By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Last week, the new Van Andel Institute Graduate School (VAIGS) accepted its first two students with a convocation signaling the beginning of the academic year. The VAIGS received an independent charter from the State of Michigan to confer advanced degrees in biomedical research of various human diseases.
Van Andel Research Institute researchers will act as the school's faculty, and will work closely with the students, Natalie Wolters, 24, and Brent Vander Hart, 25, both of Grand Rapids.
"These students are pioneers, accepting the challenge and opportunity of being the first cohort of students in the VAI Graduate School," says VAIGS Dean Steven J. Triezenberg, Ph.D.
The program will prepare the students for careers as biomedical researchers who will discover new pathways to improvements in human health. It includes weekly seminars with world-renowned scientists, studies grounded in biochemistry, molecular biology, and genetics, and possible collaboration with other universities as teaching and research assistants.
Once construction of the expanded Van Andel Institute facilities is completed, the school will recruit eight to ten new students a year, with a capacity of 45 students.
Source: Van Andel Institute Graduate School
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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