News & Posts
Faculty Spotlight: Kim Zayhowski, MS, CGC
Kim Zayhowski, MS, CGC, is a cancer genetic counselor and clinical researcher at Boston Medical Center. She is also an assistant professor in the Department of Medical Sciences and Education and teaches within BU's Genetic Counseling Program. Much of Kim's current research within genetic counseling focuses on improving care for LGBTQIA+ patients, specifically focusing on the trans community and the intersex community. Are you originally from the Boston area? What did your educational journey look like? I grew up in Massachusetts, born and raised here. I went to Brandeis University for my undergraduate degree, and then for graduate school I went to Stanford School of Medicine for Human Genetics and Genetic Counseling. My whole community is here in Boston, so I ended up coming back. I came to BU a few years after I started working. I now have a mixed role – I am a cancer genetic counselor and clinical researcher... More
LGBTQ+ Resources from BU and Beyond
In honor of Pride month, we compiled a list of resources for supporting our LGBTQ+ community, both from Boston University and outside organizations. Please email Sarah Rowan at srowan@bu.edu if you have a resource you would like to add to the list! BU Out List The BU Out List is a collaboration between the BU LGBTQIA+ Faculty & Staff Community Network and Q; the Queer Activist Collective. Their objective is to promote visibility, connectedness, and sharing of resources among LGBTQIA+ faculty, staff, students, and the larger Boston University community. BUSM Out And Ally List This is a public list of clinicians, faculty, practitioners, researchers, staff, students, and trainees across BUMC and BMC who identify as LGBTQ+ or as allies for the LGBTQ+ community. The primary mission of the OUT & Ally List is to serve as a resource for BUMC LGBTQ+ students seeking mentorship, guidance, or academic and non-academic support. Additionally, the List enables BUMC community members... More
PRIDE Month Recommended Reads
June is Pride month in the United States, a month dedicated to celebrating the LGBTQ+ community and recognizing LGBTQ+ individuals' impact on our history and society, both in this country and around the world. To help you mark Pride month, we've compiled a list of six books to put on your reading list. Please email srowan@bu.edu with any further book suggestions. Happy Pride and happy reading! All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto By: George M. Johnson Detransition, Baby: A Novel By: Torrey Peters Felix Ever After By: Kacen Callendar Red, White, and Royal Blue: A Novel By: Casey McQuiston The Hours: A Novel By: Michael Cunningham We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation By: Matthew Riemer
GMS Welcomes 17 Students into 2022 STaRS Program Cohort
This week, Graduate Medical Sciences will welcome the 17 students who make up the 2022 Summer Training as Research Scholars (STaRS) program cohort. STaRS is a program designed to promote more equitable access to graduate education for students historically underrepresented in science and medicine. Throughout the summer program, the STaRS cohort will have the opportunity to participate in research and enhance the skills required for successful entry into, and completion of, a graduate or MD/PHD program in biomedical sciences. Each STaRS scholar will be mentored by faculty and lab members from GMS. They will be placed in a biomedical laboratory that represents their personal research interests, where they will develop and execute independent research projects. In August, each scholar will present their work during an end-of-program symposium held to recognize their academic research achievements. This year’s cohort includes six second-year undergraduates, seven third-year undergraduates, three fourth-year undergraduates and one Boston University medical student. More
Student Spotlight: Tom Morin (PhD ’22)
Tom Morin (PhD ’22), a fifth-year student in the Graduate Program for Neuroscience, grew up in Braintree, Mass. As a kid, Tom always imagined that somewhere out in the world was a literal tree with brains growing out of it. “I couldn’t wait to find this tree, pick my very own brain from among the branches, and see what it looked like,” Morin wrote in an email. “I was wrong about the tree, but now I get to look at brains all the time!” The May 2022 degree candidate has spent the last five years working alongside Dr. Chantal Stern to research the functional brain networks that support complex cognition such as abstract reasoning and rule learning. Their research uses methods from graph theory, treating the brain as a network and examining how the structure of the network evolves over time as the brain learns new information and completes reasoning tasks. It’s part of... More
Student Spotlight: Greg Cello, MS’22
Greg Cello is a Masters' student in the Medical Sciences (MAMS) program, a U.S. Army veteran and a mentor for the C3 Community Catalyst Center gMAV Network. He will graduate in May 2022. Whether it’s for his family, his soldiers or his future patients, service to others is the entire fabric of Greg Cello’s (MS’22) life. That service is ultimately what drew the May 2022 degree candidate to Boston University two years ago. In just a few weeks, he’ll graduate from Graduate Medical Sciences’ MS in Medical Sciences (MAMS) program. A Legacy of Service Born into a military family in Fayetteville, N.C., Cello completed his childhood education in upstate New York before pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Providence College in Rhode Island. At Providence, Cello was a full-time ROTC scholarship cadet and an NCAA Division I varsity swimmer for the Friars. His father, a dentist, and his great-uncle, an MD, both attended... More
Boston Business Journal Features GMS BEST BET Program
Boston Business Journal featured the Graduate Medical Sciences BEST BET program in an April 8 editorial written by Lauren Celano, co-founder and CEO of Propel Careers. BEST BET was one of two national programs mentioned that are actively engaging with college talent across the country to help fill the life sciences pipeline shortage. BEST BET, which stands for Broadening Experience in Scientific Training – Beginning Enhancement Program – is a collaborative effort with four other universities nationwide to focus on career exploration to engage traditionally underrepresented undergraduate students studying science. The program aims to build the capacity of minority-serving undergraduate institutions to provide career resources that will increase underrepresented minority (URM) student awareness of and motivation for pursuing STEM careers and advanced degrees. Check out the full article here!
Vulnerability in Leadership: Success from Mentorship
What does Leadership mean to you? How does being vulnerable in building your mentor and mentee relationship add to the success of these relationships? This past Monday (February 14th 2022) GMS and their C3 Center (Community Catalyst Center) in partnership with the Graduate Student Affairs office hosted ‘Vulnerable Leadership Part I with guest speaker Dr. Jerry M. Whitmore Jr. from Wheelock college. The session enriched attendees with how to take the next step in being a leader but also how to find a mentor through vulnerable communication and professional relationship building. Dr. Whitmore shared his experience through his own education as a first-generation disadvantaged student and how finding mentors who shared similar experiences and identities helped propel not only his academics and future professional career, but professional and personal development through support, mentorship, and vulnerable communication. Dr. Whitmore shared that through social and academic integration, finding your voice, your leadership approach... More
Celebrating Black Women in Science
In honor of Black History Month, BU GMS would like to celebrate black women in science who have made major breakthroughs in the field of medicine. Click on the images below to learn more about their backgrounds and contributions to not only science, but equality. Highlighted below are notable media and novels to add to your watch and reading list. Be sure to check out the advancement's Boston University's Black Women's Health Study (BWHS) has contributed to research and the health care field since 1995.
Black History Month: Notable Scientists
In honor of Black History Month, BU GMS would like to highlight notable African American scientists who have made major breakthroughs in the field of medicine. Click on the images below to learn more about their backgrounds and contributions to not only science, but equality, as well.