Welcome to the Fall/Winter edition of VT PRIME: The quarterly newsletter of the "PREP/IMSD Family" at VT. Happy New Year and best wishes for 2019!
If you have any feedback or comments about the newsletter, please email us at vtprep@vt.edu. Next issue will include2019 VT MLK Celebrationsand a profile of VT's new Provost,Dr. Cyril Clarke
Fall 2018 was a busy and productive one for our PREP/IMSD family. In this edition of VTPRIME,we report:
Mentor choices of the PREP 16 scholars, our "FabPREP16"
Degree Completions by current scholars and alumni
Papers published, conferences attended, and awards won
Guest speakers, including our alumni, to reflect on their journeys in science
We continue to be very thankful for all the support that has enabled us to now have 64 PhD completions by IMSD and PREP trainees and alumni.After lab rotations, the 8 scholars in the PREP 16 cohort selected research mentors, we attended ABRCMS (see photo on the left) and SACNAS and again had a lot of fun interacting with our alumni,Read More
Current Scholars-mentor selection Following 3 mini lab-rotations each, "FabPREP16" (featured in the Summer II VT PRIME), have selected their research mentors for their PREP tenure:
Chastyn rotated in the labs of Drs. Tanya LeRoith, Xin LuoandAnn Stevens. She will continue her PREP research apprenticeship withDr. Stevens, who also previously mentored PREP alum Leah Guthrie and was a mentor to IMSD alum Dr. Bianca Baker. She is a professor in the Biological Sciences Department, Read More
After lab rotations in the labs of Drs. Sarah Clinton, Matt BuczynskiandKendra Sewall,Shawn decided to continue his PREP research apprenticeship withDr. Clinton. Dr. Clinton is an Associate Professor and Associate Director for the School of Neuroscience,Read More
Jamelle Simmons, PhD (IMSD 6, SBES)successfully defended his PhD dissertation at Virginia Tech/Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, "Effects of Febuxostat on Autistic Behaviors and Computational Investigations of Diffusion and Pharmacokinetics". Co - Advisors were Drs. Yong Woo Lee & Luke Achenie.
Shawn Kamboj (PREP 16) was admitted to participate in the 2019 graduate internship at NIH, theG-SOAR. He is the 4th from the IMSD/PREP family at VT to participate in this internship.
More Current Scholar News: - Recent publicationsRead More -Recent conferences/meetings attended Read More
Life Changes:Current Scholars&Alumni
Congratulations to Alex (IMSD 9) on her recent engagement!!!
Congratulations to PREP alumValerie Rojas(PREP 9 ) on the birth of their first child!!!
Faculty Updates: 3+timers Faculty are an essential part of IMSD and PREP success. Here we want to continue an earlier effort to profile faculty who have mentored three or more PREP/IMSD trainees(see Spring2015).
Dr. Webster Santosis a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and his research focuses on bioorganic and medicinal chemistry. He and his students, including two IMSD trainees, were recently featured in a front page article of VT News. His mentees have included two PREP alums, Marietou Paye (PhD, Georgia Tech) and Ms. Valerie Rojas (MS. Duke University). His current mentees include three IMSD scholars Christopher Garcia, Ashley Peralta and Jose Santiago Rivera. Dr. Santos' mentoring philosophy includes Read More
Dr. Michelle Theus,whojoined Virginia Tech in 2012,is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology. Dr. Theus' research focuses on mechanisms of brain injury and repair. Her mentees include IMSD scholars Kisha Greer and Ben Okyere and a current PREP scholar Steven Cerna.Dr. Michelle Theus' mentoring philosophy Read More
Dr. Zhijian (Jake) Tustarted his career at Virginia Tech in 1999 and currently works as a Professor in the Department of Chemistry. His research focuses on reducing the burden of vector-borne infectious diseases including malaria. He is one of the most well-funded scientists at VT: he currently has two R01s. His commitment to IMSD and PREP has been one of the strongest starting with the earlier cohorts in 2004. He has mentored three PREP scholars including Dr. Chevon Thorpe, Ms. Crystal Kennedy and Ms. Tasmine Clement, and two IMSD trainees, Dr. FrankCriscione and Ms. Monica Alvarez.
Dr. Thomas Ollendickjoined Virginia Tech in 1980 and was appointed VT's highest honor for professors as University Distinguished Professor.Dr. Ollendick's researchfocuses on clinical child and adolescent psychology. Dr. Ollendick's mentees from our programs have included PREP alums Drs. Candace Best and Jacqueline Doxie King and current PREP scholars Silvia Flores and Emmanuel Thomas. He was (and remains) a core member of the "mentoring team" for IMSD alum Dr. Jordan Booker. Dr. Ollendick's mentoring philosophy includes Read More
Dr. Martha Ann Bellis a Professor in the Department of Psychology. Her research focuses on brain behavioral relations. Dr. Bell's mentees have included IMSD alum Dr. Anjolii Diaz and PREP alums Dr. Kristen Davis, and Mses. Angelica Melvin and Cassie Eng (Carnegie Mellon). Her current trainee is IMSD scholar Ms. Tatiana Garcia Meza, also a 2019 VT nominee for the HHMI Gilliam Fellowship.
Dr. Daniel Capelluto is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. His current research focuses on the understanding of "how protein domains transduce and modulate signals from biological membranes." Dr. Capelluto's former mentees include IMSD alum Ms. Davia Blake, PREP alums Dr. MyThanh (Vo) Beedle and Karla Sanchez. As Ms. Alicia Traughber's MAOP advisor, he also gets credit for directing her to PREP as a transition option to the PhD.
More Faculty Updates:
Dr. Jody Thompson Marshall,the Director ofMAOP, our long-term partner,recently returned home to Charlotte to start a new position at UNCC as Director of Graduate studies in the College of Computing Informatics. We will miss her leadership, gentle counsel, and collaboration that brought us many trainees including more recently Ms. Hagar Kenawy (Columbia), Armand Meza (Wisconsin), Alicia Traughber (Cleveland Clinic/Case), and David Vasquez (UGA). For parting words, we asked Dr. Thompson Read More
Alumni Updates:
Dr. Chevon Thorpe(PREP/IMSD Alum) was recently named Collegiate Assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and the Director of inclusion, diversity, and equity in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Read More
Alexa Hendricks(PREP Alum) received her PhD (and MBA) in Neuroscience @ Wake Forest University! Congratulations Alexa! Recall she was previously profiled in VT PRIME for being one of the first recipients of the prestigious NIH Blueprint D-SPAN Award. Alexa has started her postdoc at Wake.
Dr. Snider Desir (PREP Alum), who received his PhD from the University of Minnesota Medical School, started work as a Cell Biologist at GSK.
James Dulaney (PREP Alum), graduated with a masters degree from Georgia State University. Congratulations James!
Kevin Hughes(PREP 11), PhD candidate at Yale School of Medicine, was selected as part of the first cohort of the NCI's intramural CURE (iCURE) trainees. Dr. Smith joined other mentors of Kevin at the induction ceremony at the NIH campus in November (iCURE) .
Drs. Brittany Taylor (PREP alum) and Shavonn Whiten (Carver Scholar) participated in the 2018 VT Future Faculty Development Program in partnership with the departments of BEAM and Entomology, respectively. In addition to the experiences, we hope these visits will culminate in offers as VT seeks to diversify its faculty.
Guest speakers in our two series:
1. "What can you do with your PhD?"
Dr. Lorraine Niba,Director, Sales Development Team @ Ingredion, stopped by to tell us what a scientist with a PhD and a MBA like her does at Ingredion. She provided a road map for our trainees in recognizing an opportunity to break away from "Identity Traps" that come with a PhD and a start in an academic position. It especially provided our trainees an insight into industry and the roles open to scientists.
2."Reflections: Surviving the early years in Graduate School"
Ms. Brittany Rice (PREP Alum), PhD candidate, University of Kentucky School of Medicine, stopped by to speak to our trainees about dealing with the challenges encountered and how to handle them in the early years of Grad School. In the photo on the left, Brittany poses with Drs. Elizabeth Gillbert, her PREP mentor, Peter Kennelly (friend of PREP and Professor in Biochemistry), and Chevon Thorpe, PREP/IMSD Alum and Assistant Professor.
Brittany at a networking dinner with her "PREP/IMSD/Carver Relatives" PREP co-director Dr. Luke Achenie, is fore on the left. The recently-engaged Alex, IMSD scholar, is on the right in the fore.
Additional pictures of Dr. Lorraine Niba and Ms. Brittany Rice.
VT @ 2018 SACNAS
IMSD trainees Diana Novo and Ashley Peralta joined us this year at SACNAS in San Antonio (their first).
VT @ 2018 ABRCMS
This was Virginia Tech's 17th year at ABRCMS. We had a great time! Our PREP 16 students had the opportunity to network with other students and the schools that they are interested in. The highlight of our ABRCMS was also the reunion with our alumni, who first attended ABRCMS during their tenure with us. In Indianapolis we met PREP alums: Brittany Rice (Kentucky), Crystal Kennedy (Duke), Shakarr Wiggins (Weill Cornell), Dr. Ramine Alexander; and IMSD alums Mses. Davia Blake (Penn), Sarah Sam (Cal Tech), and Drs. Anjolii Diaz (Ball State), Jordan Booker (Asst professor, Missouri), and Tristan Hayes (IU Medical School).
PREP 16 Scholars @ ABRCMS: Shawn Kamboj, Chastyn Smith, Silvia Flores, Faith Carter and Emmanuel Thomas.
Lunch at 2018 ABRCMS
Dr. Ed Smith and Ms. Shakarr Wiggins
Networking dinner with former PREP and IMSD scholars. Starting from the right: Drs. Jordan Booker, Anjolii Diaz and Ramine Alexander; followed by PREP 16 Scholars: Uvina Allen, Steven Cerna, Chastyn Smith, Faith Carter, Julia Julien, and PREP Alum Ms. Shakarr Wiggins.
Holiday Celebration: From Dec. 4 - 6th, IMSD Alum Dr. Bianca Baker, visited to help us celebrate our year. She talked about overcoming life challenges as a student and using your network to build an attractive resume. She also commented on the need to stay flexible as a scientist with a PhD so you can accept and contribute to a job as a Medical Science Liaison (MSL) in industry. As a MSL you can also impact your minority community awareness of the science that underlay drugs Read More
The "FabPREP 16" having a networking breakfast with our keynote speaker.
Dr. Bianca Baker speaking at our Holiday Celebration.
Upcoming Events
- Bi-Weekly Forum Every other Thursday, starting Jan. 31st: 12:00 - 1:30 PM - MAPRS @ Wake Forest (please contact Dr. TanYa Gwathmey-Williams) May 22-23
- PREP Application
Reviewing begins March 1, 2019. For more information, contact us at vtprep@vt.eduand to apply, please click on thelink.
