Sundeep Kalantry (left), winner of the Julian R. Rachele Prize, with Dr. David Hajjar, dean of the Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences.
Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences held its Convocation ceremonies preceding Commencement on May 24. Dean David Hajjar presented Cornell University Seals to members of the Class of 2001 and also presented awards for special achievement. In addition, Dr. Hazel Szeto, professor of pharmacology, was recognized as the recipient of the school's 2001 Alumni Award of Distinction (see separate article in this Dean's Bulletin).
Julian R. Rachele Prize
Named for a former dean of the Graduate School, the Rachele Prize is the highest student award presented by the school. It is awarded to students who have published significant research in a scientific journal. This year, four students received the Rachele Prize.
Sundeep Kalantry for "The Amnionless Gene, Essential for Mouse Gastrulation, Encodes a Visceral-Endoderm-Specific Protein with an Extracellular Cysteine-Rich Domain" (Professor Elizabeth Lacy).
Roger Lo for "Epidermal Growth Factor Signaling via Ras Controls the Smad Transcriptional Co-Repressor TGIF" (Professor Joan Massague).
Yongchao Ma for "Src Tyrosine Kinase Is a Novel Direct Effector of G Proteins" (Professor Xin-Yun Huang).
Chad May for "Therapeutic Haemoglobin Synthesis in beta-Thalassemic Mice Expressing Lentivirus-Encoded Human beta-Globin" (Professor Michael Sadelain).
Distinguished Student Commencement Speaker Award
Awarded toJoan Adamo, who was selected by the graduate school student body to represent the graduating class as the student speaker at Commencement.
Yongchao Ma (right), winner of the Julian R. Rachele Prize, with Dean Hajjar.
Graduate School Award of Excellence
Awarded to Gregory St. John as the graduating student who exemplifies the highest standards of student scholarship, graduate school service and scientific research excellence.
The following prizes were awarded to recognize special achievement for presentations at the 21st annual Vincent du Vigneaud Memorial Research Symposium, which was presented by graduate students on May 8 at the Rockefeller Research Laboratories of the Sloan-Kettering Institute.
Vincent du Vigneaud Prizes
John Biggins for "Characterization of the Self-Resistance Mechanism Towards the Enediyne Antitumor Molecule Calicheamicin in Micromonospora" (Professor Jon Thorson).
Robert Johnson for "Transcriptional Repression by P53 Through Direct Binding to a Novel DNA Element" (Professor Kathleen Scotto).
William Lowry for "G Protein beta-gamma Subunit Signaling That Directly Depends on Csk" (Professor Xin-Yun Huang).
Rana Sawaya for "Mutational Analysis of Mammalian Capping Enzyme" (Professor Stewart Shuman).
Vincent du Vigneaud Awards of Excellence
Simi Ahmed for "Inhibition of IL-6 Signaling and Stat Activation by Inflammatory and Stress Pathways" (Professor Lionel Ivashkiv).
Chad May (right), winner of the Julian R. Rachele Prize, with Dean Hajjar.
Tsion Bililign for "Understanding Calicheamicin Aryltetrasaccharide Biosynthesis: Characterization of the Critical cal Q-Encoded UDP-alpha-D-glucuronic Acid Synthase" (Professor Jon Thorson).
Eva Chmielnicki for "Adenoviral Transduction of the Ventricular Wall with Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Induces Neuronal Recruitment from Endogenous Progenitor Cells" (Professor Steven Goldman).
Anita Hsieh for "Ubc9p, the s-E2 for Smt3p/SUMO-1 Conjugation, Is Itself Covalently Modified by Smt3p" (Professor Pamela Meluh).
Kristine Kelly for "How to Make a Midline: Programmed Cell Death in the Primitive Streak" (Professor Takashi Mikawa).
Brian Turner for "TRKB Signaling Is Required for the Cell-Fate Decisions of Chick Retinal Progenitor Cells" (Professor Barbara Hempstead).
Vincent du Vigneaud First-Year Awards
Karen Beckett for "Teashirt: A Novel Integration Point for Wingless and Notch Signaling During Muscle Development" (Professor Mary Baylies).
Daisy Leung for "Destabilization of the Autoinhibitory Domain of WASP" (Professor Michael Rosen).
Joan Adamo (second from left), recipient of the 2001 Distinguished Student Commencement Speaker Award, with (from left) Dean Hajjar; Francoise Freyre, director of student affairs; and Dr. Joel Pardee, associate dean of the Graduate School of Medical Sciences.
Gregory St. John (second from left), recipient of the 2001 Graduate School Award of Excellence, with Dean Hajjar; Francoise Freyre, director of student affairs; and Dr. Joel Pardee, associate dean of the Graduate School of Medical Sciences.
Hazel Szeto (center), recipient of the Graduate School's Alumni Award of Distinction, with Dean Hajjar and Dr. Kathleen Scotto, chairperson of the Graduate School's Alumni Committee.