Marian University Wood College of Osteopathic Medicine

🚧 Attention MU-WCOM Students 🚧
As you know, parking will be more limited this academic year due to construction of the new Center for Human Flourishing.

🅿️ The returning undergrads and graduate students from other programs will be joining us on campus for the beginning of their fall semester August 24th. As of Friday, August 21st, please plan to arrive early as commuter parking lots will fill quickly during peak morning hours.

📍 Be sure to review the campus parking map and look for the highlighted commuter parking lots and designated overflow parking areas, including the Cycloplex shuttle lot, which will play an important role in helping accommodate parking demand this year.

🚌 If the lots closest to campus are full, the Cycloplex shuttle provides a convenient option to get you where you need to go. The shuttle schedule is Monday-Friday, from 7:15 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

✅ Review the map before your first day back. ✅ Know your commuter parking options. ✅ Give yourself extra time to park and get to class.

Plan ahead, park smart, and have a great semester! 💙💛

We’re celebrating another incredible MU‑WCOM D.O. Day of Service! For the fifth year, Home Repairs for Good partnered with Marian University’s Wood College of Osteopathic Medicine to welcome the incoming Class of 2030 for a day of hands‑on community care.

168 medical students joined staff, volunteers, and faculty on July 29 to help older adults and people with disabilities stay safe and independent at home. Volunteers served 11 homeowners (including three veterans) and the Aspire House community center in Indianapolis’ Near Northwest neighborhood—completing landscaping and exterior repairs that improve safety, accessibility, and quality of life.

Watch the video https://hubs.la/Q04rGTkQ0 and swipe through the photos on Flickr https://hubs.la/Q04rH5sv0 to see the day in action—teamwork, smiles, and real impact. Thank you to Home Repairs for Good, MU‑WCOM faculty/staff, volunteers, and the Class of 2030 for showing how future physicians create lasting change. ❤️

What an inspiring day! Last Sunday, Marian University welcomed the DO Class of 2028 to their White Coat Ceremony. Congratulations on reaching this milestone—best of luck as you move into clinicals! We also took a moment to honor the mentors, faculty, students, and partners who make this work possible.

Award Winners:
- Dr. Troy Payner – 2026 Distinguished Mentor (Meaningful Medicine Mentoring (MMM) Awards)
- Dr. Jordan Phelps – 2026 Distinguished Mentor (MMM Awards)
- Dr. Robert Daze – 2026 Distinguished Mentor (MMM Awards)
- Dr. Fred Frick – 2026 Mentor of the Year (MMM Awards)
- Dr. Megan B***e – 2026 Faculty Excellence in Teaching (Biomedical Faculty)
- Dr. Robyn Fuchs – 2026 Faculty Excellence in Teaching (Biomedical Faculty)
- Dr. Jeremy Jones – 2026 Faculty Excellence in Teaching (Clinical Faculty)
- Dr. Jesse Clark – 2026 Faculty Excellence in Teaching (Clinical Faculty)
- Ella Moritz, DO – Outstanding Academic Achievement Award, Class of 2028

We’re proud of you, Class of 2028—onward and upward!

Check out all the photos from the event at https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCZPa5!

Congratulations to the DeSmet Lab on publishing "Targeted Protein Degradation Strategies in DNA Virus Research" in Viruses, a peer-reviewed open-access journal of virology, published online monthly by the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute.

In the article, they explored a technology called PROTACs, which act like molecular disposal tags. Viruses depend on proteins, both their own and those inside cells, to reproduce and remain in the body. PROTACs direct specific proteins to the cell’s natural protein-degradation system so they can be broken down.

They review how scientists can use this technology to better understand how DNA viruses, including human papillomaviruses and herpesviruses, cause infection and persist in the body. We also suggest new viral proteins that could be studied or targeted using PROTACs.

This approach may eventually contribute to new antiviral treatments that selectively remove proteins viruses need to survive.

Well done, Dr. Marsha DeSmet, Michael Lam '26, MS, OMS-1, Ethan Thornburg '26, MS, OMS-1, and Chayah Hill '26, MS!

Read the article at https://hubs.la/Q04pD0J50.

Congratulations to MU-WCOM professor Samina Akbar, Ph.D., on the publishing of her recent work “Revised microbiology core knowledge objectives for modern undergraduate medical education,” in the American Society for Microbiology's Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, which defines updated core learning objectives for medical microbiology in response to the changing structure of preclinical training.

The work provides educators with a flexible, clinically grounded framework to strengthen curriculum design, support student learning, and clarify the foundational microbiology knowledge future physicians need for practice. The article was published in collaboration with faculty from multiple allopathic and osteopathic medical schools.

Read the abstract at https://hubs.la/Q04n_fHM0.

Sponsor a White Coat!

The Tom and Julie Wood College of Osteopathic Medicine White Coat Ceremony is a proud tradition at Marian University, as well as a transformative moment for our first and third-year medical students. To don a white coat is indicative of professionalism, capability, and, most importantly, trust.

This rite of passage has always involved the faculty and staff of MU-WCOM cloaking the students—however, we'd like to include you, our alumni and friends, in the fun. Be a part of this moment by sharing words of encouragement and providing support for the White Coat Ceremony.

Our generous partners at the Indiana Osteopathic Association have agreed to sponsor this year's white coats. Please join me in supporting the Wood College of Osteopathic Medicine White Coat Ceremony with a $75 gift to sponsor a student. I have spent my entire professional career committed to the Osteopathic profession, and it brings me great joy to see our alumni give back to our current students.

Learn more and sponsor a student at https://hubs.la/Q04m8B780 prior to the White Coat Ceremony on Sunday, July 19.

Luke Nelligan, DO
Chair and Assistant Professor of Family Medicine
Marian University Wood College of Osteopathic Medicine

Marian University Alumni Association
Marian University Indianapolis

What a blessing it was to see 72 MU-WCOM alumni representatives return to support the 2026 Hospital Day & Residency Fair through meaningful conversations around residency training, specialty exploration, mentorship, and life after medical school.

We closed the day with an alumni reception to reconnect, celebrate, and recognize the growing MU-WCOM physician community, which is now almost 1,500 alumni!

Thank you to our alumni for continuing to invest in the next generation of osteopathic physicians.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the 2026 MU-WCOM Hospital Day and Residency Fair.

From interactive, in-person engagement with Student Interest Groups to meaningful conversations with hospitals and residency programs, the day was all about helping future physicians connect with the people and programs shaping healthcare.

Check out all the photos on flickr. https://hubs.la/Q04lDlvc0