VCOM View Vol 9-1

AwardWinners

education organization, which won Wittenberg’s Student Organization of the Year in 2012. The AOA Presidential Memorial Leadership Award , which amounts to $7,500, was established to honor the legacy of AOA Past Presidents and recognize current osteopathic medical students making great strides toward becoming one of the top student leaders. Katherine Kirby, VCOM-Virginia Class of 2018, was nominated for this award by AOA Past President Norman E. Vinn, DO and Jan Wilcox, DO, VCOM-Virginia Dean, who calls her “one of those students who can always be counted on for enthusiastic support of and whole-hearted involvement in a multitude of osteopathic endeavors.

The study that earned VCOM alumnus Brian Di Giacinto, DO, this award examined whether OMM was beneficial in treating chronic lower extremity ulcers in patients with longstanding edema. John H. Samies, MD, who oversaw this research project, calls Dr. Di Giacinto a role model to others. “He exemplifies the true spirit of human research in both his passion for this project and also in his unwavering commitment to protection and humanistic care of his patients.” His excellence has been previously recognized with several prestigious honors, including the ACOFP Peer Review Writing Internship and membership in the Sigma Sigma Phi osteopathic honor society and Beta Beta Beta National Biology & Research Honor Society. He also founded and served as 2010-2012 President of HEART, a student health peer

Thomas A. Quinn, DO Osteopathic Scholarship Joshua Alan Herring Class of 2019 VCOM-Virginia

Student Poster Award

“Best Overall Abstract” Katherine Smolinski Class of 2019 VCOM-Virginia

She has served as the Student Osteopathic Association’s (SOMA)

Faculty Grant Award

Clockwise top left: Deanna Plewa, VCOM-Carolinas; Sarah Cottrell- Cumber, VCOM- Virginia; and Kristen Punshon, VCOM-Auburn presented posters at the conference.

AOA Research Grant Per Gunnar Brolinson, DO Vice Provost for Research VCOM-Virginia

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