(l-r) Drs. Dario Vitturi, Nicole Arroyo-Diaz, Mara Carreño, M.S.The UAB Department of Pathology recently funded travel awards to three trainees, Md Akkas Ali, Dr. Nicole Arroyo-Diaz and Samuel Chang, who presented their research at national meetings. 

Md Akkas Ali, a third-year Ph.D. student in the laboratory of Daniel Tyrrell, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Molecular and Cellular Pathology, recently presented the digital poster, "Age-Associated CD8+ T Cells Accumulate in the Aging Brain" in a moderated session at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2024. The conference took place November 14-18 in Chicago, Illinois. 

Nicole Arroyo-Diaz, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow in the laboratory of Dario Vitturi, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Molecular and Cellular Pathology, deliveredMd Akkas Ali the oral presentation, titlled, "Kynurenine-Carboxyketoalkene (Kyn-CKA): A Novel immunomodulatory mechanism at the interface between innate and adaptive responses" at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Society for Redox Biology and Medicine. The conference was held in Savannah, Georgia November 20-23. 

Samuel Chang, a graduate student in the laboratory of Adam Wende, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Molecular and Cellular Pathology, also presented the poster, titled, "Obesity as an Underlying Driver of Differences in Racial and Socioeconomic Disparity Associated Cardiac DNA Methylation Among Men with End-stage Heart Failure" at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2024. 

"I had the opportunity to present the latest work out of our lab at a global forum," said Chang. "AHA allowed me to connect with cardiovascular researchers, physician-scientists and mentors from all over the world."

Ten travel awards up to $500 will be available each year in three cycles, with at least three awards available each cycle. The program is now accepting applications for the March - June 2025 cycle. The deadline for applications is March 1, 2025.

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Required application materials:

1. A copy of the submitted abstracted, oral or poster presentation, and copy of email confirmation of submission and acceptance.
2. A short paragraph outlining what scientific meeting will be attended and how attending this meeting contributes to training.
3. Brief biosketch/CV of applicant, including years in program, research lab and qualifying exam status (student) or years in lab (postdoc).
4. A letter of support from PI/mentor.

Application submission:

Email all required materials as a single pdf file identified by the applicant’s name (i.e., LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME) using: Novembe.np7vpzcgmpepmum8@u.box.com

For more information on eligibility, requirements, review criteria, and subsequent deadlines contact Fatima Igdoura at figdoura@uabmc.edu or Shannon Bailey, Ph.D., Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs, at: shannonbailey@uabmc.edu.