It’s hard to believe another year has come and gone, but what a year it has been for our research group! As we close out 2022, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on some of the amazing achievements we have accomplished together.
First and foremost, we are thrilled to announce that several of our students have received grants this year to support their research projects. Charlie Jedlicka, a PhD candidate in Health and Human Physiology, received a Fellowship Incentive Program grant. Olivia Johnson & Laura Flores, Health and Human Physiology Honors Undergraduate students received ICRU Research Supply Grants. These awards are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our students, and we are grateful for the opportunity to support their growth as young scientists.
In addition to these grant successes, our students and staff have also made significant progress on their research projects, presenting their findings at 2022 Iowa Physiological Society IPS annual meeting. Michelle Buckman, Biomedical Science Cancer Biology Program PhD student & Anastasiia Vasileva, IPG-lab manager.
Guiru Ma, a PhD student in the Biomedical Science Cancer Biology Program, made significant progress in developing new techniques for improved protein detection and characterization. Mikhail Vasilyev, the lab manager at IPG, was able to successfully grow human bone marrow in a dish! These accomplishments that will lead to new insights into cellular processes and open up new avenues for future research. Zishan Zhang, a PhD candidate in the Molecular Medicine Program in Biomedical Science and Hardik Kalra, an MS student Health and Human Physiology, also made significant progress this year, as they successfully finished and submitted their paper to the Journal of Applied Physiology.
The Bone Marrow Core is almost fully prepared for independent maintenance, thanks to the tireless efforts of Carter Lane & Nikki Chang, our invaluable undergraduate research assistants. Their hard work has been crucial in getting us to this point, and we are grateful for their contributions.
We are thrilled to announce that one of our lab alumnae, Ramya Billa, has successfully passed the critical care/PICU boards and is now officially a board-certified pediatric intensivist. This is a major accomplishment, and we are proud of her hard work and dedication in achieving this milestone
To cap off a year of impressive achievements, we are pleased to announce two major accomplishments by Dr. Melissa Bates. Firstly, she has been awarded a grant of $25,000 from the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center to study “Vascular Predictors of Early Onset Cardiovascular Disease in Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors.” This research will provide valuable insights into the long-term impacts of cancer on cardiovascular health and will help to improve the care and outcomes for cancer survivors in this age group.
Secondly, Dr. Bates and Dr. Tomasson, as the leaders of Medical Solutions, have achieved a major victory at the Innovation Challenge Awards event, winning first place and a cash prize of $20,000 for Best Technology in the graduate student/faculty/staff/incubator startup division. This is a testament to their ingenuity and dedication, and we are proud of their achievements!
As a lab, we have also made significant strides in our research endeavors, publishing several papers in top-tier journals during 2022.
Overall, it has been a productive and successful year for our lab, and we are grateful to have such talented and dedicated researchers on our team. We look forward to continuing our research endeavors and making meaningful contributions to the field in the coming year.
Thank you all for your hard work and contributions to the success of our lab.
Here’s to a productive and even more rockin’ 2023!
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