Medical Students and Scholars Celebrate Achievement and Research

By Sathya Achia Abraham and Frances Dumenci

Nearly a dozen graduate students and postdoctoral scholars from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine came together to share research findings during the 41^st John C. Forbes Graduate Student Research Colloquium. 

This year’s colloquium, held this week during a two-day event, included presentations highlighting research from cancer to the neuronal control of appetite. 

Each student participant provided a short talk on their work and was evaluated by the School of Medicine faculty on the basis of how effectively they communicated their research. 

“I am honored to present and talk with people who are not related to my research and to get feedback from faculty and students from other departments,” said Upneet Kaur Sokhi, Ph.D. student in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, who presented her research during the event. Her research focus is cancer gene therapy in the laboratory of Paul Fisher, Ph.D., professor and chair in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics. 

“This is a great opportunity to share my research with others,” she said. 

Other graduate student researchers who participated in the event came from the VCU School of Medicine departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Physiology and Biophysics, Biostatistics, Social and Behavioral Health and Human and Molecular Genetics. 

“There are two important reasons to have opportunities such as the Forbes Colloquium,” said Jan F. Chlebowski, Ph.D., professor in the VCU Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and associate dean for graduate education in the VCU School of Medicine. 

“First, it is one of the mechanisms that we provide our students to develop written and oral presentation skills, particularly when presenting to audiences about their research. It’s also an opportunity to share information with people from various research areas and to foster interdisciplinary research.” 

The annual event is held in honor of John Campbell Forbes, M.D., an internationally recognized authority on cholesterol-atherosclerosis research and alcoholism. Forbes joined the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) in 1927 and served as faculty in the Department of Biochemistry. In 1934, he became the first chairman of the Committee on Graduate Studies. 

Today, the VCU School of Medicine continues to recognize Forbes as a pioneer in graduate education, namely for the insight he provided and dedication he showed to advancing excellence in research. 

“Events such as the colloquium are important to VCU because they establish we have had goals and objectives that we have re-articulated through the Quest for Distinction,” Chlebowski said. “Venues like these lead the way in maintaining those areas in which we have had a long track record of success. We must remember where we came from because that’s what will help us get to where we need to go.” 

Last fall, the medical school held its 29^th annual Daniel T. Watts Research Poster Symposium in which more than 60 posters were presented by the school’s graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. 

Both events are supported by the Office of Graduate Education in the VCU School of Medicine. 

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