The Wayne State University Graduate School hosted its 15^th annual Graduate Research Symposium on Feb. 26 at the Student Center. A record 200 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows across 55 academic programs participated in poster presentations and platform talks to share their research and compete for prizes. 

“The Graduate Research Symposium brings researchers together across disciplines to showcase and celebrate the unique perspectives on academic research at Wayne State,” said Graduate School Dean Amanda Bryant-Friedrich. “Our students and postdocs are advancing knowledge in their fields to improve the livelihoods of their communities and others at the local and international level.” 

In addition, Wayne State welcomed five scholars visiting from across the United States who participated in the fully-funded Graduate Research Symposium Scholar Visit, designed to recruit exceptional students with an interest in pursuing graduate research at Wayne State. The scholars met with current graduate students and alumni, representatives from their programs, toured campus, and were introduced to the breadth of research being conducted at the university.

Congratulations to the 2025 GRS winners

Posters

Judges scored posters on content, organization, and delivery. The top three scores from each poster session won monetary prizes. 

Multiple presentations tied for first, second, and third place: 

1st place 

• Alexander Deck, oncology, “IFN -γ PET imaging as a tool to assess immunotherapy response in tumor-bearing mice.”
• Biyyiah Lee, nursing, “Unveiling layers of cannabis use disparities in urban minority communities: A systematic
  review.”
• Shuxiao Li, chemistry, “New materials for the thermally controlled delivery of inhalable nitric oxide.”
• Sai Praneeth, civil & environmental engineering, “Recovery of Gadolinium(III) from magnetic resonance imaging patient urine using adsorption.”

2nd place

• Joanna Adamusik, social work, “Contributing factors to youth violence: Comparison of perceptions of students with
  disabilities.”
• Emma Fidler, biological sciences, “Comprehensive analysis of the role of an intron in transcription and post-transcriptional dynamics.”
• Blessed Oguh, chemistry, “A simple two-camera 3D imaging system.”

3rd place

• Warlley Cunha, Center for Molecular Medicine & Genetics, “CASC15 lncRNA as a mediator of vascular senescence in the reninangiotensin system.”
• Samantha Miller, kinesiology, health, and sports studies, “Perceptions of a health promotion program for autistic children and their primary caregiver.”
• Arifur Rahman, applied health sciences, “AI-powered computational modeling of PNPLA3 mutants in decoding the pathogenesis of MAFLD.”

Platform talks

A smaller pool of presenters were chosen by the GRS Planning Committee to perform platform talks to a wider audience. Talks are intended for a general audience and must be presented in ten minutes or less. 

The GRS Planning Committee judged platform talks on communication, presentation, organization and stage presence. The top three scores of the day won monetary prizes, and winners included: 

• 1st place: Brandon Graves, theatre & dance, “Rethinking engagement.”
• 2nd place: Owen Fleming, economics,  “And what about the kids? Divorce, child support, and childhood health investment.”
• 3rd place: Sahar Bannoura, oncology, “RCC1 regulates subcellular protein localization via Ran GTPase to drive pancreatic cancer.”

Three-Minute Thesis Competition

The day concluded with the Three-Minute Thesis Competition where participants were required to summarize their research in three minutes or less. Monetary prizes were granted to the first-place winner selected by a panel of judges from the community: 

• Stacie Clayton, Vice President, Government and Community Affairs
• Paul Kaufmann, J.D., Ph.D. and Spouse of President Espy
• Julie Miller, University Secretary and Executive Officer to the Board of Governors
• Taunya Phillips, Assistant Vice President, Technology Commercialization
• Ned Staebler, President and CEO, TechTown

Isaac Baiden, physiology, won first place for his presentation “Sex differences in a preclinical model of Type II cardiorenal syndrome with loop diuretic resistance.” Baiden moves on to represent Wayne State University and compete at the regional Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools competition later this month. 

Chosen by the audience, a People’s Choice Award was granted to Jeanine Johnson, psychology, "Disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline with school-based mental health care."