Medical students will be able receive recognition for projects they have worked on during this school year when the College of Medicine host its 18th annual Student Research Forum Thursday and Friday. “The purpose of this forum is to allow graduate and undergraduate students to show what they have found during any of the research studies they have done,” said Sharron Levingston, program coordinator with the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.

These students will also encounter former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders for the duration of her discussions about education and healthcare. Dr. Elders’s address, “Education and Personal Responsibility,” will be presented at noon on Thursday before awards are given.

She will also give a scientific discussion about “Healthcare in the 21st Century.”

“We usually have someone this prestigious come and talk to the students,” she said.

Elders was sworn in as surgeon general in 1993 and became the first African-American woman to hold the office. She has received several awards such as the American Medical Association’s Dr. Nathan Davis Award and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women’s Candace Award for Health Science.

“We have a student task force who voted on Dr. Elders,” Levingston said. “They have to call her and ask if she would like to come.”

Levingston said there will be over 80 research projects set up and there should be a large turnout for both days.

“We always prepare for 100 to 150 people. It’s a big deal for the students because they have to get everything ready for judging,” she said.

The forum will be held in the Culp Auditorium on Thursday but will move to the Adelphia Center at Millennium Park on Friday.

The program will be from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. both days and there will be a reception from 11:30 a.m.-noon in the Culp Center on Thursday. Both presentations are free of charge and open to the public.

Call Levingston at 232-5640 for more information or for special assistance for persons with disabilities.

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