Due to the need to continue practicing social distancing as a necessary public health measure, Wayne State University hosted its first online degree conferral presentation April 29 for undergraduate and graduate students from its 13 schools and colleges.

A formal commencement ceremony will be held on campus when it is safe and practical to do so, university officials said. Through the collective efforts of the university community, schools and colleges created personal graduation acknowledgement videos posted on the commencement website that included messages from President M. Roy Wilson, Provost Keith Whitfield, Board of Governors Chair Marilyn Kelly, and the deans of participating schools and colleges.

Graduates affiliated with the School of Medicine included 11 individuals earning a Doctor of Philosophy degree through The Graduate School, 25 individuals earning Master of Public Health degrees and 67 individuals earning Master of Science degrees from the School of Medicine.

“On behalf of the entire faculty in the School of Medicine, I am pleased to congratulate everyone on each of your academic accomplishments. You have each earned your respect and admiration for the long hours that you have spent in classrooms, laboratories, libraries and studios,” said Daniel Walz, Ph.D., associate dean of Research and Graduate Programs. “To the graduates from the School of Medicine, you are now prepared to use your knowledge and experience to have a meaningful impact in the health sciences.”

For Doctor of Medicine candidates, a live broadcast June 2 will include addresses by Dean Mark Schweitzer, M.D.; WSU President M. Roy Wilson; Vice Dean of Medical Education Richard Baker, M.D.; class President David Gelovani; and former School of Medicine Dean Jack D. Sobel, M.D. Dr. Baker will administer the oath to the graduating physicians.

The virtual celebration also included well-wishes from faculty and staff. The social media hashtag #myWSUstory was used to invite students and families to recognize the Class of 2020.

A program booklet is available online.

Graduates and their degrees include:

Doctor of Philosophy

April 2020

Sophia Chaudhry
Dissertation: “Addressing the Issue of Missing Heritability: The Importance of Apoptosis in Hereditary Breast And Ovarian Cancer And Functional Assessment of TP53I3-S252*.”
Dissertation Advisor: Professor Michael Tainsky
Molecular Genetics and Genomics

Yasaman Chehreghanianzabi
Dissertation: “Investigation of Physiochemical Properties and Biocompatibility of Amourphos Calcium Polyphosphate Hydrogel Doped with Antibiotics and Injectable Polymeric Dicalcium Phosphate Dihydrate Bone Cement.”
Dissertation Advisor: Professor Weiping Ren
Biomedical Engineering

Kayla Conner
Dissertation: “APOBEC3 Enzymes Mediate Efficacy of Cisplatin and Carboplatin through the Activation of Base Excision Repair and Mismatch Repair.”
Dissertation Advisor: Professor Steve Patrick
Cancer Biology

Laura Hurley
Dissertation: “Evaluation of Autoantibodies to Paraneoplastic Antigens as Early Detection Biomarkers for High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer.”
Dissertation Advisor: Professor Michael Tainsky
Cancer Biology

Michael Lisieski
Dissertation: “The Effects of Cocaine Exposure On Hyperactivity, Susceptibility to Traumatic Stress and Locus Coeruleus Function in Rats.”
Dissertation Advisor: Professor Shane Perrine
Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences

Jeremy Llaniguez
Dissertation: “Development of a Novel Cardiac Ischemia-Reperfusion Model in the Axolotl.”
Dissertation Advisors: Professors Juri Gelovani and Mai Lam
Biomedical Engineering

Stephanie Lucas
Dissertation: “Dependence of Mitochondrial Respiration on Serine Catabolism in Mammalian Cells.”
Dissertation Advisor: Professor Jian Wang
Pathology

Sheetal Panday
Dissertation: “Computational Analysis of Oxidative Stress in Endothelial Dysfunction: An Insight on the Role of Tetrahydrobiopterin, Ascorbate and Glutathione.”
Dissertation Advisor: Professor Mahendra Kavdia
Biomedical Engineering

Asra Shaik
Dissertation: “Characterizing Novel Radiologic and Pathologic Tissue-Based Risk Factors For Breast Cancer In African American Women With Benign Breast Disease.”
Dissertation Advisor: Professor Michele Cote
Cancer Biology

Mubin Shaikh
Dissertation: “Characterization of an X-Ray source used in Intraoperative Breast Radiotherapy.”
Dissertation Advisors: Professors Jay Burmeister and Adrian Nalichowski
Medical Physics

Runzhou Zhou
Dissertation: “Development of Rat Head Finite Element Model and Tissue Level Biomechanical Threshold for Traumatic Axonal Injury.”
Dissertation Advisor: Professor Liying Zhang
Biomedical Engineering

Master of Public Health

(April 2020)

Juxhin Alushi

Henri J. Avril

Joseph J. Carreno

Fatima Hani Eid

Dana El Masri

Faria Tasnim Farin

Samantha A. Jablonski

Timothy Ryan Michling

Jazmine Lien Mui-Blackmon

Sweta Harmesh Naik

Helen-Wilma Nnoke

Radha Mukesh Patel

Yuvanesh Rajeev

Ayeshah Sarfaraz

Roger Francis Soulliere III

Priya Spencer

Anju Sudarsana Kurup

Ameesha Vadodaria

Michael P. Veve

(August 2020)

Rishabh Jitendra Arvikar

Salwa Hassan Bajjey

Natasha Jaffar

Alymamah Abdo Mashrah

Hyo K. Park

Saher Pervez Yunus

Master of Science

(April 2020)

Raniya Mahmoud Abdel Haq

Abdullah I Al-Homoudi

Jeffrey John Alberghini

Ali-Rida Beydoun

Alec Jeffrey Buczek

Garrett Justin Godfrey

Kaitlyn Marie Gordon

Vanessa Nana Kamdoum

Asiri Gimhan Liyanaarachchi

Paul Taylor Morrison

Alice Ann Turner

Essence Dyanne Turner

Benjamin Joshua Van

(August 2020)

Victoria Grace Estrada

Brent Joseph Formosa

Mary M. Stangis

Master of Science in Basic Medical Sciences

(April 2020)

Ayman Sujayet Alam

Christina Nicole Arens

Danny Bakoz

Amit Bhandari

Soundarya Bhaskar

Andrew Lewis Cecil

Fatima Hassan Chahine

Christine Lysia Chien

Megan Victoria Crawford

Yunis Ali Dhalai

Sabrina Moly Ghazi

Alyssa Monet Gill

Lara Hakim

Allison Marie Hudson

Klevis Karavidha

Alaa Khadoori

Daniel Barton Lenchner

Safa Mahbuba

Laura Ann Mclellan

Gael Francis Muanamputu

Kuhan Puvanenthiranathan

Yangyang Qi

Bijan Sagman

Mohammad Taha Siddiqui

Samantha Lorraine Silvers

Manjot Singh

Sarban Kaur Singh

Scott Danzel Smith

Katherine Michelle Thomashow

Hope Marie Tolitsky

Susanna Su Wang

Yichen Wang

Alicia Lynn Webb

Sarah Oday Yahfoufi

Nabil Yazdi

Shahad Zoma

(August 2020)

Barakat Haider Alhashemi

Allison Marie Hudson

Pearl James

Pavel Oganyan

Kara Nicole Zmyslowski

Master of Science in Genetic Counseling

(April 2020)

Lauren Eileen DeMeyer

Taylor Josephine Hayes

Hafsah Fatimah Jamil

Nicole Monique Lester

Gabrielle Alexis Pomorski

Siddika Venkatachalam

Natalie Elizabeth Vriesen

Kristian Taylor Wilks

Master of Science in Medical Research

(April 2020)

Spandana Alluri

(August 2020)

Karim Dirani