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Dr. Anthony Fauci opens Commencement celebrations for Class of 2021
Vanderbilt University is honoring its Class of 2021 with a special weekend of Commencement celebrations May 14–16. All activities will observe campus health and safety protocols. Here’s what you need to know to guide you through the weekend. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top leader in infectious disease research and an internationally renowned biomedical scientist, will deliver the virtual Graduates Day address to the Class of 2021. The undergraduate Class of 2021 will be honored with a combination in-person and virtual Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 15, at Vanderbilt Stadium. Chancellor Daniel Diermeier will lead the event and deliver his inaugural Commencement address to the graduates and their guests. MORE
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Class of 2021: Family bonds inspire biomedical engineering major to fight breast cancer through cellular research
Yoanna Ivanova wears a red-and-white Martenitsa bracelet around her wrist. It’s a Bulgarian tradition representing health, success and renewal—all of which the biomedical engineering major and A. James Clark Scholar is hoping for as she prepares for a future fighting diseases like cancer through cellular research. A series of family heartaches propelled Ivanova’s desire to work on research tied to breast cancer. “It’s an emotional subject for me because I’ve had a lot of family and friends impacted by breast cancer over the years. It’s taken a lot of loved ones from me, so it’s close to my heart in that regard,” she said. “I never expected breast cancer to be something that impacted my life so much.” Ivanova has been doing research since her first year at Vanderbilt and found her niche during sophomore year in the lab of Marjan Rafat, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, biomedical engineering and radiation oncology. MORE
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Class of 2021: Multitalented musician sets his sights on law and politics
This June, Anighya Crocker was supposed to make his conducting debut at Carnegie Hall, the famed music venue in New York City that has hosted some of the world’s finest artists, from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and George Gershwin to Billie Holiday and The Beatles. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, disrupted those plans, forcing postponements and cancellations of live events across the nation. Yet the fact that Crocker was invited to perform at a place so steeped in music and history—two of his lifelong passions—was rewarding in itself. At Vanderbilt, Crocker found the freedom to pursue all of his passions. A Myra Jackson Blair Honors Scholar in the Blair Academy program during high school, Crocker went on to undergraduate studies at Vanderbilt, double-majoring in voice performance and law, history and society. MORE
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Class of 2021: Social justice activist strives to make change through health care
A family legacy of fighting for civil rights fuels Chicago native Anana Upton, whose mission is creating positive change in underserved communities. With a major in child development through Peabody College of education and human development and a plan to become a pediatric nurse, Upton aims to bring social justice through delivering quality, affordable health care. While Black Lives Matter marches in 2020 were an introduction to civil protest for many young people across the nation, Upton already was well-versed in activism. Upton’s been involved in the NAACP since childhood, building on the powerful social justice legacy of her grandparents. During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, her grandfather led Chicago’s North Side chapter of the Congress for Racial Equality. MORE
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Class of 2021: Undergraduate research inspires future physician-scientist to bridge the bedside and the bench
When Mason Clark was in middle school, his beloved grandmother suffered a serious heart attack. She survived, thanks to the help of the local hospital, and the experience led Clark to his life’s purpose. Partly out of gratitude and partly out of curiosity, he began volunteering at the hospital and was drawn in by the possibility of helping others like his grandmother. The Owensboro, Kentucky, native entered Vanderbilt planning to become a physician. He got involved in research, he said, to “check a box” for medical school admissions. But by the end of his first semester in the lab of Assistant Professor of Chemistry Lars Plate, Clark was rethinking his plans. He realized that research also played a key role in alleviating patients’ suffering and began to consider how he might bridge research and medicine in his post-Vanderbilt life. A molecular and cellular biology major, he’ll begin a fully funded, eight-year M.D./Ph.D. program at the University of Illinois at Chicago this summer. MORE
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Class of 2021: Interdisciplinary teamwork in the lab leads Ph.D. student to job with biotech giant
Alissa Guarnaccia is jumping into a highly sought-after research career to help find treatments for cancer at the cellular level. But lately she’s taking time to write lots of thank-you letters, even to some of her old high school teachers. After graduating with a doctorate in cell and developmental biology from the Vanderbilt School of Medicine Basic Sciences, the New Jersey native will begin a rare postdoctoral research position with health care biotechnology giant Genentech. The lab Guarnaccia will be working in studies cancer signaling and transcription, the process through which DNA gets made into RNA. She’ll also learn research techniques with a mass spectrometer, a device that measures the mass-to-charge ratio of ions to identify and quantify molecules. MORE
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Class of 2021: Law graduate tackles new frontier with space law
The ink may not yet be dry on Ramon Ryan’s law degree, but his legal research is already gaining national attention. Even before the paper he wrote as editor of Vanderbilt Law School’s Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law was published, it was featured in Scientific American and became the catalyst for oversight action in the U.S. Senate. He focused on NEPA—the National Environmental Policy Act—a 1970 law that requires federal agencies to assess the potential environmental impact of projects. However, the Federal Communications Commission decided 34 years ago to exclude virtually all of its activities from environmental review, which now includes the commercial satellite projects that it licenses. Ryan’s paper identifies several issues raised by the FCC’s blanket exemption and poses a straightforward solution—follow NASA’s lead. MORE
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Class of 2021: Nursing grad provides mental health care during pandemic
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-person clinical experiences for most nursing students nationwide, Vanderbilt School of Nursing master’s student Matias Massaro seized the opportunity to learn a new aspect of providing psychiatric-mental health care. The practice where Massaro, a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner student, was gaining clinical experience shut down in-person visits. So he developed and implemented a telehealth process that allowed him and the clinic’s mental health professionals to continue meeting with patients virtually. The win-win scenario meant that patients didn’t miss a step in their care and that Massaro and the clinic were able to assess how telehealth could expand access to vitally needed mental health services. MORE
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Class of 2021: Divinity student pursues master’s work at the junction of theology and social justice
With a heart for serving others and an interest in the intersection of theology and social justice, Erica Johnson was drawn to pursue a master’s degree from Vanderbilt Divinity School while working at a social services center for victims and survivors of domestic violence. As she completes a master’s degree from Vanderbilt Divinity School this spring, the Washington, D.C., native speaks fondly of her study of progressive theology. Johnson credits her Vanderbilt professors with guiding her through her studies while also providing space for her to explore her own passions and theological interests. Johnson said that her professors taught her to be more accountable and aware in her writing. They encouraged her to “name and claim” her unique identity and perspective while remaining cognizant of the audience she is writing for and the action she wants them to take. MORE
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Class of 2021: Naval veteran’s compassion and service lead to future in health care management
Before starting his MBA at Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management, Ken Barnes undertook an ambitious adventure, riding his bicycle 5,000 miles across 20 states. Those traits [he brought with him on that trip] have served him well throughout his life, whether working in close quarters with fellow service members as a U.S. Navy nuclear submarine officer, partnering with members of the Nashville community to create a bicycle food ministry, or collaborating with Owen classmates to find creative business solutions for ever-changing medical environments. While respecting COVID-19 safety protocols, Barnes was able to hear from emergency room nurses and doctors and other area experts about management needs. Barnes came to Vanderbilt as a member of the first cohort of Bass Military Scholars, a program that provides financial aid and programming support for military veterans pursuing professional degrees across the university. MORE
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Class of 2021: Twins combine passions for literature, science in emerging area of narrative medicine
Identical twins Jade and Jazmyn Ayers have immersed themselves in literature and personal narratives for years. Not only has it led each to major in English, it also has spurred them to come up with a creative way to pair storytelling with another of their passions: medicine. The sisters, who are also majoring in medicine, health and society, are applying to medical school with a focus in the burgeoning interdisciplinary study of narrative medicine, which employs creative skills from the humanities to enable caregivers to help patients voice their experiences with health issues more clearly. The sisters, who are from Grand Ledge, Michigan, believe figurative language and storytelling can bridge serious divides in doctor-patient communication as well as cultural and socioeconomic differences. MORE
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VUbrief summarizes Vanderbilt news items to inform our Congressional community of developments at the university. Visit our website for past issues of VUbrief. Vanderbilt University Office of Federal Relations (202) 216-4361
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