Congratulations to Experimental Pathology PhD program students Connor Wilhelm, MS and Nimra Aman, MS for passing their comprehensive exams during the spring 2026 semester!

The goal of the comprehensive exam is to determine whether the student has acquired the basic skills to continue with the dissertation phase of their PhD program and ultimately succeed as a scientist. These skills include the ability to fully understand a basic problem in the field, create an appropriate hypothesis, and generate an experimental approach to address the hypothesis. By nature of the exercise, the student’s ability to communicate in written and oral form are also tested. The comprehensive exam takes the form of a grant proposal and is "off-topic." Specifically, the focus of the proposal is on the subject of the student’s research but must not be directly related to the dissertation project.

Connor and Nimra are both working toward their PhD degrees in Alexander Boyden, PhD’s lab.