9th ISGlobal PhD Symposium Celebrates the Doctoral Journey

The ninth ISGlobal PhD Symposium brought together over 60 predoctoral researchers, both in-person and online, on Monday, October 16. The theme of this year’s symposium was “Beyond the Thesis: Our Journey Starts Here.” This hybrid event was the perfect opportunity for the students to showcase their ongoing research and learn about the myriad possibilities and paths that open up after the doctoral journey.

Post PhD, the world is your oyster

The keynote lecture titled “Sharing Our Own Journey” was delivered in a conversational format between Elisa López-Varela, Global Medical Affairs Director at ViiV Healthcare and Oriana Ramírez-Rubio, Head of the Health Area at the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID). Both speakers, who were also former members of the ISGlobal community, shared their inspiring post-PhD journeys. They discussed their experiences navigating life abroad, coping with unemployment, finding new opportunities and transitioning from academia to other sectors like policy and industry.

The PhD symposium also included a round table discussion featuring panelists Guillaume Chevance, Assistant Research Professor at ISGlobal; Laia Font Ribert, a public health technician at the Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB); Oscar Castillo, a senior system engineer at DeepUll; and Iris Aparic Herrainz, a production specialist at BioSystems. Their insights offered valuable guidance to the next generation of researchers.

A PhD symposium of innovation and creativity

This year, eight predoctoral researchers were selected to deliver oral presentations on their research pertaining to diverse global health topics including biology and molecular surveillance for malaria, green spaces for health promotion, tuberculosis spillover from prisons among others. 

Some of the predoctoral researchers also stepped outside the box to present their science with creative poetry, songs and videos.

The PhD symposium concluded with an awards ceremony with the following winners:

• Best Oral Presentation: María Pía Alberione for "The relevance of UDP-GIcNAc metabolism for Plasmodium falciparum biology." 
• Best Mini-Presentation (Globetrotters): Isabelle Munyangaju for presenting "A systematic review of the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound in the diagnosis of pediatric tuberculosis,” presented with a video.
• Best Mini-Presentation (Dreamers): Andrea Pistllo for "Short-term effects of air pollution on mental health" a presentation which included a song on his guitar.
• Best Mini-Presentation (Pathfinders): Laura Granés for "High and low temperature during pregnancy and childhood and brain structural connectivity in children" a presentation accompanied by a song on the ukulele.

“We want to thank everybody who made this year´s PhD symposium such a great success. The event is an amazing opportunity to showcase all of the amazing work the predoctoral researchers at ISGlobal are doing, to learn from each other, and remind ourselves to enjoy the journey and envision what lies beyond the doctoral thesis” expressed the organizing committee comprising doctoral students Alberto Ayllon, Esmée Essers, Isabelle Munyangaju, Laura Balagué, and Laura Granés.