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WVU announces top prizes in Three-Minute Thesis Competition

a man stands left of two women
Right – Gihan Panapitiya (2nd place winner), Pragya Rai (1st place and People’s Choice Winner, and Katelyn Romm (3rd place winner).

1st place and People’s Choice Award Winner: Pragya Rai 
"Cancer Immunotherapies and Autoimmune Diseases: Clash of the Titans?" 
Advisor: Dr. Usha Sambamoorthi 
Health Service and Outcomes Research, School of Pharmacy

2nd place: Gihan Uthpala Panapitiya 
"Machine-Learning Model to Predict Binding Strength of Nano-Particles"
Advisor: Dr. James P. Lewis
Physics, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

3rd place: Katelyn Romm 
"Parental Control and Adolescent Problem Behaviors: Who is at Risk?" 
Advisor: Dr. Aaron Metzger 
Psychology, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Nine graduate students competed during Research Week at West Virginia University’s annual Three-Minute Thesis competition. Competitors were tasked with summarizing months of research in just three minutes with one static slide to aid their presentation. 

Doctoral students from across the university competed for cash prizes of up to $2,000. The 2019 3MT finalists were selected from an initial pool of 40 graduate and professional students.

The 3MT competition originated at the University of Queensland in Australia as a research communication exercise that challenges graduate students to present a compelling oration on their thesis topic. 

“We are proud of the extraordinary research that our graduate students are doing at WVU, some of which are showcased in this competition.” said Betty Mei, program director for Graduate Student Success in the Office of Graduate Education and Life. “Students presented on topics ranging from Water Management, Treatment, and Recovery in Oil and Gas Production, to Mitochondria, at the Heart of Diabetes to State and Transition for Tea and Herb Agroforestry Systems. Their exciting, innovative work represents the very best of WVU across disciplines.”

Denzel Middleton, a STEM fellow in animal science, and Mayara Matos, a doctoral candidate in biology, hosted the 2019 competition.  The panel of judges included Albert Berrebi, assistant vice president for Research, School of Medicine, Constinia Charbonnette, assistant dean of Graduate Programs, John Chambers College of Business and Economics, Thanh Le, executive director of Student Engagement and Leadership, Student Life, Lindsey McNellis, president of Graduate and Professional Student Senate and also doctoral candidate in history, and Sheena Murphy, associate vice president for Research Development, Research Office.