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One fond farewell brings another warm welcome for PREP scholars
Monday, June 13, 2022
2021-22 PREP cohort from left to right: Jaclyn McCoy, Jia Mei, Tanique McDonald, Helen Chan, Bianca Flores and program directors Elaine Smolock, PhD and Jacques Robert, PhD.
As the 2021-22 Post-baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) cohort ends their training this month, SMD is pleased to share that scholars are entering graduate programs that are diverse in both geographic location as well as research.
This year’s cohort will enter programs focused on infectious disease, microbiology, neuroscience, and pharmacognosy across the country including California, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, and Texas.
“In addition to their research success, our scholars have participated in science communication internships developing curriculum for middle school students, been offered provost and training grant fellowships, and have published and presented at multiple meetings and seminars,” said Elaine Smolock, co-director of the PREP program and senior associate for research educational programming and grant development at SMD.
The PREP program is designed to encourage students from historically excluded groups who hold a recent baccalaureate degree in the biomedically-relevant sciences to pursue a research doctorate, and to prepare these trainees for careers as outstanding research scientists and leaders in the biomedical community.
Working directly with faculty mentors, scholars had the opportunity to work on dynamic projects, immersing themselves in research environments and learning how to communicate their results.
Jia Mel, a member of 2021-22 cohort and soon-to-be graduate student at Vanderbilt University, says her research experience in Dr. Paul Dunman’s lab was very rewarding. She worked on projects focused on novel combinations of antibiotics for drug discovery.
“The PREP experience has definitely prepared me to become an independent researcher for graduate school,” she said.
She even had the honor of publishing a first author paper during her PREP year.
“These scholars have exceeded our expectations, and we are excited to see how they contribute to biomedical research in the future,” said Smolock.
The new cohort officially begins on July 5. Here’s a quick look this year’s group:
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Scholar
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Mentor
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College
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Jacob Cody Naccarato
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Bin Zhang
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UNC Chapel Hill
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Jackie Agyemang
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Martha Susiarjo
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St. Mary’s College of Maryland
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Hunter Houseman
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Brian Ward
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University of Illinois
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Aaron Huynh
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Michelle Janelsins
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University of Rochester
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Lourdes Marinna Caro Rivera
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Paul Dunman
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University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez
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Welcome to Our 2022 Summer Scholars
Tuesday, May 24, 2022
Shannon Hening
2022 Summer Scholar
The School of Medicine and Dentistry is excited to welcome the next group of Summer Scholars for 2022! The 27 incoming students make up the largest cohort on record. This year’s group includes students from seven different states, as well as Puerto Rico, representing 15 different universities.
Over the course of the 10 weeks, trainees participate in research/educational seminars and presentations on graduate school and careers, as well as construct a poster outlining their research.
Read More: Welcome to Our 2022 Summer ScholarsDream Engineers: Rochester Postdoc Partnership Scholar Featured on Full Measure News
Wednesday, May 18, 2022
For as much time as we spend sleeping and dreaming, and as long as we’ve studied both, they largely remain ever-mysterious, their exact function and purpose elusive. Michelle Carr, Ph.D., a postdoc in the Rochester Postdoc Partnership, spoke with Full Measure News about the science of sleep, dreams and dream engineering - the idea that one might be able to control their dreams to improve their lives.
Read More: Dream Engineers: Rochester Postdoc Partnership Scholar Featured on Full Measure NewsDoctoral Students Showcase Research in Under Three Minutes
Monday, April 11, 2022
(3MT winners from left to right: Courtney Kellogg (tie for second), Tara Vrooman (first place), Raquel Ajalik (people’s choice), Uday Chockanathan (tie for second))
A typical 80,000-word thesis takes roughly nine hours to present. The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is an academic competition that challenges doctoral students to describe their research within just three minutes to a general audience. Challenge accepted by eight Ph.D. students out of both SMD as well as Arts, Sciences, and Engineering during the event on April 6. Participants were judged on various criteria including comprehension, as well as communication and engagement. Congratulations to the winners!
- People’s choice: Raquel Ajalik, Biomedical Engineering, AS&E, “About time we start-a-tendon clinical trials-on-a-chip” - $250 research travel award
- Tie for second place: Uday Chockanathan, Neuroscience, SMD, “Population coding deficits in Alzheimer’s disease” and Courtney Kellogg, Cell Biology of Disease, SMD, “Are your Hair Cells there?” - $500 research travel award
- First place: Tara Vrooman, Immunology, SMD, Investigating the Long-Term Effects of SBRT/IL-12 Therapy in a Murine Model of Pancreatic Cancer - $750 research travel award
Check out a few pictures from the event on the SMD Instagram page. And you can learn more about 3MT and check out previous winners here.
Rochester Postdoc Partnership Alum Stands in Smithsonian
Tuesday, March 8, 2022
During the month of March, you could bump into University of Rochester alumna Tiffany Panko, MD ('16), MBA, in the Smithsonian's If/Then She Can national exhibit - or at least her life-sized statue. Panko became an American Association for the Advancement of Science If/Then ambassador during her time in the Rochester Postdoc Partnership program, which is the nation's only biomedical postdoc program tailored for deaf scientists.
Read More: Rochester Postdoc Partnership Alum Stands in SmithsonianSarah Latchney, PhD: Teaching to Learn
Thursday, February 17, 2022
Sarah Latchney, Ph.D., is right where she had hoped to be: teaching science at a small, public, liberal arts college.
In the summer of 2019, she was hired as faculty at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. As an assistant professor of Biology and Neuroscience, she predominately teaches introductory-level biology for all incoming Biology and Neuroscience students as well as several introductory and advanced courses in the Neurosciences.
Latchney says she caught the teaching bug after designing and teaching a 200-level undergraduate course in toxicology as part of her training in the Rochester Postdoc Partnership (RPP) program.
“It was a course that I developed from scratch on my own,” Latchney recalls. “Through that experience, I learned what it truly means to teach at the college level – to be the sole instructor of record and everything that goes into designing a course, implementing it, and interacting with students. It was a lot of work but also lots of fun.”
Read More: Sarah Latchney, PhD: Teaching to Learn2021: SMD Research by the Numbers
Thursday, February 10, 2022
Looking at the year that just ended, we have much to celebrate here at SMD. Check out some of our research highlights from 2021!
URMC Researchers Work to Address Head & Neck Cancer Survival Disparities in Western NY
Friday, January 28, 2022
A new study from researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) is shedding light on head and neck cancer survival disparities in Western New York.
Residence in more rural areas of the state is associated with lower five-year overall survival among head and neck cancer (HNC) patients, according to the study published in the journal Head & Neck. It reviewed cases from Wilmot Cancer Institute ranging from 2011 to 2019 and found that HNC patients residing in smaller and more isolated rural towns have double the mortality over a five-year period compared to more urban areas of the state.
Read More: URMC Researchers Work to Address Head & Neck Cancer Survival Disparities in Western NYIn the Pocket: RNA Binding Discovery Supports ‘RNA World’ Theory of Early Life on Earth
Friday, January 14, 2022
RNA biologists at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) have discovered that RNA, the chemical cousin of DNA, can bind two metabolites (small molecules) at the same time in a single binding pocket, causing those molecules to interact. This discovery, published in Nature Communications this week, could lead to new antibacterial drugs while helping to fill a gap in the controversial “RNA world” theory, which suggests that RNA molecules enabled life to evolve on Earth 3.5 billion years ago.
Read More: In the Pocket: RNA Binding Discovery Supports ‘RNA World’ Theory of Early Life on Earth“Education is key.” Neuroscientist Nathan A. Smith, Ph.D. ('13), returns in leadership role
Thursday, January 13, 2022
Nathan A. Smith, M.S. (’10), Ph.D. (’13), is returning to the University of Rochester as an associate professor of Neuroscience and associate dean for Equity and Inclusion in Research and Research Education in the School of Medicine and Dentistry.
The first Black graduate of the Neuroscience Graduate Program at the University of Rochester, Smith sees his return to campus as a way to make sure the bright minds in underserved communities have equal education opportunities. He is eager to begin working closely with current learners and being a role model for them and finding ways to enhance the recruitment of postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and faculty of color, as well as women.
“I believe in the mission at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience,” Smith said. “I think that by putting the right people at the table, we can make a substantial change in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion. I want to be a part of that and make sure we get it right. Rochester has the potential to be the blueprint for other organizations. To set an example and change the future of science for all.”
Read More: “Education is key.” Neuroscientist Nathan A. Smith, Ph.D. ('13), returns in leadership role