UConn Health

June 12, 2015 | Combined Reports - UConn Communications

Students Display Presentation Skills at Graduate Research Day

The annual event is an opportunity for students to communicate their research results.

The poster session for Graduate Research Day 2015 was held in the lobby of the Academic Lobby of the Main Building. (Stephanie Rauch/UConn Health Photo)

The poster session for Graduate Research Day 2015 was held in the lobby of the Academic Lobby of the Main Building. (Stephanie Rauch/UConn Health Photo)

The poster session for Graduate Research Day 2015 was held in the lobby of the Academic Lobby of the Main Building. (Stephanie Rauch/UConn Health Photo)
The poster session for Graduate Research Day 2015 was held in the Academic Lobby of the Main Building. (Stephanie Rauch/UConn Health Photo)

Biomedical science and public health students highlighted their research accomplishments during the annual Graduate Student Research Day held at UConn Health on June 11.

The event is a forum for students to practice their presentation skills and communicate their research results either orally or in poster format. Posters are judged by a panel of faculty members, based on the scientific material being presented, how well founded the hypothesis is, and whether it is a scientifically reasonable project. The student is also judged on the graphics and layout of the poster, and how well he or she presents the material and answers questions.

(Stephanie Rauch/UConn Health Photo)
Dr. Royce Mohan reviews the research of Biomedical Science Ph.D. student April Masters (AoC: Immunology; PI: Dr. Laura Haynes). (Stephanie Rauch/UConn Health Photo)

The 2015 poster presentation winners were:
1st place: Nicole Blanchette, Ph.D. student in biomedical science
2nd place: Clifford Locke, Ph.D. student in biomedical science
3rd place: Ahmad Osman, Ph.D. student in biomedical science

Oral presentation winners were:
1st place: John Wizeman, Ph.D. student in biomedical science
2nd place: Jared Woods, Ph.D. student in biomedical science
3rd place: Oriana Perez, Ph.D. student in biomedical science

La Shondra Ellis (AoC: Genetics and Developmental Biology; PI: Dr. Andrew Arnold), a student in the Young Innovative Investigator Program, or YIIP, discusses her work with the Associate Dean of the Graduate School-UConn Health Campus, Dr. Barbara Kream, and MD/PhD program director Dr. Carol Pilbeam. Ms. Ellis was one of four students who piloted electronic poster presentations at this year’s Research Day. (Stephanie Rauch/UConn Health Photo)
La Shondra Ellis (AoC: Genetics and Developmental Biology; PI: Dr. Andrew Arnold), a student in the Young Innovative Investigator Program, or YIIP, discusses her work with the Associate Dean of the Graduate School-UConn Health Campus, Dr. Barbara Kream, and MD/Ph.D. program director Dr. Carol Pilbeam. Ellis was one of four students who piloted electronic poster presentations at this year’s Graduate Research Day. (Stephanie Rauch/UConn Health Photo)

Other awards announced during the event were:
Edward G. Henderson Memorial Prize for the outstanding thesis in biomedical science: Dr. Matthew Hammond
Lepow Award for an outstanding rising fourth-year biomedical science student: Edward Koellhoffer
Lawrence G. Raisz Award for Excellence in Musculoskeletal Research: Vanessa Scanlon
Osborn Biomedical Science Graduate Teaching Award: Dr. Stephen Crocker

The keynote address was given by NIH Distinguished Investigator Dr. Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, chief of the Section on Organelle Biology in the Cell Biology and Metabolism Program at NICHS, NIH. She spoke on the topic “Navigating the Cell Through Live Cell Imaging.”

The event was organized by the UConn Health Graduate Student Organization.