On Wednesday, April 10, the Honors Student Organization officially kicked off its first event of the Spring, the result of a months-long process of logistics, planning, and coordination to formulate its revival, beginning with the Wednesdays @ Washburn series. This event featured the professors of the honors-only course PATH-BIO 210 (HIV: Sex, Society, and Science), Drs. Thomas Friedrich and David O’Connor, with a group of roughly fifteen students actively participated in the conversation regarding their collaborative research in the spread of COVID-19 and Zika.
A group of thirteen Honors students and staff gather in the Washburn Observatory library to listen to Dr. Friedrich and Dr. O’Connor.
The night began with pizza and stories about their initial interests in pathology research, but, much thanks to the diverse backgrounds and unique experiences of attendees, quickly developed into a group-wide discussion spanning the ethics in funding, the role of social and cultural factors in mask-wearing, vaccine research, among many other unique topics. This discussion presented students with the opportunity to gain insights into a wide variety of topics in pathology and beyond directly from experts in the field, ultimately transforming this night into an amazing and memorable experience for all who attended.