What once was a printed newsletter circulated at City of Hope’s Duarte campus is now the public face and voice of City of Hope’s graduate students, available to anyone in the world with Internet access.
The Helix, a new blog covering the Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences from a student perspective, expands City of Hope’s social media initiatives.
The blog features interviews with professors, alumni and City of Hope researchers, as well as graduate students’ observations on student life. The Helix already featured articles with a student who was in the Peace Corps and another who has found time for dragon boating. It aims to highlight students’ accomplishments and allow the sharing of information, both within the graduate school and around the world.
“A lot of the innovation that occurs here at City of Hope can be attributed to the work that grad students do,” said doctoral candidate and Helix committee member Krist T. Azizian. “We wanted The Helix to serve as a conduit for the ideas of grad students, to share those ideas and to develop new and innovative ideas. Discussing your ideas with other people is usually the best way to expand your thinking.”
Along with his fellow students on the Helix committee, Erin Denny and Monika Polewski, Azizian credited program coordinator Michelle Navarro and Darrin Joy and Sara Lewis from the Communications Department for supporting the effort.
“Starting as a print publication with limited distribution, the move to a blog format permits more rapid transmission and broader dissemination of the views of the graduate students on scientific discoveries, laboratory training and other issues of particular relevance to Ph.D. students in the biomedical sciences,” said Adam Bailis, Ph.D., associate dean of professional development and the blog’s faculty sponsor.
“The students have shown tremendous dedication and perseverance in bringing this unique feature to the academic landscape of City of Hope,” said Bailis. “I am hopeful that this will elicit continued interest from the graduate students at City of Hope, and from current and future Ph.D. students at other institutions.”
Readers can find the blog at http://thehelix.cityofhope.org. To submit ideas for blog posts, or to submit your own blog post, contact helix@coh.org.
