Changes are afoot this year for the School of Medicine’s Chancellor’s Awards! To start, the awards, which include domestic scholar awards for incoming students, international scholar awards for second-year students, and research excellence awards for students nearing thesis defense, will undergo a name change to become the Dean’s Awards. While the awards were originally established and funded by the Chancellor of the School of Medicine, they are now generously supported by Executive Vice President for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine Mary E. Klotman, MD.
This year, OBGE plans to bring together newly-honored Dean’s Award recipients for a series of programs highlighting the kinds of qualities that earned them the awards. In November, our 14 international and domestic Dean’s Award winners have been invited to a lunch discussion with Dr. Dennis Ko (Associate Professor, Molecular Genetics & Microbiology) and Dr. Kris Wood (Associate Professor, Pharmacology & Cancer Biology) to discuss the topic “How Do You Define Success?”. There will be an opportunity to submit questions to spur a discussion about what different pathways to success in the biomedical sciences might look like and how to gauge if one is on a trajectory toward success during the PhD.
In January, the award winners will be invited to have lunch with Dr. Beth Sullivan (Associate Dean for Research Training, SOM) and Dr. Suzanne Barbour (Dean of The Graduate School) to discuss the topic “Path Toward Leadership.” Students will again pre-submit questions about how to lead in their PhD student roles as well as how to prepare for leadership positions in their careers.
In March, OBGE will recognize five Dean’s Award for Research Excellence (DARE) winners who have excelled in the basic research endeavor, evidenced by an exceptional publication record and/or a substantial impact on the research trajectory, scientific culture, and climate of the lab. With the Dean in attendance, all 2023-24 Dean’s Award winners will be recognized at this ceremony.
Finally, in conjunction with the School of Medicine’s spring Research Week activities, all Dean’s Award winners from across all years will be invited to join us in attending some Research Week activities, followed by a reception in the Genome Court quad.
These award winners have been highlighted in previous OBGE and School of Medicine newsletters, and we will continue to bring you news of their outstanding research and leadership.