Current Standing Committees
BGSA Committees are an opportunity for students to get involved in special projects within the organization
Emam Abdelnaby
Diversity and Inclusion Committee
Co-chairs: Emam Abdelnaby and Mona Chatrizeh
Contact: aea63@pitt.edu; chatrizeh.mona@medstudent.pitt.edu
Description of the committee:
The Diversity and Inclusion committee is responsible for developing programs for Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) initiatives for the BGSA, serving as a liaison with the School of Medicine Office of Diversity Programs, and promoting BGSA D&I initiatives during interview and recruitment cycles for SOM graduate programs.
Mona Chatrizeh
Roja Baruwal
Finance Standing Committee
Chair: Roja Baruwal
Contact: ROB124@pitt.edu
Description of committee:
A rotating Finance Standing Committee will judge the applications and vote for winners in a double-blind fashion. A new committee will be formed for each application cycle. Individuals can sign up to be on the committee at BGSA meetings, or can email the head of the Finance Standing Committee to be added. The head of the Finance Standing Committee will be the VP of Finance of the BGSA, unless another individual is voted into this position. Any student who is eligible to apply for a BGSA Travel Grant is eligible to be on the BGSA Standing Committee. You do not have to be an active member of the BGSA to be on the committee. The head of the Finance Standing Committee will remove all identifiable information (name, lab, graduate program, etc.) from the applications before providing the applications to the Finance Standing Committee for voting. The identity of applicants will be emailed to the President before voting. The VP of Records will have full access privileges to the results of the vote, but will not be notified of the identity of the applicants. The head of the Finance Standing Committee, the VP of Records, and the President will not be eligible to vote. Members of the Finance Standing Committee who apply for the award will not be eligible to vote in the grant cycle that they apply.
Brian Chew
buddy program
Chair: Brian Chew
Contact: brianchew@pitt.edu
Description of committee:
The Buddy Program is responsible for facilitating interactions between incoming students and established graduate students. BGSA student volunteers act as an informal peer resource for small groups of first year students. These mentors check in with the incoming students throughout their first year, answering questions about living in Pittsburgh, passing along university resources, discussing rotations and courses, and encouraging attendance at BGSA and other university-run events. The chair coordinates additional program-wide events designed to give first year students advice about their time in graduate school or introduce them to activities around the city of Pittsburgh. If you are interested in serving as a mentor in this program, applications for volunteers are available each spring. Check your email for more information or reach out to the current buddy program chair.
Sudipta Pathak
Newsletter Committee
Chair: Sudipta Pathak
Contact: sup80@pitt.edu
Description of committee:
The Newsletter Committee is responsible for creating the bi-monthly BGSA Newsletter. You do not have to be an active member of the BGSA to serve on the committee. In each newsletter, we highlight the achievements of a student nominated by their peers and mentors and allow them to use the platform to explain their research and experiences while bolstering their science writing and communication skills. We also spotlight an alumnus from the School of Medicine Graduate Programs. This is a great opportunity to learn of various career paths that are available to students after graduating and to begin networking with alumni. Finally, we also recognize those that have won monthly travel awards to attend conferences outside of Pittsburgh.
Morgan Ricci
Mental Health Liaison
Chair: Morgan Ricci
Contact: morganmcricci@pitt.edu
Description of committee:
The Mental Health Liasion will be formally trained in University Counseling Center (UCC) policies and procedures, active listening, training to help point students to crisis resources, and self-care. It is aimed to help better the mental health literacy in the BGSA. This will also allow the liaison to provide feedback for the BGSA to the UCC and administration to make meaningful change by attending a monthly meeting with the UCC to provide updates. We also offer mental health activities per semester.
Dana julian
Community Outreach Committee
Chair: Dana Julian
Contact: DRJ21@pitt.edu
Description of committee:
The Community Outreach Committee aims to provide programming to graduate students that promotes community engagement and outreach within the greater Pittsburgh area. The committee will development and organize BGSA Sponsored outreach events and build and maintain partnerships with local community organizations to generate leads for outreach opportunities. The four main goals of the Community Outreach Committee are to: (1) promote careers in STEM, (2) dispel misconceptions about research and educate on the scientific methods (3) engage in volunteering opportunities with patient serving groups connected to graduate student research and (4) lift up the Pittsburgh community.