Student Research Day 2025

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Since 1985, Student Research Day has provided an on-campus forum for students to showcase their research pursuits. For students in School of Medicine Ph.D. programs and related programs in the College of Arts & Sciences, the day offers the opportunity to share their dissertation research with their colleagues from other disciplines while engaging in discussion and soliciting feedback.

Student Research Day is open to all current graduate students in these Ph.D. programs: Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology; Biology; Cell Biology; Chemistry; Global Infectious Disease; Microbiology & Immunology; Neuroscience; Pharmacology & Physiology; Physics; Psychology; Tumor Biology.

Quick Links

• Sign up to be a judge
• Medical Center Graduate Student Organization
• Contact MCGSO

Schedule

Keynote Speakers: Rob Patro and Alexander Zestos

Rob Patro

Associate Professor of Computer Science, University of Maryland

I am an associate professor in the Computer Science department at the University of Maryland. Before joining the Computer Science department at UMD, I was an assistant professor in the Computer Science department at Stony Brook University, from 2014 — 2019. Previously, I was a postdoctoral research associate working with professor Carl Kingsford in the Lane Center for computational biology (now the Computational Biology Department) at Carnegie Mellon University. I obtained my PhD in Computer Science at the University of Maryland, College Park, and defended my dissertation, Computationally Comparing Biological Networks and Reconstructing Their Evolution. My main research interests are in the design of algorithms and data structures for processing, organizing, indexing and querying high-throughput genomics data. I am also interested in the intersection between efficient algorithms and statistical inference. More broadly, I am also interested in programming languages, computer graphics, scientific visualization, parallel computation and machine learning. I also have recreational interests (though very little time to pursue them) in math, physics, music, politics and video games. While at Maryland, I’ve also had the pleasure of working closely with professor Amitabh Varshney on some problems relating to computer graphics and scientific visualization.

Alexander Zestos

Associate Professor of Chemistry, American University

Dr. Zestos completed his B.S./M.S. in chemistry from the College of William and Mary, a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Virginia, and was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan. He is an analytical chemist who uses carbon-fiber microelectrodes to detect neurotransmitters and biologically relevant molecules using fast scan cyclic voltammetry. His research interest focuses on constructing superior electrochemical sensors through novel nanomaterials. He also utilizes liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to detect neurotransmitters with microdialysis. Many applications include neuroscience, pharmacology, and drug abuse studies.

Presentations

The deadline for abstract submissions has passed.

Abstracts will be accepted on a first come, first served basis due to a limited number of poster and oral presentation slots. You will receive an email from the Medical Center Graduate Student Organization (MCGSO) indicating whether your abstract has been accepted and which presentation format you have been assigned.

First-year Ph.D. students who have completed a rotation project are welcome to present their data in a poster format. There will be slots separate from poster and oral presentations allotted to first-year Ph.D. students.

Students may only submit one abstract for Student Research Day. Students must be the principal investigator/primary author for the abstract that is submitted. Once an abstract is submitted, it will be considered the FINAL version to be used for the event. Revised abstracts will not be accepted.

Posters

Once you have received an email from MCGSO confirming the acceptance of your abstract for a poster presentation, you will need to ensure that your poster is prepared. Keep in mind that like your abstract, your poster and poster presentation should be geared toward a general science audience.

If you have a poster already printed from a recent meeting, you are welcome to use it. Please send us the dimensions of your poster so we can reserve adequate space for you. If you are creating a new poster, we may* be able to assist in the cost of poster printing (*to be determined). You will receive details about poster specifications and deadlines in your confirmation email.

As we draw closer to Student Research Day, you will receive further instructions regarding poster placement, evaluations, and schedules for attending your poster.

The deadline for abstract submissions has passed.

Oral Presentations

The oral presentation sessions will consist of a series of 10-minute talks with PowerPoints, followed by 5 minutes for questions and transition. If you are interested in presenting your research in an oral format, be sure to indicate this during abstract submission. Only a select number of abstracts will be chosen for oral presentations.

Oral presentations should be geared to a general science audience.

The deadline for abstract submissions has passed.

Presentation Evaluation

Poster and oral presentations will be evaluated for the following categories: background/introduction, hypothesis or objective, methods, results, conclusion or discussion, future work, overall presentation and handling of questions, and quality of the poster or PowerPoint presentation.

Call for Judges

We are seeking faculty, staff and postdocs to give feedback and scores for students’ oral and poster presentations.