The GSO NewsVolume 1, Issue 1, October 2009

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

The GSO News

Inside this Issue

Welcome Back from the GSOPresident

2009/10 GSO Officers

2009 Start! Augusta Heart Walk

Current Student Spotlight

Alumni Student Spotlight

Clinical Nurse Organization

GSO Camping Trip

Student Accomplishments

GSO Bingo Night

Welcome Back from the GSO President!

My fellow graduate students,

Its a new academic year and weve got a

lot planned for you, already!

This year, the Graduate Student Organiza-

tion (GSO) is proud to welcome you back

with its long awaited issue of the GSO

Newsletter. Here, you will be updated

with the latest news about MCG graduate

students, read our interviews with recent

alumni and senior students, learn about

our organizations activities, and even an-

nounce your own personal news!

Our main objectives for this year are to

improve the communication between

GSO and its approximate 500 members,

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to connect graduate students from differ-

ent programs at MCG, and establish new

relationships with graduate student orga-

nizations at different institutions around

the state of Georgia. In doing so, GSO

continues to advance interests of graduate

students, identify and protect their rights,

and make sure their voice is heard at dif-

ferent institutional levels. GSO is equally

committed to the community at large or-

ganizing service and fundraising events,

and creating many volunteering opportu-

nities for graduate students year round.

Please, feel free to contact us any time at

GSO@mail.mcg.edu or join our blog on

facebook at Students of MCG GSO, let

us know whats on your mind and how

we can serve you better. Finally, I want to

thank my fellow GSO Officers and vol-

unteers for their sincere dedication and

enormous efforts. We all wish you a very

successful year.Moataz (Taz) Elkasrawy

2009/0 GSO OfficersSamuel Herberg

In addition to the GSO presidents wel-come note, the GSO officers would

also like to take the opportunity to

briefly introduce themselves. Here we

provide you with some basic informa-

tion about the work we do at MCG and

highlight the goals each one of us is ea-

ger to achieve within this academic year.

President Moataz (Taz) Elkasrawy:4th year BIOMED PhD student in Dr.

Mark Hamricks lab, research interest in

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The GSO News 2

2009 Start! Augusta Heart WalkColleen Carey

On September 29, individuals from all

over the CSRA participated in the Amer-

ican Heart Associations annual Heart-

walk, and among them was Team GSO.

As many of you may know, the American

Heart Association is one of the premier

voluntary health organization in not

only working towards the prevention

and treatment of heart disease, stroke

and cardiovascular disease, but also in

raising awareness about cardiovascular

health. In the past, research funded by

the AHA has contributed to discoveries

and advancements such as CPR, pace-

makers, bypass surgery and many others.

The AHA is also an invaluable source of

funding to the MCG community and an-

nually contributes approximately $6 mil-

lion to researchers here at MCG. This is

more than to any other institution in the

southeast and signifies the importance

of the research being done right here

on campus that ultimately will benefit

all communities.

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bone regeneration and fracture healing.

Goal(s) for this year: To make sure our

GSO services reach all 500 graduate stu-

dents at MCG, to establish better commu-

nication between students from different

graduate programs, and to act as an invalu-

able link between them and the different

administrative levels at MCG. Ultimately,

I wish GSO becomes part of graduate stu-

dents positive intellectual, social, and cul-

tural experiences here at MCG.

Vice president Samuel A. Herberg:2nd year BIOMED PhD student in Dr.

William Hills lab, research interest in

stem cells for tissue regeneration.

Goal(s) for this year: To improve the

interaction and communication within

GSO as well as between the GSO and all

MCG graduate students, school officials,

and GSO representatives of other Georgia

universities. Also, to create and publish a

welcoming booklet for all incoming new

graduate students with the idea of making

the transition to Augusta and MCG as

smooth and fun as possible.

Secretary Crista Royal:5th year BIOMED PhD student in Dr.

Richard Whites lab, research interest in

estrogens signaling pathways and physi-

ological effects in resistance arteries in

models of postpartum and menopause.

Goal(s) for this year: To help improve

communication between the different

graduate programs and increase

job networking opportunities for

GSO students.

This year Team GSO, captained by Davies

Agyekum and made up of both graduate

students and faculty, worked very hard to

raise a team total of $1003 towards the to-

tal event goal of approximately $170,000.

We would like to extend our thanks to ev-

eryone who help to support this cause as

we, as a research community, understand

firsthand how the funds raised will con-

tinue to allow for advancements in cardio-

vascular research to be made. Your gener-

osity in the face of this uneasy economy

goes beyond helping our team reach goals

and in fact goes as far as touching the lives

of those affected by cardiovascular disease

and stroke. Because of your support, those

facing cardiovascular disease or stroke

will have an organization that is better

equipped to educate and assist them. We

hope that next year you choose to join us

again in supporting this fight against heart

disease and stroke. O

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The GSO News

Current Student Spotlight

In future issues the Current Student Spotlight will continue to highlight current graduate stu-dents throughout each department in the School of Graduate Studies with regards to their current research. If you would like to nominate someone to be featured please email us at GSO@mcg.edu with Student Spotlight in the subject line.

Limor RazParamita Pati

Limor Raz is a fourth year Biomedical Sci-

ences PhD student in the Neuroscience

program. She is doing her dissertation

research in the laboratory of Dr. Darrell

Brann, where she studies mechanisms of

neuroprotection in stroke as wells as estro-

gen down regulation of free radical pro-

duction and estrogen epigenetic modifica-

tion of proapoptotic factors. Some factors

that led Limor to choose her lab include

her interest in the nature of the research,

interaction with her mentor, and the envi-

ronment of the lab.

Limor originally moved from Israel to Co-

lumbus, GA at the age of twelve. She at-

tended Columbus State University where

she majored in Biology. When asked why

she decided to attend MCG, Limor said

she wanted to be in a medical school

environment with a clinical perspective.

MCG is an excellent school, and it has

a very friendly environment. Limors

recent major achievements include win-

ning the American Physiological Society

First Place Research Recognition Award

for her poster presentation in July 2009

and a publication in press in the Journal

of Neuroscience.

Moreover, Limor has been involved in a

number of other activities at MCG. She

says her most rewarding experience while

being here was giving an evening seminar

on Estrogen Neuroprotection in Stroke to

students in the MCG Student Education-

al Enrichment Program (SEEPs), which is

a summer program for undergraduate stu-

to Limor, pg. 5

Heather CathcartJessica Osmond

Heather Cathcart is a Biomedical Scienc-

es graduate student in the Cellular Biol-

ogy and Anatomy Department. Heather

dergraduate, and graduate students,

especially in the laboratory. I enjoy the

interaction involved in teaching, and

I always end up learning something,

too. Additionally, she added, I also

love when I design and execute an ex-

periment independently and it works

the very first time. That makes up for

all the days when the experiments do

not work.

While at MCG, Heather has been

actively involved in GSO and has par-

ticipated in SGA events. Away from

campus she enjoys traveling and cook-

ing for friends. Last year she took up

dance lessons and rowing classes on the

Savannah River. Heather is also a long-

time fan