ON THE SCENE WITH THE ASSOCIATE DEAN

It has been a busy Fall semester! In addition to welcoming our new 1^st year students who have been taking BIOTRAIN 701 and disciplinary courses while doing rotations, OBGE managed the largest enrollment in BIOTRAIN 720 (Scientific Grant Writing). This fall was the 14^th year for the course, originally started by Doug Marchuk years ago as a small class for UPGG and MGM students. For Fall 2024, 92 students from 16 PhD programs enrolled in BIOTRAIN 720 – 13 School of Medicine programs, 1 Pratt PhD program, 1 Nicholas School of the Environment Program, and 2 Arts & Sciences PhD programs.

As always, the success of this large and logistically challenging course depends on the commitment of students, faculty, and staff that contribute to course content and organization.

To all Fall ’24 BIOTRAIN 720 students: Thank you for your dedication to enhancing your critical thinking and scientific writing and reviewing skills. I hope that the class will not only help prepare you for preliminary examinations but that you will submit your proposals as future fellowship applications!

I am grateful to my co-course director Doug Marchuk, as well as faculty who devoted 18+ contact hours serving as study section co-chairs: Jon Campbell and Brigid Hogan (Cell and Molecular Biology), Dennis Ko and John Rawls (Microbial Pathogenesis), Jörn Coers and Matthias Gromeier (Immunology and Disease), Lindsey Glickfeld and Jeremy Kay (Development, Stem Cell Biology & Neurobiology), Xiao-Fan Wang and Tso-Pang Yao (Cancer Biology and Pharmacology), Doug Marchuk (Genetics and Genomics), and Kate Hoffman (Environment and Toxicology), and Anne West and Chris Kontos (Clinical and Translational Research).

We were fortunate that Guinevere Connelly, a 4^th year UPGG student in Dennis Ko’s lab, served as the TA for BIOTRAIN 720 this Fall. Guinevere provided course support to Doug and me and offered feedback to the students. She held weekly office hours and delivered several class lectures to guide students through writing trainee development plans for NIH F awards and hosted a career panel focused on scientific writing. Thank you, Guinevere, for your partnership and contributions to the course!

I also thank Amanda Shipp, OBGE Administrative Coordinator, who ensures every year that we reserve enough rooms to hold small-group study sections.

For Fall 2024, 65 Duke faculty participated as lecturers, guest reviewers, study section chairs, and/or co-course directors. Without faculty participation, this course would not be possible!

THANK YOU, 2024 BIOTRAIN FACULTY REVIEWERS!