Celebrating scientific discovery
UF biomedical sciences PhD students present research at 2018 Medical Guild Graduate Research Symposium
April 13, 2018 — Eight students from the UF College of Medicine graduate program in biomedical sciences presented their research in areas like cancer biology, neuroscience and immunology Monday at the 43rd annual Medical Guild Research Symposium.
Thomas C. Rowe, Ph.D., UF College of Medicine associate dean for graduate education, called the symposium a marquee event for the UF graduate program in biomedical sciences.
“Today marks a culmination of these students’ work over the past few years and what they’ve developed through their research training. It’s always an outstanding and exciting occasion,” he said. “For the younger students, today provides a roadmap of where they’re going and proof that they can really get there.”
Vindhya Vijay was named this year’s gold winner for her work in cancer biology. She said her presentation on “Targeting Aberrant mRNA Splicing in Acute Myeloid Leukemia” is very close to her heart.
“I lost both my parents to cancer, so I’m very passionate about this work,” she said. “It feels great to receive this award. I’m really excited to have the opportunity to share my work with people from all research areas.”
The eight student presentations were assessed by a panel of faculty judges, who also took into account the participants’ total presentations, publications and academic performances. Founded in 1959 and comprising UF College of Medicine faculty and spouses, The UF Medical Guild supports health care programs and facilities at UF Health through donations and grants.
Photos by Jesse S. Jones
43rd annual Medical Guild Research Symposium Award recipients
Gold
Vindhya Vijay | cancer biology
Mentor: Christopher Cogle, M.D. ’97
Targeting Aberrant mRNA Splicing in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Silver
Caesar Hernandez | neuroscience
Mentor: Jennifer Bizon, Ph.D.
The Neural Mechanisms of Temporal Decision Making
Cristina Colomer-Winter | immunology and microbiology
Mentor: Jose Lemos, Ph.D.
Manganese Acquisition is Essential for Virulence of Enterococcus faecalis
Bronze
Ruan Oliveira | genetics
Mentor: Maurice Swanson, Ph.D.
Novel Genome Engineering Strategies to Model Repeat Expansion Diseases
Mengxiong Wang | pharmacology and therapeutics
Mentor: Brian Law, Ph.D.
A Novel Proteotoxic Combination Therapy for EGFR+ and HER2+ Breast Cancers
Carrie Lomelino | biochemistry and molecular biology
Mentor: Robert McKenna, Ph.D.
Structure-Guided Drug Design of CA IX Selective Inhibitors as a Breast Cancer Treatment
Lance Riley | physiology and functional genomics
Mentor: Karen Esser, Ph.D.
The Molecular Clock Alters Muscle Strength Through Changes in Titin Splicing and Sarcomere Length
Iqbal Mahmud | molecular cell biology
Mentor: Daiqing Liao, Ph.D.
DAXX Promotes de novo Lipogenesis in Breast Cancer by Activating Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Proteins (SREBPs)
UF College of Medicine 2017-18 Doctoral Mentoring Awards
Linda Bloom, Ph.D. | biochemistry and molecular biology
Rolf Renne, Ph.D. | molecular genetics and microbiology
Council of Academic Chairs Scholarship
John Calise | molecular cell biology
Mentor: Edward Chan, Ph.D.
Advancement to Candidacy Award recipients
John Calise | molecular cell biology
Mentor: Edward Chan, Ph.D.
Robert Eisinger | neuroscience
Mentor: Aysegul Gunduz, Ph.D.
Akilah Murray | biochemistry and molecular biology
Mentor: Robert McKenna, Ph.D.
Melanie Shapiro | immunology and microbiology
Mentor: Todd Brusko, Ph.D.
Education Initiative Award recipient
Julie Bray | cancer biology
Mentor: Thomas Schmittgen, Ph.D.
