Graduate Student and Postdoc News
Take a look at the recent achievements of current Health Center
graduate students and postdoctoral fellows!
August 2009
Mr. Sourojit Bhowmick
Ph.D. student, Immunology, P.I. Dr. Robert Cone
Mr. Bhowmick's paper "The Sympathetic Nervous system
modulates CD4+FoxP3+ regulatory T cells via a TGF-beta dependent
mechanism." was accepted by the Journal of Leukocyte Biology.
The Journal selected the paper as a "Leading Edge Research"
article and will publish it with a dedicated editorial on the
paper. The paper provides new insight into how the sympathetic
nervous system influences the immune system, and defines a
potential new approach to treat Multiple Sclerosis.
July 2009
Ms. Katherine Blackwell
M.D./Ph.D. Student, Cell Biology, P.I.: Dr. Carol Pilbeam
Ms.Blackwell has received an NRSA fellowship from the
National Institute of Aging for her project entitled “PGE2 and
PTH effects on osteoblasts."
Mr. Jing Yang
Ph.D. Student, Cell Biology, P.I. Dr. Greg Huber
A recent article by Mr. Jing Yang, Charles Wolgemuth and Greg
Huber (Kinematics of the swimming of Spiroplasma. 2009. Physical
Review Letters 102: 218102) was highlighted in an article in
ScienceNews. Their work concerns the unusual means of locomotion
employed by the bacterium Spiroplasma. The ScienceNews article
is entitled “Microswimmers make a splash” and can be found at
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/44790/title/Microswimmers_make_a_splash
June 2009
Graduate Student Research Day, June 25, 2009
Ms. Jennifer Cyr
Ph.D. Student, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, P.I.:
Dr. Chris Heinen
Ms. Cyr was chosen by the Graduate Programs Committee as the
recipient of the 2010 Lepow Award. The Lepow Award was
established in 1986 in honor of Dr. Irwin H. Lepow, a well-known
faculty member, researcher and founding father of UCHC. This
award is given to support the outstanding fourth-year graduate
Ph.D. student in the Biomedical Sciences Program. The recipient
receives a $1,500 award, and presents a research talk at
Graduate Student Research Day the following year.
~~~
Also at Graduate Student Research Day, students participated
in the Graduate Student Poster Session. Posters were judged by a
team of faculty members and awards were given to the presenters
with the top three posters. This year's winners were:
Ms. Nicole Jackman
M.D./Ph.D. Student, Neuroscience, P.I.: Dr. Sandra Hewett, for her poster "Interleukin-1β
Regulates Astrocytic System xc-
Activity and Expression"
Mr. Jeff McNamara
Ph.D. Student, Immunology, for his poster "Examining the Role of
CD8+ Tcells in the Development and Resolution of
Allergic Airway Release"
and
Ms. Anna Moore
Ph.D. Student, Neuroscience, P.I.: Dr. Srdjan Antic,
for her poster "Electrical Excitability of Early Neurons in the
Human Cerebral Cortex During the Second Trimester of Gestation."
May 2009
Mr. Sourojit Bhowmick
Ph.D. student, Immunology, P.I. Dr. Robert Cone
Mr. Bhowmick attended an International Conference
:"Immune Tolerance in Cancer and Autoimmune Diseases," May 6-9,
2009, in Antigua, West Indies. At this conference, he was the
only graduate student selected to give an oral presentation.
Dr. Anjali Mandlik
2008 Ph.D. Graduate, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, P.I.: Dr.
Hung Ton-That
Dr. Mandlik was awarded the 2009 Edward G. Henderson Memorial
Prize for outstanding Ph.D. thesis in Biomedical Science for her
thesis "Fucntional and Biochemical Characterization of Pili
in Corynebacterium diptheriae".
This prize was established in memory of Dr. Edward G.
Henderson, a faculty member in the Department of Pharmacology
from 1968 to 1997. Dr. Henderson is remembered for his
commitment to graduate education and his dedicated supervision
of graduate students.
Mr. Richard A. Rodriguez
2009 M.P.H. Graduate
Mr. Rodriguez was this year's recipient of the 2009 Mulvihill
Medal awarded by the Master of Public Health Program for the
student with the most outstanding academic record in combination
with excellence in their capstone project. Mr. Rodriguez' thesis
research project was "The Associations Between Social,
Behavioral, and Health Risk Factors on a High School Student's
Decision to Pursue Post High School Plans."
The award was established by Dr. James E. and Mary Jane
Mulvihill. Dr. Mulvihill was vice president, provost, and
executive director of the UConn Health Center from 1980 to 1992.
He and his wife were committed to the University and worked
tirelessly on its behalf.
Ms. Jennifer Cyr
Ph.D. Student, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, P.I.:
Dr. Chris Heinen
Ms. Cyr received a $500 Travel Grant from the American
Society for Microbiology to present her poster at the ASM's 3rd
Conference on DNA Repair and Mutagenesis in Whistler, Canada
from May 30th to June 4th.
Mr. William Housley
Ph.D. Student, Immunology, P.I.: Robert Clark
Mr. Housley is the first author on a manuscript titled "PPARγ
Regulates Retinoic Acid-Mediated DC Induction of Tregs" recently
accepted for publication in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology.
Ms. Catherine O'Conor
M.D./Ph.D. Student, Cell Biology/Immunology, P.I.: Dr. Robert
Clark
Ms. O'Conor was selected to receive a $500 American
Association of Immunologists Abstract Trainee Award, and her
abstract, “Cbl-b-/- T Cells are Resistant to Treg-expressed
TGF-beta: A Unifying Mechanism for Resistance to Regulation and
Autoimmunity,” was selected for an oral presentation at the 96th
National AAI Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington on May 8-12,
2009.
January 2009
Ms. Ling-Ling Chen
Ph.D. Student, Genetics and Developmental Biology, P.I.: Dr.
Gordon Carmichael
Ms. Chen received the "Outstanding Poster Presentation" award
at the Gordon Conference on RNA Editing that was recently held
in Galveston, Texas. Her poster on " Altered nuclear retention
of mRNAs containing inverted repeats in
human embryonic stem cells: Functional role of a nuclear
noncoding RNA" was chosen from more than 50 others for this
honor, which included covering her travel expenses.
October 2008
Mr. Chad Siegal
Ph.D. Student, Neuroscience, P.I.: Louise McCullough
Mr. Siegal received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research
Service Award for Individual Predoctoral Fellows (F31) from the
National Institutes of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (NINDS)
for the project entitled “Investigation of underlying mechanisms
of sex differences in cerebral ischemia.”
September 2008
Ms. Kristina Kapinas
Ph.D. Student, Cell Biology, P.I.: Dr. Anne Delany
Ms. Kapinas received a Young Investigator Award from The
American Society for Bone and Mineral Research at its 30th
annual meeting in Montreal, Canada. The award was based on her
presentation “Regulation of Osteonectin/SPARC by microRNA-29.”
July 2008
Ms. Anu Swaminathan
Ph.D. Student, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, P.I.:
Dr. Hung Ton-That
Ms. Swaminathan has been chosen to participate in the
Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Fellowship
Program. The program is offered through the National Academies
of Science and Engineering, and is intended to help students
develop the skills that are essential for creating effective
national policies that involve science and technology. Anu will
be hosted by the Government-University-Industry Research
Roundtable in the National Academies' Division on Policy and
Global Affairs.
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