News from the School of Graduate Studies - Summer 2020
Nicholas D. Fried, Vice President of Public Relations, School of Graduate Studies SGA
In May, the School of Graduate Studies celebrated the conferral of Master of Science degrees to Caroline Burroughs, Matthew Herrera, Tina Nguyen, Jorge Penas, and the conferral of Doctor of Philosophy Degrees to J. Patrick Connick, Alyssa DeLarge, Khanh Do, Kevin Ebert, M. Adrienne McGinn, Morganne Manuel, Thang Pham, Jennie Roy, Ayesha Umrigar, and David Vumbaco. We are also pleased to announce that the recipient of the 2020 Chancellor's Award is Dr. Adrienne McGinn.
Also in May, the new School of Graduate Studies SGA officers began their 2020-2021 term. The officer team is composed of President Jessica Cucinello-Ragland, a doctoral student in the Department of Physiology; Vice President of Community Outreach, Aratrika Saha, a doctoral student in the Department of Pharmacology; Vice President of Social Activities, Muhammad Farooq, an MD/PhD student in the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy; and Vice President of Public Relations, Nicholas D. Fried, an MD/PhD student in the Department of Physiology.
This summer, the School of Graduate Studies welcomed eight MD/PhD students who have completed their pre-clinical education and USMLE Step 1 exams. Graduate Studies will also welcome 12 incoming students for the fall semester, including international students from Nigeria and Venezuela/Uruguay. Orientation activities began on August 3rd.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, our students have continued their hard work and have been rewarded. Jonquil Poret, a doctoral student in the Department of Physiology, was awarded an F31 by the NIH for her project titled, “Chronic binge alcohol in SIV infection: impact of adipose tissue stiffness on metabolic dysfunction.” Muhammad Farooq was awarded an F30 by the NIH for his project titled, “Alcohol exposure reverses fear conditioning-induced change in endocannabinoid signaling.” Jessica Cucinello-Ragland was awarded both a Teaching Experiences for Bioscience Educators fellowship by the American Physiological Society and an F31 by the NIH for, “Regulation of Pain by Alcohol and Endocannabinoids in the Basolateral Amygdala.” The School of Graduate Studies congratulates these students for their impressive accomplishments, and looks forward to another successful year.