Each year, graduate and undergraduate students from the local scientific community have the opportunity to apply to participate in an intensive eight-week Mentored Student Research Program (MSRP) at Des Moines University. Selected students are able to choose from more than 30 mentors from a wide variety of specialties to fit their research and career goals. Students are involved in short-term or on-going research and training, and are required to present their studies to their peers and DMU faculty researchers via one or more poster or oral presentations.
Under the leadership of Jeff Gray, Ph.D., vice president of research, the DMU Office of Research has worked tirelessly to promote a culture of research in our community. The 2016 MSRP closing ceremony held on July 18 attested to this effort and involvement reached new heights this year. The closing ceremony included a keynote address on revolutionary interprofessional cancer therapy, four diverse student keynote speakers, and nearly 30 poster presentations on the topics of public health, education, movement science and biomedical science.
DMU welcomed University of Iowa radiation oncologist clinician and researcher, Bryan G. Allen, M.D., Ph.D., as the program’s keynote speaker. “Translating research to the clinical environment requires a massive team effort,” said Dr. Allen. His research has been praised for being a truly interdisciplinary project that is pushing bench science to the bedside and from the bedside back to the bench.
The closing ceremony is just one of the ways that students gain confidence and meet the requirement of presenting their research to the medical community. View photos from the closing ceremony.
A special thanks and congratulations to our student keynote speakers:
- Rachel Ellen Egdorf, D.P.M.’19, Des Moines University
- Michelle Brenner, D.O.’19, Des Moines University
- Kelsey Coy, D.O.’20, Des Moines University
- Cara Cahalan, undergraduate student, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Many students will continue their research and mentorship into the fall and throughout the year. On December 1, 2016, the Office of Research will host its seventh annual DMU Research Symposium to further showcase the efforts of these students and their faculty mentors. We are proud of the work that has gone into the 2016 summer program and are eager to see the astounding display of knowledge and commitment that is yet to come later this year. Research is vital to the advancement of the scientific community; and at DMU, students are vital to research.
