MSTP student Li receives Ida Green Award
Ying Chuan Li, a student in the Medical Scientist Training Program, has received the 2017 Ida M. Green Award, which is given annually to a female student in the UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. The award, now in its 31st year, recognizes the selected student’s commitment to community service, to the well-being of her peers, and for research excellence.
A native of Hong Kong, Ms. Li came to UT Southwestern Medical Center seven years ago with a biology degree from Columbia University and a plan to become a physician-scientist. Now completing her third year of Medical School, Ms. Li earned the award based on her research in the laboratory of Dr. Ege Kavalali, Professor of Neuroscience and of Physiology.
In her remarks, Ms. Li thanked the student awards committee – led by Dr. Luke Rice, Associate Professor of Biophysics and of Biochemistry – Southwestern Medical Foundation, the late Mrs. Green, and Dr. Kavalali, her mentor.
“Coming here to work for Dr. Kavalali was one of the best decisions I have ever made,” she said. “I also have to thank my colleagues, and in not just our lab, but also in the lab of Dr. Lisa Monteggia, Professor of Neuroscience. That goes for the researchers, technicians, and administrators.
“Having friends and colleagues in these two adjacent labs, so close that we can get together to discuss our research and ask questions, is a great environment for research.”
Ms. Li first found a haven in biomedical research while at Columbia.
“I had long thought about medical school going back to a time when I was a child and my maternal grandfather was sick,” she said. “I still feel strongly about that, but after my freshman year in college, I got bit by the research bug.”
Ms. Li, who will graduate from UT Southwestern Medical School in 2018 before beginning her residency in psychiatry, continued, “There is a moment in the laboratory when you find something – some fact that makes you think, ‘I might be the only person in the world who knows this’ – that makes the call of research so strong.”
That moment came when Ms. Li was looking at the morphology of neurons. “There’s something romantic about sitting in a dark microscope room, tracing the beautifully complex arborizations of neurons in 3-D,” she said.
Dr. Kavalali was glowing in his introduction of Ms. Li, both for her commitment to science and her commitment to humanity.
“Ying is not only an outstanding student and scientist, but also a true scholar and citizen,” he said. “She conveys a vision for her own work as well as the neuroscience field in general in addition to caring about the role of science in society. The combination of these traits makes her extremely unique.”
Ms. Li, however, is not just a person who lives in the lab.
“I’ve just always been interested in a lot of things,” she said. “College is the place where people should try a lot of things, and I did that – from deejaying at the college radio station to making short films. And when I came to Dallas, I learned to drive.”
The Ida M. Green Award is sponsored by Southwestern Medical Foundation and includes a $2,000 prize.
“The deep legacy of Ida Green continues on in the inspiration this award brings,” said Kathleen M. Gibson, President of the Foundation. “Recognizing an outstanding graduate student in biomedical science, such as Ms. Li, who has the wish and the talent to do the hard work of discovery leading to potential cures for brain illness, represents the progress that philanthropy and science can create.”
Dr. Kavalali holds the Rosewood Corporation Chair in Biomedical Science and is an Effie Marie Cain Scholar in Medical Research.
Dr. Monteggia holds the Ginny and John Eulich Professorship in Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Dr. Rice is a Thomas O. Hicks Scholar in Medical Research.
