BETHESDA, MD (March 18, 2008) – One of the nation’s oldest and most respected non-profit science organizations will provide more than $86,000 in travel fellowships to underrepresented minority students and scientists to attend the Experimental Biology conference in San Diego, CA, April 5-9. The American Physiological Society (APS), which administers the program, has announced that 52 fellows will receive the travel awards.
APS administers the program with financial support from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Both NIDDK and NIGMS are part of the National Institutes of Health.
The APS Minority Travel Fellowship Program is designed to encourage more students from minority groups that are underrepresented in science to become scientists and remain in the field. African-American, Hispanic, Native American and Pacific Islander undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral students and faculty are eligible for the fellowships. The APS has awarded travel fellowships to approximately 500 minority students and faculty since 1987, when the program began.
In addition to paying travel and registration costs, each fellow is paired with an established researcher, an APS member who is usually in the same research area as the student. More than 60 APS members volunteer each year to be mentors. A number of former minority travel fellows -- now established researchers with their own graduate students -- serve as mentors themselves.
The program provides many career networking opportunities. The mentor introduces the fellow to other established scientists at the conference, and the fellows meet other minority students at an orientation and reception for current and past travel fellows. APS also invites fellows to career workshops, sessions on special skills development, and other special sessions during the conference.
Past fellows have praised the program, saying they received advice concerning their research from scientists they met through the program and also learned the ins and outs of interviewing for a postdoctoral or faculty position.
The 2008 Minority Travel Fellows are as follows:
Adebowale Adebiyi, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN
Julio E. Ayala, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Stefanie M. Azevedo, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM
Moradeke Bamgboye, University of Maryland, Baltimore
Sharell M. Bindom, LSUHSC, New Orleans, LA
Jessica A. Clark, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
Elizabeth L. Crittenden, Texas State University, San Marcos, San Marcos, TX
Nildris Cruz, UPR-Medical Science Campus, San Juan, PR
Marielly Cuevas, Ponce School of Medicine, Ponce, PR
Kylie L. Davis, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND
Dolores F. Doane, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
John H. Dubinion, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS
Jorge L. Gamboa, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
Albert L. Gonzales, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Helmut B. Gottlieb, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX
TanYa M. Gwathmey, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC
Kadine L. Hamilton, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY
James E. Harris, Auburn University, Auburn, AL
Lateira D. Haynes, Spelman College, Atlanta, GA
Andres Hernandez, Auburn University, Auburn, AL
Marcela Herrera, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI
Crystal D. Hill-Pryor, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA
Michael Hoffman, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Sandra Houser, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY
Cynthia Ann Jackson, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL
Brandiese E. Jacobs, University of Maryland, Baltimore
Anna K. Leal, UT Southwestern, Dallas, TX
Exazevia Logan, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC
Elizabeth J. Luger, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND
Keisa W. Mathis, LSU Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA
Matthew McGeachy, LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, Baton Rouge, LA
Miguel F. Molina, LSUHSC, New Orleans, LA
Kimberly X. Mulligan, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Juliana O. Odetunde, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
Norma B. Ojeda, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS
Beatriz Pagan-Ortiz, Ponce School of Medicine, Ponce, PR
Elisha Peterson, Rush Medical College, Chicago, IL
Kristi M. Porter, Emory University, Tucker, GA
José Quidgley, Universtity of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, PR
Clintoria Richards-Williams, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Zelieann Rivera, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Edelmarie Rivera-De Jesús, Ponce School of Medicine, Ponce, PR
Ana E. Rodriguez, University of Puerto Rico - Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, PR
Jesus Salazar, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Christopher L. Sandoval, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Fox Point, WI
Olga I. Santiago, Ponce School of Medicine, Ponce, PR
Mesia M. Steed, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
Ann A. Tobin, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
Inimary Toby, The Research Institute Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH
Carmen M. Troncoso Brindeiro, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
Johana Vallejo-Elias, Miwestern University-Arizona Osteopathic School of Medicine, Glendale, AZ
Lizette Warner, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
Vabren L. Watts, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN
Alencia V. Woodard-Grice, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Physiology is the study of how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function to create health or disease. The American Physiological Society has been an integral part of this scientific discovery process since it was established in 1887. The Society provides a wide range of research, educational and career support and programming to further the contributions of physiology to understanding diseased and healthy states.