Forty-three newly qualified PhD candidates were recognized by the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in a ceremony marking the beginning of the academic year on Wednesday, Sept. 18. The event honored those who have successfully completed the Qualifying Exam, which marks the transition from classroom-based learning to candidacy for a doctoral degree.
During the ceremony, Chancellor Michael F. Collins said he was pleased when GSBS students approached him last September to propose an event to recognize PhD students during Convocation Week. While the Sherman Center and other campus research buildings provide impressive venues for scientific discovery, he said it’s the people who make a difference in the success of an academic institution.
“It’s the intellect and innovation that each one of you bring to our atmosphere, it’s the drive and determination that you bring to the uncertainties and great mysteries and great surprises of sciences and the commitment you bring to your careers and each other,” said Chancellor Collins.
“The way that doctoral research works, you very much have a tendency to feel isolated,” said Terence R. Flotte, MD, the Celia and Isaac Haidak Professor of Medicine, executive deputy chancellor, provost and dean of the School of Medicine. “We want to be supportive of you.” Events like this one show “if we pull together, not only are we going to do more, we’re going to have fun together,” he said.
GSBS Dean Anthony Carruthers, PhD, first recognized the group of students who were admitted to doctoral candidacy prior to academic year 2012-2013. Then Associate Dean Mary Ellen Lane, PhD, called up to the podium each of the 43 students admitted to doctoral candidacy last year. Those students are:
Amena Arif, Phil Zamore Lab
Aditya Bandekar, Chris Sassetti Lab
Seda Barutcu, Roger Davis Lab
Rebecca Baum, Ellen Gravallese Lab
Houda Belaghzal, Job Dekker Lab
Michelle Bellerose, Chris Sassetti Lab
Havisha Bindu, Robert Brown Lab
Mehmet Bolukbasi, Scot Wolfe Lab
Thomas Burdett, Marc Freeman Lab
Alison Casserly, Andrew Tapper Lab
Jen-Chieh Chiang, Jeanne Lawrence Lab
Lauren Clancy, Jane Freedman Lab
Shubham Dutta, Dan McCollum Lab
Kingsley Essien, John Harris Lab
Daniel Frendl, John Ware Lab
Leticia Fridman, Robert Brown Lab
Ryan Genga, Rene Maehr Lab
Priyanjali Ghosh, Charles Sagerstrom Lab
Tsung-Han Hsieh, Ollie Rando Lab
Henry Huang, Jie Song Lab
Samson Jolly, Phil Zamore Lab
Hsin-Jung Chou, Fen-Biao Gao Lab
Elif Kamber, Andreas Bergmann Lab
Yasin Kaymaz, Jeff Bailey Lab
Nicola Kearns, Rene Maehr Lab
Heesun Kim, Craig Mello Lab
Pallavi Lamba, Patrick Emery Lab
Jermaine Lawson, Larry Hayward Lab
Sara Lewandowski, Chinmay Trivedi Lab
Zachary Maben, Larry Stern Lab
Jose Mercado-Matos, Leslie Shaw Lab
Mihir Metkar, Melissa Moore Lab
Juahdi Monbo, Jeremy Luban Lab
Makoto John Ohira, Melissa Moore Lab
Ogooluwa Ojelabi, Tony Carruthers Lab
Samantha Palace, Jon Goguen Lab
Harish Palleti, John Keaney Lab
Alison Philbrook, Mike Francis Lab
Kristina Prachanronarong, Celia Schiffer Lab
Caitlin Quigley, Hong Sheng Li Lab
Debra Ragland, Celia Schiffer Lab
Harleen Saini, Melissa Moore Lab
Inyoung Song, Larry Stern Lab
Gabriela Toro, Robert Brown Lab
Markus Vallaster, Ollie Rando Lab
Allen Vong, Susan Swain Lab
Ozge Yildiz, Hemant Khanna Lab
So Yun Min, Silvia Corvera Lab
Matija Zelic, Michelle Kelliher Lab
Xiaohu Zhao, Jeremy Luban Lab
