Dr. Suh to receive AAO Senior Achievement Award
Donny Suh, M.D., an associate professor in the department of ophthalmology and visual sciences at UNMC and chief of pediatric ophthalmology and adult strabismus at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center, will receive the Senior Achievement Award for 2018 at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting being held in October in Chicago.
The Achievement Award program recognizes individuals who participate in the scientific programs at the annual meeting and encompasses more than 25 categories of contribution to the academy.
Dr. Challagundla receives Leukemia Research Foundation grant
The Leukemia Research Foundation awarded Kishore Challagundla, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, a grant of $100,000 in blood cancer research funding for his research titled “Exosomic miRNAs and PD-L1 in AML Therapy Resistance.” The LRF provides one-year grants of up to $100,000 to new investigators — scientists who are establishing their own laboratories and are no longer under the tutelage of a senior scientist mentor, to facilitate pursuit of groundbreaking research ideas that could lead to significant breakthroughs.
“Providing grants to new investigators is critically important because federal funding for blood cancer research has dropped by 25 percent in the last several years,” said LRF Executive Director Kevin Radelet. “We’re in the midst of losing an entire generation of cancer researchers because new investigators with fresh, groundbreaking ideas can’t get the funding they need to develop the data required for greater funding from the National Institutes of Health. Grants from the Leukemia Research Foundation not only advance blood cancer science but also jump-start careers for these scientists.”
The Leukemia Research Foundation, headquartered in Northfield, Ill., is committed to funding research and providing support to people affected by blood cancers.
Student in Dr. Byrareddy’s lab earns major national scholarship
Matthew Muellner, a summer student in the lab of Sid Byrareddy, Ph.D., associate professor in the UNMC Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, has been awarded one of the four scholarships for 2018 by the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation.
“I am very grateful for the award and the opportunity that comes with it,” said Muellner, a junior at Creighton Preparatory High School in Omaha. “I couldn’t have done it without the incredible support I have received from Dr. Byrareddy and his lab members. Through the individuals in the lab I’ve learned so much about virology/immunology and life as a scientist in general.”
Muellner has worked the past two summers in Dr. Byrareddy’s lab, which focuses on the development of simian-human immunodeficiency viruses that can be used as challenge viruses to test drug/vaccine efficacy in animal models to develop treatment strategies against HIV/AIDS.
The scholarship will cover four years of undergraduate study at any college or university
Students attend annual Agricultural Health and Safety Course
The Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health and the UNMC College of Public Health hosted 38 students from across the world on July 10-13 for the eighth Annual Agricultural Health and Safety Course. Professionals in the fields of health care, insurance, public health, emergency response, health and safety, as well as students from the UNMC Colleges of Public Health and Pharmacy took part in the four-day course. Health and safety issues from agricultural allergies to zoonosis were presented by topic experts. A trip to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln farm provided course participants with a first-hand view of agricultural safety and health hazards.