AoC Skeletal Biology and Regeneration, DP: Dr. Emily Germain-Lee
Biomedical Science Service Award in Leadership: Britta Petersen, AoC Skeletal Biology and Regeneration, DP: Marc Hansen
Biomedical Science Service Award in Mentoring: Sarah Palko, Neuroscience AoC, PI: Royce Mohan
GSRD Oral Presentation Award: Margaret Vos, AoC Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, DP: Rebecca Page
1st Place: Nagham Khouri Farah, AoC Genetics and Developmental Biology, DP: James Li and Justin Cotney
2nd place: Blake Torrance, Immology AoC, PI: Laura Haynes
3rd place (tie): Sarah Palko, AoC Neuroscience, DP: Royce Mohan and
Patrick McMullan, MD/Ph.D. student, Skeletal Biology and Regeneration AoC, DP: Dr. Emily Germain-Lee
Osborn Award for Excellence in Biomedical Science Graduate Training: Wendy W.K. Mok, AoC Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
