Skip to main content Skip to navigation
WSU Health Sciences Spokane Extra Student Features

Competition breaks research down into bite-sized chunks

Science is usually a serious matter, but there were plenty of laughs last week at the fourth annual Science Bites event held at WSU Spokane. The science communications competition featured ten graduate and professional students from the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, who rose to the challenge of providing a compelling description of their research in no more than three minutes.

Participants could use one static PowerPoint slide and were expected to use language that could be understood by non-specialists. Facing a panel of judges, they pulled out all the stops, using a variety of laugh-inducing metaphors and anecdotes in their quest for top honors.

Prizes—including $200 toward travel expenses to attend the Science Talk ’19 conference in Portland—went to the top three competitors, all of whom are PhD in pharmaceutical sciences candidates working in different research labs.

Group photo of the 2018 ScienceBites competitors and judges

Science Bites competitors and judges at the 2018 event. From left to right, in the back: Dyston Madsen, Panshak Dakup, Trevor Kirby, Philip Wibisono, Soumyadeep Sarkar, Siavosh Naji-Talakar, and Chancellor Daryll DeWald. Center: Shannon Kozlovich, Priyanka Bushana. Front: Xinyue Dong, Laken Kruger, Celestina Barbosa-Leiker, Shamema Nasrin, and Shirley Moore.

» More …

Student finds pharmacy and loses shyness

Students on Campus Series: Thanh Thai

student entertainment board member thanh thai

Throughout most of her life until last year, Thanh Thai was a shy student who sat in the back of the classroom by herself. Something happened to her last year during her first year of pharmacy school on this campus, and now she is on the campus Student Entertainment Board and responsible for coordinating the stress-relieving activities for the student body during finals week.

Her story starts when she finished the fourth grade in her hometown in Vietnam and then her parents moved her and her younger brother to Mill Creek, Wash. Her father had his own business as a tailor in Vietnam but her parents wanted their children to have the career opportunities offered in the United States. When they relocated to America, no one in the family of four could speak English.
» More …

Student moves from India for Ph.D. program in Spokane

Students on Campus Series: Tarana Arman
pharmaceutical sciences student Tarana Arman

It was 9:45 p.m. at Tarana Arman’s home in northern India and she was extremely nervous. She had been chasing entrance to a Ph.D. program at universities all over the world for a few months now, and this Skype interview with Washington State University was her first interview, and her first interview via Skype.

She was at home with her parents and siblings and seated at her laptop. Her younger brother placed a whiteboard just behind the laptop and had written these words on it: “You Can Do It!”

It was after 9 a.m. in Spokane where the three professors in the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences had assembled to interview Arman. Their questions probed at how well she understood the research she had done. When it was over she didn’t think she had done very well and went to bed feeling unsettled.

» More …

WSU Spokane student selected for Administrative Summer Internship program at OHSU

Ashley BozetteAshley Bezotte (left), a student in the Health Policy and Administration (HPA) department at WSU Spokane, was one of 15 students accepted into the Administrative Summer Internship Program at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU).

Bezotte was one of 200 that applied for 15 spots. She’ll work in the Operations Compliance department at the OHSU clinic.

» More …

Student Body President Karl Nacalaban reflects on past year

Karl Nacalaban

Karl Nacalaban

Karl Nacalaban, a third-year pharmacy student from Seattle, is wrapping up his year at the helm of the Associated Students of Washington State University Spokane (ASWSUS).

As his term winds down, Nacalaban is preparing for his fourth year of studies and reflecting on the past year. Under his leadership, ASWSUS explored ways to develop some sort of child care program, secured space in an existing building while working with the university to create a possible fitness center, made connections with students at the Yakima extension programs in Nursing and Pharmacy, helped develop a Diversity Center on campus, and more.

We sat down with Karl to talk about the past year and what’s next for him.

» More …

Cougs give back through Community Engagement

Cougs at Salvation Army

Cougs at Salvation Army

‘Tis the season of giving, and WSU Spokane’s Community Engagement program does just that – and much more.

Community Engagement runs the Cougs in the Community events and programs on campus and throughout Spokane. Recently, it hosted Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week and set up a display on campus highlighting hunger and homeless stats related to Spokane, the state and the nation.

It was a powerful message that opened a lot of eyes. Community Engagement also recruited students to help make blankets and care kits for local charities that serve less fortunate community members.

We sat down with Veronica Puente, the Community Engagement Coordinator, to talk about the programs she helps run and what students learn.

» More …