UGA grad students, postdocs gather for annual Scientific Research Day
The University of Georgia Graduate Students and Postdocs in Science (GSPS) will hold its fourth annual Scientific Research Day on today at the Pharmacy South building of the College of Pharmacy.
This free, interdisciplinary event will feature presentations by graduate students and postdoctoral associates from the University of Georgia research community. Lisa Hensley of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will deliver the keynote address.
Hensley currently serves as the director of Regulatory Science for the Medical Countermeasure Initiative in the Office of the Commissioner at the FDA. Previously, she was the Chief of Viral Therapeutics, Virology Division with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). Hensley has emerged as one of the premier scientists in the development and characterization of animal models as well as the discovery of therapeutics and vaccines for diseases such as Ebola virus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and smallpox.
During her time at USAMRIID, Hensley has identified a candidate therapeutic for the SARS virus and multiple candidate therapeutics for Ebola, one of which has also been shown to have effectiveness for the Marburg virus. Her awards include being selected as Ten Outstanding Young Americans (TOYA), Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the world (TOYP), and the Department of Army Superior Civilian Service Award. She has authored over 95 peer review articles and contributed to numerous book chapters.
Created in early 2009, GSPS provides a forum for graduate students and postdoctoral associates at UGA to prepare for science careers through professional development and networking opportunities. The organization has 314 members representing 30 departments and seven schools/colleges at UGA. In addition to its annual research day, GSPS organizes a yearly career symposium and hosts regular open forums addressing topics ranging from balancing family and career goals to finding postdoctoral fellowships.
The keynote lecture is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research and the University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. Additional sponsors currently include the Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute, the Institute for Behavioral Research, the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, the UGA Graduate School, the UGA Libraries, the Institute of Bioinformatics, the Department of Infectious Diseases in the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Department of Food Science and Technology in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, the Department of Genetics in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and the UGA Veterinary Medical Experiment Station.
Cash prizes will be presented to the best oral and poster presentations. For more information or to learn more about GSPS, visit http://www.gsps.uga.edu.