Six Postdocs Earn Awards At Texas A&M Symposium

Six postdoctoral researchers received awards for flash talks or poster presentations during Texas A&M University’s Fifth Annual Postdoctoral Research Symposium, which celebrated National Postdoc Appreciation Week.

The Texas A&M Postdoctoral Association, the Texas A&M Health Science Center Postdoctoral Association and the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences Postdoctoral Association organized the virtual event.

More than 37 postdocs presented their research to 106 peers, faculty and staff from 15 colleges and schools.

The symposium awarded honors in two categories.

Outstanding Flash Talk Presentations

• First place: Lauren Stranahan, College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
• Second place: Ashley Hood, College of Science
• Third place: Ziying Lei, College of Geosciences

Outstanding Poster Presentations

• First place: Cameron Manche, College of Geosciences
• Second place (tie): Jaclyn Iannucci, College of Medicine, and Mayur Doke, College of Pharmacy

“We are very pleased with the broad participation and high number of attendees from across Texas A&M campuses, said Andreea Trache, faculty advisor for the Texas A&M Postdoctoral Association, and associate professor, College of Medicine and College of Engineering. “This annual event showcases the postdoctoral scholars’ contribution to the research enterprise at Texas A&M, and the quality of the presentations reflected their professionalism.”

Speakers for the symposium included Jack G. Baldauf, interim vice president for research; Amy Waer, dean, College of Medicine; Michael Criscitiello, associate dean for research and graduate studies, College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences; and keynote speaker Melanie V. Sinche, interim assistant dean for academic affairs, University of Saint Joseph, West Hartford, Connecticut.

Members of the postdoctoral associations’ executive committees organized and coordinated the symposium. The Division of Research, the College of Medicine Office of Postdoctoral Affairs and the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences’ Office of Research and Graduate Studies provided administrative support.

About Research at Texas A&M University: As one of the world’s leading research institutions, Texas A&M is at the forefront in making significant contributions to scholarship and discovery, including science and technology. Research conducted at Texas A&M generated annual expenditures of more than $1.131 billion in fiscal year 2020. Texas A&M ranked in the top 25 of the most recent National Science Foundation Higher Education Research and Development survey based on expenditures of more than $952 million in fiscal year 2019. Texas A&M’s research creates new knowledge that provides basic, fundamental, and applied contributions resulting in economic benefits to the state, nation, and world. research.tamu.edu