THE GOODS - Newsletter of the Tufts Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences February 27, 2023

 

February 27, 2023 | Volume 6, Issue 23

MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

Dear GSBS Community One of the ways I deal with stress is by a daily wellness practice of core exercises and meditation. Sometimes, I listen to the radio during this practice. I recently heard an On Being by Krista Tippett interview with UC Berkeley neuroscientist and psychologist Dacher Keltner, who studies the science of awe. The interview was moving, and got me thinking about the link between mind and body, a link that connects many of GSBS’s fields of study, particularly neuroscience and immunology. Dr. Keltner also stressed the importance of community to our shared wonder and wellness.  I wish you all success in your continued search for awe and wonder in your own science, and hope you continue to find with your fellow students, faculty, and staff. -Dan Jay

HIGHLIGHTS

Applications Open - Krinsky, Schimmel, and SEF Awards Apply here: Krinsky Award, Schimmel Award, SEF Travel Grant Deadline: March 2, 2023, 12pm Applications for three student awards are now open:  Krinsky Excellence in Teaching Award – This $500 award honors students who have shown sustained teaching excellence through classroom lectures, seminars, recitation/study sections, training students or tutoring. Additional details regarding the award, including the application process and selection criteria, are available on the student portal.  Jonathan J. Schimmel, PhD, Fellowship Fund - The Jonathan J. Schimmel, PhD, Fellowship Fund supports PhD students who aspire to augment their scientific training with general business management and operational competencies, through training or internships in management, accounting, biomedical manufacturing, intellectual property law, and other related areas of organizational leadership. Schimmel Fellows may use the funding for coursework, conference participation, or any activity which enhances their competence in business management or operations. Grants of up to $2500 are available. For more information, including application instructions, see the student portal. GSBS Student Enrichment Fund (Travel Awards) – Through the GSC’s Relays and other sources, a limited amount of funds are available to support PhD and MD/PhD student travel to meetings, courses or seminars between April 1 and October 31, 2023. Additional information is available on the student portal. Please note that late applications will not be accepted.

Health Sciences Campus Career Fair and Employer Expo Friday, March 3, 12:30 - 3:30pm   The annual Health Sciences Campus Career Fair and Employer Expo is a collaboration between the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, the School of Medicine Public Health Programs, and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Students at any stage of their graduate career are encouraged to attend to learn about potential career opportunities, talk to company representatives, and network with GSBS and Tufts alumni.   For more detailed information about the Career Fair, see the GSBS Student Portal, or register via Handshake.

Viewing Party - The 1619 Project March 1, 8, and 15 | 5 - 7pm Jaharis Behrakis Auditorium The Neuro DEI committee would like to invite you to a series of viewing events of “The 1619 Project” (see flyer). This viewing series will feature the highly anticipated six-part limited docu-series "The 1619 Project" an expansion of "The 1619 Project" created by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times Magazine which seeks to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.

GSBS Student Networking Event April 26 | 5 - 7pm MedEd Building, 8th Floor Register here. We’ve all heard how important networking is, but how do you navigate networking in science?The inaugural GSBS Student Networking Event is a collaboration between Tufts SACNAS, Tufts GWiSE and Tufts Biotech Group (TBG) to unite GSBS students with GSBS Alumni who are currently working in industry and academia. This event features two keynote speakers who will share how to navigate networking in both academia and industry. The first half of the event will feature our invited speakers, and the second half will focus on (networking) and meeting Tufts Alum working in diverse careers across Boston. We hope you’ll join us for this exciting event! Food and drinks will be served. Prizes for early registration and in-person attendance will be raffled off during the event!

UPCOMING EVENTS

February 27 Dissertation Defense: John Ribis 11am Behrakis Auditorium | Zoom link: https://tufts.zoom.us/j/92394724939?pwd=QXpxcDZsU05qMWxsVmp1Y3Z3WVU2UT09 The Graduate Program in Molecular Microbiology invites you to John Ribis's defense of his dissertation, "Home is where the gut is: Quantifying Clostridioides difficile spore germination and growth using single-cell methods". For more information, see the flyer. March 3 Healthy Aging Seminar Series 12pm Register here. Hosted by the Healthy Aging at Tufts Priority Research Cluster, the 2023 4-part webinar series presents a discussion on "Interventions and Therapies in Aging" with invited guest speakers. Join us for a March webinar with Dr. Gad Marshall of Harvard Medical School on "Alzheimer's disease clinical trials: an update." For more information, see the flyer. March 8 Arriving at the Junction of Statistics and Biology: My Journey 12pm Register here. The Harvard Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Studies invites you to a lecture by Jingyi Jessica Li. In this lecture, Li will clarify common confusions in genomics data analysis by connecting cutting-edge genomics research questions with fundamental statistical and machine-learning methods. In particular, she will focus on the distinctions and choices among the methods that are apparently similar but fundamentally different, so that quantitative genomics researchers will have clear guidelines to follow in their development of bioinformatics tools. In addition, Li will talk about a statistical framework to address a fundamental question in cell biology: do cells belong to a continuous trajectory or discrete types? This event is free and open to the public. For more information, see the website. March 10 - 11 3rd Annual Black Women's Empowerment Conference Register here. The Africana Center invites all Black women undergraduate and graduate students to attend the 3rd Annual Black Women's Empowerment Conference. The theme of this year's conference is "Rise, Reawaken, Rediscover: A Black Woman's Renaissance". To learn more, see the website or email bwec@tufts.edu. March 10 Start-Up Company On-Site Visit with Tufts SACNAS and TBG! 1:30pm Register here. Have you wondered how we can use microbes from fruits and vegetables to treat inflammatory diseases? Are you interested in industry?  Tufts SACNAS and Tufts Biotech Group partner up to bring you an excellent opportunity to visit a start-up company dedicated to this. The deadline to sign up is March 3rd. See the flyer for more information. This is a great opportunity for senior students looking for job opportunities in the Boston area. Feel free to email us if you have any questions about the event. March 11 GSC Trip to the Museum of Fine Arts Register here. GSC is organizing a group trip to the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) followed by lunch at Boston Shawarma! We will meet at the entrance to the MFA (465 Huntington Ave) on Saturday, March 11th at 11am, spend about two hours exploring the museum, and then walk to Boston Shawarma for lunch. Admission to the MFA is free with your GSBS ID and GSC will cover lunch for everyone. Please sign up here and we will follow up with additional information closer to the day of the trip. March 13 DEIJ Lecture featuring Dr. Ebony O. McGee 12pm (lecture) | 1pm (reception) Joyce Cummings Center 280 or via Zoom Register here. In partnership with the School of Engineering, the Office of the Provost invites you to a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) Lecture featuring Dr. Ebony O. McGee, entitled “Black, Brown, Bruised: How Racialized STEM Education Stifles Innovation.” Registration is required. For those attending virtually, a Zoom link will be sent after registering. Dissertation Defense: Julia Hisey 2pm Dowling Building Room 745A (Medford Campus) | Zoom link: https://tufts.zoom.us/j/99236382627?pwd=NlJvTzBjeGl1ZXpBOHFoT1M5UmQxdz09  The Graduate Program in Genetics invites you to Julia Hisey's defense of her dissertation, “Mechanisms of Genome Instability caused by Disease-Related Homopurine/Homopyrimidine Mirror Repeats”. For more information, see the flyer. March 20 Microbiology DEI Committee Wellness Discussion 12pm M&V 402 Register here. The Microbiology DEI committee and the Wellness office are hosting an informative discussion for members of the GSBS community about mental health. Sharon Snaggs (Director of Student Wellness) and Dr. John Pruitt (Tufts Medical Center psychiatrist) are trained to address many topics ranging from managing stress and navigating the mental healthcare space. Balancing work and/or school in addition to taking care of oneself can feel overwhelming and stressful. Learn about recognizing when help is needed, effectively communicating struggles, how to lower barriers to access professional help, and navigating the health care system. Lunch will be provided (pizza). While some information may be more specific to GSBS students in terms of insurance issues, this event is open to ALL members of our department (students, postdocs, staff, faculty, etc.) and the broader GSBS community. Please RSVP here by March 17th for a headcount to account for food. March 29 Celebrating the Establishment of the Paul and Elaine Chernivsky Professorship in Immunology 4pm Behrakis Auditorium or via Zoom Register here. President Anthony P. Monaco, MD, PhD, and Dean of the School of Medicine and Chief Academic Officer, Tufts Medicine, Helen W. Boucher, MD, FACP, FIDSA, invite you to celebrate the establishment of the Paul and Elaine Chervinsky Professorship in Immunology at Tufts University. The event will feature a lecture by the inaugural Paul and Elaine Chervinsky Professor of Immunology, Linden Hu, MD, on “A Walk through Lyme: Past, Present, and Future”. Tufts CTSI's 2nd Annual Dissemination of Research Results Open House on March 29 6pm Register here. Tufts CTSI cordially invites you to attend our 2nd Annual Dissemination of Research Results Open House! This online event is an opportunity to learn about research happening at Tufts University and Baystate Health. Study participants will also have an opportunity to learn about the results of the study in which they participated. This hour-long event will include two 15-minute presentations given by the researchers. The audience will also have a chance to ask questions following each presentation. Presenters  Dr. Nancy Baker, Associate Professor, Occupational Therapy, Tufts University | “The Feasibility of Immersive Virtual Reality as a Treatment for Chronic Back Pain” Dr. Elizabeth Peacock-Chambers, Department of Pediatrics, Baystate Health; Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, UMass Chan Medical School | “Assessment of a Train-the-Trainer Model for a Parenting Intervention for Mothers in Recovery” Registration is required. Contact Stasia Swiadas with questions. April 4 Food & Nutrition Innovation PhD & Post-doc Poster Competition 3 - 6pm Submissions due March 3, 2023 The Food & Nutrition Innovation Institute is pleased to announce our inaugural PhD & Post-Doc Poster Competition. This event is intended to give PhD students and post-doctoral scholars an opportunity to showcase their research to the Food & Nutrition Innovation Council. The Council is a global membership group of industry and non-profit organizations convened by the Food & Nutrition Innovation Institute. This event is an opportunity for PhD students and post-doctoral scholars from any program at Tufts University to showcase their research as it relates to food, nutrition, agriculture, health and wellness, food technology, and related areas. Council members will vote for posters winners and cash prizes will be awarded to the top 3 winners. Submissions should be emailed to FNII@tufts.edu. Please see the flyer and guidelines for more information, or visit our website. April 28 - 29 Women’s Mental Health Conference at Yale Registration for the 2023 WMHC is now open! The WMHC at Yale is excited to announce this year's conference will be hybrid!  Friday will be completely virtual, featuring our keynote Dominique Jackson, best known for her leading role of Elektra Abundance on the FX television series Pose. Our panels will cover topics including Obstetric Violence, The Intersection of Mental Health & Chronic Illness, Advocacy Surrounding Incarcerated Women, and The Impact of Political and Humanitarian Crises on Women. Additionally, we are also currently accepting proposals for informative and interactive sessions. We are also bringing back an in-person component to the conference this year for Saturday April 29th. This will include a book talk and signing with esteemed Asian American author Esmé Weijun Wang, author of The Collected Schizophrenias (which will also be available virtually for registrants not in the New Haven area). Afterward, we will hold a poster session, allowing mental health trainees and professionals from across the country to showcase their work and find opportunities to collaborate.   VIEW THE FULL CALENDAR

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Congratulations to Adrianne Gladden-Young, Recipient of an Honorable Mention at the Cell Press Rising Black Scientist Awards PhD Candidate in Molecular Microbiology Adrianne Gladden-Young was recently named as an Honorable Mention in Cell Press's Rising Black Scientist Awards! You can read more about the awards and Adrianne here. Congratulations to Adrianne!

Enroll Now in Tufts CTSI’s “Health Care Activism, Community Health, and Patient-Centered Research” Course, Beginning March 7 Tufts CTSI is offering the 1-credit course “Health Care Activism, Community Health, and Patient-Centered Research” this Spring. The course meets March 7 through April 18, and there will be a virtual option for participation. Registration is open to all. This introductory course covers three approaches to stakeholder and community engagement in health-related research. We refer to these approaches as traditions, since each draws from one or more distinct academic discipline(s) and was developed in its own era of civic reform. Leading the course are Marisha E. Palm, MSc, PhD and Thomas W. Concannon, PhD. To learn more about the course, click here.

Journal of Emerging Investigators: Mini-PhD Camp volunteers Apply by May 2022 More information. The Journal of Emerging Investigators is a science journal and mentorship program publishing research by middle and high school scientists. They are planning a Mini-PhD Program this summer targeting 8th to 10th graders from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The participants will perform experiments to study the significance of antibiotics resistance in our surrounding environment with science kits sent to their homes. To volunteer, please fill out this form.

HIRSH LIBRARY NEWS

Hard to believe that spring is just around the corner…but here comes March…and more workshops@Hirsh! This month’s workshops have a focus on skills for larger, more complex literature review projects, such as systematic reviews. If you are at the beginning of such a project, or contemplating one, then March workshops@Hirsh are not to be missed!  Workshops are held on Wednesdays from 2-3pm via Zoom, unless otherwise noted. Registration for workshops is required. A Zoom link and password will be sent to registrants.  Upcoming Library Workshops  March 1, 2-3pm (Zoom): Systematic, narrative, scoping... oh my!: Selecting a Literature Review Project  March 8, 2-3pm (Zoom): Documenting Your Literature Search Methods  March 15, 2-3pm (Zoom): Python for Data Visualization  Virtual Office Hours March 3, 11am-12pm: Data Management Office Hours with Allie March 17, 11am-12pm: Data Management Office Hours with Paige

CAREER NEWS

Active Listening for Leadership April 6 | 3 – 5pm Register here. Storytelling is one of the quickest ways to build connection and trust with others. Learn how to practice deep listening skills and establish guiding principles as exchange stories of courage with your peers. Tiffany House, Associate Director for Diversity and Inclusion Education for the Tufts Health Sciences Campus, will lead this workshop. This session will be offered in-person, with a hybrid option for remote attendees.

Looking Your Best on Paper: Building a Resume or CV and Cover Letter with Lauren Celano April 20 | 4 – 6pm Register here. This seminar focuses on how to highlight experiences and skills on a resume and cover letter and the importance of tailoring these documents for specific roles. This seminar will provide examples of skills and experiences that should be emphasized for different types of roles including bench research roles, nonbench research roles, business development, marketing, consulting, product/project management roles, and clinical roles. Advice will be provided regarding resume formatting and examples will be shown to highlight proper formatting. Lastly, attendees will learn how to write a tailored cover letter for a specific job description and what information a hiring manager looks for in this document.

One-on-One Career Coaching Appointments Now Available Sign up here. GSBS is pleased to offer one-on-one career coaching appointments with Lauren Celano, Founder of Propel Careers. Coaching services cover topics such as: how to start and navigate an effective job search; tailoring CVs, resumes, and cover letters for specific roles; how to make the most of a Ph.D. or postdoctoral fellowship; interviewing and salary negotiation; and many more. 30-minute career coaching appointments are available to GSBS students and Tufts postdocs. Sign up here, or see the website for more information. Please note that some appointments are in-person and some are virtual; make sure you sign up for the correct type of appointment.

STUDENT HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Wellness Advising Office Mon | 9:30am - 5:00pm Tue | 11:00am - 7:00pm Wed/Thurs/Fri | 9:30am - 5:00pm   Email Sharon.Snaggs@tufts.edu to set up a meeting.

Check out the Week in Wellness Newsletter! This week's issue includes information about upcoming Wellness Office events, as well as a recipe for instant black bean soup. Contact Abby Lemons, abigail.lemons@tufts.edu, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences' representative for the Student Wellness Advisory Committee, with questions, concerns, or suggestions regarding student health and wellness.

Talk One2One Our confidential resource and referrals are available at no cost to you. Get help with relationships, anxiety, stress, and more. Access by calling 1-800-756-3124, or emailing tuftscounseling@allonehealth.com.

Want your event or announcement in The Goods? Email alexandra.israel@tufts.edu by 10am on Friday.