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The joy was real. On Thursday, Oct. 21, the traditional graduation trappings of mortarboards, tams, black gowns and color-trimmed hoods merged with the new normal of kitchen, family room and office backdrops to create a commencement of firsts for the Cedars-Sinai Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. The 2021 graduation was the first held during a global pandemic and the first time two graduating classes—2020 and 2021—were celebrated together. In another first, the commencement unfolded in cyberspace, giving rise to heartwarming, caught-on-camera moments. A baby girl cried in her father's arms as his master's degree in health delivery science was conferred. A beaming graduate of the master of science in magnetic resonance in medicine program was photobombed by enthusiastic relatives. And a jubilant recipient of a PhD in biomedical and translational sciences did a doctoral happy dance. This ninth annual commencement saw the awarding of 49 degrees: 24 masters in health delivery science, eight masters of science in magnetic resonance in medicine and 17 doctorates. Several members of Cedars-Sinai leadership spoke at the event. In opening remarks, Thomas M. Priselac, Cedars-Sinai president and CEO, saluted "the incredibly resilient class of 2020. Your wait has been especially long after your ceremony was postponed 18 months ago due to COVID-19. Thank you for your remarkable patience." Priselac said this cohort of graduates achieved a professional trifecta: "First, you pursued a rigorous course of study in the face of strange—and often scary—circumstances. Second, the family, friends and mentors who make up your support system are a treasure and a blessing." Shelly C. Lu, MD, winner of Cedars-Sinai Prize for Research in Scientific Medicine The third component also centered on the pandemic, which Priselac observed "is a stark reminder that the calling you've chosen isn't just valuable; it is indispensable. Our collective well-being depends, in no small measure, on biomedical specialists who are devoted to the unique discipline of translating science into medicine." James Lippman, who chairs the Cedars-Sinai Board of Directors, applauded the graduates' perseverance. "Never forget what you achieved," he said. "Your degree was not a foregone conclusion. It happened because, with the support of your family, friends, colleagues and mentors, you made it happen." In his remarks, Shlomo Melmed, MB, ChB, executive vice president of Academic Affairs, dean of the medical faculty and distinguished professor of Medicine, cautioned graduates to avoid the pitfall of focusing on big data rather than big, innovative ideas. He quoted Nobel Prize laureate Sydney Brenner, who wrote, "We are drowning in a sea of data and starving for knowledge." Melmed shared a similar sentiment expressed in a recent issue of Nature by Paul Nurse, PhD, director and chief executive of the Francis Crick Institute in London, "I go to a research talk and feel drowned in data." Melmed's parting wish for graduates was "to be inspired by your rigorously acquired data to develop worthy ideas, which ultimately will endure for medical science." Marcio Diniz, PhD, winner of David L. Rimoin Teaching Excellence Award Before presenting the 2020 and 2021 graduates, Jeffrey A. Golden, MD, vice dean for Research and Graduate Research Education, director of the Burns and Allen Research Institute and professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, advised the graduates to "make a difference. Take risks. Embrace the unknown, the unfamiliar and uncomfortable. It is there where you will make a difference. It is where biomedical discovery lives." The ceremony also featured the presentation of two prestigious awards: Cedars-Sinai Prize for Research in Scientific Medicine (PRISM)—This prize recognizes a scientific breakthrough or critical medical insight made by a Cedars-Sinai faculty member within the past five years. This year's recipient is Shelly C. Lu, MD, professor and director of the Karsh Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in the Department of Medicine and the Women's Guild Chair in Gastroenterology. (Read more about this prize in a separate story in this issue.) David L. Rimoin Teaching Excellence Award—The winner of this award, named for the late Cedars-Sinai scientist, teacher and physician, is selected by doctoral candidates. The 2021 honoree is Marcio Diniz, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and a biostatistician at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute. For those who missed the live commencement ceremony, a recording is available. The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, founded in 2007, earned accreditation in 2012. The rigorous program combines basic scientific and medical exploration with an emphasis on research relevant to understanding, preventing, diagnosing and treating diseases. The school is supported by a robust Department of Biomedical Sciences and a diverse faculty of physicians and investigators who provide world-class training in state-of-the-art laboratories. Congratulations to the classes of 2020 and 2021: Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical and Translational Sciences Marzieh Akhlaghpour (2021) Rachel Emily Baum (2021) Andrew Beppu (2021) Victoria Dardov (2019)* Kenneth H. Gouin III (2021) Nicole Marie Gull (2020) Stefanie Marek-Iannucci (2021) Madelyn E. McCauley (2020) Erica N. Montaño (2021) Andriana Nikolova (2019)* Seeun Oh (2021) Maria Rodriguez (2020) Sara Sabet (2021) Kenneth A. Steadman Jr. (2020) Blandine Faustin Victor (2021) Michael James Workman (2020) Alyson R. Yeckes (2021) Thesis projects completed by the doctoral graduates focused on scholarly discovery of a wide range of disorders, including adverse cardiac events, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Crohn's disease, immuno-oncology, infectious diseases, Kawasaki disease, myocardial remodeling, prostate cancer and systemic lupus erythematosus. Master's Degree in Health Delivery Science Onyemaechi Anoruo (2021) Brandon Birckhead (2020) Janine A. Booth (2020) Shreya Celly (2021) Yufei Chen (2021) Diana Cheng (2021) Christine Jagolino Easterling (2021) David E. Goldenberg (2020) Jennifer Hajj (2020) Leslie Shoji Johnson (2020) Mitchell Kamrava (2021) Elizabeth H. Kim (2020) Helena Kozlova (2020) Daria Ma (2020) Monica Mita (2020) Thu Nguy (2021) Matthew S. Plume (2021) Tahli Ariane Singer-Englar (2020) Chetana Singh (2020) Gaurav Syal (2020) Mani Vahidi (2020) Angela Wagner Velleca (2020) Matthew Wells (2021) Haoshu Yang (2020) Master of Science in Magnetic Resonance in Medicine Adebola Aragbaye (2020) Taylor Beaulieu (2020) Karandeep Singh Cheema (2020) Matthew Dausch (2021) Alan Kwan (2021) Meng Lu (2020) Jhelum Paul (2020) Zhangziyi Zhou (2020) *Defended dissertation after 2019 Commencement Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility