On February 7th, we gathered in the School of Medicine executive boardroom to celebrate the graduation of 10 of our newest CARTI scholars who completed the first cohort of Basic Science Research Training Track scholars. The scholars each gave a five-minute graduation “lightning” talk presentation on their proposed research, for which they have also prepared NIH grant applications that have gone through a rigorous mock NIH-study section review.

I want to first congratulate all the scholars for their hard work in the past six months and I wish them all the best as they submit the grant applications they have worked so hard to prepare. I also want to recognize their mentors for the immense support they continue to provide these scholars.

• Rhishita Chourashi, PhD
  Mentor: Amanda Oglesby, PhD
• Isadora Martini Garcia, DDS, MSc. PhD
  Mentor Mary Anne Sampaio de Melo, DDS, MSc, PhD
• Alip Ghosh, PhD, MSc
  Mentor: Shyam Kottilil, MD, PhD
• Bing Guo, MD, PhD
  Mentor: Shannon Takala Harrison, PhD
• Samdesh Kamdi, PhD
  Mentor: Whitney Parker, MD, PhD
• Haifan Liu, DNS
  Mentor: Ze Wang, PhD
• Miguel Lujan, PhD, MSc
  Mentor: Joseph Cheer, PhD
• Jimmy Olusakin, PhD
  Mentor: Mary Kay Lobo, PhD
• Courtney Townsel, MD, MS
  Mentor: Irina Burd, MD, PhD
• Jeanine Ursitti, PhD
  Mentors: Christopher Ward, PhD and Joseph Stains, PhD

I also want to recognize all the faculty members who volunteered their time and energy to review grant proposals for our mock NIH study section. These are so valuable for faculty who are just launching their research. We could not do this without the generous support of willing faculty members:

• David Benavides, MD, PhD
• Mary Ann Jabra-Rizk, PhD
• Iris Lindberg, PhD
• Katrina Mark, MD, FACOG
• Poonam Mathur, DO, MPH
• Kamal Moudgil, MD, PhD
• Summer Thompson, PhD, MS
• Michele Vitolo, PhD
• Michael Weir, PhD
• Owen White, PhD
• Peixin Yang, PhD

We are gearing up for our second Basic Science Research Training Track. For those of you interested in applying, keep an eye out for the announcement coming later this spring. I also encourage you to talk to our recent graduates about their experiences with the program.

Sincerely,

-- E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA