MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Rakesh Bam was one of 80 students selected nationally to make an oral presentation at the largest professional conference for biomedical students, known as the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, held in Austin earlier this month.
Bam, a Southern Arkansas University senior majoring in Biology from Dhangadhi, Nepal, shared his research on Hepatitis C virus proteins and DNA replication, a topic he studied extensively during an internship this summer at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. He was one of 16 students to be selected this summer for the internship and was one of 80 out of 1,200 students nationally to be selected to make an oral presentation in Austin.
Traveling alone to Austin was a good experience for an international student such as himself, Bam said. And the more times he presents research in front of people, the less nervous he becomes, he said.
“It is always good to present your research because someone in the audience might be interested in you and want to talk to you,” Bam said. “The most important thing is networking.”
Bam said meeting people was easy at the conference that attracts about 2,600 people including undergraduates, graduates and faculty and administrators. There were more than 200 exhibition booths at the conference. Bam said he asked professionals for their business cards and asked students to send him a message on Facebook, a Web site many college students use to stay connected with each other.
While in Little Rock, Bam had to make three oral presentations, one poster presentation and prepared a final research paper. Dr. Larry Cornett, director of the Arkansas Institutional Network for Biomedical Research Excellence program and vice chancellor of research at UAMS said he felt confident Bam did a good job making his presentation in Austin despite the fact that it must have been intimidating for a college student.
“I remember him as one of the better students in the program. He worked with an accomplished professor this summer and I didn’t think for one minute that he wouldn’t do well,” Cornett said.
Dr. Kevin Raney, a professor of biochemistry and molecular chemistry at UAMS who worked closely with Bam and said the conference was a terrific opportunity for Bam and a testimony to his hard work.
“He took his work really seriously and did an overall good job,” Raney said. “He has a combination of good skills and ambition.”
Bam is the son of Birendra and Lalita Bam of Dhangadhi, Nepal. He plans on continuing his education and pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree. His special areas of interest are biotechnology and biochemistry.
