U.Va. Graduate Student Wins International ‘Three-Minute Thesis’ Competition

Lindsey Brinton, a graduate biomedical engineering student at the University of Virginia, won the People’s Choice Award in Universitas 21’s international Three-Minute Thesis Competition.

The event challenges students to communicate the significance of their research projects to a nonspecialist audience in just three minutes. Brinton’s presentation, explaining her research into new methods to detect pancreatic cancer before it is too late to save the patient, won the popular vote in October’s online balloting. She earned a $300 prize.

“As I worked on my three-minute thesis, I was surprised just how dependent on science jargon I had become,” said Brinton, who researches in the lab of Kim Kelly, associate professor of biomedical engineering. “This competition enabled me to break free of that and share my research with a broader audience. To have it be so well-received was awesome.”

Amy Bouton, associate dean for graduate and medical scientist programs and a professor of microbiology, immunology and cancer biology, said, “This is a great achievement for Lindsey, and a wonderful reflection on the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, the Department of Biomedical Engineering, the School of Medicine and the School of Engineering and Applied Science.”

To view Brinton’s video, “Catching Tumors by Their Webs,” click here.

— by Brian Murphy