Images that highlight the beauty and breadth of biomedical research and a passion for science at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) were on display in the annual SMHS Art of Science contest.
Each year, medical, graduate, and postdoctoral students are asked to submit one image that captures their research with artistic style, and a jury from SMHS selects winners for cash prizes based on the visual impact of the image.
First prize goes to Han Rae Kim, a postdoctoral fellow in pharmacology and physiology. Kim’s image is a 3D reconstruction of microglia filaments, including branch points in the brain subfornical organ uniquely located outside of the blood-brain-barrier.
Second prize goes to Tyson Dawson, a PhD student in genomics and bioinformatics. Dawson’s image depicts the evolutionary relationships of 2,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences. Each branch tip represents a viral genome. Each ring represents metadata about the sequences including continent of origin, date of sample collection, clade classification, and machine learning cluster membership.
Third prize is awarded to Tomas Kanholm, a PhD student in microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine. Kanholm’s image is of a colony formation assay with genetically modified fallopian tube cells in a model of ovarian cancer.
Congratulations to the SMHS 2020 Art of Science winners, and thanks to all who submitted their images for consideration!
