Biomedical research breakthroughs do not rest solely in the hands of faculty members. The first annual Graduate Student Research Day provided a look at the significant research contributions Wayne State University graduate students make in their fields of study. The September event was sponsored by the office of research and graduate programs to help promote awareness and interactions among graduate students in 14 program areas.
Four winners were chosen from more than 50 participants. Winning first place in the oral presentation was Ming Fang from the department of pharmacology who presented "Long Range Promoter-Promoter Interaction: A Novel Promoter Relay Mechanism for Gene Activation."
The second place winner in the oral category was Brian Cummings from pharmacology who presented "Cellular Distribution of Cytochrome P450 in Rat Kidney."
The first place poster presentation was awarded to Joanne Davis in cancer biology whose research was entitled "Molecular Mechanism of Cell Growth Inhibition and Apoptosis by Isofalvone-Genistein in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer."
Earning second place honors for his poster was Paul Gresch in cellular and clinical neurobiology who presented his research on "Reduction in Striatal Preprotachykinin m RNA After Dopamine Depletion is Reversed by Repeated Serotonin 2A/C Receptor Stimulation."
Mamoun Ahram who served on the organizing committee for the event said he was pleased with the program’s success. "It’s a great opportunity for graduate students to see what their peers are investigating and it fosters colloboration within and among diverse specialties," he said. Next year, the organizing committee hopes to see participation from students outside the School of Medicine as well, including pharmaceutical sciences, biological sciences, chemistry, physics and psychology.
The program also featured keynote speaker Michael Emmert-Buck, MD, PhD, an alumnus of the Wayne State University School of Medicine, who currently works at the Developmental Molecular Diagnostics Unit at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Emmert-Buck presented "Gene Discovery in Human Cancer," and was presented with a distinguished alumnus award from the department of pharmacology.
"We can all take pride in the research that was presented here," said George Dambach, PhD, associate dean for research and graduate programs. "It speaks to the excellence of our students, of course, but it’s also a reflection of the School’s curriculum, educational programs, training, and faculty members--all of which contribute to the valuable graduate research that is underway at this University."
All awardees received a cash prize and the first place winners will travel to a national meeting to present their research.