West Campus trainees reset the bar for collaborative research

  • West Campus Trainee Committee Co-ordinators Iman, Caroline and Zheng
    West Campus Trainee Committee Co-ordinators Iman, Caroline and Zheng
  • Campus colleagues gather for All Points West 2022
    Campus colleagues gather for All Points West 2022
  • Trainees from across the West Campus Institutes present their research
    Trainees from across the West Campus Institutes present their research
  • A discussion about campus diversity draws a crowd
    A discussion about campus diversity draws a crowd
  • Winning presenter Nata Dudkina
    Winning presenter Nata Dudkina
  • All Points West research talks in progress
    All Points West research talks in progress
  • The annual symposium is a chance for scholars to connect and shaer their research
    The annual symposium is a chance for scholars to connect and share their research
  • Josie Jacob-Dolan and Jennifer Troiano present a session on diversity
    Josie Jacob-Dolan and Jennifer Troiano present a session on diversity
  • Colleagues connect at All Points West
    Colleagues connect at All Points West
  • Symposium organizer Zheng Wei
    Symposium organizer Zheng Wei
  • Yale iGem team present their project
    Yale iGem team present their project
  • The 2022 APW symposium was the first to take place in person since 2019
    The 2022 APW symposium was the first to take place in person since 2019
  • Presentations get underway at the West Campus Conference Center
    Presentations get underway at the West Campus Conference Center
  • Organizers kick off All Points West 2022
    Organizers kick off All Points West 2022
  • Campus colleagues reconnect
    Campus colleagues reconnect
  • Symposium organizer Caroline Brown
    Symposium organizer Caroline Brown
  • Students share their expeiences
    Students share their expeiences

The West Campus community was in celebratory mood June 1st and 2nd for the 4th Annual All Points West Symposium – only the second to take place in person since the event began in 2019.

The trainee-led symposium is now established as one of the campus highlights, bringing together trainees, faculty and staff from across the West Campus to present and share the latest research.

“We often hear that our trainees are the “engines” or “drivers” of our research endeavor,” said Mike Crair, opening the 2022 event, “but here is proof that you’re also the next leaders of what we aspire to be as a campus.”

Science at the West Campus is defined by collaborative research projects that connect neighbors from different labs, institutes, and across numerous fields.

Crair, who is Vice Provost for Research with responsibility for Yale’s West Campus, cited the trainees’ commitment to collaboration and the kind of “real scientific collisions” that would result in new and important discoveries.

Masterminded by trainee coordinators Caroline Brown, Iman Mousavi, and Zheng Wei, this year’s symposium featured research talks by scholars representing each of the West Campus research pillars – health science, energy science and cultural heritage conservation - as well as a special diversity forum led by Josie Jacob-Dolan, Jennifer Troiano, and Uzoji Nwanaji-Enwerem, Fellows of the Office of Graduate Student Development & Diversity.

Congratulations go to all the symposium organizers and presenters, and particularly prize winners Josie Jacob-Dolan, grad student in the Brudvig Lab, Nata Dudkina, grad student in the Crawford Lab, and to undergrad members of the Yale iGem Team, working with the Isaacs lab.

Complimenting their excellence in science, the trainees enjoyed plenty of social time over the two-day event, with ever-popular West Campus trivia, happy hours and networking opportunities interspersed between research talks.

“The All Points West symposium is like no other!” concluded organizer Iman Mousavi.

“It’s a symposium for us, the whole Yale West Campus Family.”

By Jon Atherton