On August 21, students and faculty in the Biomedical Science programs in The Graduate School at UConn Health gathered for the 41st Annual Graduate Student Research Day (GSRD).
This annual celebration shines the spotlight on the hard work and research accomplishments of the program’s students and gives them the opportunity to share their work with a larger audience.
“As graduate students it’s easy to get wrapped up in our own research,” says Perla El Ahmad, rising 3rd year student and incoming president of the Graduate Student Organization (GSO). “GSRD is a great opportunity to check out all the cool work our peers have been doing in different labs and areas of concentrations throughout the year.”
Deepa Anjan Kumar, 2023-24 GSO president and 2024-25 vice president, notes that having GSRD during orientation week is a great introduction to the program for new students as well. “It is a wonderful opportunity for incoming students to interact with their peers and learn more about different research areas in a welcoming environment.”
(Photo Credit: Perla El Ahmad).
The day-long event features a poster session and oral presentations from students across all seven areas of concentration (AoCs) within the program, as well as a scientific talk by the previous year’s Lepow Award winner (Patricia Hare) and a keynote address.
Again this year, we were fortunate to have the keynote presented by a Biomedical Science Ph.D. program alum who has returned to UConn Health as a faculty member. Dr. Abhijit Deb Roy, assistant professor in the Cell Biology Department and Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling, is a 2018 graduate who joined the faculty earlier this year. He was happy not only to have been invited to speak at an event where he once received an award himself for his student research (2014 Raisz awardee), but to soak in the ongoing work of current students.
“I was really excited to attend the 2024 GSRD, especially because I was attending as a faculty and not a student this time around. Nostalgia aside, it was inspiring to attend the poster session and talks and learn about all the amazing research that continues to be conducted at UConn Health,” he said.
After all of the presentations, the program announced this year’s award recipients, including awards for best oral and poster presentations at GSRD, student service awards, and annual outstanding research awards.
In addition to awards presented to students, the day also included an award presented by students: the Osborn Award for Excellence in Biomedical Science Graduate Teaching. This award is student nominated and voted on and presented each year to a Biomedical Science program faculty member for their excellence in teaching and mentoring Biomedical Science graduate students. This year’s awardee was Dr. Christopher Heinen, professor in the Molecular Biology and Biochemistry AoC.
An excerpt from the nominating student explained:
“Dr. Heinen exemplifies the qualities that this award seeks to honor. He is an extraordinary educator who is both kind and patient, consistently encouraging his students to achieve their best… his ability to foster an engaging and supportive learning environment is unparalleled [and] his commitment to graduate education and his genuine care for his students’ success make him an ideal candidate for the Osborn Award.”
“Winning this year’s Osborn Award is a tremendous honor,” said Heinen. “Working with all the many grad students and postdocs over the years has been perhaps the most favorite part of my job here. This is a hugely meaningful moment for me.”
This year’s award recipients:
Edward G. Henderson Memorial Prize for Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis in Biomedical Science: Timofey Karginov, Combined MD/Ph.D. student, Immunology AoC
PI: Dr. Anthony Vella
Lepow Award for Outstanding Biomedical Science Ph.D. Student Entering the 4th Year of Study: William Theune, Immunology AoC
PI: Dr. Kepeng Wang
Lawrence G. Raisz Award for Excellent in Musculoskeletal Research (tie):
Justin King, Combined MD/Ph.D. student, Skeletal Biology and Regeneration AoC
PI: Dr. Archana Sanjay
Marta Stetsiv, Combined MD/Ph.D. student, Skeletal Biology and Regeneration AoC
PI: Dr. Archana Sanjay & Dr. Rosa Guzzo
Biomedical Science Service Award in Leadership: Deepa Anjan Kumar, Neuroscience AoC
PI: Dr. Eric Levine
Biomedical Science Service Award in Mentorship: Andreia Cadar, Immunology AoC
PI: Dr. Jenna Bartley
GSRD Oral Presentation Award: Vincent Graziano, Immunology AoC
PI: Dr. Vijay Rathinam
Poster presentation awards:
1st Place: Ziming Cao, Immunology AoC, PI: Dr. Zhichao Fan
2nd Place: Deepa Anjan Kumar, Neuroscience AoC
PI: Dr. Eric Levine
3rd Place (3-way tie):
Kristina Delgado, Immunology AoC
PI: Dr. Justin Radolf and Dr. Kelly Hawley
Emilie Korchak, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry AoC
PI: Dr. Irina Bezsonova
Sofia Possidento, Cell Biology AoC
PI: Kimberly Dodge-Kafka
Osborn Award for Excellence in Biomedical Science Graduate Training:
Dr. Christopher Heinen, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry AoC
