Biomedical PhD Student Organization
BPSO Mission
The Biomedical PhD Student Organization (BPSO) aims to build and strengthen the community among PhD programs at BUMC; to foster personal and professional relationships between students faculty, alumni , and administrators; to promote interdisciplinary research at BU; and to cultivate camaraderie among Biomedical Science PhD students.
Email us at: bpso@bu.edu
Find us on Facebook
BPSO Officers 2025 – 2026
President: Jillian Grassia (jgrassia@bu.edu)
Vice President: Sam Tolton (sgtolton@bu.edu)
Academic Affairs Liaison: Madeline Labbott (mlabott@bu.edu)
Treasurer: Isabella Garza (igarza99@bu.edu)
Administrative Coordinator: Diana Yeritsyan (dyeritsy@bu.edu)
Union Liaison: Jack Nelson (jacknel@bu.edu)
BPSO Events
We have lots of events coming up as we approach the end of the academic year! As always, please fill out this survey with any ideas you have for events you’d be interested in attending. We look forward to hearing from you!
April BPSO Business Meeting
Wednesday, 1 April 2026, 5:00pm-6:00pm, K103
The executive board will provide an overview of winter events and updates on happenings within GMS. Students will have an opportunity to raise concerns and provide feedback to our Academic Liaison and Union Liaison. FREE food will be provided!
Alumni Mix and Mingle
Friday, 17 April 2026, 3:00pm-5:30pm, L403 and L405
Mark your calendars for the second annual PhD student and alumni Mix and Mingle Networking event! Food and drinks will be provided! This event will include a panel discussion and structured mingling and conversations with BU PhD alumni with expertise in a wide array of fields. Please RSVP at this link by the end of day on 10 April!
Pre-Formal Plant Party
Wednesday, 29 April 2026, 3:00pm-5:00pm, K103
BPSO will be hosting a pre-formal event with provided supplies to paint cactus pots and make flower crafts to get excited for our Secret Garden formal theme. Relieve some stress and come build a plant haven to take home!
Spring Formal
Friday, 1 May 2026, 6:00pm-9:00pm, Carrie Nation
Join us at Carrie Nation for the BPSO Spring Formal! This year’s theme is Secret Garden, so break out those leafy greens and fairy lights! Formal attire is encouraged but not required. Each PhD student is allowed one guest. Please RSVP at this link!
BPSO Elections
Nominations due by 17 April 2026!
Please submit your nominations for the 2027 BPSO Executive Board by the end of day on 17 April! Positions that are up for election this year are: president, vice president, academic liaison, treasurer, and administrative coordinator. The nomination form and position descriptions can be found at this link!
GMS Events Calendar Highlights
BU Biotech Pitch Competition
This event is beginner-friendly and open to all graduate students and postdocs, you do not need a startup or prior experience in entrepreneurship. Whether your work is at an early idea stage or further along, this is a chance to think creatively about its potential applications and gain experience communicating your science in a new way. Please apply at this link by 17 April at 11:59pm!
Tuesday, 14 April 2026, 6:00pm, Virtual: Pitch Deck Info Session
Open to everyone, learn how to structure an effective pitch deck from our judges.
20-24 April 2026: Pitch Deck Evaluation (Optional)
Schedule 1-on-1 feedback sessions to refine your pitch.
Thursday, 30 April 2026, 4:00pm: Final Pitch Presentations
Present your work in an investor-style format.
The Aging Initiative Keynote Talk by Dr. Dae Hyun Kim: Frailty in Aging
Friday, 10 April 2026, 6:00pm-7:00pm
The Aging Initiative has put together a keynote talk with speaker Dr. Dae Hyun Kim to discuss patient care in regard to frailty among older adults. Dr. Kim is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a senior investigator at the Marcus Institute for Aging Research, where he founded and directs the Frailty Research Center. His work focuses on developing frailty indices that enable clinicians to identify vulnerable older adults across large populations, improving how we assess surgical risk, treatment effectiveness, and medication safety. Register at this link; spots are limited!
Upcoming Defense
Edward Ruiz, PhD
Genetics and Genomics, Program in Biomedical Sciences
Scaling Spatial Omics Analysis with Analytical Databases
Thomas Liontis, PhD
Genetics and Genomics, Program in Biomedical Sciences
Regulation of RNA Interference Pathways by Disruptor of Telomeric Silencing-1 (DOT1) and Insulin/Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Signaling
Jean Royce Gatdula, PhD
Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Program in Biomedical Sciences
Mechanisms of Prion Synaptotoxicity and Development of a Prion Protective Variant as a Therapeutic
Brenna Hagan, PhD
Behavioral Neurosciences
Dementia as a Disorder of Consciousness
Seho Park, PhD
Behavioral Neurosciences
Linguistic Features from Paragraph Recall are Markers of Cognitive Impairment and Incident Cognitive Decline
Andrew Leal, PhD
Virology, Immunology, and Microbiology, Program in Biomedical Sciences
Elucidating Novel Interactions between HIV-1 and Host DNA Damage Responses
Jonathan Kilroy, PhD
Virology, Immunology, and Microbiology, Program in Biomedical Sciences
Intragenic Transcription from Defective HIV-1 Proviruses Triggers the Melanoma Differentiation-Associated Protein 5 Innate Immune Sensing Pathway
Elizabeth Chavez, PhD
Virology, Immunology, and Microbiology, Program in Biomedical Sciences
Characterization of a Novel Genomic Locus with Pro-Viral Function in Orthoflavivirus Infection
Congrats Doctor!!!
Are you defending soon? Let us know so we can help advertise your defense!
Union Updates
The Union Security clause in the contract requires bargaining unit members to pay membership dues or a fair share agency fee. In the event that a bargaining unit member after notification of this obligation fails to pay one or the other, they are subject to a one week’s suspension of pay between the fall and spring semesters.
We entered an MOU with BU to move this penalty from Winter Break to after the spring semester for this year only. When is the time to sign membership cards? If you haven’t signed a membership card yet, now is the time to do so!
You can find a link to the card, and important information on paying dues here: https://www.seiu509.org/join/joinhighered/
Feedback or thoughts? Email us at BPSO@bu.edu
FOLLOW OUR GOOGLE CALENDAR
THANK YOU FOR READING,
YOUR BPSO EBOARD
PRESIDENT: JILLIAN GRASSIA (JGRASSIA@BU.EDU)
VICE PRESIDENT: SAM TOLTON (SGTOLTON@BU.EDU)
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS LIAISON: MADELINE LABOTT (MLABOTT@BU.EDU)
TREASURER: ISABELLA GARZA (IGARZA99@BU.EDU)
ADMIN COORDINATOR: DIANA YERITSYAN (DYERITSY@BU.EDU)
UNION LIAISON: JACK NELSON (JACKNEL@BU.EDU)