![New graduate student Kaitlyn Gallagher, right, is all smiles after Kathy Gould, PhD, senior associate dean for Biomedical Research Education and Training, helps her into her lab coat. Admitted to the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program (IGP) in Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Gallagher was among 117 new PhD students welcomed during the recent ceremony in Langford Auditorium. (All photos by Erin O. Smith)](https://news.vumc.org/wp-content/uploads/Simple-Beginnings-feature-EOS38.jpg)
“Simple Beginnings” is Vanderbilt University’s annual ceremony that welcomes each new class of doctoral students in the biomedical and biological sciences.
The highlight of the event, which is hosted by the Office of Biomedical Research Education and Training (BRET), is the presentation of white lab coats to the students. A symbol of academic rigor and scientific excellence, the lab coats also reflect the students’ commitment to benefiting society through research and discovery.
The ceremony and lab coats were made possible through the generous donations of alumni, faculty, and other supporters.
The name of the ceremony refers to Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species: “from so simple a beginning, endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”
![Rayshaun Pettit](https://news.vumc.org/wp-content/uploads/Simple-Beginnings-EOS66.jpg)
![Ellen Tsai, right, was admitted to the Program in Human Genetics.](https://news.vumc.org/wp-content/uploads/Simple-Beginnings-2023-EOS77.jpg)
![Zev Jarrett was also admitted to the IGP.](https://news.vumc.org/wp-content/uploads/Simple-Beginnings-EOS5.jpg)
![IGP student Salisha Baranwal gets a little help with her lab coat.](https://news.vumc.org/wp-content/uploads/Simple-Beginnings-EOS30.jpg)
![Jackey Ma, right, was admitted to the IGP.](https://news.vumc.org/wp-content/uploads/Simple-Beginnings-REV-EOS46.jpg)