Submitted by Kimberly C. Hodge-Bell, CDI Chair
The Committee on Diversity Initiatives (CDI) is pleased to announce the first recipients of the Diversity Initiatives Endowment Career Development Award. The Society of Toxicology (SOT) recognizes that career development experiences facilitate successful entry of students into advanced degree programs and transition into the modern toxicology workforce. The Diversity Initiatives Endowment Career Development Award enables undergraduate and graduate students to engage in additional education and career development opportunities to enhance their personal development. The SOT Diversity Initiative Endowment Fund provides the award that aims to increase and retain individuals from groups under-represented in the biomedical sciences. Recipients of this award are chosen based on criteria that include quality of proposed experience, relevance of the proposed professional activity to a career involving the science of toxicology, academic achievement, and recommendation by academic advisor. The deadline for the next award applications is October 9, 2017.
Rosa Chan, a graduate student of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), will attend and present at the Gordon Research Conference on Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Toxicity. This conference is a unique forum for students, postdocs, and other early career scientists to present and exchange novel, cutting-edge ideas including new data on mechanistic toxicology. Ms. Chan wrote, “I believe the exceptional range of experts in the field of mechanistic toxicology will greatly expand my network and allow me to further my research.” In her studies at UCSF, she has been investigating the potential of the Biopharmaceutics Drug Disposition Classification System (BDDCS) as a methodology for evaluating toxicologic outcomes of therapeutic agents.
Kristen Noell, a graduate student at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), will present her research at the Molecular Parasitology Meeting at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The meeting covers all aspects of parasite molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, and genomics, focusing on protozoan parasites. She looks forward to learning more about parasitology research as her focus at the UMES is the parasite Perkinsus marinus. Her goal is to continue in research. In addition to presenting at the meeting, Ms. Noell hopes to make as many new connections as possible. Her advisor wrote, “Her work will have important implications for other fields, as fatty acid metabolism is a fairly hot topic in medical research.”
Monica Rios-Cabanillas, a graduate student at Michigan State University, will attend the Society for Advancement of Chicano/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) Conference. SACNAS is an inclusive organization dedicated to fostering the success of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans, from college students to professionals, in attaining advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership in STEM. Ms. Rios-Cabanillas will present her latest research data, attend forums, and participate in networking events. Her research focuses on whether acute exposure of methylmercury on renshaw cells interneurons contributes to calcium dysregulation leading to cell death. In addition to presenting her own work, Ms. Rios-Cabanillas will participate as a judge providing valuable feedback to undergraduate students at their posters.
Ignacio Tripodi, a graduate student at the University of Colorado, Boulder, will attend the 10th Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences. The primary reasons Mr. Tripodi decided to pursue a graduate degree were a passion for science and the desire to effect a change in the way laboratory animals are used. The focus of his research is the development of computational techniques to reduce, refine, and ultimately replace the use of animals in biomedical research. The conference will provide him access to the latest computational trends and techniques, as well as valuable connections from both industry professionals and graduate students with shared interests.
Yislain Villalona, an undergraduate at Northern Kentucky University, presented her work at the Teratology Society and Developmental Neurotoxicology Society conferences. She attended a professional development workshop for students and postdocs, an evening career-development event, mentoring breakfasts with professional scientists, and other programming to support trainees. Since she has been in the lab, it has been her goal to learn and to present in meetings to broaden her knowledge. She also attended both poster sessions of both meetings to maximize her toxicology exposure. For the past two and half years, Ms. Villalona has been working in a toxicology lab and now wants to learn more about genetics, behavior, and histology. Her interest has even broadened to teaching children through toxicology outreach.
Continue support of outstanding students such as these by contributing to the SOT Endowment Fund.