Spotlights
Students, Faculty & Alumni
GMS PhD Spotlight: Riley Pihl (MTM ’25)
Riley Pihl is a PhD candidate in the lab of Assistant Professor of Medicine Katrina Traber, MD, PhD. Riley matriculated into the Program in Biomedical Sciences (PiBS) in 2020 before transitioning into the Molecular and Translational Medicine program. His research in the Traber Lab focused on neutrophil regulation during acute bacterial pneumonia. Riley defended his dissertation in March 2025 and will graduate in May. Learn more about Riley below! What did you complete your dissertation research... More
Introducing Our 2025 GMS Commencement Speakers!
We are quickly counting down to Spring 2025 Commencement, where the Graduate Medical Sciences community will come together and celebrate this year’s graduating students. Today, we are excited to introduce you to the four students selected to speak at this year’s GMS Convocation exercises. Three students were chosen to speak at the Master’s Ceremony, and one student was chosen to represent GMS at the MD & PhD Ceremony. All speakers were nominated by their programs, and finalists... More
GMS C3 Student Intern Honored as BU Graduate Student Employee of the Year
We are so proud of our GMS Community Catalyst Center student intern, Crystal Vejar (MAMS '25), who has been honored as Boston University's Graduate Student Employee of the Year! During her internship, Crystal has taken the lead on planning and implementing C3 events and communicating with mentors and students across C3's eight affinity groups. She is a dedicated peer mentor, a sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve, and a lab research assistant at the Chobanian &... More
Student Spotlight: Filip Engström (HEM ’25)
Filip Engström is a student in the Healthcare Emergency Management master’s program at Graduate Medical Sciences. Originally from Sweden, Filip is a double Terrier who also earned bachelor’s degrees in human physiology and psychology from Boston University. Filip is currently researching management of mass casualty incidents for his master’s thesis and will soon matriculate into medical school. Learn more about Filip below! Tell me about your journey to Boston. What was your background prior to coming... More
PhD Spotlight: Devin Kenney, PhD
Devin Kenney, PhD, is a January 2025 graduate of the PhD Program in Microbiology at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. During his time in Graduate Medical Sciences, Devin’s dissertation research focused on human immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the factors that contribute to mild versus severe COVID-19 disease. Devin successfully defended his dissertation and now works as a post-doctoral fellow in the lab of Associate Professor Mohsan Saeed, PhD. Learn more... More
Student Spotlight: Cynthia Ordoñez Salguero (MHCBM ’25)
Cynthia Ordoñez Salguero is a second-year student in the Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling & Behavioral Medicine program at Graduate Medical Sciences. She is currently completing an internship as an Integrated Behavioral Health Clinician in the Pediatric and Adolescent Clinic at Boston Medical Center. Cynthia is also an artist whose paintings explore the balance between grief and joy. Cynthia’s artwork will be on display in the GMS Suite (L-317) through April 30, and you can... More
Student Spotlight: Elizabeth Poplavska ’25
Elizabeth Poplavska is a second-year Master of Science in Forensic Anthropology student at Graduate Medical Sciences. Elizabeth earned a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Brooklyn College and moved to Boston to build her knowledge about the science and biological aspects of the subject. Her current research assesses CT scans of antemortem tooth loss, dental caries, and crown restorations for skeletal biomarkers of stress in opioid users and non-opioid users. Elizabeth plans to graduate in... More
Graduate Medical Sciences Celebrates 40 Years of MAMS at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
First conceived in the early 1980s over a faculty lunch table, BU’s MS in Medical Sciences has grown to be one of the country’s most successful Special Master’s Programs. In the early 1980s, a group of faculty from the Boston University School of Medicine Department of Microbiology gathered around a lunch table to discuss a groundbreaking new program – one that would soon become the school’s Master of Arts in Medical Sciences, or “MAMS.” The idea, according... More
Student Spotlight: Yousuf Al Naseri (OHS ’25)
Yousuf Al Naseri is a student in the Master of Science in Oral Health Sciences (OHS) program at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine with a goal to improve access to dentistry and educate his future patients on the importance of oral care and systemic health. Yousuf has also been an active mentor for fellow first-generation students, both in his undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and here... More
GMS Faculty Spotlight: Dennis Jones, PhD
Graduate Medical Sciences faculty member Dennis Jones, PhD, is an assistant professor of pathology & laboratory medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. Research in Jones' lab seeks to understand immune system suppression in breast cancers, with a focus on dysfunction of blood vessels in tumors. Jones recently received one of 11 National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Moonshot Scholar Awards, as well as a National Institutes of Health ReWARD R01 grant that... More