ReTOOL event showcases student research

ReTOOL Student Presentations_MCM_9297

For nine future scientists, the culmination of three months of training and research in biomedical sciences was on display at the Research Training Opportunities for Outstanding Leaders, or ReTOOL, Research Showcase on July 31. The day-long event featured nine minority undergraduate students from three Florida universities presenting their research findings at a poster and oral session. The students have been conducting independent research with advanced biomedical and health scientists at the University of Florida. ReTOOL is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute P20 and the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program to create opportunities and promote prostate cancer research careers for minority scientists in Florida.

Students taking home top honors at the July 31 event included the following:

ReTOOL Showcase (Funded by Department of Defense)

1st place: Simone Mayes (Mentor: Dr. Walter O’Dell) — Establishing the Efficacy of Tangible Prostate Phantoms and Interactive Pelvic Models as an Educational Aid to Improve Screening Compliance of Black Men Screening for Prostate Cancer

2nd place: Casandra Walker (Mentor: Dr. Nancy Mendenhall) — Patterns of Prostate Cancer Progression After Proton Therapy

Advanced ReTOOL Showcase (Funded by NIH/NCI P20, MiCaRT Center)

1st place: Christina Redwine (Mentor: Dr. Folakemi Odedina) — Exploration of Florida Blacks’ Understanding of Precision Medicine for Cancer Treatment

2nd place: Tracoyia Roach (Mentor: Dr. Xin [Cindy] Qi) — Discovery of Novel Carbocyclic Analogs of Nucleosides for Cancer Therapy