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October 2009 - GSO News

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The GSO News Volume 1, Issue 1, October 2009 www.mcg.edu/gradstudies/students.htm Medical College of Georgia Graduate Student Organization The GSO News Inside this Issue Welcome Back from the GSO President 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, It’s a new academic year and we’ve 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 organization’s 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, 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 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 [email protected] or join our blog on facebook at Students of MCG GSO, let us know what’s 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 Officers Samuel Herberg In addition to the GSO president’s 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 Hamrick’s lab, research interest in …to“Officers”, pg. 2 photography by Moataz Elkasrawy
Transcript
Page 1: October 2009 -   GSO News

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,

It’s a new academic year and we’ve 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 organization’s 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,

1

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

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

[email protected] or join our blog on

facebook at Students of MCG GSO, let

us know what’s 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 president’s 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 Hamrick’s lab, research interest in

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Page 2: October 2009 -   GSO News

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 Association’s 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.

O

“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 Hill’s 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 White’s lab, research interest in

“estrogen’s 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

from “Officers”

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…to“Officers”, pg. 4

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Page 3: October 2009 -   GSO News

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 [email protected] 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.” Limor’s

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 of vampire novels and movies.

Currently, much of her time is devot-

ed to writing her dissertation. GSO

wishes Heather well as she completes

her PhD! O

is conducting her thesis work in Dr. Sally

Atherton’s laboratory where she is investi-

gating the role of interferons and infiltrat-

ing immune cells in the response to ocular

viral infections. Among other things, Dr.

Atherton’s approach to mentoring gradu-

ate students led Heather to her lab. Prior

to entering the Biomedical Sciences pro-

gram at MCG, Heather obtained an M.S.

in Biology at Georgia Southern Univer-

sity. She chose to continue her graduate

training at MCG because of “location,

common admissions, and class size.”

When asked about rewarding experiences

at MCG, Heather replied with a Latin

proverb, “By learning you will teach; by

teaching you will learn.” She explained,

“My most rewarding experience while at

MCG has been the opportunity to for-

mally and informally teach medical, un-

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Page 4: October 2009 -   GSO News

The GSO News �

Alumni Student Spotlight: Anh LeSamuel Herberg

Anh Le is from Conyers, Georgia and

graduated in 2008 with a Masters degree

from the Department of Biostatistics. Her

dissertation was entitled ‘Bone mineral

content in adolescents is related to dairy

intake and vigorous physical activity’.

When asked about why she decided to

come to MCG in the first place, Anh

replied “because of its reputation as one

of the top research institutions in Geor-

gia”. During her time here, she considers

her most rewarding experience at MCG

as “getting to know the MCG commu-

nity and the friendly faculty and staff in

her department”. In addition, Anh ex-

plained “I’ve been a part of many projects

and studies where I had opportunities to

work along with faculty to provide sta-

tistical analysis and results. [Also] I was

one of the first students from SGS to be

a member of MCG’s honorary service

organization AUPhi.”

While here at MCG, Anh “became ac-

tive on campus the moment she arrived”.

Anh was involved with GSO (as SGA rep,

then President), Graduate Council, the

International Students Org., Junior Medi-

cal League as PR chair, and served on the

MCG Judicial Committee. In addition she

was also a part of many intramural sports

teams with other graduate students includ-

ing flag football, basketball, and softball.

Of her involvement Anh mentions “I have

developed great friendships through these

[activities] and they remained some of my

fondest and happiest moments at MCG”.

Currently Anh is working as a biostatisti-

cian at UAB-Birmingham and fondly ex-

plained, “[Of MCG] My department has

prepared me very well to carry out the job

duties that I have now.” When she is not

working, Anh loves to read, participate

in outdoor sports, and enjoy time with

friends and her pets.

When asked about some general advice

for current students, Anh suggested “Be

active and don’t be afraid to get involved

in student and campus organizations or

make new friends outside your areas of

comfort.” Last but not least, specifically

for current students biostats students, Anh

came up with the following advice, “Your

work experience with a faculty member on

consultant projects will contribute greatly

to the skills you need later on as a biostat-

istician. Also, don’t be afraid to talk to any

faculty if you have questions about your

future career or education because they

know their stuff.”

GSO wishes Anh well as she continues

to build her career in the biomedical

field! O

The ‘Alumni Spotlight’ will continue to highlight alumni from departments within the School of Graduate Studies with regards to their accomplishments since graduation. If you would like to nominate someone to be featured please email us at [email protected] with ‘Alumni Spotlight’ in the subject line.

subm

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by

Anh

Le

from “Officers”, pg. 2

TreasurerRenee Bozard:4th year BIOMED PhD student in Dr.

Sylvia Smith’s lab, research interest in “fo-

late transport in the retinal Müller cell.”

Goal(s) for this year: “To start a fund-

raising program to better supply

GSO with funds to serve MCG and

our community.”

Social ChairColleen M. Carey:2nd year BIOMED PhD student in Dr.

Jin-Xiong She’s lab, research interest in

“Type 1 Diabetes biomarker discovery.”

Goal(s) for this year: “To increase the

overall involvement of the graduate stu-

dent body in events both on campus and

within the community, and specifically

to integrate the involvement of the vari-

ous programs falling under the School of

Graduate Studies. It is my hopes, through

volunteer events, and ‘just for fun’ out-

ings, that increased involvement will re-

sult in an increase in recognition of the

GSO within the MCG community.”

GSO representatives at the Student Government Asso-ciation (SGA):Davies Agyekum

Tiffany Nguyen

Yashoda Puttabyatappa

Scott J Webster

Christina Wilson O

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GSO Officers in action at the Student Organization Fair

Page 5: October 2009 -   GSO News

The GSO News �

Clinical Nurse Leader Student OrganizationEmmie Norville, CNL-SO Historian and Social Chair

The Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) pro-

gram was established at MCG in 2006 on

the Augusta campus, and has continued to

expand across the state to Athens, Macon,

and Americus. CNLs are used in the clini-

cal setting to improve patient outcomes by

coordinating care among the health care

team, and evaluating problems in the de-

livery of treatment. The program at MCG

is a 16-month pre-licensure program, and

draws individuals from many different ed-

ucational and career backgrounds to join

Biomedical Science PhD. Class of 20��The GSO would like to share a recent photograph of the (now) 2nd year Biomedical Science students and congratulate them all for suc-

cessfully passing their First Qualifying exam. We wish you the best of luck in your research!

dents interested in health careers. Limor

felt that she used knowledge obtained

here at MCG—her area of expertise and

presentation skills— to open the students’

eyes to something that might change their

minds and cause them to take an interest

in research. She served as the GSO Social

Chair for the 2007-2008 school year and

has participated in other activities as well.

Limor’s advice for current students is to

take advantage of every opportunity such

as teaching and national conferences. She

said, “The more you invest, the more re-

warding your experience in grad[uate]

school will be.” In her spare time, Li-

mor enjoys ballroom dance and travel-

ing. The GSO wishes her the best in her

future endeavors! O

the field of nursing. The CNL is the first

new role in nursing in over 35-years.

As a student in the CNL class of 2010, it

is very exciting to announce the creation

of the CNL Student Organization, which

was established by members of the 2009

class. We are a group that has big ideas

about reaching out in the community,

preparing ourselves for the work force,

and creating strong lines of communica-

tion between students and the faculty.

For more information on the CNL-SO

contact Joshua Dunn at jodunn@stu-

dents.mcg.edu. O

from “Limor”

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Page 6: October 2009 -   GSO News

The GSO News �

GSO Fall Camping Trip a SuccessColleen Carey

As a first event for this school year

the Graduate Student Organization

organized a weekend long camping trip at

Mistletoe State Park in Appling, Ga. This

trip was intended for any and all graduate

students to come out and take a weekend

away from the labs and classrooms to go

out and enjoy the beautiful Clark’s Hill

Lake together. Through this event students

who may not otherwise cross paths in a

given day were able to meet new people

and form friendships that will surely last!

Additionally this trip provided an oppor-

tunity for those students who are new this

year to get to know some of their fellow

students, both within their programs and

outside. In total about 50 students from

different programs including Biomedical

Science PhD., Biostatistics, and Medical

Illustration were able to create memories

of a great trip!

For many of our international students

this was a first experience with ‘camping’

and both teaching and learning of this pas-

time became a great way interact with and

get to know other students. Such things as

pitching tents, starting fires and even the

idea of cooking s’more became a learning

experience for those who had never camped

before. In addition the weekend consisted

of a multitude of activities that a state

park can offer. Individuals looking

to be more active formed groups that

went canoeing and kayaking, hiking,

swimming, or played volleyball while oth-

ers, wanting to relax more played card

games, and just chatting around the fire.

All in all this trip was enjoyed by all who

attended and has laid the foundation for

what (hopefully!) will turn into an annual

GSO tradition.

Those of you who missed out on this trip

need not worry as we will be planning a

spring camping trip as well. In the mean-

time, please enjoy some of the photos

taken at this fall trip in hopes that it will

hold you over! O

GSO FALLCAMPING TRIP

2009

com

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Page 7: October 2009 -   GSO News

The GSO News �

Davies Agyekum: (Biomedical Science) was recently awarded

the Doctoral Scholars Fellowship Award

from the South Regional Education Board

(SREB). The SREB has this award in place

as a means of increasing the number of

minority students who earn doctoral

degrees and become faculty at America’s

colleges and universities. The award comes

in the form of a yearly stipend support for

3 years as well as providing professional

development at an annual ‘Teaching

and Mentoring’ meeting.

Kirti Bhat:(Biomedical Science) was awarded the

GSA (Greater Southeast Affiliate) Spring

09 Predoctoral fellowship of the American

Heart Association (AHA) for a period of

two years.

Paresh Chothe :(Biomedical Science) was awarded

the National Biotechnology Graduate

Student Symposium Award at the

American Association of Pharmaceutical

Scientists-National Biotechnology

Conference in Seattle WA in June,

where he was also the invited speaker

in the Graduate Student Symposium.

Paresh also just had a first author paper

published in Investigative Ophthalmology &

Visual Science entitled “Identification of

a Novel Sodium- coupled Oligopeptide

Transporter (SOPT2) in Mouse and

Human Retinal Pigment E Epithelial

Cells.” Also, in May Paresh was married

to Sheetal Malke!

Aisha Cobbs:(Biomedical Science) recently received The

American Physiological Society’s Porter

Physiology Development Fellowship

Award. In addition, she was awarded an

American Physiological Society (APS)/

NIDDK Minority Travel Fellowship

Award to attend ET-11: APS International

Conference on Endothelin in

Montreal, Canada.

Aimee Hartle:(School of Nursing BSN), a first year

student, was awarded, in May 2009,

Student of the semester from Georgia

Perimeter College for “Outstanding

Performance and Excellence in Survey of

Chemistry II Lab” She was chosen among

23,000 students to receive this award!

NagendranMuthusamy:(Biomedical Science) has had his first

paper accepted in the Journal of Molecular

Evolution that is entitled “Phylogenetic

Analysis of the NEEP21/Calcyon/

P19 Family of Endocytic Proteins:

Evidence for Functional Evolution in the

Vertebrate CNS.” Also, he and his wife

Tharkika Nagendran, a graduate student

in the neuroscience program would like

to announce their daughter, Niharika

Nagendran, who is 18 months old.

Jeniel Parmar:(Biomedical Science) also has a lot to

share. He has a paper in preparation for

submission entitled “Adrenal glomerulosa

specific expression of aldosterone synthase

(Cyp11b2) promoter in transgenic

mice.” In addition, Jeniel has an abstract

submitted for the 35th meeting of the

International Aldosterone Conference

entitled: “Tissue expression pattern of

aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) mRNA

in the mouse.“ Last, but certainly not least

he has been involved in the writing of two

book chapters: •Parmar J, Rainey WE Adrenocortical cell lines. Adrenal Cancer Textbook. 2009. GD Hammer and T Else. Springer and Humana press. Chapter 3, 2009•Parmar J, Rainey WE Comparisons of adrenocortical cell lines as in vitro test systems. Adrenal Toxicology. PW Harvey, DJ Everett and CJ Springall. Taylor and Francis Publishers. Chapter 8 pp. 183-204, 2009

Crista Royal:(Biomedical Science) has been busy! She

recently won a MCG Department of

Pharmacology & Toxicology Graduate

Seminar Presentation Award, in the Upper

Level Students’ Division. In addition she

was asked to be a committee member

for American Society for Pharmacology

& Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET)

Division for Integrative Systems,

Translational and Clinical Pharmacology

(iSTCP) Young Scientists Committee.

She also presented an abstract at the

Experimental Biology conference and

was a symposium speaker for the ASPET

breakout session. In her ‘spare’ time she

has also been appointed Adjunct Faculty

at Augusta Technical Institute. O

The GSO News would like to congratulate the following individuals on some recent accomplishments!

Page 8: October 2009 -   GSO News

The GSO News �

Contact Information

Websitehttp://www.mcg.edu/gradstudies

/students.htm

Facebook GroupStudents of MCG GSO

[email protected]

Newsletter Staff

Layout Design Chief EditorMichelle Reinke Colleen Carey

EditorsMoataz (Taz) Elkasrawy Samuel Herberg

Jessica Osmond Paramita Pati

Feature ArticlesEmmie Norville

Graduate Student

Organization Presents...

Questions? Contact Colleen Carey at

[email protected]

Time: 7:00pm We will meet at the Student Center at 6:40pm!

Date: 10/27/09

A Community Service Event!!!

Come with us as we sponsor a Halloween Bingo Night at the Georgia War Veterans

Nursing Home

or DONATE CANDY!

Candy donations can be dropped off in the SGS office starting 10/12!

AddressGraduate Student Organization

School of Graduate Studies

Medical College of Georgia

1120 15th St. CJ 2201

Augusta, GA 30912-1500


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