Annual Research Day Continues Growth Trend

“We had more people who wanted to participate this year than we had space to accommodate them,” said Josh Sharp, acting associate dean of research. “We’re looking into options for increasing the number of posters we can include so we can better showcase the research we’re doing at the School of Pharmacy.”

Hosted by the pharmacy school, the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Rho Chi, the forum highlights and celebrates cutting-edge University of Mississippi research.

This year’s event welcomed 96 research posters from faculty, research scientists, staff, undergraduate students and postdoctoral students. The event saw a surge in participation from graduate students, from 34% participating in 2024 to 56% in 2025.

For the first time, organizers introduced a poster competition for postdoctoral students and residents.

They also implemented the SOP Graduate Student Research Day Challenge, where the department with the highest percentage of graduate student participation wins a trophy. Department of Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery graduate students won the competition with a 69% participation rate.

“We were very excited to see participation increase yet again, demonstrating the importance of research to the mission of the School of Pharmacy,” Sharp said. “Our organizers did an outstanding job putting the event together and giving our students and trainees an opportunity to present their exciting work to the community.”

Sharp credited organizers Melissa King, Erin Holmes, Marie Barnard and Karin Ballering for their work on the event.

“We’re taking feedback we received this year and working hard to make next year’s event an even better celebration of our researchers and their work,” Sharp said.