MSTP News

This past weekend, Nashville, and the surrounding areas experienced catastrophic and widespread damage due to snow and ice from Winter Storm Fern, leaving hundreds of thousands without power for extended periods. This storm has had lasting impacts on our community. The MSTP Leadership Team encourages any students in need of… Read More

Student NameProgram (Mentor)Dissertation Title Joe DeCorte, PhDChemical & Physical Biology (Jens Meiler, PhD)Ensemble-Based Methods for Predicting PROTAC Degradation Efficiency Stephanie Cajigas Gabriel, PhDNeuroscience (Erin Calipari, PhD)The role of accumbal dopamine in shaping adaptive and maladaptive aversive learning strategies Duby Okonkwo, PhDMolecular Pathology & Immunology (Jonathan Schoenecker, MD, PhD)Regenerative Mechanisms in… Read More

M1’s Winter Break The M1s travelled all around the world over winter break! (Clockwise from top left: Suraj Upadhya in India, Andrea Mancia in Hawaii, Saksham Saksena in India, and Sophia Chou in Taiwan)   Members of the MSTP joined VUSM’s Social Mission Committee to volunteer with Second… Read More

By Bryn Sierra (MSTP Senior Program Manager) Bryn’s first-ever booth, at Franklin High School’s Mistletoe Market 2017 My MSTPastimes are my response to the poet Mary Oliver, who asked: “Here you are, alive. Would you like to make a comment?” Yes, I would, thank you. Here goes. Design, connection, and… Read More

By Leigh Ann Gardner (MSTP Sr. Grants Manager) January 9: Born on January 9, 1864, Paul Kroegel is a man who fought to protect the brown pelican in Florida, and who efforts in this area led to President Theodore Roosevelt designating Pelican Island as the nation’s first wildlife refuge… Read More

Compiled by Dayle Wang (G2) What Graft Should Be Used in Pediatric Posterior Spinal Fusion? Current Trends and Perspective Among Experts. Okonkwo DD, Moore-Lotridge SN, Schoenecker JG, Jain A, Hariharan AR, Vorhies JS, Yaszay B, Louer CR Jr; Harms Study Group. J Pediatr Soc… Read More

Congratulations to Katherine Caja (G1) for being elected to the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS)! The mission GHHS is to recognize individuals who are exemplars of humanistic patient care and who can serve as role models, mentors, and leaders in medicine and students were selected for their commitment to… Read More

By Jared Rhodes, reprinted with permission from “Lab Coats and Lanyards”, the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Trainee Newsletter Megan Tigue is a fifth-year PhD student in the Cancer Biology program and a seventh-year MD/PhD trainee at Vanderbilt University. She graduated from Colgate University in 2016 and began her training at Vanderbilt… Read More

By: Kyle T. Enriquez, M.Sc. (G4) Within the MSTP, thesis defense presentations are an under-explored but valuable way to gain collaborators, learn key details about potential mentors, and benefit from the specific interests of other students. While all MSTP thesis defense advertisements ask that trainees “Please make every effort to… Read More

By Ericka Randazzo (G3) Finding Joy at the Intersection of Science, Medicine, and Mentorship Dr. Fred Lamb’s path to becoming a physician–scientist was anything but linear. Rather, it was shaped less by formal pipelines and more by curiosity, serendipity, and an enduring love of discovery – qualities that continue to… Read More