This year’s Graduate Student Research Day, sponsored by the Wayne State University School of Medicine, hosted more than 50 participants who shared their work and competed for prizes. The objective of this annual event is to promote interactions among graduate students in biomedical research, and ultimately to encourage collaborations. More than 200 people attended the event and viewed the research.

On September 14, 2000, graduate students presented their work either in oral or poster formats to a panel of faculty judges. The following winners were chosen:

Oral Presentations

First Place – Derek Lenz, immunology and microbiology
“Induction of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis in Lewis Rats By Immunization with C. pneumoniae Antigen”

Second Place – Amy Wesa, cancer biology
“Regulation of T Cell Cytokine Production by Dendritic Cells Generated In Vitro From Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells”

Third Place – Shari Pilon, immunology and microbiology
“Anti-Tumor Immunity Induced by Recombinant ERBB-2 DNA Vaccines”

Poster Presentations

First Place – Ravi Shridhar, pharmacology
“Effect of Cystatin M on Tumorigenic Properties of Human Breast Cancer Cells”

Second Place – C. Dinitra White, immunology and microbiology
“A Functional RhIR/RhII Quorum-Sensing System Is Essential for Virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa”

Third Place – Jill Kolodsick, immunology and microbiology
“Chicken IL-2 Analogs”

First place winners, Derek Lenz and Ravi Shridhar, were awarded $1200 to be used for travel expenses to a scientific meeting of the winner’s choice. All other winners received $100.