Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s National Postdoc Appreciation Week. Whether it was in the Postdoctoral Assembly (PDA) or in an event at your institution, we hope that SOT postdocs and their colleagues nationwide had an opportunity to celebrate their hard work and major accomplishments!
As SOT President, Leigh Ann Burns Naas, wrote in her address to SOT postdocs at the beginning of the week, “Your participation in the Society is important to its success by making meaningful contributions towards advancing the science of toxicology and building for the future of the discipline.”
The PDA was established to identify and meet the needs of SOT postdocs. Through establishing communication with postdoc members, forming long-term collaborations with other SOT committees, and promoting recruitment and transition to careers, the PDA formulates and implements programs of interest to its members and those in fields intersecting with toxicology. All SOT members who are postdoctoral scholars are part of the Postdoctoral Assembly. The PDA Board is elected by the Assembly to lead their activities.
The mantra we hope to leave with all postdoc members is “get involved, stay involved, and get others involved.” The PDA’s activities are successful in large part due to the dedicated volunteers, who come forward from the PDA Representatives and the Assembly as a whole, to contribute and provide feedback throughout the year. We are excited as planning begins for the PDA-hosted programs that will take place during the upcoming SOT Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD. The PDA Board will be organizing a number of activities to include Poster Tours for Trainees, a PDA Career Development session, Career Exploration through Speed Interviews event, and the Postdoctoral Assembly Luncheon. Stay tuned this fall for updates on these activities.
The PDA also encourages all SOT postdocs to apply for the Best Postdoctoral Publication Award. The BPPA recognizes outstanding work accomplished during formal mentored postdoctoral traineeships by recognizing recently published exceptional papers in the field of toxicology.
We look forward to facilitating professional development for the SOT postdocs again this year!
Manushree Bharadwaj, BVSc, PhD, 2018-2019 PDA Chair