UC graduate says virus won't spoil his special day

Althoff and his wife, Sara, and their 9-month-old daughter, Isla, will watch the virtual ceremony from home. He’s considering a bigger gathering with friends and family in the future. The virtual ceremony will feature congratulatory remarks from Andrew Filak, MD, dean of the College of Medicine, UC President Neville Pinto, PhD, and Melanie Cushion, PhD, associate dean for research in the College of Medicine. All graduates have been asked to submit photos for the ceremony; each name will be read aloud while the graduate’s image is displayed.

“Graduation is very different this year, but we are living in an unprecedented era impacted by COVID-19,” says Iain Cartwright, PhD, associate dean and director of the Office of Graduate Education in the College of Medicine. “Our hope is to celebrate our graduates’ achievements in a way that is safe but meaningful and to wish them all a highly successful future knowing their knowledge and devotion to scientific discovery will serve our nation well.”

Althoff plans to continue his research with a postdoctoral fellowship after graduation. At UC he spent seven years researching the molecular mechanisms that drive hematopoietic stem cell fate. He currently works in the laboratory of Jose Cancelas Perez, MD, PhD, a Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center researcher who is also director of research at Hoxworth Blood Center and a UC professor of pediatrics.

His dissertation studies with Cancelas Perez were largely focused on understanding fundamental hematopoietic stem cell biology and how it may offer a therapeutic avenue into addressing blood cancers and hematologic disorders such as cytopenias, leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. During his time in the College of Medicine Althoff was a recipient of a Ryan Fellowship, the college’s highest award for graduate students who show exceptional promise of future impact in biomedical research.