Three WVU School of Medicine students recognized with 2023 Outstanding Graduate Student Awards

Three students from the West Virginia University School of Medicine have been recognized with the Health Sciences Office of Research and Graduate Education’s annual Outstanding Graduate Student Awards in the areas of Outstanding Leadership, Service and Mountaineer Values.

For the first time since the implementation of these awards, all three of the students recognized belonged to graduate programs within the School of Medicine. The awardees for 2023 include Carly Amato-Menker from the Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis Ph.D. Program, Kent Marshall from the Clinical and Translation Science M.D./Ph.D. Program and Taylor Heckert from the Athletic Training Program.

“While we had many outstanding nominations for each of the categories, these three individuals rose to the top for their continued commitment to going above and beyond for the WVU community and surrounding area,” said Julie Lockman, Ph.D., assistant vice president for graduate education.

The 2023 Outstanding Service award was given to Amato-Menker, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis Ph.D. Program, who has demonstrated a commitment to service that has left a positive effect on the University, as well as the surrounding community, region and state.

Throughout her time as a graduate student at WVU, Amato-Menker has been a member of several student-led organizations, including the Graduate Student Organization, Graduate Women Advocating Science and the WVU School of Medicine Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. She has participated in a number of community-focused projects through these programs, including organizing a fundraising event through the Graduate Student Organization at a local restaurant in which 20% of all proceeds were donated to a non-profit benefitting victims of the Russian War in Ukraine.

The 2023 Outstanding Leadership award was given to Marshall, a sixth-year M.D./Ph.D. candidate in the Clinical and Translational Science M.D/Ph.D. program, who demonstrated effective leadership within student organizations and helped create learning opportunities for his peers.

Marshall has filled several leadership roles in various student-led organizations at WVU, including serving as the president of his M.D. class as a second-year medical student. In this role, he was instrumental in making meaningful changes within the curriculum, while also protecting the interest of his classmates through academic council. Marshall currently serves as the president of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Student Chapter at WVU, where he has worked to re-vamp the program and generate hands-on workshops for interested students to explore the field of neurosurgery.

The 2023 Outstanding Mountaineer Values award was given to Taylor Heckert, a 2023 graduate of the Athletic Training program at WVU. The purpose of the award is to recognize a student who has demonstrated an embodiment of the Mountaineer Values of service, curiosity, respect, accountability and appreciation. Nominations cited Heckert’s initiative, curiosity, interpersonal skills, leadership skills and sense of responsibility as assets that set her apart from her peers.

Throughout her time in the program, Heckert was heavily involved in the research being done in the Mountaineer Sports Medicine Research Laboratory. She partnered with WVU Athletics to develop an ACL Testing Program at the University, where she worked in collaboration with clinicians to screen athletes following an ACL operation and create a comprehensive rehab plan for them.

The Outstanding Graduate Student Awards recognize WVU Health Sciences students who go above and beyond the general expectations of graduate students to proudly represent the values of WVU. The awardees are selected through nominations submitted to the Office of Research and Graduate Education by WVU faculty, staff and students.

To learn more about the opportunities available to graduate students at the School of Medicine, visit medicine.hsc.wvu.edu/students/graduate-programs.