2026 Colloquium
On April 27, 2026 the fouth 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. Paul Offit as the keynote speaker. Paul A. Offit, MD is the Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as well as the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology and a Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Offit previously served as a voting member on the FDA’s Vaccine Advisory Committee and on the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices to the CDC. He is also the co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine, RotaTeq, recommended for universal use in infants by the CDC in 2006 and by the WHO in 2013. This vaccine was estimated recently to save about 165,000 lives a year. He is also the author of eleven books written for the public about science, medicine, and vaccines.
To conclude the event, Master's students then gathered in Smilow Commons for a poster presentation and networking session.
Poster Presentation Awardees
Master of Biomedical Informatics
Pictured with John H. Holmes, PhD, FACE, FACMI, FIAHSI, FAMIA
Master of Science in Genetic Counseling
Pictured with: Kathleen Valverde, PhD, MS, LCGC, Program Director; Tiffiney Hartman, PhD, MS, LCGC, Assistant Director; Lisa Kessler, MS, LCGC, Associate Director; and Rebecca Mueller, PhD, MS, MBe, LCGC, Director of Research.
Healthcare Quality & Safety, MHQS
Pictured with Jennifer Myers, MD, MBA; Executive Director, PennCHIPS; MHQS Program Director
Poster Titles
1290Antonia Angeli Gazola, MD - Master of Biomedical Informatics
Evaluating an AI-based Clinical Decision Support System for Sepsis and ARDS: An Interim Analysis of a Clinician Turing Test
Samantha Kasselman, MS - Master of Science in Genetic Counseling
Pancreatic Imaging Findings of PRECEDE Consortium Participants with Pathogenic Germline Variants in Breast Cancer Susceptibility Genes
Catherine Murtaugh, RN, MHQS - Healthcare Quality & Safety, MHQS
Making a Difference: Providing Line Care Supplies Closes a Gap in Infection Prevention at Home
Student participants' posters can be viewed here.
2025 Award Winners
2024 Award Winners
2023 Award Winners
PSOM MaC Excellence in Teaching Award
Tiffiney Hartman, PhD, LCGC (left)
Emma Meagher, MD (center)
Senior Vice Dean, Clinical & Translational Research, Perelman School of Medicine
Vice President, University of Pennsylvania Health System
Paula Chatterjee, MD, MPH, (right)