2024
Dr. Joseph M. Moerschbaecher, III Graduate Research Day
On November 14th, 2024, the School of Graduate Studies hosted their 3rd annual Dr. Joseph Moerschbaecher III Graduate Research Day. Every year, Graduate Studies hosts Research Day with the mission of promoting various research efforts and professional development across graduate programs on campus, which includes students in Graduate Studies, Public Health, and Nursing. The program for the event included poster sessions, postdoctoral trainee talks, graduate student presentations (oral talks), and 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) presentations.
Fifty-four research posters were presented across students from Graduate Studies and Public Health and included selected research from postdoctoral trainees and non-LSUHSC trainees. Out of over fifty submissions, eight students were selected as winners for this year’s poster session, which included Gabrielle Vontz, Jason Kim, and Evan Dore in 1st place; Ayushi Patel and Mark Fertel in 2nd place; Parnia Mobasheran and Nick Harris in 3rd place; and Julie Martin as an honorable mention.
Amirsalar Mansouri (Interdisciplinary Oncology), Julie Martin (Tobacco Control Initiative - Public Health), and Uma Priya Mohan (Cardiovascular Center of Excellence) participated in the Postdoctoral Trainee Talk session.
Graduate Student Presentations included junior graduate students Nour Abbes and Vahideh Tarhriz from the Cardiovascular Center of Excellence, and Ashlyn Anderson from the Department of Pharmacology. Senior graduate students included Grace Kim from the Department of Genetics and Thomas Galbato from the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Parasitology, alongside with Eden Gallegos and Kourtney Weaver from the Department of Physiology. Out of all the oral presentations, Nour Abbes won 1st place with a $1000 research travel award, and Kourtney Weaver won 2nd place with a $750 travel award.
Ashlyn Anderson, Thomas Galbato, Nick Harris, Dongjoon (Jason) Kim, Khushi Kiran, Gabrielle Vontz, and Xiaowen Yang all participated as graduated students in the 3-Minute-Thesis Competition. Khushi Kiran won 1st place while Gabrielle Vontz placed in 2nd. Both students were awarded full travel sponsorship to compete in a national 3MT competition at Southern Methodist University in Dallas as part of the Council of Southern Graduate Schools.
To close Research Day, the School of Graduate Studies hosted its annual Research Day Picnic on November 15th with catering from Dat Dog. Both events continually increase in participation from graduate students and graduate faculty and are funded by the generous donations of faculty and research-interest parties.
The School of Graduate Studies has established a Graduate Research Day Fund in honor
of Dr. Moerschbaecher.
If anyone would like to donate, please click here: https://give.lsuhealthfoundation.org/GSResearchDay.