Social Events

The MSTP students at UVA are a close-knit group,with many friendships from year to year and especially within each year. Most maintain close friendships from Med School classes and also develop new friendships in lab. We host many events during the year to foster a sense of continuity and camaraderie.

 

Research in Progress

Most months, UVA MSTP holds a Research in Progress dinner on the 3rd Wednesday of the month. MSTP students Josh Meisner and Beth Ames cook and coordinate fantastic meals for us. One or two students present on their research for about 45 minutes each, including discussion time. MSTP mentors also attend the dinner and speak briefly about their research and labs.

During the course of their graduate work, each of our students will give an RIP, have short presentations on summer rotations and clinical clerkships and participate in Hot Seat and Methods Roundtables. Thus, a student interested in honing their presentation skills can have many opportunities to vet their research with their peers and with MSTP faculty. Most degree-granting departments have training grant and departmental Journal Clubs, Research in Progress opportunities, UVa poster sessions and other UVa events, and national conferences.

Student Lecture Series| Distinguished Lecturer

The MSTP Student Lecture Series and the yearly MSTP Distinguished Lecturer are chosen and hosted by the MSTP Students' Scientific Advisory Committee. The Student Lecture Series features bench or translational scientists from within UVa, often accompanied by colleagues providing clinical perspectives. The Distinguished Lecture occurs in late spring and brings in a high-profile physician-scientist selected by the Committee to meet with students and lecture over a two-day visit.

Recent MSTP Distinguished Lecturers include:

2012-2013:: Dr Deepak Srivastava, Younger Family Director, Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, Director Roddenberry Stem Cell Center for Biology and Medcine at Gladstone, Departments of Pediatrics and Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of California- San Francisco

2011-2012:: Dr George Perry, Dean, College of Sciences, Professor of Biology, Univsersity of Texas at San Antonio

2010-2011:: Dr Steven Shoelson, Harvard Medical School, Joslin Diabetes Center

2009-2010:: Dr Marc Rothenberg, MD, PhD, Director, Division of Allergy and Immunology, Director, Cincinnati Center for Eosinophilic Disorders, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Professor of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine

2008-2009:: Dr. Jennifer R. Grandis, FACS, Professor of Otolaryngology and Pharmacology, Director, Head and Neck Cancer Program, Vice Chair for Research, Dept of Otolaryngology, UPMC Endowed Chair in Head and Neck Cancer Surgical research, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, "The Glamour Life of the Physician Scientist: Combining Research with Clinical Medicine"

2007-2008:: Dr. Helen Hobbs, Eugene McDermott Distinguished Chair, Director, McDermott Center for Human Genetics, University of Texas-Southwestern, "Rare Mutations in Complex Diseases: Not So Rare and Not So Complex"

2006-2007:: Dr. Walter J. Koch, W.W. Smith Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Translational Research, Thomas Jefferson Medical College, "Myocardial GRKs: Translational Studies in Heart Failure"

2005-2006:: Dr. William E. Evans, Director and CEO, St. Jude's Research Hospital, "Cancer Pharmacogenomics: Childhood Cancer as a Model"

Every summer, the MSTP Student Scientific Advisory Committee organizes a retreat in early August that combines a bit of science, a bit of career planning, and a lot of fun!

Retreats

In recent years we have been to Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing in New Castle, VA, Smith Mountain Lake, VA, and Concord Retreat in Yellow Spring, WV. We have also experimented with day formats in Charlottesville to include happy hours and plenty of local fun. In August 2010 we held the retreat at Valley Pike in the Shenandoah Valley. This summer the MSTP retreat was at Wintergreen Resort in Nelson County, Virginia. This full day included workshops on poster design, transitioning back to Med school after Grad school, a fantastic poster session and 2 Research in Progress student talks. This conference format appealed to everyone. And even in the middle of Summer, Wintergreen boasts cool nights and a lush, wooded landscape only about 45 minutes from Charlottesville.

Check out the packed Agenda HERE!