Nine students part of the Initiative on Maximizing Student
Development (IMSD) program were recognized at the graduate school’s first Ph.D.
Candidacy Ceremony on April 8 at the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research
Institute.

The Initiative on Maximizing Student Development (IMSD)
program is a National Institute of Health student development program to
increase the number of students from underrepresented groups in biomedical
research at research-intensive environments.

“When people go into medical school, they get a white coat
which signifies that they are a medical student,” said Yvonne Valdez, program
coordinator at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at UT Health Science
Center San Antonio.

“We wanted something similar for the Ph.D. studentsa€¦the
ceremony marks the fact that they passed their qualifying exam and that they
are officially Ph.D. candidates.”

Valdez explained that graduate students unlike medical
students don’t hit the same academic milestones at the same time as the rest of
their cohort because they are in different programs and finish things at
different rates.

“We just wanted to find a way to commemorate something and
celebrate this important milestones in their graduate studies,” Valdez said.

Dr. Nicquet Blake, associate dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at UT Health Science Center San Antonio was excited to take part in the event.

“This event was a beautiful recognition of a significant achievement of a Ph.D. candidate and we are currently discussing the idea of doing a similar event for all doctoral candidates in the graduate school.”

The students who were
recognized were:

Cathy Samayoa: Cellular and Structural Biology
Cancer Biology Track

Desiree Wilson: Cellular and Structural Biology
Genetics, Genomics, and Development Track

David Aguilar: Pharmacology Program
Neuroscience Track

Iriscilla Ayala: Cellular and Structural Biology
Genetics, Genomics, and Development Track

Andrew Robles: Pharmacology Program
Pharmacology Track

Philip Webster: Cellular and Structure Biology
Cellular Biollogy and Molecular Medicine Track

Veronica Obregon-Perko: Microbiology and Immunology Program
Microbiology and Immunology Track

Alicia Avelar: Pharmacology
Neuroscience Track

Amanda Munoz: Cellular and Structural Biology
Cancer Biology Track

Photos