Every July, the campus community comes together to celebrate local postdoctoral scholars at Postdoc Research Day 2024 (PDRD’24.) This year, the day focused primarily on advocacy and empowerment through the “Agents of Change” theme.
“[Postdocs] are essential to our research and education missions,” Dr. Jennifer Richer, dean of the Graduate School, said during her remarks at the event. “[They] drive excellent research and make essential contributions to graduate education.”
The day highlighted two impactful keynote speakers, Amber Ismael, PhD; and Kristan Uhlenbrock, MS.
Ismael, a postdoc alum at CU Anschutz from 2016-2018, is the senior program manager in the Office of Scientific Career Development at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, WA. Ismael’s talk, “Empowered Bites: Making Advocacy Accessible,” focused on how advocacy of national recommendations can improve institutional policy and create a better working environment for postdocs.
Uhlenbrock, executive director of the Institute for Science & Policy at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, spoke about "A Scientist in the Wild: Engaging Outside of Academia and the Lab.” She provided insightful information about how science communication is vital to creating policy change.
A poster session was also held during PDRD ‘24, where more than 40 posters were presented. Awards and prize money were given in two categories: Clinical and Translational Sciences and Basic Sciences.
Poster session winners:
Clinical & Translational Sciences:
- 1st: Joseph Villanueva (Departments of Neurology and Cell & Developmental Biology) - Can optogenetic stimulation of olfactory inputs alleviate Alzheimer's Disease progression?
- 2nd: Jessica Borgers (Department of Surgery - Surgical Ongology) - Advanced stage melanoma during pregnancy: real world managemen
- 3rd: Sara Stoner (Department of Otolaryngology) - Investigating the Role of TNF Signaling in Prevotella-Induced Airway Clearance of Streptococcus pneumoniae
Basic Sciences:
- 1st: Shama Parween (Department of Ophthalmology)- Human Retinal Organoid Model of Photoreceptor Cell Death Amenable to Drug Screening for Retinal Degenerative Diseases
- 2nd: Zhantao Yu (Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology) - IL 18 maintains epithelial homeostasis by regulating the expression of antimicrobial peptides
- 3rd: Timothy Jones (Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology) - Histone deacetylase 8 modulates myofibril relaxation
For more information about the day’s events, planners, and partners, visit PDRD’24’s event program. Click through the photos below to see highlights of the day.
The next opportunity to celebrate postdocs at CU Anschutz will be during the third week of September for National Postdoc Appreciation Week.
