Southeastern Medical Scientist Symposium Recap
By Nowrin Chowdhury (G3)
The Southeastern Medical Scientist Symposium (SEMSS) annual conference was hosted virtually by the Vanderbilt MSTP on January 29, 2022. SEMSS aims to bring together undergraduates, MD-PhD students, residents, and physician-scientists to provide information on the career path as well as foster mentorship, career building, and share scientific knowledge. While SEMSS is a difficult undertaking most years, this year was even more difficult after facing the loss of our leader and co-chair Zach Jones. However, we hope that our wonderful and persistent committee created a conference he would be proud of with a theme related to what he represented: humanity as a physician-scientist. Even with a virtual format, we had over 200 registrants participating in the conference from all over the country and even in Canada. Participants were able to learn from Dr. Kristen Eckstrand, a psychiatrist-scientist, an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and a Vanderbilt MSTP alum. Dr. Eckstrand shared thoughts on her career, resilience, and following a passion for making the world a more just and equal place. Our second keynote was delivered by Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an Associate Professor of Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School and a physician-scientist-policy maker focused on the care of obesity. Dr. Stanford shared her journey into medicine as well as her thoughts on the challenges faced by underrepresented communities in science and medicine and ways to enhance equity in medicine. SEMSS attendees also had the opportunity to present their findings and learn from each other during poster presentation and oral presentations. Finally, attendees were able to attend career building sessions related to their phase of training (MSTP Admissions Panel, Choosing a Mentor/Project, Grants, Residency/Alternative Career Panels) as well as their interests (Advocacy, Imposter Syndrome, Wellness). We ended the day with an optional social hour including trivia, laughs, and more bonding. Congratulations to Vanderbilt MSTP students Maxwell Roeske (G4) and Hernan Gonzalez (M4) on their poster presentation awards as well as Nicholas Petersen (G3) and Margaret Axelrod (G5) on their oral presentation awards. A big thank you to my co-chairs Zach Jones and Alex Silver, the Vanderbilt MSTP SEMSS committee, the Vanderbilt MSTP Leadership team, the UAB SEMSS leaders, and anyone who helped out or attended the meeting. We hope to see everyone at SEMSS next year when it is hosted by our colleagues at UAB!
Map of SEMSS attendees