2018 Graduate Research Conference Recap
By: Janelle Geist
The Graduate Student Association (GSA) was proud to host the 40th Annual Graduate Research Conference on Thursday, March 15, at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. This event is an interdisciplinary showcase for researchers, graduate students, professional students and postdoctoral fellows to present their work and discoveries. Throughout the day, students from nursing, social, biomedical, and life sciences presented both oral and poster presentations. This year over 80 abstracts were accepted for oral and poster sessions. Abstracts were inclusive of all graduate programs, with 32 abstracts from applied sciences and 49 from basic science laboratories. Several companies including Agilent, BD Biosciences, BioLegend, Biostorage Labs, Gliknik, Peprotech, Pierce Biotechnology, Proteintech, Rainin, USA Scientific, Inc., and Xpress Bio hosted sponsorship tables during the poster session. Dr. Benjamin Prosser, Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the 2017 GPILS Alumni of the Year, delivered the keynote address.
At the end of the day, Outstanding Presentation Awards and a $50 prize were given to top presenters in each of the ten poster and oral sessions. The Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) and the Geriatrics and Gerontology Education and Research Program (GGEAR) also acknowledged top presentations for the day. We would like to announce and again congratulate these winners from the 40th Annual GRC:
Session A Oral Presentation: Shamir Kalaria, “Optimizing binge eating disorder drug development using a quantitative disease-drug-trial model”
Session B Oral Presentation: Erin McClure, “P47 restricts Borrelia burgdorferi colonization of Ixodes scapularis ticks”
Session C Poster Presentation: Ozell Sanders, “Age associated changes in neuromuscular and kinematic landing responses to sudden loss of ground support while standing”
Session D Poster Presentation: Julia Thayer, “USP24 regulates autophagy through the ULK1 and type III PI3-kinase pathway”
Session E Poster Presentation: Courtney Matson, “Tuning of TCR signaling pathways in chronically stimulated CD4+ T cells in vivo” and Nicholas Palmateer “Whole genome DNA sequence capture approach reveals tremendous genetic diversity in intracellular pathogen Theileria parva”
Session F Poster Presentation: Brian Johnson, “Targeted memory reactivation during a daytime nap to enhance sensorimotor skill performance in healthy young adults”
Session G Poster Presentation: Alyssa Grogan, “Loss of binding between giant obscurin and titin results in cardiac maladaptation”
Session H Poster Presentation: Megan Moorer, “Connexins form distinct complexes with signaling machinery that differentially affect osteoblast signaling and gene expression”
Session I Oral Presentation: Anthony Herrera, “Sex differences in infection risk after hip fracture”
Session J Oral Presentation: Manasa Srikanth, “Gaucher disease iPSC-derived osteoblasts have developmental and lysosomal defects that impair bone matrix deposition”
GGEAR Applied Sciences:
Ozell Sanders, “Age associated changes in neuromuscular and kinematic landing responses to sudden loss of ground support while standing”
Aparna Vadlamani, “Racial differences in discharge location following a traumatic brain injury among older adults”
OTT Award: Erin McClure, “P47 restricts Borrelia Burgdorferi colonization of Ixodes scapularis ticks”
Thank you to all students, volunteers, faculty judges, sponsors, and the Graduate School for making this event a success. We look forward to seeing you in 2019!