Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month
September 15 officially marks the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month! We are proud to support and uplift our Hispanic and Latinx community at Graduate Medical Sciences. If you know of an event or resource you’d like added to this list, please email Sara Frazier. Events City Hall Lighting Ceremony for Hispanic Heritage Month Wednesday, September 15 | 6-8 p.m. “Join the City of Boston's Latinx Employee Resource Group for a virtual and in-person celebration to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month.” Hispanic Star Boston Kickoff Reception Thursday, September 23 | 6:30-9:30 p.m. “Join Hispanic Star Boston as we kickoff the Hispanic Heritage Month for an evening of networking... More
Welcome to GMS | Fall 2021
Deborah Stearns-Kurosawa, PhD Associate Provost and Associate Dean ad interim Welcome to the GMS community! It is a new academic year and a new beginning as our campus opens again to incoming and returning students. The faculty and staff are delighted to welcome your energy, enthusiasm and new ideas into the classrooms, laboratories and clinics. It is immensely satisfying to see the campus active and busy again. Even so, we are ever mindful of the toll of the last year and a half, with loved ones lost, others struggling with long COVID-19 and many who juggled competing responsibilities from their living rooms... More
C3 Community Catalyst Center Launches!
Graduate Medical Sciences believes that graduate education is enriched by diversity and a strong sense of community among peers. This philosophy sparked the idea for the Graduate Medical Sciences Community Catalyst Center (C3), which officially launches this week. The center’s goal is to foster holistic success for the diverse GMS student community by providing helpful resources, events, workshops and community chats. “As we welcome both incoming and returning students back to campus for the fall, we are excited to offer this additional support to our students,” said Deborah Stearns-Kurosawa, PhD, ad interim Associate Provost and Dean of GMS. Students of all backgrounds are... More
Physician Assistant Graduation Ceremony Sends 30 Graduates into the Field
“When I look out at all of you, that word that comes to mind is ‘grit,’ said Program Director Susan White, MD, as she opened the small, in-person graduation ceremony for the Physician Assistant Program, held Aug. 12 in Hiebert Lounge. “As a class, you’ve shown a tremendous amount of perseverance and strength.” The event marked the end a two-and-a-half-year journey through an intensive course of study, including an integrated pathophysiology and pharmacology course alongside second-year medical students. In addition to classroom work, students also completed 14 months of clinical rotations and a thesis project. Last year, 2020 graduate Jane Chow, MS, More
22 STaRS Share Their Summer Research
The Summer Training as Research Scholars (STaRS) Program concluded its 10-week research experience with a virtual symposium held Aug. 5. Overseen by Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS), the STaRS Program is funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the NIH. It has trained over 150 scholars and received more than 3,000 applications since its inception. Trainees work with faculty, fellow students and postdoctoral associates on cutting-edge biomedical research projects, build powerful and lasting relationships and set a course for college and career success. Each week the scholars worked alongside their mentors realizing virtual projects, presenting their research at meetings and attending... More
Healthcare Emergency Management Program Trains COVID-19 Response Workforce
Kevin “Kip” Thomas, MBA, PhD, Program Director for the MS in Healthcare Emergency Management, had been working as Executive Secretary of Homeland Security when he completed a vulnerability assessment for Washington D.C. and certified the national labs. That assessment led him to notice a void in the healthcare side of emergency management, and he realized the best way to address this was through education. While working for the Pentagon, Thomas met Peter Bergethon, MD, Head of the Laboratory of Intelligence Modeling and Neurophysics at BUSM, and Mark Moss, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology at a meeting on protecting health... More
Celebrating Juneteenth: The History Behind Freedom Day
Juneteenth, traditionally observed on June 19, marks the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in America were told they were free. On this date slaves in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863. Also frequently referred to as Freedom Day, Juneteenth is already celebrated in most states. This is the first year it is an official holiday in the state of Massachusetts. As of this year, Boston University now recognizes Juneteenth as an official holiday as part of ongoing efforts to become more diverse, equitable... More
Getting to BUMC in 2021
Dear Colleagues, As we prepare for a new school year and some of you plan your return to campus after being away for some time, I’d like to take this opportunity to share a few changes about transportation and commuting programs that will hopefully improve your commute. MBTA Passes The 10th of each month is still the deadline for enrolling in, cancelling, or changing your participation in BU’s 50% subsidized MBTA Pass Benefit. Those not currently enrolled who wish to get a July MBTA pass must be sure to sign up via BUworks by Thursday, June 10th. One change: MBTA passes are now mailed... More
Program Spotlight: Summer Research as Training Scholars (STaRS)
Boston University Summer Training as Research Scholars (BU STaRS) is a summer-long program designed to promote access to graduation education for traditionally underrepresented students in research and medicine. Scholars are provided with the opportunity for research, enhancing skills required for admission to graduate programs. Each STaRS scholar is paired with a faculty mentor to participate in research projects of varied interests not limited to substance abuse disorders, neuroscience, and cancer research. In addition, the STaRS program provides bi-weekly seminars focused on research and abstract writing, career advice, including applying to PhD or MD/PhD programs. The 2021 BU STaRS program takes place from May... More
GMS Faculty Awards Celebrate Excellence in Teaching
To recognize faculty who adapted quickly and successfully during the COVID-19 crisis and continued to provide students with quality education, mentoring and research experiences, GMS recently created new awards for faculty excellence. GMS students nominated faculty members whose efforts really stood out during the pandemic and the shift to remote learning. The award was broken down into four categories: Didactic teaching in GMS master’s programs Mentorship in GMS master’s programs Didactic teaching in GMS doctoral programs Mentorship in GMS doctoral programs Congratulations to the winners: Shoumita Dasgupta, PhD, Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in Genetics and Genomics, in the “Didactic teaching in... More