UTMB Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Are you looking to increase your competitiveness for admission to PhD or medical programs, or seeking to gain new knowledge and skills to be more competitive in the biomedical workforce? Our new MS in Biomedical and Clinical Sciences program provides flexible curricula to address the specific goals of our trainees. Learn more and apply now for fall 2026 at utmb.edu/gsbs/program/b….

We had a wonderful time welcoming our Fall 2026 PhD admits to campus last week and would like to express our gratitude to our amazing student volunteers, faculty, program coordinators, GSBS staff, and especially our recruitment coordinator Trea Smith for making sure our visitors had an informative and welcoming visit!

We are excited to announce the opening of our Master of Science in Biomedical and Clinical Sciences program! Visit utmb.edu/gsbs/program/b… for more information and the link to apply.

Last week 9 of our GSBS PhD students participated in the inaugural Mentoring Up workshop for graduate students, offered as a collaboration between the GSBS and the Gulf Coast Consortia. We are proud to see these students taking the time to learn how to proactively manage their relationships with their research mentors: John Ekale Sana Ullah Oliver Bocanegra-Maldonado Hannah Vedder Lauren LeDay Dennis Arruda Elim Taffere Juliana Gonzalez-Perez William Carpenter Thank you to our wonderful facilitators, Vicki Alger, Celeste Finnerty, Sandra Haudek and Amanda Persons.

UTMB PREDOCTORAL STUDENTS AND ALUMNI: The 2026 Jeane B. Kempner application is now open! Intent-to-submit forms are due March 13, 2026. Applications are due April 20, 2026. Visit utmb.edu/gsbs/kempner-f… for more information.

In the Basic Biomedical Science Curriculum's Responsible Conduct of Biomedical Research course, 1st year GSBS students present their research elevator pitches and the finalists compete for cash prizes. This year's winners are 1st place: Oliver Bocanegra Maldonado; 2nd place: Luke Hood; 3rd place: Emily Schugardt, all students in the Microbiology & Immunology graduate program! Congratulations to our finalists and top three winners, and a huge thank you to our wonderful judges that support this important activity: Christopher Smith Gonzalez, Andy Hall, and Dr. Shayne Washington.

This past week 23 of our faculty attended a full-day Research Mentor Training for Faculty workshop offered collaboratively through the GSBS and Gulf Coast Consortia. Topics addressed included effective communication with mentees, aligning expectations, and promoting self-efficacy and healthy lab environments. We are proud to see faculty prioritizing mentorship excellence and continuing to grow as research mentors!

This week our predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees had the opportunity to participate in an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Catalyzing Advocacy in Science and Engineering workshop at UTMB, where they learned about the structure and organization of Congress, the federal budget and appropriations process and tools for effective science communication and civic engagement. We are excited about the unique opportunities available to our trainees and faculty through the AAAS+UTMB collaborative and look forward to future events on campus and in Washington DC.

GSBS predoctoral student Eduardo Aguirre and postdoctoral fellow Dr. David Lynch were recently inducted as full members in the Galveston Chapter of Sigma Xi. This honor reflects their dedication to advancing research, fostering scholarship, and promoting collaboration within their field of research and connects them with unique opportunities for research funding, professional development and networking with scientists around the globe. Congratulations Eduardo and Dr. Lynch!

Thanks to our generous scholarship donors, the GSBS was able to provide over $171,000 in awards to 82 of our students this year! Congratulations to all of our award recipients!

Register today! This exciting opportunity is open to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from any UTMB school. @utmb_spph

As 2025 comes to a close, we in the GSBS would like to express our gratitude for our trainees, faculty, staff, and colleagues across all schools and departments at UTMB. It has been an exciting and productive year that saw new trainee and faculty grants, innovative discoveries, student and faculty recognition by prestigious societies, comprehensive program evaluations, the best GSBS Research Expo yet, and lots of fun activities. We look forward to the new year and many successes to come!

Last week the Neuroscience graduate program held their annual student symposium, where graduate students had the opportunity to present their research and network with other students and faculty. Congratulations to this year's presentation award winners: Abbigael Aday Regan Hammond Madison Khatkar Ryan McAuley Christina Payne Jessica Tierney Moose Trupp Hannah Vedder Kayleigh Weinstein

The final Virtual Open House for new applicants is today!

We are still accepting applications for our Basic Biomedical and Translational Sciences graduate programs. If you are planning to apply, join us on December 9th for our final virtual open house, to meet program representatives and learn which programs will best prepare you for your future career in biomedical science. Visit our prospective students page at utmb.us/egh.

UTMB - Where purpose meets passion.

Congratulations to GSBS faculty Drs. John Allen and Jia Zhou on the new research award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse!

Congratulations Kirsten!

Yesterday the Sealy Institute for Drug Discovery welcomed nearly 200 guests at an open house that included lab tours by the institute's PIs and introduced the inaugural "Art of Science" photo contest winners. Congrats to the SIDD on a terrific event!