Carlos Acevedo-Suarez, Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology, left, with mentor James Thomas, M.D.
(photo by Susan Urmy)
Graduation 2007: Many bridges crossed by newest group of Ph.D.s
Paul Marasco, Ph.D. in Neuroscience, and Melissa Maginnis, Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology, wait in line before the ceremony.
(photo by Susan Urmy)
Susan DeSensi, Ph.D., en route to the Graduate School ceremony.
(photo by Susan Urmy)
In some ways, life has come full circle for Carlos Acevedo-Suarez, Ph.D., whose educational odyssey was celebrated at last week's Graduate School ceremony.
He is living once again in his childhood home in Aguada, Puerto Rico, now as an assistant professor of Biology at the nearby University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez.
Acevedo-Suarez was in the first class of the Vanderbilt Bridges Program, an initiative to increase the number of underrepresented students in biomedical research. It does this by “bridging” students from master's degree programs at partner institutions to doctoral training programs at Vanderbilt and elsewhere.
The University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez has been a partner since the inception of Vanderbilt's program. Acevedo-Suarez, who was a master's student in Puerto Rico, remembers the program coordinator there “insisting” that he apply to the program.
“I never would have come to Vanderbilt if it hadn't been for the Bridges Program,” he said.
The training he received at Vanderbilt prepared him to accept an assistant professor position at his alma mater, he said, and completing the circle, he will now serve as the coordinator there for the Vanderbilt Bridges Program.
“We couldn't be more proud of Carlos,” said Louis DeFelice, Ph.D., professor of Pharmacology and director of the Bridges Program. “I think it's really neat that he will now be working with us to recruit students into the Bridges Program.”
“To be back in Puerto Rico in Mayaguez as a professor is a big accomplishment not just for me,” Acevedo-Suarez said, “but also because now I can say to students, 'look, you can do this.'”
Acevedo-Suarez was one of 69 biomedical science students who earned academia's highest degree, the Doctor of Philosophy degree, in the past year — degrees are granted in August, December and May. The 41 graduates participating in last Friday's ceremony on Library Lawn received doctoral hoods edged with dark blue velvet from their faculty mentors, formally marking the end of their graduate studies.
Though Acevedo-Suarez had his first taste of Vanderbilt through the Bridges Program, his doctoral training experience was similar to many of the students who earned Ph.D. degrees in biomedical sciences this year. He began his Ph.D. training in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program (IGP), now in its 15th year of recruiting and educating graduate students who are interested in biological and biomedical research.
Students can also begin graduate education in biomedical sciences at Vanderbilt through another interdisciplinary program, the Chemical & Physical Biology (CPB) program. The CPB program was launched in 2001 for students with a quantitative sciences background who wish to pursue research in areas that span the boundaries of the chemical, physical and biological sciences.
Susan DeSensi, Ph.D., the first participant of the CPB program, and lone member of the program's first class, also celebrated the completion of her Ph.D. at last week's ceremony. She will be continuing her training as a postdoctoral fellow at Boston University.
Both the IGP and CPB program organize the training — intensive coursework and laboratory rotations — of students during their first year at Vanderbilt. At the end of the first year, students choose mentors and home departments or programs where they complete their coursework and doctoral dissertation research.
IGP mentors include faculty members in the seven basic science departments of the Medical Center, the Neuroscience graduate program, the program in Human Genetics, and the department of Biological Sciences in the College of Arts and Science. The CPB program includes a subset of IGP faculty interested in structural and chemical biology as well as members of the departments of Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics.
On average, students require about five and a half years to complete their degrees, and the majority — 76 percent — go on to academic postdoctoral fellowships, said Kim Petrie, Ph.D., director of Career Development & Outcomes Analysis at Vanderbilt.
The Vanderbilt Bridges Program, launched in 2000, admits M.S. students during the first year of their master's education. Students are on the Vanderbilt campus during two summers for research experience and a course called “Preparing for the Ph.D.,” and they receive financial support for their research efforts at their home institutions.
The National Institutes of Health-funded program has welcomed almost 60 students to Vanderbilt, and 70 percent of the group has gone on to Ph.D. programs either at Vanderbilt or elsewhere — Acevedo-Suarez and Kyra Richter, Ph.D., are the first participants to earn the Ph.D. degree.
“I think our program has become a national model,” DeFelice said. “We have been recognized as a leading example of a successful M.S. to Ph.D. program.”
The Vanderbilt Bridges Program has focused on increasing the number of underrepresented minority students entering careers in biomedical research. Partner institutions include Barry University, Fisk University, Florida A&M University, Illinois State University, Tennessee State University, and the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez.
“It's very exciting for us that one of our own graduates has become a professor and our site coordinator at his alma mater,” DeFelice said.