Alexander Merrick, Ph.D., a UNMC Graduate Studies alumus, addressed 51 graduates May 4 at the spring honors convocation.
Dr. Merrick, who heads the molecular toxicology and genomics group at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Environmental Health Services, gratefully recalled his time at UNMC. But, his takeaway message for the graduates was, “Science is a social activity.”
See a photo album from the event.
Dr. Merrick said scientists owe it to society — and to themselves — to communicate with the community at large.
“Be an ambassador for your field and for the scientific method,” he said.
He advocated the use of what he called the “three P’s.”
“Project your Philosophy to your People.”
Project — “You must project and communicate with scientists and non-scientists alike.”
Philosophy — “Have a philosophy. Know what you stand for in your field.”
People — “You need your people,” Dr. Merrick said.
You need your people for their support and you need them for their humanity — and yours.
“I’m a pharmacist as well as a scientist. And my patient interactions have made me a better person,” Dr. Merrick said.
Convocation also celebrated achievement in graduate studies, including these three major awards:
- Thomas Jefferson Ingenuity Award — Megan Elizabeth Bosch (Ph.D. in Pharmacology & Experimental Neuroscience, Dec. 2017). Supervisor: Tammy L. Kielian, Ph.D. Dr. Bosch’s dissertation research focused on identifying potential treatments for juvenile Batten disease – a childhood neurodegenerative disorder that leads to death in the late teens-to-early twenties. Her creative and innovative work revealed that gene therapy could reduce neuropathology in a mouse model of juvenile Batten disease. Her approach has been licensed by Abeona Therapeutics and is currently being advanced for Investigational New Drug status at the FDA for a future clinical trial in children suffering from juvenile Batten disease.
- Praesto Award — Beth Kristine Neilsen (Ph.D. in Cancer Research, May 2017). Supervisor: Robert E. Lewis, Ph.D. The Praesto Award is the highest honor endowed upon a graduating M.S. or Ph.D. student by UNMC Graduate Studies. Dr. Neilsen, an M.D./Ph.D. scholar, attained a 4.0 grade point average and earned funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute. This fellowship supported her efforts to apply bioinformatics analysis of genome-scale screening data to identify genes required for the survival of cancer cells, and to assess the potential of those genes as targets for cancer therapeutics. She has also been heavily involved in leadership and service activities, both on the UNMC campus and in the greater community.
- Graduate Student Association Distinguished Graduate Student Mentor Award — Justin Mott, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. This award has special significance because graduate students administer the award process and select the recipient. The trainees who nominated Dr. Mott praised his patience in answering questions, his open-door policy, his skill in making difficult concepts more accessible, his ability to facilitate networking with other scientists, and his efforts to teach the trainees about the NIH funding process.