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The GSO News Volume 2, Issue 2, December 2010 www.mcg.edu/gradstudies/students.htm Medical College of Georgia Graduate Student Organization The GSO News 1 Inside this Issue GHSU: MCG’s Name Change Bundles of Books SGS and GSO Launch Career Seminar Series Student: Ahmed El-Awady Student: Christina Wilson MCG Student Leadership Institute Alumni: Kris Dhandapani Feature Article: Racing to Save Lives Happenings 1 1 2 3 3 4 5 6 8 September 15th, 2010 marked a major turning point for the Medical College of Georgia as the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved a request from MCG to change its name to Georgia Health Sciences University (GHSU). The rationale behind this name change is based on how the mis- sion of MCG has broadened consider- ably since its founding as a medical college in 1828. As President Azziz has stated, “our ‘College’ is actually a ‘University’ with a focus not just in medicine but rather ‘Health Sciences’.” By continuing to refer to the institution at which we are enrolled as a ‘College’, Dr. Azziz feels this to be a “disservice in not highlight- ing the broad scope of our mission and ultimately affects the ability of MCG to be recognized for what it truly is.” Dr. Azziz has also stated that GHSU better defines MCG as what it is-“a compre- hensive health sciences university and a modern academic health center.” Furthermore, Dr. Azziz strongly feels that the name change will allow for the university to achieve the national recog- nition that is deserved with respect to competitive world rankings and reputation. Dr. Azziz points out that most similar institutions across the country have, at some point, changed their name to better reflect their true stature as health science universities, and MCG is no exception. The question that begs to be answered by many of us students is ‘Why change the name now?’ In communications that have been sent out to the entire MCG community we have been made aware that informal discussions of MCG’s name change have been ongoing for the last decade. MCG has consulted numerous research firms since 2007 to examine both local and nationwide per- ceptions of MCG. What was ultimately found was that while the local public had strong positive opinions of MCG, they did not consider MCG as a ‘univer- sity’. Likewise, more than 80% of those surveyed ‘strongly agreed’ that MCG as a name was associated only with the medical school. Further surveys of alumni and internal audiences showed a strong tie to the ‘Medical College of Georgia’ name and thus the resulting re- quest was made to the board of regents: GHSU: As a graduate student what does MCG’s name change mean to YOU Donations help provide books to needy children Colleen Carey Bundles of Books is a non-profit orga- nization whose mission is to improve the reading skills of underprivileged children through creating a joy of read- ing. The principle of this organization has been to provide books for children at Christmas, as an alternative to toys. …to “Bundles of Books”, pg. 2 Colleen Carey …to “Name Change”, pg. 4
Transcript
Page 1: December 2010 - GSO Newsletter

The GSO NewsVolume 2, Issue 2, December 2010

www.mcg.edu/gradstudies/students.htmMedical College of Georgia Graduate Student Organization

The GSO News 1

Inside this Issue

GHSU: MCG’s Name Change

Bundles of Books

SGS and GSO Launch

Career Seminar Series

Student: Ahmed El-Awady

Student: Christina Wilson

MCG Student Leadership

Institute

Alumni: Kris Dhandapani

Feature Article: Racing to

Save Lives

Happenings

1

1

2

3

3

4

5

6

8

September 15th, 2010 marked a major

turning point for the Medical College of

Georgia as the Board of Regents of the

University System of Georgia approved

a request from MCG to change its name

to Georgia Health Sciences University

(GHSU). The rationale behind this

name change is based on how the mis-

sion of MCG has broadened consider-

ably since its founding as a medical

college in 1828.

As President Azziz has stated, “our

‘College’ is actually a ‘University’ with

a focus not just in medicine but rather

‘Health Sciences’.” By continuing to

refer to the institution at which we are

enrolled as a ‘College’, Dr. Azziz feels

this to be a “disservice in not highlight-

ing the broad scope of our mission and

ultimately affects the ability of MCG to

be recognized for what it truly is.” Dr.

Azziz has also stated that GHSU better

defines MCG as what it is-“a compre-

hensive health sciences university and

a modern academic health center.”

Furthermore, Dr. Azziz strongly feels

that the name change will allow for the

university to achieve the national recog-

nition that is deserved with

respect to competitive world rankings

and reputation. Dr. Azziz points out

that most similar institutions across the

country have, at some point, changed

their name to better reflect their true

stature as health science universities,

and MCG is no exception.

The question that begs to be answered

by many of us students is ‘Why change

the name now?’ In communications

that have been sent out to the entire

MCG community we have been made

aware that informal discussions of

MCG’s name change have been ongoing

for the last decade. MCG has consulted

numerous research firms since 2007 to

examine both local and nationwide per-

ceptions of MCG. What was ultimately

found was that while the local public

had strong positive opinions of MCG,

they did not consider MCG as a ‘univer-

sity’. Likewise, more than 80% of those

surveyed ‘strongly agreed’ that MCG

as a name was associated only with

the medical school. Further surveys of

alumni and internal audiences showed

a strong tie to the ‘Medical College of

Georgia’ name and thus the resulting re-

quest was made to the board of regents:

GHSU: As a graduate student what does MCG’s name change mean to YOU

Donations help provide books to needy childrenColleen Carey

Bundles of Books is a non-profit orga-

nization whose mission is to improve

the reading skills of underprivileged

children through creating a joy of read-

ing. The principle of this organization

has been to provide books for children

at Christmas, as an alternative to toys.

…to “Bundles of Books”, pg. 2

Colleen Carey

…to “Name Change”, pg. 4

Page 2: December 2010 - GSO Newsletter

The GSO News 2

This organization, founded by Mr.

Chuck LaMarsh in 1996 serves chil-

dren in both the Augusta, GA area and

through Mr. Lamarsh’s son, the Boston,

MA area. Last year, approximately 150

children in the Augusta area were served

through generous donations from area

businesses and individuals who believed

in the concept. This year, Bundles of

Books is hoping to double this number.

Dr. Carol Campbell, a professor here

at MCG, and Dr. Kevin Frazier, Vice

President of Student Services at MCG,

became interested in helping the

Bundles of Books organization and

recruited a few students to help her in

this endeavor. To them, they saw this

as an opportunity not only to help out

the community, but for individuals in

the academic and medical professions to

reflect upon the influence that reading

has had in getting them to where they

are today.

Over a 1 week period, collection booths

were set up in the library and student

center during lunch period-and manned

by students from all schools-, donations

ranging from spare pocket change to

more generous amounts allowed for the

total amount raised on campus to be

$258.69. This total collected will allow

for Bundles of Books to purchase ‘book

bundles’ for 18 children with some

spare change left over. Although this is

the 1st year of MCG’s participation, the

positive outcome has provided for the

possibility to be involved again in the

future and hopefully double, if not fur-

ther increase, what we as a community

can provide to this organization.

*Special thanks to Medical Illustration

students Julie Coats and Megan

Gullotto who provided the artwork

which was used for on campus promo-

tion purposes. O

SGS and GSO Launch Career Seminar SeriesColleen Carey

The School of Graduate Studies (SGS)

along with the Graduate Student Orga-

nization (GSO) has recently launched a

new seminar series to provide informa-

tion on career opportunities, paths and

choices to graduate level students. The

first installment of this series, “What to

look for when searching for a post doc-

toral fellowship; a perspective from St.

Jude Children’s Research Hospital”, was

presented by Dr. Linda Harris, Associ-

ate Director of Academic Programs for

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

on November 3rd.

The turnout of students for this seminar

proved to be mostly BIOMED PhD’s,

those most likely to pursue a post doc-

toral position, however attendees ranged

from 1st years up to those students

getting ready to defend. The session pro-

vided by Dr. Harris contained informa-

tion that was applicable to all students

in attendance. The goal that Dr. Harris

has in visiting schools to do special

seminars as these is that of post doctoral

recruitment and making sure that not

only are graduate students aware of the

opportunities available at St. Jude, but

also to help students to prepare to begin

a post doctoral position search wherever

they may be interested.

Dr. Harris’ presentation began with

an overview of the facility and area

surrounding St. Jude, which is located

in Memphis, and then segued into a

more general set of steps to take when

searching for a post doctoral fellowship.

These steps are outlined briefly here:

1) Choose an institution that is a place

where you would want to work, i.e.

ability for translational research to be

directly applied, array of research areas,

2) Choose a mentor carefully, someone

who not only are you compatible with

but that also has your bet interests

at heart, 3) Choose a project that is

interesting to you but that also allows

for you to continue to learn new skills

and techniques, 4) Choose an institu-

tion with laboratory and core facilities

that may benefit your research, 5) Select

a position while keeping in mind the

scientific infrastructure. Be aware of the

interactions occurring around you, spe-

cifically the abundance of collaborations

and continuing education opportunities

such as seminar series, 6) determine

if the position you are applying for is

institutionally supported. That is, are

there facilities dedicated to post doc-

toral fellow affairs? Are good benefits

provided to post doctoral fellows? And

finally, 7) choose a position in a location

that meets the desires that are impor-

tant to you.

Now that you know how to seek out a

post doctoral position that is best for

you, when should you begin looking for

one? Dr. Harris suggests beginning to

seek out positions of interest in your last

year of thesis work. Interviews should

be conducted about 6 months before

your defense. With regards to St. Jude,

Dr. Harris shared that each year there

are about 60-80 post doctoral fellowship

openings, so opportunities are available.

Furthermore, for those who

…to “Seminar Series”, pg. 7

...from “Bundles of Books”, pg. 1

Page 3: December 2010 - GSO Newsletter

The GSO News 3

CURRENT STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Ahmed El-AwadyNamita Hattangady

Ahmed El-Awady is a first year student

of the Biomedical Sciences, Ph.D.

program in Dr. B. Baban’s laboratory

in the Department of Oral Biology.

Ahmed’s research focuses on the peri-

odontal ligament fibroblasts (PDLFs)

and their potential role in chronic peri-

odontitis, specifically with regards to the

progression of the “inflammatory front”

into the deeper tissues. His studies also

focus on the cross-talk between PDLFs,

in both healthy and diseased states, and

immune T cells to elucidate what con-

stitutes protective and destructive host

response in periodontitis.

Ahmed is originally from Cairo, Egypt,

where he practiced as a periodontist

before joining MCG’s PhD program.

His experience in periodontics and

research made him realize the signifi-

cance of translating the clinical needs

into research projects. He believes that

the graduate program at MCG will allow

him the time to fully commitment to

gaining the necessary scientific knowl-

edge and experience that he aspires to

achieve.

Ahmed already has two first author

publications in the Journal of Periodon-

tology and Tissue Engineering Part C:

Methods. Outside of school, Ahmed is a

family man and enjoys spending his free

hours with his wife and son. He also en-

joys reading, participating in sports and

travel whenever he gets the opportunity.

In the future, Ahmed wishes to estab-

lish a career in academics and hopes to

apply his research experience in clinical

periodontics while also contributing

towards advancement in education in

periodontics. The GSO wishes Ahmed

all the best for his future endeavors!

phot

ogra

phy

by A

hmed

El-A

wad

y

Christina WilsonNamita Hattangady

Christina Wilson is a student of

Biomedical Sciences, Ph.D. in the

program of Neuroscience. She is a fifth

year graduate student and a part of the

research laboratory of Dr Alvin Terry

Jr. in the Department of Pharmacology

and Toxicology. The objective of Chris-

tina’s research is to evaluate a variable

prenatal stress model as a valid drug

discovery platform for schizophrenia.

Christina chose to join the Terry Lab

because of her keen interest in neuro-

psychiatric illnesses and the treatment

of associated cognitive deficits.

Christina is native to Augusta and chose

MCG based upon the wide ranging

areas of research as well as having an

impressive graduate program. While at

MCG, she has had two first author pub-

lications and shares authorship on sev-

eral additional manuscripts. Christina

has been the recipient of many awards

while at MCG including: Award for

Excellence in Research at the Graduate

Research Day 2010, the Pharmacology

and Toxicology Graduate Symposium

Award and a travel award.

Besides her academic achievements,

Christina has been actively participating

in several student body groups and has

held the posts of Vice President of the

Graduate Student Organization 2008-

09, Student Government Association

representative 2009-10, and Graduate

Council Student Representative. She

has also been a part of the Society of

Neuroscience, and has participated in

various community service and local

fund raising programs.

Christina’s advice to fellow students is as

follows, “Graduate school life is full of

ups and downs. Just hang in there- the

rewards are worth it.” The GSO wishes

Christina the best in all her future

endeavors! O

O

phot

ogra

phy

by D

avie

s Agy

ekum

Page 4: December 2010 - GSO Newsletter

The GSO News 4

‘The Medical College of Georgia School

of Medicine’ will be renamed as simply

‘The Medical College of Georgia’ and

the remaining ‘Schools’ will be renamed

as such: ‘College of Allied Health Sci-

ences’, ‘College of Dental Medicine’,

‘College of Graduate Studies’, and ‘Col-

lege of Nursing’.

Now that the new naming has been

approved and will be implemented

on February 1, 2011, there are many

changes that students should be aware

of, specifically the following:

1) Your MCG email address. Although

your current mcg.edu email address will

continue to work for a few months after

the effective date of the name change,

all students will be transitioned to new

ghsu.edu email addresses. Assistance

will be available for notifying all of your

contacts of the new email address. For

any questions on this matter please do

not hesitate to contact Information

Technology & Services.

What to do until the switch?

What has been suggested to make your

contacts, collaborators, etc. aware of the

upcoming name change are the use of

new GHSU Marks and Signatures that

have been made available. These are

available for download at http://www.

mcg.edu/identity/ghsu/ and questions

about using or obtaining these graphics

should be directed to ghsutaskforce@

mcg.edu

2) Your diploma. From February 1

onward, graduates will be presented

with a newly designed diploma bearing

the Georgia Health Sciences University

name; however graduates of the classes

of 2011-15 will be offered the option

Graduate students chosen to partici-pate in the inaugural class of MCG’s Student Leadership InstituteColleen Carey

What is it that defines a leader?

Ask any one of the graduate students

selected to participate in MCG’s Stu-

dent Leadership Institute (SLI) and it’s

likely that each will give you a different

answer. Although Webster’s diction-

ary defines a leader as one who “goes

before to guide or show the way; directs

some action, opinion or movement;

has the authority to precede and direct;

is followed by others in conduct”, etc.

what is perhaps the main thing that

these students have taken away from

this course is that there are many myths

about leaders/leadership which can

alter the definition of a leader that each

individual has.

The course was divided into six 1.5 hour

sessions consisting of lectures on general

leadership concepts followed by presen-

tations from various leaders on MCG’s

campus. Topics of the sessions included

‘Social and Cultural Issues in Health-

care’, ‘Leadership in Academic Health

Sciences Centers’, ‘Legal Issues and Pub-

lic Relations’, and ‘Professionalism and

Social Responsibilities’. Additionally, all

students were separated into ‘leadership

work teams’ to conceive, plan and pres-

ent a project that enhances the campus

or local community. These projects were

then presented in the final session and

scored by a panel of judges. All propos-

als were then shared with the Provost’s

staff and other campus leaders, with the

top scoring projects being given consid-

eration for start-up funding.

The Student Leadership Institute was

developed and directed by Dr. Kevin

Frazier, Vice President for Student Ser-

vices and Development, with the goal of

“equipping student leaders with

…to “Leadership”, pg. 7

phot

ogra

phy

by D

r. Pa

tric

ia C

amer

on

School of Graduate Studies participants in the 2010 Student Leadership Institute along with Dr. Patricia Cameron

...from “Name Change”, pg. 1

…to “Name Change”, pg. 9

Page 5: December 2010 - GSO Newsletter

The GSO News 5

2nd Annual Graduate Student

Organization Fall Camping Trip

Hamilton Branch State ParkSeptember 10-12, 2010

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHTKris DhandapaniColleen Carey

Kris Dhandapani, aside from being an

MCG Alumni, is a core faculty member

in the Department of Neurosurgery.

Dr. Dhandapani grew up in Vernon,

CT (a suburb of Hartford). He obtained

his B.S. and M.S. from the University

of Connecticut with a concentration

in Physiology and Neurobiology. Dr.

Dhandapani then earned his Ph D.

from MCG, in Molecular Medicine

under Dr. Darrell Brann. Upon comple-

tion of his Ph D. in 2003, Dr. Dhan-

dapani remained at MCG in a postdoc-

toral research associate position in the

Institute of Molecular Medicine and

Genetics for a year before continuing to

a postdoctoral research fellow position

with the Department of Neuroscience

at the University of Connecticut Health

Center. In 2005, Dr. Dhandapani ac-

cepted a position as Assistant Professor

in the Department of Neurosurgery

here at the Medical College of Geor-

gia. In 2010 he was awarded Associate

Professor.

The research in his lab is based in

translational neuroscience with two

major goals: (1) to elucidate the cellular

mechanisms underlying neurovascular

injury following hemorrhagic stroke

and traumatic brain injury and (2) to

develop novel therapeutic agents which

may translate into clinical practice.

Particularly, the lab is exploring novel

therapeutic approaches to limit the size

of blood clots in the brain following

intracerebral hemorrhage with an ulti-

mate goal of establishing a clinical trial

based on this research within the next

several years.

When asked about his most rewarding

experience at MCG, Dr. Dhandapani

stated “Teaching and training students

is something I value, so watching my stu-

dents develop in to productive scientists

is very rewarding. I was very fortunate to

have outstanding mentors in my own

Collage by Colleen Carey

…to “Dhandapani”, pg. 9

Page 6: December 2010 - GSO Newsletter

The GSO News 6

Racing to Save LivesSamuel Herberg

On September 26, Jason Covar (Tech-

nician in Dr. Atherton’s lab) and I

participated in the second edition of the

ESI Ironman 70.3 Augusta as mem-

bers of The Leukemia & Lymphoma

Society’s Team In Training program

(http://www.teamintraining.org/). More

than 3,100 professional and age group

athletes swam for 1.2 miles in the Savan-

nah River, biked for 56 miles in both

Georgia and South Carolina, and finally

ran for 13.1 miles right in the heart of

our city. But for Jason and I it wasn’t

only about racing. Together with all our

Team In Training Georgia teammates

including Mayor Copenhaver, we raised

over $350,000 for the Leukemia and

Lymphoma Society and thus made a

huge contribution to help saving lives -

one mile at a time.

Since its inception in 1988, The Leu-

kemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In

Training program has prepared more

than 390,000 people (approximately

40,000 participants annually) to achieve

their dream of completing a challenging

endurance event, e.g., marathon, half

marathon, triathlon, century bicycle

ride or hike adventure.

And, in that time, participants have

raised over $950 million to support

blood cancer research and patient ser-

vices. The enormous success of this pro-

gram has helped make possible advances

in blood cancer therapies and

…to “Racing”, pg. 7

Graduate Students ‘Scare up’ some funHalloween 2010

phot

ogra

phy

by S

amue

l Her

berg

Collage by Colleen Carey

Page 7: December 2010 - GSO Newsletter

The GSO News 7

...from “Leadership”, pg. 4

the proper leadership tools to help them

be more effective in their various roles”.

Dr. Frazier also saw this institute as “an

opportunity for students to learn from

each other and with with/help one

another” and he stated that if anything

that was taught in this course that

helped the students to do this better in

any way than this institute has proven

its worth.

When asking some of the graduate

students chosen for this institute how

this course has made them a better

leader, Medical Illustration student Paul

Kim states “It [the course] has helped

to keep me accountable by reminding

me a leader needs to lead by example.”

Nursing PhD student Sandra Inglett

states that “one of the most valuable

experiences for me has been ‘time

management’. This class is in addition

to all my other responsibilities (i.e.

classwork, GRA work, and family) leav-

ing very little extra time to devote to the

interview, project and reflective paper.

So being forced to manage every minute

to accomplish all the tasks has been my

most valuable experience. I realize that

this is not at the top of the list for being

a leader but it is something that every

successful leader must be able to do and

do well!”

In summary, this first installment of the

Student Leadership Institute served the

purpose of not only bringing together

student leaders from each of the differ-

ent schools on campus, but also to

provide insight into some of the charac-

teristics that have made these individu-

als into the leaders that they have be-

come. From those that have participated

in this institute it is hoped that the pro-

gram is continued and allowed to grow

and develop in an attempt to reinforce

the common goals that each student

leader at this university has. Congratula-

tions to the Fall 2010 participants!

Fall 2010 Student Leadership Participants

and Program Affiliation

Davies Agyekum, Biomedical Sciences PhD

Colleen Carey, Biomedical Sciences PhD

Tehrae Heflin, CNL 2010

Samuel Herberg, Biomedical Sciences PhD

Patrick Hosey, CNL 2010

Sandra Inglett, Nursing PhD

Paul Kim, Medical Illustration

Caroline McKinnon, Nursing PhD

Paramita Pati, Biomedical Sciences PhD

Katie Spitler, Biomedical Sciences PhD

Scott Webster, Biomedical Sciences PhD

...from “Racing”, pg. 6

treatments that have prolonged and

enhanced the lives of hundreds of thou-

sands of patients.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

is the world’s largest voluntary health

agency dedicated to blood cancer with

an important mission: Finding a cure

for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s

disease and myeloma, and improve the

quality of life of patients and their fami-

lies. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer

research around the world and provides

free information and support services.

...from “Seminar Series”, pg. 2

may be interested in pursuing further

research at St. Jude, Dr. Harris did share

information about the ‘National Gradu-

ate Student Symposium’ that is offered

for students who are within 1 year from

defending. Each year approximately 40

students nationwide are selected to

participate in this symposium.

O

phot

ogra

phy

by S

amue

l Her

berg

O

Dr. Harris is available for contact should

anyone who was unable to attend the

seminar be interested in learning more

about the positions available at St. Jude,

or opportunities for the National Grad-

uate Student Symposium. Her email is

[email protected]. Additionally,

if you are looking to get a perspective of

what being a post doctoral fellow at St.

Jude is like, MCG alum Aisha Walker

can also be contacted at aisha.walker@

stjude.org. O

Page 8: December 2010 - GSO Newsletter

The GSO News 8

HAPPENINGS

Moataz Elkasrawy, would like to share

with the GSO News community that he

recently was awarded the ‘ASBMR 2010

President’s Poster Competition Award’

at the annual meeting of The American

Society for Bone and Mineral Research

held in Toronto, Canada.

Georgia Life SciencesSummit 2010The Georgia Life Sciences Summit for

2010, considered to be the preeminent

gathering of scientists and industry deci-

sion makers for Georgia’s life sciences

community was held at AmericasMart

in Atlanta Georgia on October 28.

This summit serves yearly as ‘an ideal

medium to foster relationships for fu-

ture scientific and business growth and

opportunity’. The 2010 theme was that

of “Innovation for a Healthier World:

Meeting the Challenge” in recognition

of the evolving trends surrounding the

challenges that face the life sciences

today.

MCG’s representation at the summit

varied from President Azziz serving as

a plenary speaker to presentations by

numerous faculty and students. Gradu-

ate students participated in the poster

session which was open to all represen-

tatives from Georgia-based academia,

research institutes and industry. The

Graduate Student News would like to

acknowledge the following participants

in the 2010 Summit for their prestigious

representation of the graduate programs

here at MCG: Sara Akeel, Elena Asta-

pova, Lakiea Bailey, Moataz Elkasrawy,

Jenna Gallops, Samuel Herberg, Xiaolin

Hu, Jae Kim, Folami Lamoke, Laurie

Landrum, Lingquian Li, Chintan Patel,

Mutsa Seremwe, Jutamas Suwanpradid,

Jinling Yang and Mary Zimmerman.

Overall 130 posters were presented at

the Summit and 3 out of the 5 total

awards were won by MCG people.

Congrats to graduate student Moataz

Elkasrawy for being awarded the ‘2010

Anthony Shuker Scientific Poster

Award’.

Southern Translational Edu-cation and Research Confer-ence (STaR)Date: September 10-11, 2010

To improve human health, scientific

discoveries must be translated into

practical applications. Such discoveries

typically begin at “the bench” with basic

research — in which scientists study

disease at a molecular or cellular level —

then progress to the clinical level, or the

patient’s “bedside.”

Scientists are increasingly aware that

this bench-to-bedside approach to

translational research is really a two-way

street. Basic scientists provide clinicians

with new tools for use in patients and

for assessment of their impact, and

clinical researchers make novel observa-

tions about the nature and progression

of disease that often stimulate basic

investigations.

Translational research has proven to be

a powerful process that drives the clini-

cal research engine. However, a stronger

research infrastructure could strengthen

and accelerate this critical part of the

clinical research enterprise. The NIH

Roadmap attempts to catalyze transla-

tional research in various ways.

The overall goal of this conference was

to improve translational education and

research in the southeast through aca-

demic and institutional collaboration.

This year, the conference was held here

in Augusta at the Augusta Mariott and

Hotel Suites and was cosponsored by the

Medical College of Georgia as well as the

phot

ogra

phy

by M

oata

z E

lkas

awry

Group of students enjoying dinner at the 2010 Georgia Life Sciences Summit in Atlanta, GA

…to “STaR”, pg. 9

Page 9: December 2010 - GSO Newsletter

The GSO News 9

What’s the difference you ask?

The Medical College of Georgia diplo-

ma is printed in Latin on 18x22 cream

stock and the new Georgia Health Sci-

ences University diploma will be printed

in English on 18X22 stock of a slightly

lighter color.

Regardless of whether your diploma

reads “Medical College of Georgia” or

“Georgia Health Sciences University”,

Dr. Azziz reassures us that this docu-

ment will be a “tremendous source of

pride throughout [our] lives”.

Should anyone have further questions

regarding the name change please visit

http://name.mcg.edu O

career and I now feel lucky to have the

opportunity to share my knowledge and

experiences with the next generation of

scientists. I also take great pride in the

achievements and accomplishments of

my students and fellows. My students

have won a number of regional, nation-

al, and international awards, published

numerous high impact manuscripts,

and obtained their own extramural

grants from several funding sources. “

While at MCG as a student, Dr. Dhan-

dapani considered himself a “lab rat”

and therefore was not actively involved

in any student organizations. Currently,

however, Dr. Dhandapani serves as the

Presided of the MCG School of Gradu-

ate Studies Alumni Association and also

serves on the Neuroscience Executive

Committee. Outside of MCG Dr. Dhan-

dapani enjoys spending time with his

wife and 3 children and rooting on the

variety of team sports that he is a fan of.

Dr. Dhandapani’s advice for current

students is that “Each student should

find something they are passionate

about, set the bar high, and work hard

toward this goal everyday.” With regards

to specific skills for success, he states “…

time management is probably the most

important skill that leads to successful

careers as a scientist. We all get “down

time” throughout the day; however,

this time is not always utilized wisely.

Use this time to read current journals,

follow you own field, write manuscripts,

prepare for the next experiments, etc.”

Other advice that Dr. Dhandapani of-

fers includes the concept that one can

never read enough literature, and the

ability to preserve and take construc-

tive criticism. His last bit of advice is to

“Work hard, Read Read Read the litera-

ture, and publish often.” Dr. Dhanda-

pani also would like students to know

that he can be contacted at anytime

via email or phone for further advice

or other questions they may have. The

GSO thanks Dr. Dhandapani for taking

time to share with us his story! O

University of Georgia.

The conference included state-of-the-

art topics in clinical and translational

science as well as opportunities for

attendees to showcase their research

and network to develop regional col-

laborators. Research and educational

opportunities through regional Clinical

& Translational Science Award (CTSA)

Institutions were provided. Excellence

in clinical and translational science was

specifcally recognized during the meet-

ing through STAR Graduate Student,

Post-Doctoral Fellow and Young Investi-

gator Awards.

Medical College of Georgia Students in

attendance along with their Principal

Investigator are listed below. Congratu-

lations to all for your participation!

Hye Hun Choi- Dr. Webb

R. David Fessler- Dr. Dhandapani

Cody Freeman- Dr. Cashikar

Kristy Howell- Dr. Pillai

Ahmed Ibrahim- Dr. Liou

M.D. King- Dr. Dhandapani

Hicham Labazi- Dr. Webb

Melissa Laird- Dr. Dhandapani

Deepesh Pandey- Dr. Fulton

Chintan Patel- Dr. Caldwell

Chaitanya Patwardhan- Dr. Chadli

Roshini Prakash- Dr. Ergul

Jin Qian- Dr. Fulton

Frank Spradley- Dr. Jennifer Pollock

J. Suwanpradid- Dr. Ruth Caldwell

Rui Wang- Dr. Browning

Brandi Wynne- Dr. Webb O

...from “STaR”, pg. 8

...from “Name Change”, pg. 4

...from “Dhandapani”, pg. 5

Page 10: December 2010 - GSO Newsletter

The GSO News 10

Contact Information

Websitehttp://www.mcg.edu/gradstudies/students.htm

Facebook GroupStudents of MCG GSO

[email protected]

Newsletter Staff

Chief EditorColleen Carey

EditorsNamita Hattangady Samuel Herberg

Paramita Pati

Layout DesignJoshua Bird

AddressGraduate Student Organization

School of Graduate Studies

Medical College of Georgia

1120 15th St. CJ 2201

Augusta, GA 30912-1500

Happy Holidays

The Graduate Student Organization wishes you and your

families a very happy and safe Holiday season

See you in 2011!


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