By Jamie King
Each year, the Division Student Advisory Council (DSAC) hosts a wonderful symposium to showcase student research within GDBBS. Now in its 14th year, this year’s symposium was held on January 19, 2017. Not only is the symposium a great venue for students to get feedback from faculty and other students about their research, but it is also an outstanding opportunity to communicate their science to broad audiences outside of their programs.
Briana Brown (Cancer Biology)
On a personal level, my favorite part of the symposium is the chance to take a break from the lab and reconnect with friends and colleagues. This year’s symposium kicked off with oral presentations, followed by lunchtime poster presentations and further oral presentations in the afternoon. I was excited to share my research on breast cancer signaling pathways through an oral presentation. For me, it was a brilliant opportunity to share some unexpected, yet exciting results with an extensive audience outside of Cancer Biology.
Alyssa Scott (Genetics and Molecular Biology)
As I was listening to other student’s presentations from across all GDBBS programs, my attention was quickly captured by presentations on topics concerning other global health issues, such as studying mosquito breeding environments in Mexico. The presentations about Zika infection of placental cells also highlighted imperative translational research to understand how a virus like Zika affects infant development. The presentations on bacterial resistance also highlight another necessary global health issue that will surely be at the forefront in coming years. As an added incentive for students to present their research, the top three posters and oral presentations were selected based on criteria scored by judges. The Emory Integrated Cellular Imaging Core also sponsored a top image contest where the top three images were selected for awards.
Brandon Stauffer (Molecular and Systems Pharmacology)
