2025 Colloquium

On April 28, 2025 the third annual Master's Student Colloquium was held at the Smilow Center for Translational Research. The colloquium serves to recognize the achievements of Master’s students in their final year in the Perelman School of Medicine.

Dr. Emma Meagher, Associate Dean for Master's & Certificates programs, delivered opening remarks and announced awardees for student poster presentations and the PSOM Master’s & Certificate Program (MaC) Excellence in Teaching Award. 

Dr. Meagher then introduced Dr. David Fajgenbaum as the keynote speaker. The two discussed Dr. Fajgenbaum's unique career journey in the form of a fireside chat. Dr. Fajgenbaum is a physician-scientist, immunologist, and author known for his groundbreaking research on Castleman disease, a rare and life-threatening immune disorder. After being diagnosed with the disease himself, he pioneered new treatments that have helped extend his own life and those of many others. He co-founded the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network to accelerate research and treatments for Castleman disease through a ‘Collaborative Network Approach,’ a business-inspired approach to biomedical research, which has become a blueprint for advancing rare disease research. He also co-founded Every Cure to accelerate the search for repurposed treatments and is pioneering a new field called “computational pharmacophenomics,” which uses AI to systematically match all drugs with additional diseases they may treat. His memoir, "Chasing My Cure: A Doctor’s Race to Turn Hope Into Action", chronicles his battle with the illness and his efforts to revolutionize medical research.

To conclude the event, Master's students then gathered in Smilow Commons for a poster presentation and networking session. 

Poster Presentation Awardees

Poster Titles

Cameron Bell – Genetic Counseling, MSGC

Poster Title: Patient experiences with genetic test result release in the setting of the 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule

Fionnúir Ní Chochlain – Public Health, MPH

Poster Title: Antibiotic Usage for Children under 5 with Acute Respiratory Illnesses in Bangladesh

Regina Wagner, JD, BSN, RN – Healthcare Quality & Safety, MHQS

Poster Title: Improving Hand Hygiene Compliance in an Acute Care Veterinary Hospital

Student participants' posters can be viewed here.

PSOM MaC Excellence in Teaching Award

Dr. Dominique G. Ruggieri, PhD, serves as the Capstone Director and a faculty member in the University of Pennsylvania’s Master of Public Health (MPH) program.  She brings expertise in health communication, qualitative research, and community-centered public health practice to her students. Passionate about designing tailored health messages that support informed decision-making and behavior change, she has applied her skills across areas including diabetes, smoking cessation, cancer prevention, environmental health, and more. Through her consulting work with BonVie Health and Nutrition, she also contributes to organizational health strategy and personal nutrition coaching.

In the classroom, Dr. Ruggieri teaches core MPH courses on public health theories and the two-part capstone sequence, and she is widely praised by students for her warmth, clarity, and unwavering support. Her courses emphasize real-world application, personal growth, and collaboration, and she consistently earns among the highest student evaluation scores in the program. As Associate Director of Teaching Support & Innovation, she mentors fellow faculty, supports curriculum development, and leads initiatives to improve teaching effectiveness, including during the shift to virtual learning and in exploring the thoughtful integration of emerging tools like AI. Her remarkable dedication to students, colleagues, and the field of public health education makes her a deeply deserving recipient of the MaC Excellence in Teaching Award.

Past Poster Presentation and MaC Excellence in Teaching Awardees

2024 Award Winners

2023 Award Winners

Event Photos