Postdoctoral associates from across the university convened on April 25, 2024, to share their work at the annual Postdoctoral Research Symposium. Along with oral and poster presentations was a keynote address on artificial intelligence by Nawar Shara, a Georgetown School of Medicine professor and MedStar Health Research Institute leader.
This year’s presentation winners were:
Oral Presentations
- Willian Lazarini Lopes
- Veerupaxagouda Patil
Poster Presentations
- Danyel Smith
- Oswaldo Villena
- Meghali Joshi
Geraldine Vitry, left, Georgetown University Postdoctoral Association co-chair, and Elizabeth Salm, Biomedical Graduate Education’s director of graduate and postdoctoral training and development, welcome attendees to the symposium.
Willian Lazarini Lopes shares his epilepsy research in the first oral presentation of the day.
I just completed one year here at Georgetown as a postdoc, so I thought that it was a good opportunity to show the whole community what I’m doing in the lab.
Willian Lazarini Lopes, oral presenter
Shuaijun Li discusses using machine learning to distinguish types of plastic for recycling.
Jiaxiang Tao speaks about his genomic study of hormones and mechanisms related to breast cancer.
Barwendé Sané shares his project, “Faithfully Seeding,” which seeks to engage African farmers in sustainability conversations.
In Africa we used to say, ‘Unless you share your knowledge, you cannot grow.’ … Presenting was also an opportunity for me to share the energy I have for this work, and having people who are different in front of me, looking at me and paying their time to listen to me – this is providing me positive energy.
Barwendé Sané, oral presenter
Veerupaxagouda Patil presents his research on testing the effects of sunscreen ingredients on DNA damage and repair.
Nawar Shara delivers her keynote address, “From Pixels to Insights: The Role of AI in Healthcare Research and Education.” Shara is the chief of research data science at the MedStar Health Research Institute, as well as founding co-director of the MedStar-Georgetown Collaborative Center for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Research and Education (AI CoLab).
Katarina AuBuchon shares her research on identity safety in cancer screenings for Black and Latina/o patients
It’s really exciting to be able to show other people at your institution what you’re doing. … Especially as an early-career person, to get that experience is really valuable.
Katarina AuBuchon, poster presenter
Any opportunity to get to share our work and hear people’s feedback is really great.
Maisha Huq, poster presenter
Volunteer judges evaluated the presentations. Willian Lazarini Lopes placed first among the oral presenters.
Meghali Joshi received third-place honors for her poster presentation.
Oswaldo Villena placed second among the poster presenters.
Danyel Smith won first-place poster presentation.
