I am finishing residency with a very heavy heart. Yes, I'm celebrating this joyful accomplishment. But just below the surface there is a lot of sorrow to wade through. I haven't metabolized it fully, but want to share where I am now... A thread. 1/

#BlackInChemRollCall Hello! My name is Mekedlawit and I’m a rising second year PhD student Stanford University . I’m a chemical biologist who is currently developing a therapeutic for sickle cell disease. I got my BS at Rice University. I enjoy flowers and random trips to the beach!

Our cold evening sky is haunted by the obscene radiant glow of empty corporate-owned skyscrapers while five million Texans freeze in the dark.

It takes a monster to kill children. But to watch monsters kill children again and again and do nothing isn’t just insanity—it’s inhumanity.

My classmate Kevin, an MS4 here at The Ohio State University College of Medicine who just matched into neurology, was recently diagnosed with brain cancer. Please consider donating to help his family and share his story ♥️ gofund.me/d4f05451

“If you’re not routinely getting rejected, you’re not aiming high enough.” Learned so much about the research process, mentorship, ethics, and how to evolve as an aspiring clinician-scientist at this wonderful symposium. Thank you VUMC Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery for this opportunity!

Had a great time at #OTOMTG24 saw a lot of old friends, met a lot of new friends and enjoyed the beautiful city of Miami. Especially enjoyed all the talks about social determinants of health. Exciting to see health equity coming through in all oto subspecialties! #ENT

Awesome to have friend and collaborator Evan Derman from MedReality on campus today. We discussed future extended reality collaboration. Whitney Jin Sindhura Sridhar VUMC Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery

Excited to share some of our ongoing projects at the VISEVanderbilt Symposium this week, as well as work with our wonderful collaborators apoQlar. Feeling grateful for all of the work we get to do with Michael Topf MD, MSCI VUMC Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery!

Dr. Connie Ma PGY-4 resident VUMC Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery presenting on early division of paramedian forehead flaps at the The Triological Society meeting #orlando

So grateful to Michael Topf MD, MSCI and the The Triological Society for this opportunity to share our work, as well as the support of VUMC Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery! What an amazing week to connect with mentors and friends.

Matched to the best specialty 🤩 Forever grateful #UroMatch #UroSoMe #Match2025

Can’t even put into words how much this means to me. Incredibly excited to have matched into Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery! #match2025

Thank you COSM and my mentor Michael Topf MD, MSCI for the opportunity to present my research, connect with leaders in the field, and explore the beautiful city of New Orleans! VUMC Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery AHNS

So amazed by our undergraduate summer research fellow, Morgan Martin, who presented her poster on Implementing Novel Computer-Based Design Software Into Multidisciplinary Tumor Board Meetings today!! VUMC Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery and her PI Michael Topf MD, MSCI are very proud of her tremendous work!

Jie Ying Wu, Michael Topf MD, MSCI, Mike Miga, PhD, and Dr. Matt Weinger, along with the support of VISEVanderbilt, have received an award for research to develop a head-mounted augmented reality system to guide surgeons to reduce tumor recurrence rates in head and neck surgery #VISE #VUMC