Doctors-to-be describe their scientific studies on Student Research Day, May 7th

Student Research Day — the annual celebration of the scientific investigations undertaken by members of this year’s graduating class of Yale School of Medicine— will be held on Tuesday, May 7 in the Anlyan Center (TAC), 300 Cedar St.

The day will include a poster session featuring 106 posters by graduates, oral presentations by five prize-winning medical students, and the Farr Lecture. This year’s lecturer will be Dr. George Q. Daley, dean of the Harvard Medical School.

Yale is one of the few medical schools to require a dissertation based on original research, a tradition that dates back to 1839. The M.D. thesis is designed to help students develop critical judgment, habits of self-education, and the application of the scientific method to medicine, according to Dr. John N. Forrest Jr., director of the Office of Student Research. It also gives students the opportunity to work closely with faculty who are distinguished scientists, clinicians, and scholars, notes Forrest. 

Student Research Day has become a spring tradition at the School of Medicine. All classes and conferences are closed for the day so faculty and students can attend the day’s events. The public is invited.

Posters and presentations

Graduating students will present the results of their research from noon to 2 p.m. in the center’s lobby. The top five students will give oral presentations about their work from 2 to 4 p.m. in the TAC auditorium. The following are this year’s presenters, the titles of their projects, and their advisers.

• Praneeth Sadda (M.D.), “Simulating fetoscopic surgery for twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome” (Dr. Xenophon Papademetris, Radiology & Biomedical Imaging)
• Rahil Rojiani (M.D.), “Drumming to communicate emotion:  Dual-brain imaging in a carceral setting” (Dr. Joy Hirsch, Psychiatry)
• Noel Turner (M.D.) “The impact of B cell depletion on anti-PD-1 efficacy” (Dr. Marcus Bosenberg, Dermatology)
• Maxwell Farina (M.D.), “Localized hippocampal glutamine synthetase knockout:  A novel model of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy” (Dr. Tore Eid, Laboratory Medicine)
• Laura Yockey (M.D./Ph.D.), “Innate immune responses in Zika virus control and pathogenesis” (Dr. Akiko Iwasaki, Immunobiology)

Farr Lecture

“The Dean Does Science” is the topic of the Farr Lecture, which will be presented at 4 p.m. in the TAC auditorium.

In addition to serving as dean, a post he assumed in 2017, Daley is the Caroline Shields Walker Professor of Medicine, and professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Harvard Medical School (HMS). 

Daley is a world-renowned physician-scientist and educator, whose achievements span basic science, translational research and clinical medicine. Daley is at the forefront of stem cell science and cancer biology, and his discoveries have twice been cited in Science’s “Top 10 Breakthroughs of the Year.” His research paved the way for Gleevec, a “magic bullet” drug for chronic myeloid leukemia; generated stem cell models for more than a dozen human diseases; and advanced understanding of tissue regeneration and bone marrow transplantation therapies. He has also been a central force in establishing international guidelines for the conduct of stem cell research.

Daley earned his bachelor’s and medical degrees from Harvard and a doctorate in biology from MIT, and has worked as a trainee, fellow, and staff physician at several HMS-affiliated hospitals.

Now in its 32nd year, the Farr Lectureship has become the most prestigious lectureship at Yale Medical School. It is named in honor of the late Dr. Lee E. Farr, a 1932 graduate of the school.