Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz, M.D., Ph.D., professor of pathology, left, received the Kosciuszko Foundation's (KF) Pioneer Award for founding the Collegium of Eminent Scientists of Polish Origin and Ancestry, to honor and promote achievements of these scientists in the United States at the KF 80 ^th  Annual Dinner and Ball held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City on April 25. Thaddeus Kosciuszko was a Polish-American hero who fought in the American Revolutionary War. The Kosciuszko Foundation (KF), founded in 1925, is the most prominent American-Polish national organization dedicated to promote educational and cultural exchanges between the United States and Poland, and to increase American understanding of Polish culture and history. Four Nobel Prize winners and numerous members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and of the Polish Academy of Sciences are among M embers of the Collegium.  

John L. Gillick, M.D., PGY V, Department of Neurosurgery, presented "Targeting Glioblastoma and Its Stem Cells Using Novel Small Molecule Inhibitors of the mTOR Pathway," at the AANS/CNS Section on Tumors, 11th Biennial Satellite Symposium held on May 1-2 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C, prior to the 2015 AANS Annual Scientific Meeting, where the meeting leadership considered his abstract for oral presentation. His work was done under the supervision of Meena Jhanwar-Uniyal, Ph.D., research associate professor of neurosurgery.

Ernest Y.C. Lee, Ph.D.,  professor and chairman of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and  Marietta Lee, Ph.D.,  professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, were invited speakers and session chairs at the Fifth Annual World Congress of Molecular and Cell Biology held in Nanjing, China, April 25 - 28. Dr. Ernest Lee presented "Cell Cycle Regulation of DNA Polymerase Delta by CRL4cdt2 which Targets the p12 Subunit for Degradation During G1/S," and Dr. Marietta Lee presented "PDIP46/Poldip3 a Potent Activator of DNA Polymerase Activity and a Novel Component of the Human DNA Replication Machinery."

 

 
Craig Shannon M.D.,  PGY V, Department of Neurosurgery, gave his NREF research fellowship award presentation, "Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury Utilizing Stem Cell Therapy in Conjunction with Anti-Inflammatory Compounds," at the NREF/AANS award talks ceremony in Washington, D.C, on May 5. Dr. Shannon is a recipient of the Research Fellowships and Young Clinician Investigator Awards of Neurological Research and Education Foundation/AANS. Meena Jhanwar-Uniyal, Ph.D., research associate professor of neurosurger y, was his mentor.

 

 

The capstone work of students in the Health Policy and Management program in the School of Health Sciences and Practice was awarded first place in the Student Poster Competition at the New York State Public Health Association Annual Conference in Bolton Landing, N.Y., on April 23. From left: Alexis Adusei, Ubann Odigo, Zulqarnain Javed, Julia Telfer and Jillian Annunziata, presented a poster showcasing their project, Suburban County* Immunization Program, on behalf of their capstone colleagues Christina Bryce, Rosaria Camarda, Dawn French, Shukura Jacobs and Chris Wray. Their faculty advisor Denise C. Tahara, M.B.A., M.Phil, Ph.D., associate professor of public health practice and interim chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management, accompanied them to the conference. Their project seeks to address population health disparities related to access to preventive health services by proposing an evidence-based, culturally-sensitive approach to increase vaccination coverage among adult migrant and seasonal farmworkers in Suburban County, N.Y. The team was also awarded Members' Choice based on votes from NYSPHA members and conference attendees. *Name of county changed for stakeholder anonymity.