Ohio University graduate students Reetobrata Basu, Maria Muccioli and Amrita Basu with Distinguished Professor John Kopchick, who served as keynote speaker for the 2013 event.
More than 35 Ohio University student scientists attended the second annual Appalachian Regional Cell Conference (ARCC) in Charleston, WV, in October. The event, co-organized by graduate student Maria Muccioli of the Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, drew several dozen additional participants from West Virginia University, Marshall University and the University of Kentucky.
Q: How do you feel that students from the various universities benefited from this event?
Maria Muccioli
Muccioli: The ARCC is a free meeting, so it allows anyone doing any kind of research related to cell biology to come, whether they are an undergrad, grad student, postdoctoral fellow, research scientist, or faculty member, regardless of whether they have funding.
It allows new graduate students and undergrads just getting started on research projects to practice presenting their research in poster form (for example, in preparation for national meetings).
In addition, our event facilitates networking and research sharing in our area. Students can meet others doing similar things, learn a lot, and possibly collaborate on their projects, driving interdisciplinary research in the Appalachian region.
Q: Is there anything new that you, personally, learned?
Muccioli: I learned how much work goes into planning an event this large and about the importance of leadership that incorporates the opinions of many to serve a common goal.
The conference was supported by the American Society for Cell Biology and the Ohio University Vice President for Research and Creative Activity, Edison Biotechnology Institute, Molecular and Cellular Biology Program and Department of Biomedical Sciences in the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Ohio University graduate student Subhabrata Ghosal photographed the 2013 event.
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