Medical student wins scholarship to American Academy of Neurology Meeting

Joyce Ma, a second-year student at the UC Davis School of Medicine, has won a $1,000 Medical Student Scholarship to the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology set for April 1-8 in San Diego.

At the meeting, Ma will present her abstract at the Future of Neuroscience Conference: "Stem Cells and Neurological Disease." The conference is an interactive, day-long program focusing on stem cells that features poster sessions, platform presentations, case vignettes, a panel discussion and lectures on new developments in stem-cell research, therapeutic options and ethical issues.

In addition to the conference, Ma will present her abstract to medical students at the Student Interest Group in Neurology (SIGN) Medical Student Conference. Last year, Ma was one of 20 students in the United States awarded a $3,000 SIGN Medical Student Summer Research Scholarship, which helped to fund her research into the role of stem cells in human brain tumors.

Because of Ma’s interest in translational research, she enrolled in the UC Davis Neuroscience Graduate Program last fall after being encouraged to do so by her research and clinical mentors. She is studying topics involving her research in neural stem cell development. Her enrollment as a medical student allows Ma to continue working with brain tumor patients at UC Davis Medical Center under the mentorship of several faculty members.

Ma serves as a volunteer at the Paul Hom Asian Clinic, one of the School of Medicine’s clinics operated by UC Davis students and physicians in medically underserved communities.