The Pulse sat down with second-year medicine student Sravya Jaladanki to learn about her work as president of the committee for the Student Research Symposium, and how the committee is preparing for the third annual event on Friday, Nov. 18.
What are some of your main objectives for holding the Student Research Symposium?
Our main objective is to hold a forum for students to both showcase their hard work and get excited about clinical research as a whole. NEOMED students work incredibly hard throughout the summer and school year to craft research projects they take great pride in, so we want to make sure their work is being recognized.
Additionally, students who are unsure as to where their research interests lie, or who are looking for opportunities to get involved, can use the Research Symposium as a great way to get exposed to various types of research and network with students and faculty alike!
What has the response been like from the students as you prepare for the symposium?
The response this year has been overwhelmingly positive. We are delighted that we have 105 presentations this year, with 89 posters and 16 oral presentations! Students have put a tremendous amount of time and effort into their presentations and the level of interest and commitment they are showing to this event is truly amazing.
Will students from all three Colleges be presenting research at this event?
Yes! We have students from the medicine, pharmacy and graduate studies presenting their research at the event.
What will the NEOMED community get out of attending the symposium?
I like to think that a goal of the symposium is to foster a sense of community, curiosity and innovation at NEOMED. Our students are motivated by a desire to both learn and give back to the scientific community, and one of the ways they do this is through research. I hope that attendees are able to recognize this and support the next generation of scientific leaders, as there is no other event held at NEOMED that is purely focused on showcasing student clinical research.
What is your role as president of the committee? How many students are on the committee, and what are some of their responsibilities?
As president of the committee, I work with three other students to make sure the Committee for Student Clinical Research (CSCR) is working smoothly. These students are Dominic Schroeder (vice president), Robert Douglass (secretary) and Edward Hamad (treasurer).
Our earliest responsibility is to conduct an application process to find Student Clinical Research Specialty Chairs. We make a list of all the different specialties there are, and aim to find two students per specialty who have completed, or are currently working on, research in that field. Other students who are interested in research but are unsure of who to contact can then get in touch with these chairs to ask questions, such as what clinical research in that specialty may consist of and how best to contact research mentors.
The main chunk of our time is spent planning the research symposium from start to finish, as this event is run entirely by our student leadership board alongside a faculty advisory board. We all work cohesively as a team to ensure every detail of the symposium is taken care of. For example, this year we collected all the abstract submissions, created a blinded judging process for oral presentations, coordinated printing for poster presenters, and took care of all logistical details involved with planning the symposium.
I can't count how many hours we all spent on this, but I will say our team worked tirelessly day and night to make this event happen. I could not be prouder of the work we have put in!
Event details
The Student Research Symposium will be in-person this year, Friday, Nov. 18 from 1-5 p.m. in Cook Alumni Hall. All members of the NEOMED community are invited to attend.