 I initially applied for a medical degree, just MD. I was not intending actually to do research at the time of my application. And so I was going around viewing different medical schools and seeing their programs. And I was really struck by how accommodating the folks at Michigan were, how much they welcomed me and how much they told me, you know, we want you to come here, we want you to be happy. The department as a whole has a very strong record of providing facilities and funding and services to graduate students that really enable you to operate at a very, very high level. You know, as a PhD student in the sciences, much of what you do is tied to how much your department trusts you basically, invests in you and how much they think that you can operate at an advanced level. Here at Michigan, the pathology department, which was my home department during the PhD phase, really had the utmost confidence in their students. They made every resource available to them and they gave them access to advanced technologies and also the opportunity to present their work at conferences nationally and even internationally as a way to help build your confidence and build your skills as an independent researcher. Doing a PhD is really developing the ability to think in an independent way to progress through a project from ground zero to completion and I think that's greatly satisfying. You know, I think there is a very strong tradition of academic excellence here at Michigan and I think the dissertation process is a tradition that is meaningful. It really forces a student to sit down, synthesize what they've done over a number of years and derive sort of core conclusions and, you know, the important salient features of their work that makes it a cohesive whole, that makes it something that's greater than the sum of its parts. In closing, making a acknowledgement to the ability for Rackham and the University of Michigan to support its students and really foster them to great things in their career. My mentor, Rol Chenayan, is a product of the MD-PhD program here at the University of Michigan and about 12 or 14 years ago he was standing up here himself at the Progress Distinguished Dissertation Award Honor and he has the pleasure now today to be on the other end. So thank you very much.