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"One of the best lessons this pandemic has taught us is there are lots of ways to do things right," Graduate School Dean Robert McGehee Jr., Ph.D. told a crowd of about 50 students, faculty and staff at a recent Annual Winter Awards reception. Image by Linda Haymes

Graduate School Celebrates Students, Faculty and Staff at Annual Winter Awards Reception

Jan. 3, 2022 | Students, faculty and staff from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Graduate School celebrated recent achievements with a reception and awards presentation on Dec. 9.

A crowd of about 50 students, faculty and staff gathered in the atrium of the Biomedical II building for an afternoon reception before departing for winter break.

Graduate research assistants Nathalie Pineda, of Loja, Ecuador, and Shivangi Shrimali of Udaipur, India, were both attending the reception for the first time. Both are pursuing a Ph.D. in bioinformatics. Pineda is a first-year student and Shrimali is in her second year.

“This is a good chance to get to meet other students,” Pineda said. “Especially with it being around the holidays,” Shrimali added.

The annual event was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To make up for lost time, awards were presented for students, staff and faculty dating back to the 2019-2020 academic year. Those not present will be mailed their awards.

Five students, including Mahip Acharya, were given Achievement awards. The others were Ashley Herdman, Lauran Clai Morehead, Alexa Escapita and Heba Sadaka, who received four grants related to her project on the “Development of a Cyber Hygiene Module to Educate Nursing Students on Cyber Hygiene Practices.”

A dozen other students, including Michael Eledge, were give COVID-19 Appreciation Awards for their efforts in assisting the state of Arkansas and UAMS during the pandemic.

“We had students who went to the Department of Health, who worked on developing antibody detection assays, who assisted in large-scale COVID-19 PCR testing, and literally went above and beyond the call of duty in helping UAMS and the state with the pandemic,” said Graduate School Dean Robert McGehee Jr., Ph.D.

“I was really proud of how everyone stepped up to the plate and participated in the online events we held, including our graduation last year,” said McGehee. “We’ve come up with lots of different ways of doing things through the pandemic.”

“One of the best lessons this pandemic has taught us is that there are lots of ways to do things right,” McGehee said. “We’ve also learned we can pivot on a dime if that is what the situation calls for.”

He noted that because last year’s spring commencement was held virtually online, people from all over the world were able to attend.

“There were people in places as far away as China and Thailand who were able to take part in it,” McGehee said, adding that he predicts more hybrid meetings will be held in the future.

“Early on, the pandemic caused us to miss a lot of things like career development talks and research day, but our virtual and hybrid events have been extremely successful thanks to all of you, ” McGehee said.

The 2019-2021 UAMS Graduate School Administrative Appreciation Award was awarded to Beth Ann West, executive assistant with the College of Nursing. The 2019-2020 Graduate Faculty of the Year Award was presented to the faculty and staff of the UAMS Student Wellness Center.

The Graduate Faculty of the Year 2020-2021 award was presented to the entire faculty.

“We wanted to recognize all the faculty who helped us turn on a dime, beginning Thursday, March 12, 2020, at 4 p.m. when everything changed. By Monday a week later, we were 100% online, no classes were canceled, and there were no major hiccups,” McGehee said.

During the presentations, mentor awards were given to 77 faculty members for their guidance of 67 students in the spring, summer and fall semesters from Spring 2020 through the end of this year.

Graduate students first complete their initial three to four semesters of coursework and then pass their Ph.D. candidacy exam, known as the qualifying or oral exam. After passing their oral exam, students then work with a mentor on their research projects and dissertations, which are required for graduation. At UAMS, graduation for a Ph.D. averages just shy of five years, about six months less than the national average.

McGehee said plans for March 2022 include holding a Student Research Day Three Minute Thesis (3MT) research competition, and the annual Robert E. McGehee Jr., Ph.D. Distinguished Lectureship in Biomedical Research. This year’s lecture will feature Brian Kobilka of Stanford University School of Medicine, an American physiologist and a co-recipient of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Robert Lefkowitz for their studies that revealed the working of G-protein-coupled receptors. About half of all medications used today make use of this kind of receptor.

At the end of the reception, attendees, who practiced social distancing, picked up to small white bags filled with grab-and-go refreshments of packaged snacks and bottled water to take with them.