Postdoctoral Research Symposium
Postdoctoral Research Symposium
The Jefferson Office of Postdoctoral Affairs in collaboration with the Jefferson Postdoctoral Association (JPA) hosted the 17th Postdoctoral Research Symposium (PRS) on September 21, 2023.
2023 Postdoctoral Research Symposium
2023 PRS Winners & Planning Committee
From left-right: Caitlyn Cardetti, Francesco De Pascali, Arijita Ghosh, Nopprarat Tongmuang, Benjamin Cartes-Saavedra, Melissa Molho, Garret FitzGerald, Ankeeta A, Elham Javed, Michael Young, Lisa Kozlowski, Arun Kumar Jannu
2023 PRS Award Winners
Outstanding Research In-Depth Presentation - Dr. Benjamin Cartes-Saavedra, from the laboratory of Dr. Gyorgy Hajnoczky
Outstanding Research Lightning Presentation - Dr. Brian Montoya, from the laboratory of Dr. Luis Sigal
Outstanding Poster Presentations - Dr. Ankeeta A, from the laboratory of Dr. Joseph Tracy; Dr. Melissa Molho Medina, from the laboratory of Dr. Holly Ramage; Dr. Nopprarat Tongmuang, from the laboratory of Dr. Jianxin Sun; Dr. Michael Young, from the laboratory of Dr. Suresh Joseph
Outstanding Early Discoveries Poster Presentation - Dr. Elham Javed, from the laboratory of Dr. Raymond Penn
2023 Keynote Speaker: Garret FitzGerald, MD, FRS
Garret FitzGerald, MD, FRS is the Robert L. McNeil Jr Professor in Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where he directs the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics. Previously, he chaired the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics for more than 20 years. Dr. FitzGerald's research has been characterized by an integrative approach to elucidating the mechanisms of drug action, drawing on work in cells, model organisms and humans. His work contributed fundamentally to the development of low-dose aspirin for cardioprotection. FitzGerald's group was the first to predict and then mechanistically explain the cardiovascular hazard from NSAIDs. He has also discovered many products of lipid peroxidation and established their utility as indices of oxidant stress in vivo. His laboratory was the first to discover a molecular clock in the cardiovascular system and has studied the importance of peripheral clocks in aging and in the regulation of cardiovascular and metabolic function.
Dr. FitzGerald has received the Boyle, Coakley, Harvey, and St. Patrick's Day medals, the Lucian, Scheele, Spector and Hunter Awards, and the Cameron, Taylor, Herz, Lefoulan Delalande, and Schottenstein Prizes. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, an honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy and the UK Academy of Medicine, a member of the Leopoldina and the Accademia dei Lincei, a Fellow of of the American Academy of the Arts and Sciences and of the Royal Society. He holds honorary degrees from UCD and RCSI in Dublin, Frankfurt, Edinburgh and King's College, London.
View details on Dr. FitzGerald's Research.
Previous Events
16th Postdoctoral Research Symposium (In-Person)
The Keynote Speaker for the 2022 PRS was Nicola Allen, PhD
Dr. Nicola Allen is an Associate Professor in the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, USA. She received her PhD working with David Attwell at University College London studying neuronal responses to ischemia, and performed Postdoctoral research with Ben Barres at Stanford University, where she identified how astrocytes regulate the formation of functional synapses between neurons. Current work in the Allen lab investigates how astrocytes regulate neuronal synapse number and synaptic function across the lifespan in health and disease. The goal is to use this knowledge of astrocytes to repair synapses when they are dysfunctional in diverse neurological disorders. Dr. Allen has been recognized with a number of awards, including being named a Pew Scholar, Ellison New Scholar in Aging, and receiving a Career Accelerator Award from the CZI Neurodegeneration Network. She is the former postdoctoral advisor for Jefferson Neuroscience faculty member, Elena Blanco-Suárez, PhD.
View complete details on Dr. Allen's website.
2022 PRS Award Winners
Outstanding Research In-Depth Presentation - Dr. Piyush Mishra, from the laboratory of Dr. Gyorgy Hajnoczky
Outstanding Research Lightning Presentation - Dr. Meghan Gannon, from the research office of Dr. Diane Abatemarco
Outstanding Poster Presentations - Dr. Ashutosh Phadte, from the laboratory of Dr. Anna Pluciennik; Dr. Ankita Srivastava, from the laboratory of Dr. Raj Vadigepalli
Outstanding Early Discoveries Research Presentations - Dr. Miyuki Hayashi, from the laboratory of Dr. Lin Guo; Dr. Manjuprasanna Voddarahally Nagaraju, from the laboratory of Dr. Ulhas Naik
2022 PRS Winners, Keynote Speaker & PRS Planning Committee - September 22, 2022
From left-right: Elham Javed, Saman Sarraf, Kristen Davis, Nicola Allen, Piyush Mishra, Meghan Gannon, Ankita Srivastava, Ashutosh Phadte, Miyuki Hayashi, Manjuprasanna Voddarahally Nagaraju, Lisa Kozlowski, Dawn Berkbigler, Jenny Schneider.
15th Postdoctoral Research Symposium (Virtual)
Treena Livingston Arinzeh, PhD
The Keynote Speaker for the 2021 PRS was Treena Livingston Arinzeh, PhD.
Dr. Arinzeh is a Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Dr. Arinzeh received her BS. from Rutgers University in Mechanical Engineering, her MSE in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, and her PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania. She worked for several years as a project manager at a stem cell technology company, Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Arinzeh joined the faculty of NJIT as one of the founding faculty members of the department of Biomedical Engineering and served as interim chairperson and graduate director. Her most notable or cited work to date has been in the use of allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with bioactive ceramics to induce bone formation in a large bone defect without the use of immunosuppressive therapy. This study served the basis for FDA approval to pursue clinical trials using allogeneic MSCs for various applications. Dr. Arinzeh has been recognized with numerous awards, including the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). She is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). She recently served as the chairperson for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering (MTE) Study Section. She is currently a co-PI and the Director of Diversity of the NSF Science and Technology Center on Engineering Mechanobiology, which is a multi-institutional center with the University of Pennsylvania.
2021 Virtual PRS Award Winners
Outstanding Research In-Depth Presentation - Dr. Francesco De Pascali, from the laboratory of Dr. Jeffrey Benovic
Outstanding Research Lightning Presentation - Dr. Arijita Ghosh, from the laboratory of Dr. Gyorgy Hajnoczky
14th Postdoctoral Research Symposium (Virtual)
The Keynote Speaker for the 2020 PRS was Lance A. Liotta MD, PhD
Dr. Liotta is a Tenured Professor in the College of Science, George Mason University. He received the MD and PhD (Bioengineering) from Case Western Reserve University, and fulfilled his residency at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where he initiated a research program that, to date, has yielded more than 700 publications and more than 100 issued or allowed patents. At NIH Dr. Liotta was Chief, Laboratory of Pathology, Chief, Section of Tumor Invasion and Metastasis, and Deputy Director of NIH under NIH Director Bernadine Healy. He and Dr. Emanuel Petricoin of the FDA set up the first NIH/FDA Clinical Proteomics Program and created the Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM).
Dr. Liotta has invented and patented, along with his laboratory co-inventors, high-impact technologies in the fields of diagnostics; microdissection (Laser Capture Microdissection), and proteomics (Reverse Phase Protein Microarrays, Biomarker Harvesting Nanoparticles, Preservation chemistries for tissue, and Protein Painting to discover drug targets), that have been used to make broad discoveries. The Laser Capture Microdissection prototype is in the Smithsonian Collection.
Dr. Liotta has unique expertise in organ extracellular matrix biology for which he made major discoveries concerning the biochemistry of the basement membrane. The CAPMM team applies these technologies to discover novel markers for early stage infectious and neoplastic disease, sepsis, traumatic brain injury, and graft versus host rejection, within an accredited CAP/CLIA diagnostic lab for patient testing.
Dr. Liotta has received numerous scientific awards, including election to AIBME Fellows status, the Arthur S. Flemming Award, the NIH Award of Merit, the Surgeon General’s Medallion, and the 2015 Virginia SHEV award for Research and Scholarship. Since he joined George Mason Dr. Liotta has been continuously funded as an NIH PI. Dr Liotta and Dr. Petricoin, as co-PIs have raised more than $25M in grant funding to support the team.
CAPMM inventions licensed by Mason were the basis of two existing biotech companies Ceres Nanoscience and Theranostics/Avant DX. Three additional startups are being formed using IP licensed from CAPMM: Monet Pharma, Precision Biosciences, and Precision Pharma. Dr. Liotta emphasizes creativity and innovation in research, and education.
2020 Virtual PRS Award Winners
Dr. Cory Knudson, from the laboratory of Dr. Luis Sigal - Oral Session I
Dr. Clare Adams, from the laboratory of Dr. Christine Eischen - Oral Session II
13th Postdoctoral Research Symposium
Dr. Sarah Millar
The Keynote Speaker for the 2019 PRS was Dr. Sarah Millar Director, Black Family Stem Cell Institute and Lillian and Henry M. Stratton Professorial Chair, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York NY
The keynote address will take place 1:30-2:30 pm, Connelly Auditorium, Hamilton Building, 1001 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA.
Sarah E. Millar, PhD is the Director of the Black Family Stem Cell Institute, and Lillian and Henry M. Stratton Professorial Chair in the Departments of Cell, Developmental and Regenerative Biology and Dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. After graduating from Cambridge University, Dr. Millar received her PhD from the University of London and then trained as a post-doctoral fellow at the NIH and at Stanford University. She was appointed to the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania as an Assistant Professor in 1999, and was promoted to a tenured Associate Professor position in 2005 and full Professor in 2009. Dr. Millar served as Director of Research and Vice-Chair for Basic Research in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania before joining Mount Sinai in April 2019. She is a graduate of the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program.
Dr. Millar is internationally recognized as a leading researcher in epithelial biology. Her research group has made seminal discoveries on the roles of Wnt signaling and epigenetic regulatory mechanisms in development and regeneration of the skin and its appendages. She is an Editorial Board member for Developmental Cell and Experimental Dermatology, a Deputy Editor for the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, and has served on numerous national and international grant review committees. Dr. Millar has received several awards in recognition of her research, including an NIH MERIT Award for her work on Wnt signaling in the skin, and the 2017 William Montagna Lectureship Award of the Society for Investigative Dermatology.
2019 PRS Award Winners
Outstanding Oral Presenters
Dr. Patrizia Porazzi, from the laboratory of Dr. Bruno Calabretta
Dr. Xi Chen, from the laboratory of Dr. Peisong Ma
Outstanding Poster Presenters
Dr. Zuzana Nichtova, from the laboratory of Dr. Gyorgy Csordas
Dr. Flora Szeri, from the laboratory of Dr. Koen van de Wetering
Dr. Malela Werner, from the laboratory of Dr. Daniel Silver
Dr. Eric Wong, from the laboratory of Dr. Luis Sigal
Outstanding Poster Presenters, Early Discoveries
Dr. Lazaro Aira, from the laboratory of Dr. Gudrun Debes
Dr. Jennifer Romer-Seibert, from the laboratory of Dr. Sara Meyer
12th Postdoctoral Research Symposium
The Jefferson Office of Postdoctoral Affairs in collaboration with the Jefferson Postdoctoral Association (JPA) hosted the 12th Postdoctoral Research Symposium (PRS) on Thursday, June 7th, 2018. The Keynote Speaker was hematologist, Dr. Katherine High.
Dr. Katherine High
Dr. Katherine High, MD, PhD, is a hematologist and was a Professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania for 22 years. During this time, she was also an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Founding Director of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. High has a long-standing interest in gene therapy for genetic disease, and has pioneered the safe and effective translation to clinical studies in inherited retinal dystrophies and in hemophilia. In 2013, she helped to co-found a gene therapy company, Spark Therapeutics, where she currently serves as President and Head of R&D.
Spark is focused on discovering, developing, and delivering gene therapies for genetic disease. Under Dr. High's leadership, Spark has received Breakthrough Therapy Designation for three programs, one for hemophilia A, one for hemophilia B and the other for a rare form of congenital blindness. In 2017, the FDA approved Spark Therapeutics’ Luxturna®, an AAV vector for the treatment of a rare form of congenital blindness. Dr. High is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has published over 200 scientific papers, and holds a number of patents related to gene therapy.
2018 PRS AWARD WINNERS
Outstanding Oral Presenters
Dr. Brigid Jensen, from the laboratory of Dr. Piera Pasinelli
Dr. Dan Erkes, from the laboratory of Dr. Andrew Aplin
Outstanding Poster Presenters
Dr. Xi Chen, from the laboratory of Dr. Peisong Ma
Dr. Yu-Ting Mao, from the laboratory of Dr. Matthew Dalva
Dr. Claire Simmoneau, from the laboratory of Dr. Arie Horowitz
Dr. Shunchuan Zhang, from the laboratory of Dr. Chris Snyder
Outstanding Poster Presenter, Early Discoveries
Dr. Aastha Kapoor, from the laboratory of Dr. Renato Iozzo
11th Postdoctoral Research Symposium
The Jefferson Postdoctoral Association and the Jefferson College of Life Sciences (JCLS) Office of Postdoctoral Affairs hosted the 11th Jefferson Postdoctoral Research Symposium (PRS) on Wednesday, May 31, 2017. The Keynote Speaker was Dr. William Kaelin
Dr. William Kaelin
Dr. William Kaelin is a Professor at the Department of Medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, and Associate Director, Basic Science, for the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. He obtained his undergraduate and MD degrees from Duke University and completed his training in internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he served as chief medical resident. He was a clinical fellow in Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, during which time he was a McDonnell Scholar.
Dr. Kaelin is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Institute of Medicine (IOM). In 2016, Dr. Kaelin was awarded the prestigious Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award. Dr. Kaelin is the former postdoc mentor of Dr. Haifeng Yang, Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Anatomy and Cell Biology, Thomas Jefferson University.
2017 PRS Award Winners
Outstanding Oral Presenters
Dr. Xiaosong He, from the laboratory of Dr. Joseph Tracy
Dr. Valentina Minieri, from the laboratory of Dr. Bruno Calabretta
Outstanding Poster Presenters
Dr. Clare Adams, from the laboratory of Dr. Christine Eischen
Dr. Adam Bartok, from the laboratory of Dr. Gyorgy Hajnockzy
Dr. David Booth, from the laboratory of Dr. Gyorgy Hajnockzy
Dr. Lauren Jablonowski, from the laboratory of Dr. Flemming Forsberg
Dr. Aurore Lebrun, from the laboratory of Dr. Craig Hooper
Outstanding Poster Presenters, Early Discoveries
Dr. Elena Mogilyansky, from the laboratory of Dr. Linda Siracusa
Dr. Patrizia Porazzi, from the laboratory of Dr. Bruno Calabretta
Past Keynote Speakers 2006-2018
2014 - Dr. Elaine Fuchs, Rockefeller University
2013 - Dr. Jonathan Yewdell, NIAID, NIH
2012 - Dr. Scott Kern, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
2011 - Dr. Sharon Milgram, NIH
2010 - Dr. Keith Yamamoto, University of California, San Francisco
2009 - Dr. Carol Prives, Columbia University
2008 - Dr. Robert Lefkowitz, Duke University
2007 - Dr. Kenneth Fischbeck, NINDS, NIH
2006 - Dr. Christopher Austin, Chemical Genomics Center, NIH