Congratulations to Our 2024 Outstanding Student Achievement Award Winners!
Graduate Medical Sciences is pleased to award four high-achieving, graduating students with Outstanding Student Achievement Awards in the categories “Outstanding Research” and “Community Service.”
These students have made exceptional contributions to their departments and communities that have set them apart from their peers during their time at GMS. Meet each awardee below:
Katharine Babcock, PhD, ’24
PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Katharine Babcock is a January 2024 graduate of the PhD program in Anatomy & Neurobiology. She has been at Boston University for almost 10 years. From September 2014 to September 2016, Katharine worked as a research assistant at the BU Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center Brain Bank, before pursuing her master’s in the same lab until 2018.
From 2018 to 2023, Katharine pursued her PhD, graduating in January 2024. She is now a postdoctoral fellow at the CTE Center, working to publish two of her thesis chapters.
Katharine’s community service project, “BUtiful Brains,” won her the Outstanding Student Achievement Award in the PhD Community Service category.
Read Katharine’s full story here!
Anna Smith ’24
PhD in Molecular & Translational Medicine, Program in Biomedical Sciences
Anna Smith is a PhD candidate in the Graduate Program in Molecular and Translational Medicine (MTM). She has been at Boston University for almost five years, having matriculated into the PhD Program in Biomedical Sciences in Fall 2019.
Anna is completing her dissertation research in the lab of Associate Professor of Medicine Valerie Gouon-Evans, PhD, PharmD. Dr. Gouon-Evans directs the Boston University Liver Biologists (BULB) Program and is the associate director of the MTM program. Anna’s research focuses on finding alternatives to liver transplantation that transplant healthy liver cells instead of an entire organ. She defended her dissertation, “Human Primary and iPSC-Derived Hepatocyte Cell Therapies to Treat Liver Disease,” in March 2024 and will graduate in May 2024.
Anna’s dissertation research won her this year’s Outstanding Student Achievement Award in the PhD Research Category.
Read more about Anna’s work here!
Gwendolyn Strickland ’24
Master of Science in Genetic Counseling / Master of Public Health Dual Degree
Gwendolyn Strickland is a master’s candidate in the Master of Science in Genetic Counseling Program. She matriculated into Boston University in Fall 2022 to pursue a dual MS/Master of Public Health degree at GMS and the School of Public Health (SPH).
Gwendolyn worked with the Boston Medical Center (BMC) Refugee Women’s Health Clinic to implement a group care model focused on case management services for recently arrived pregnant patients from Haiti. The project began as her SPH practicum. Gwendolyn hopes to take what she’s learned from this community service project and apply it to the field of genetic counseling by increasing awareness and access to genetic services for people who hold marginalized identities.
Gwendolyn’s project won her the Outstanding Student Achievement Award in the Master’s Community Service category.
Read Gwendolyn’s full story here!
Melanie Delgado ’24
Master of Science in Medical Science (MAMS) Program
Melanie Delgado is a May 2024 master’s candidate in the Master of Science in Medical Science (MAMS) program. She matriculated into the MAMS program in Fall 2022.
Melanie works for Michael Levy, MD, PhD, the director of the Neuroimmunology Clinic and Research Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital. There, she oversees a clinical trial investigating a new drug in the treatment of anti-NMDAR encephalitis. As part of her master’s thesis, Melanie also developed a cross-sectional study to better understand the use, dosing and adverse effects of medical marijuana in the symptom management of rare neuroimmune diseases.
Melanie will soon present her data at the 2024 European Committee for Treatment and Research of Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her research also won her the Outstanding Student Achievement Award in the Master’s Research Category.