The UVA Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program (BIMS) Lab Coat Ceremony was celebrated on April 15. This event marks the transition of our first-year BIMS students to the next phase of their graduate careers as they embark upon their mentored research projects. A total of 50 students were recognized in the following disciplines: Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics (12), Biomedical Engineering (1), Biophysics and Physiology (3), Cell Biology (5), Experimental Pathology (5), Microbiology (10), Neuroscience (10) and Pharmacology (4).
We also recognized the Medical Scientist Training Program students who have completed their pre-clinical medical school classes and their Step 1 exams and transitioned to their research labs to begin the PhD portion of their studies.
Also during the ceremony, Carrie Cowardin, PhD, was presented with the 2021 Distinguished Achievement Award in Biomedical Sciences by Barry Collins of the UVA Medical Alumni Association.
Speakers included Janet V. Cross, PhD, Associate Dean for Graduate and Medical Scientist Programs; Barry Collins, Associate Dean for UVA Medical Alumni Affairs and Executive Director of the Medical Alumni Association and Medical School Foundation; Melina Kibbe, MD, Dean of the School of Medicine; and David Kashatus, PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology. During the presentation of coats, each student received a personally embroidered lab coat as a gift from the UVA Medical Alumni Association.
To highlight the critical role of mentorship in our programs, faculty mentors coated their students and then joined students, along with their family and other guests, at the reception following the ceremony. Congrats to all!