UC College of Medicine hosts graduate student research forum
The College of Medicine's Office of Graduate Education hosted its 39th annual Graduate Student Research Forum on Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018. The forum brought students from across the range of graduate research programs in the College of Medicine to participate in poster presentations.
The event drew 90 poster presentations, while more than 100 faculty, postdoctoral fellows and staff participated in the judging of the presentations.
Each graduate student poster was judged by two judges based on scientific research and one lay judge, who determined which students were best able to communicate the nature of their work in non-scientific language. Scores from the scientific judges were combined to determine the top research presenters while lay judge scores were tabulated to determine which poster received “Lay Judge Distinction.”
First place honors went to Seth Reighard, immunology; while second place went to M. Jordan Althoff, cancer and cell biology. Third place awards went to Kara Wolfe, cancer and cell biology; Loryn Holokai, molecular genetics, biochemistry and microbiology; and Theodore Ruwe, systems biology and physiology.
Six honorable mentions were presented to Kobina Essandoh, molecular, cellular and biochemical pharmacology; Melanie McKell, immunology; Hannah Russell, pathobiology and molecular medicine; Ayad Ali, immunology; Jiuzhou Huo, molecular, cellular and biochemical pharmacology; and Ellen Kolb, molecular genetics, biochemistry and microbiology.
Lay Judge Distinctions was awarded to Loryn Holokai, molecular genetics, biochemistry and microbiology; Bidisha Pal, cancer and cell biology; and Benjamin Weinhaus, immunology.
The Graduate Student Research Forum also included a keynote address from Joseph Hyser, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine, who presented “The Use and Abuse of Long-Distance Signaling During Viral Diarrhea.”
Laura Conforti, PhD, professor in the Division of Nephrology Kidney CARE program, was presented the Richard Akeson Excellence in Teaching Award, an annual honor bestowed by the Health Sciences Graduate Association.
Mark Baccei, PhD, (left) is shown with Seith Reighard.
All photos are courtesy of Robert Brackenbury, PhD.
Related Stories
Sugar overload killing hearts
November 10, 2025
Two in five people will be told they have diabetes during their lifetime. And people who have diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease. One of the deadliest dangers? Diabetic cardiomyopathy. But groundbreaking University of Cincinnati research hopes to stop and even reverse the damage before it’s too late.
App turns smartwatch into detector of structural heart disease
November 10, 2025
An app that uses an AI model to read a single-lead ECG from a smartwatch can detect structural heart disease, researchers reported at the 2025 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association. Although the technology requires further validation, researchers said it could help improve the identification of patients with heart failure, valvular conditions and left ventricular hypertrophy before they become symptomatic, which could improve the prognosis for people with these conditions.
Combination immunotherapy helps overcome melanoma treatment resistance
November 10, 2025
MSN highlighted research led by the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center's Trisha Wise-Draper showing a combination of immunotherapy medications can activate a robust immune response and help overcome treatment resistance in patients with refractory melanoma.