Your source for monthly updates on BMEGG events and news!

SARS-CoV-2 Updates

Stay up-to-date with Yolo County COVID-19 measures

In an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Yolo County, there is a continued requirement for face coverings in public and social distancing. This includes anywhere in the UC Davis campus. Stay informed by visiting the Yolo County novel coronavirus website.

Most courses in Fall 2020 will be offered remotely

Given the recent spike in coronavirus cases in the state and nationwide, UC Davis recently announced that the majority of courses for Fall 2020 will be offered remotely. There will be very limited offerings of in-person instruction if permitted by state and county guidance. Check out Schedule Builder and the Fall 2020 campus updates page for more information.

UC Davis COVID-19 Graduate Student FAQ page lunached

Check out this FAQ page for your COVID-19 related questions about coursework, teaching, professional development, etc.

Upcoming Events

BMEGG welcomes the new coming students!

Fall quarter is starting soon and BMEGG welcomes the new class of our graduate students! Mark your calendars for the following welcoming events (more updates will be sent through email):

BESA Meeting

The BESA monthly meeting for the 2020-21 academic year will be announced soon. Join the BESA Slack Group here to be in the loop about opportunities for you to get involved!

Student Seminar Series

The student seminar series is a great opportunity to practice your QE presentation in a low-key friendly environment. If you are interested in presenting your research to your peers (virtually), please email Abby Niesen.

Student Seminar SeriesShare your achievements for the "Intro to Grad School" presentation

Did you receive a fellowship or participate in professional development (Designated Emphasis, Big Bang, FUTURE, LFTF, PFTF, etc.) since you started graduate school? We are collecting a list of current BMEGG students' achievements for the "Intro to Grad School" presentation to give new students a point of contact for applying. Please email Abby Niesen with your professional development activities/awards/fellowships!

Announcements and Awards

Congratulations to Dr. Erkin Seker and his lab on receiving a National Institutes of Health R03 award

Dr. Seker's group receives a National Institutes of Health R03 award, titled "Neuronal Contribution to the Propagation of Inflammation in the Central Nervous System." The project is funded by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and is in collaboration with the Lein Lab.

Support BESA by ordering business cards or buying some BESA swag!

Business cards are available through Repro Graphics for interested students and post-docs. Standard cards are $28.55 for 500. Please contact our treasurer Caitlin for more info. Christal also has a variety of BESA items for purchase in her office, including some BESA pint glasses, the most recent BESA T-shirt, and a variety of older BESA T-shirts. You can find pictures of the shirts here!

Funding Opportunities

A.P. Giannini Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program

The Fellowship and Leadership Award Program supports innovative research in the basic sciences and applied fields and trains fellows to become established investigators and to pursue scientific leadership positions in academia, industry, public and non-traditional career pathways.  Research projects should advance the translation of biomedical science into treatments, preventions and cures for human diseases.

• Learn more about the eligibility requirements and application process by visiting the Fellowship Program website.
• Internal application deadline is Sep. 7. Contact Traci Galbaugh with any questions.

USDA-NIFA_AFRI Education and Workforce Development Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowships

Fellowships in the food, agricultural, natural resources, and human sciences. Projects must be aligned with one of the six focus areas: plant health and production and plant products; animal health and production and animal products; food safety, nutrition and health; bioenergy, natural resources, and environment; agriculture systems and technology; and agricultural economics and rural communities. Visit the NIFA website to learn more. Due date is Sep. 24.

Ben Barres Fellowship NOGLSTP - Ben Barres Fellowship

The Ben Barres Fellowship is a $2000-$5000 award for professional development of trans, intersex, and non-binary graduate students and post-doctoral fellows in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). It is a merit-based award, and the support provided is intended, broadly construed, for the recipient’s professional development. There is no age or citizenship restriction on eligibility for this fellowship, however, funds will be disbursed only to persons or institutions with US bank accounts or Zelle or PayPal accounts. Application deadline for the first round of awards is Sep. 30. This funding information is obtained from the UC Davis Future program.

Know of more funding opportunities and want them featured in the next newsletter? Email them to Alex or Jun before the first of each month. 

Publications

Marsden, Mark, Brent W. Weyers, Julien Bec, Tianchen Sun, Regina F. Gandour-Edwards, Andrew C. Birkeland, Marianne Abouyared, Arnaud F. Bewley, D. Gregory Farwell, and Laura Marcu. "Intraoperative Margin Assessment in Oral and Oropharyngeal Cancer using Label-free Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging and Machine Learning." IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering (2020).

Mark Marsden, Takanori Fukazawa, Yu-Cheng Deng, Brent W. Weyers, Julien Bec, D. Gregory Farwell, and Laura Marcu. "FLImBrush: dynamic visualization of intraoperative free-hand fiber-based fluorescence lifetime imaging." Biomedical optics express 11, no.9 (2020): 5166-5180.

Nithya Rajagopalan, Venkateswaran Narasimhan, Swetha Kunnavakkam Vinjimoor and Janani Aiyer. "Deep CNN framework for retinal disease diagnosis using optical coherence tomography images." Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing (2020).

Online resources

Seminar series, journal clubs, conferences, and training information

• 2020 Virtual CNW and nanoDDS Meeting, Sep. 14 - 16. Attendees can look forward to:
  1. Virtual Lectures on Nanoparticles: Cancer Immunotherapy, Tumor Delivery and Nanoformulation Characterization
  2. Bonus Virtual Lectures on Nanomedicine, Promoting Diversity, Research Funding and Vaccines and Therapeutics for COVID-19

• Update Your Skills at No Cost: Staff and Faculty Learning Program Deadline Extended! UC Davis’ partnership with leading MOOC provider Coursera, which allows faculty, staff and student employees to take most classes in the Coursera catalog at no cost, has been extended through the end of 2020.

• Work from Home Boost: Productivity and Balance Strategies, Sep. 16, 12 pm - 1 pm. Register here.

• Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology In-House Seminar Series, Dr. Aldrin Gomes, Sep. 18, 4 pm. Please see here for detailed information.

• UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center Grand Round series, Dr. H. Michael Shephard, Sep. 27, 12 pm - 1 pm. Register here.

• Fourth Journal Club of the UC Davis Optics Club, 9 am - 11 am, Sep. 29, via zoom. Email Brent Weyers to join the email list for more details and updates.

Career development

Workshops, training, and job info for career preparation and exploration

• Preparing for Faculty Job Applications Workshop, Faculty Panel, Sep. 10, 3:30 pm - 5 pm. Free registration here.

On a lighter note...

First BESA meeting in year 2020-21

BESA's first official meeting of the academic year 2020-21 took place on Aug. 20. We discussed orientation events, brainstormed potential student activities, and started planning for the year. Most importantly, it was great to see each other online! We have been separated physically, but the momentum of our group to move forward is always on! Details about the next meeting will be announced soon. Join the BESA Slack Group here to be in the loop about opportunities for you to get involved!

BMEGG student working status survey

This month, we asked the members of BESA a few questions about their working status during quarantine. See the results below!

BESA Calendar
 

Click the button below to add the BESA google calendar (view only) to your other google calendars to stay up to date! 

Have feedback, questions, or something you'd like added to the next newsletter? Email Jun Zhu and Alex Vargas.