The forum consisted of two sessions. The morning session was comprised of nine oral presentations, and the afternoon session included 42 poster presentations.
Dr. Donna Cioffi, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the USA College of Medicine, said the research forum is beneficial to both students and faculty. “The forum is a great way for students and post-docs to learn how to network and gives participants a chance to practice their presentation skills,” she said. “The forum also provides the researchers an opportunity to get feedback on their projects, which might include new or different ways of testing a hypothesis, consideration of novel applications or even what might be a good journal to publish in.”
Dr. Cioffi said the event often leads to new collaborations between different research groups within the USA College of Medicine and USA Mitchell Cancer Institute.
This is the third year that the research forum is offering travel awards: one for the best overall graduate student presentation and one for the best overall post-doctoral fellow presentation. These awards are $1,000 each and are to be used for travel to national or international meetings or workshops.
According to Dr. Cioffi, the awards were made possible by the generous support of the USA College of Medicine Dean’s Office, the USA Office of Research and Economic Development, USA Mitchell Cancer Institute and the BMSSO graduate student organization. Awards will be announced later this month.
To learn more about participating in the annual COM Research Forum, contact Dr. Cioffi at dlcioffi@southalabama.edu.
View more photos from the event here.
