Sampada Tamhankar named the 2025 Three Minute Thesis winner for Auburn University

Sampada Tamhankar, a Drug Discovery and Development doctoral student in the Harrison College of Pharmacy, was awarded the overall winner of the 2025 Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition on Wednesday, Nov. 19 in the Melton Student Center Ballroom on the Auburn University campus.

Sampada won with her presentation titled “Repairing brain wires: A new hope for dementia.” Her research explores the underlying causes of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a condition gaining attention after the diagnosis of actor Bruce Willis. By targeting an FTD patient’s degenerating fatty layer of the brain, known as the myelin, that insulates “brain wires,” Tamhankar’s drug treatments aim to rebuild this insulation, thus protecting the neural networks and reducing dementia symptoms. With no currently approved medications for FTD, this Auburn-developed drug therapy offers new hope for dementia patients.

Tamhankar will represent Auburn University in the regional 3MT® competition hosted by the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in February 2026. She was one of ten competitors who advanced to the finals from the twelve preliminary rounds held on Oct. 28 and 30 in the Melton Student Center. A panel of judges scored over 70 student presenters on comprehension, engagement and communication.

A panel of judges scored Sampada the highest among the top 10 finalists, evaluating each presenter on comprehension, engagement, and communication. Rinkesh Patel served as Chief Guest judge for the panel, which also included Dr. Cedric Anderson, Lt. Col. Dr. Kliff Mosley (ret.), Jim Parrish and Dr. Maria Witte. Their expertise and commitment to the integrity of the competition strengthens Auburn’s mission to elevate scholarship and share impactful research with the broader community.

"I'm very proud of Sampada’s hard work," said Rajesh Amin, Professor of Drug Discovery and Development, and Tamhankar’s major professor. “She is an exceptional scientist and shining star in the department with an innate desire to investigate therapeutics in the fight against frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. We are so proud that her dedication is being recognized through the 3MT® presentation,” he added.

In addition, a Runner-Up and a People’s Choice winner are named after the judges and audience have voted, respectively. Seth Vogt, Biological Sciences graduate student, was selected as the Runner-Up for his presentation entitled “Nano-plastics, big impacts on the human brain.” Nicholas Bordonie, Kinesiology doctoral student, took home the People’s Choice award for his presentation on the “The effect of heat acclimation on the ability to tolerate a cold environment.”

Interim Dean of the Graduate School, Ash Abebe, noted the breadth and depth of research showcased this year by the participating students and emphasized the importance of recognizing their work.

“The 3MT® competition recognizes our graduate students’ dedication to research and scholarship and provides them a platform to share their work with the greater community,” said Abebe. “Now more than ever, our scholars need to be able to clearly convey the value and impact of their research to broad audiences.”

Dr. Sheena Stewart, Director of Professional Development at the Graduate School, added, “The 3MT® challenges students to share a compelling and accessible narrative about their thesis or dissertation, in exactly three minutes. It is an enormous challenge —but the energy and hard work these students bring to the competition really exemplifies the Auburn Creed.”

The 3MT® competition was co-sponsored by the Auburn University Graduate School and the Graduate Student Council. This year’s competition was the twelfth annual competition held at Auburn, a concept developed by The University of Queensland in 2008, to prepare graduate students to communicate the value of their research to a broad audience.

For more information about the 3MT® competition at Auburn University, visit https://aub.ie/3MT.