AGENDA AT A GLANCEFFrriiddaayy,, MMaarrcchh 1111,, 22000055

TIME ACTIVITY LOCATION8.00 – 9.00 Registration Lobby, Ballroom 6

9.00 – 9.20 Welcome and Overview Ballroom 6A

9.20 – 10.15 Session I Plenary: The NPA’s Agenda for Change Ballroom 6A

10.15 – 10.45 BREAK Lobby, Ballroom 6

10.45 – 11.45 Session II Plenary: The Sigma Xi Postdoc Survey Ballroom 6A

11.45 – 1.45 Luncheon and Keynote Address Ballroom 6B

1.45 – 3.15 Session III: Concurrent Professional Development Workshops

Perspectives in Diversity: Part I Room 2

The NIH K Awards Program Room 6C

Difficult Conversations: Strategies, Tactics and Skills Room 6F

Career and Job Search Strategies for Postdocs Room 7A

Trends in Postdoctoral Training Room 7B

3.15 – 3.45 BREAK Lobby, Ballroom 6

3.45 – 5.15 Session IV: Concurrent Panel Discussions

Career Symposium Room 6C

Evaluating Best Practices Room 2

Effective Strategies for Enhancing the Postdoctoral Experience Room 6F

5.15 – 6:30 Social Hour and Poster Session

Distinguished Service Award Presentation Room 16B

7.00 Optional Dine Around Off site

Saturday, March 12, 2005

TIME ACTIVITY LOCATION7.00 – 8.00 Continental Breakfast Ballroom 6B

8.00 – 9.00 Session V Plenary: NPA Business Meeting Ballroom 6A

9.00 – 10.30 Session VI: Concurrent Professional Development Workshops

Perspectives in Diversity: Part I (Repeated) Room 2

Effective Communications at Work Room 6C

Postdoc Policy 101 Room 6F

A Comprehensive Pilot Mentoring Program Room 7A

10.30 – 11.00 BREAK Lobby, Ballroom 6

11.00 – 12.30 Session VII Plenary: National Policy Update Ballroom 6A

12.30 – 2.00 Networking Lunch Ballroom 6B

2.00 – 3.30 Session VIII: Concurrent Professional Development Workshops

Perspectives in Diversity: Part II Room 7B

Policy Roundtable: Fostering Collaboration Room 2

Postdoc Work Visa Options Room 6C

Career and Job Search Strategies for Postdocs (Repeated) Room 6F

A Comprehensive Pilot Mentoring Program (Repeated) Room 7A

3.30 – 4.00 BREAK Lobby, Ballroom 6

4.00 – 5.30 Session IX Plenary: Academic-Industry Relations Ballroom 6A

5.30 – 6.00 Meeting Summary and Closing Ballroom 6A

7.00 Optional Dine Around Off site

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Table of Contents

Agenda-at-a-Glance Inside front cover

Detailed Meeting Agenda 3

Acknowledgements 11

NPA Distinguished Service Award Recipient 2005 12

Speaker Biosketches 13

Annual Meeting Committee Roster 23

Travel Award Recipients 24

Committee Reports 25

Poster Abstracts 33

Executive Board Roster and Biosketches 41

American Chemical Society Information 47

NPA Sustaining Members 2004 48

9.00 – 9.20Welcome and OverviewSteven Wendell, Chair, Annual Meeting Committee

9.20 – 10.15Session I Plenary: The NPA’s Agenda for ChangeKeith Micoli, Chair, NPA Executive Board

The NPA’s mission is to advance the U.S. researchenterprise by maximizing the effectiveness of theresearch community and enhancing the quality ofthe postdoctoral experience for all participants. Torealize this mission, the NPA has developed astrategic plan that includes a vision, core values,goals and objectives for the organization, along withmeasurements of success. A Business Plan has alsobeen developed to ensure the NPA’s long-term sus-tainability. The NPA’s Agenda for Change is prima-rily a policy document intended to describe thoseelements of the postdoctoral experience that theNPA wishes to change for the better. This changecan only be brought about by postdocs themselves,working in partnership with principal investiga-tors, institutional leaders, funding agencies, disci-plinary societies, and allied national organizations.The centerpiece of the NPA Agenda for Change isthe NPA Recommended Practices Guide. The majorrecommendations in this Guide will be presented atthis session, with additional commentary abouthow stakeholders can affect positive change beyondthe institutional level.

10.15 – 10.45 BREAK

10.45 – 11.45Session II Plenary: The Sigma Xi PostdocSurvey

SESSION SPONSOR: National Institute of Environmental Health SciencesGeoff Davis, Project Director, Sigma Xi

Amber Budden, NPA Executive Board Member

In an effort to enhance the postdoctoral experience,Sigma Xi and the National Postdoctoral Associationhave partnered with postdoctoral associations andoffices across the U.S. to develop, support and coor-dinate a national set of postdoc surveys. The pur-pose of the Sigma Xi Postdoc Survey is to improvethe training and research experiences of postdoc-toral researchers by providing a better understand-ing of the factors that contribute to productive post-doctoral experiences. Early results from this com-prehensive national survey will be presented by thePrincipal Investigator, Geoff Davis. The leader ofthe NPA Postdoc Survey Collaboration Project willpresent information about the NPA’s plan for fur-ther analysis of the data and how this effort willinform the NPA’s strategies and policy agenda inthe coming years.

11.45 – 1.45Luncheon and Keynote AddressSteven Sample, President, University of SouthernCalifornia

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AGENDA

Friday, March 11, 2005

1.45 – 3.15Session III: Concurrent ProfessionalDevelopment Workshops*

Perspectives in Diversity I: Fostering EffectiveCommunication and Building Trust

Shannon Bayer, Program Administrator, Office forPostdoctoral Training and Career Development,Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Jabbar Bennett, PhD, Research and ScienceSpecialist, Minority Faculty Development Program,Office for Diversity and Community Partnership,Harvard Medical School

This interactive workshop is designed to educateparticipants on issues related to building and fos-tering a diverse scientific workforce. The sessionwill help to identify key resources related to diver-sity issues and to provide tools for individuals, pro-gram administrators and organizations to enhancediversity within their institutions. The session willbegin with an overview of the current scientificworkforce in terms of diversity, with a focus on bothstrengths and weaknesses. The moderators willthen facilitate a discussion of a series of vignettesthat will enable participants to practice skills inte-gral to communicating effectively and buildingtrust across gender, racial and ethnic lines.Outcomes of this workshop will help to identifyadditional resources for members of the NationalPostdoctoral Association as well as the PostdoctoralOffice/Postdoctoral Association Toolkits.

NIH Mentored Career Development Award:Know Your K

Joan M. Lakoski, Assistant Vice Chancellor forAcademic Career Development, University ofPittsburgh Health Sciences; Founding andExecutive Director of the Office of Academic CareerDevelopment, and Professor of Pharmacology,University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Robert Milner, Professor of Neural and BehavioralSciences and Director of the Junior FacultyDevelopment Program, Pennsylvania StateUniversity College of Medicine.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) primarygrant mechanism for supporting new and mid-career investigators is the Mentored CareerDevelopment Award (a.k.a. K Award). This work-shop explores the range of K Award options avail-able, provides an overview of the K Award applica-

tion process and review criteria, features a K Awardapplication review by a mock study section (thatreveals what really goes on behind those closeddoors), and includes a step-by-step guide to prepar-ing an outstanding and successful application.

Difficult Conversations: Strategies, Tacticsand Skills

R. Kevin Grigsby, Vice Dean for Faculty andAdministrative Affairs, Penn State College of Medicine

Luanne E. Thorndyke, Associate Dean forProfessional Development, Penn State College ofMedicine

The ability to successfully engage in difficult con-versations is crucial for career advancement andconflict management. Dr. Grigsby and Dr.Thorndyke will use an interactive and case-basededucational format to analyze conflict situationsand discuss options for managing them more effec-tively. Participants will have a variety of opportuni-ties to apply the concepts and tactics to their per-sonal needs.

Career and Job Search Strategies forPostdocs (sponsored by ScienceCareers)

David G. Jensen, Monthly Columnist, Science’sNext Wave

Bill Lindstaedt, Director, Career Center, Universityof California, San Francisco.

This session will focus on a unique mix of strategiesand techniques for scientists who are either in thejob search process currently or who are teachingothers to develop a career plan. Scientific careerplanning tools can provide guidance to your careerthat you may need to fall back on from time to time.Certainly, a career plan of a few pages cannot serveas a road map through every twist and turn of yourwork life, but it can point out a desired destinationand help you remember the reasons why you setthat course in the first place. In this hands-on work-shop, the speakers will introduce you to careerplanning tools that will help put your next fiveyears into sharp focus. Personal career analysissuch as the SWOT exercise (Strength-Weaknesses -Opportunities-Threats) will be combined with toolsused at the well-known UCSF Career Center. Alongwith a discussion of these tools will come a verycandid analysis of the job market for scientists, andhow best to manage a job search campaign.

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Trends in Postdoctoral Training: Results froma Disciplinary Survey of CurrentPostdoctoral Fellows and PhDs 5-10 YearsLaterJoseph Cerny, Department of Chemistry, Universityof California, Berkeley

Though this survey focused on nuclear physics andnuclear chemistry PhDs, many of the resultsappear to be broadly applicable to the post-PhDexperience in natural science. Web surveys withquestions on the overall career path, the search forthe first job, the total time as a postdoc, economicfactors of the postdoc, doctoral education and expe-rience, and family and career issues, were sent to352 postdoctoral fellows and 412 recent PhDs innuclear science, attaining more than 60% responserates. Addi-tional open-ended questions probedopinions such as the advice that the respondentswould give to beginning graduate students and tothe doctoral program itself. Some comparisons willalso be made to the results of an earlier study ofbiochemistry and mathematics PhDs 10–13 yearslater.

3.15 – 3.45 BREAK

3.45 – 5.15Session IV: Concurrent Panel Discussions

Career Symposium

Mukund Chorghade, President, ChorghadeEnterprise/CP Consulting

Sandra L. Schmid, Professor, The Scripps Research Institute

Avi Spier, Director of Business Development, TheGenomics Institute of the Novartis Foundation

This session will be subdivided into two parts. Thefirst part will include a 15 minute address by eachof three panel members representing diverse careerexperiences. Presenters will answer the followingquestions: how does a postdoc prepare for and tran-sition into this career field; what skills or personal-ity are critical for success in your field; what dailyroutine characterizes your current career? After thepanel discussion, participants will split-up into

small roundtables at which a broader variety ofindividuals engaged in different careers will pre-side. These roundtable discussions will provide anopportunity to interact more directly and informal-ly with those in careers of your choosing.

Evaluating Best Practices

Christina Lewis, Postdoctoral Scholar, Universityof California, San Francisco

Mary Bradley, Director, Office of Post GraduateAffairs, Washington University in St. Louis

Ahmad Naim, President, Postdoctoral Association,Thomas Jefferson University

Lara Campbell, Senior Program Associate,American Association for the Advancement ofScience

The goal for this session is to present informationon established programs that have been of thegreatest value in enhancing the status of postdocsat a variety of institutions and nationally.Information will be provided on how these institu-tions and organizations have acquired data on theneeds of the postdoctoral community and developedstrategies for evaluating how changes in policiesare impacting the postdoctoral population.

Effective Strategies for Enhancing the Postdoctoral Experience

Jessie Peissing, Chair of the Executive Committee,Brown University Postdoc Association

Jeff Goldberg, Professor, Department of BiologicalSciences, University of Alberta

Steve Johnson, Insurance Broker, Garnett-Powers& Associates

The goal for this session is to present innovativestrategies undertaken by University systems,Postdoctoral Offices and/or Associations to imple-ment various policies, benefits, programs and/orsocial activities at a range of institutions.Presenters will highlight special challengesencountered at their institutions and how thesewere resolved. Guidance will be offered on howinstitutional leaders, offices and associations atother institutions might address some of the issuesthat have been successfully resolved at the presen-ters’ home institutions.

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5.15 – 6:30Social Hour and Poster SessionDistinguished Service Award PresentationHonoring the Committee on Science, Engineeringand Public Policy (COSEPUP), The National Academies

7.00 Optional Dine Around

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7.00 – 8.00 Continental Breakfast

8.00 – 9.00Session V Plenary: NPA Business MeetingKeith Micoli, Chair, NPA Executive Board,Presiding

9.00 – 10.30Session VI: Concurrent ProfessionalDevelopment Workshops*

Perspectives in Diversity I: Fostering EffectiveCommunication and Building TrustRepeated; see description on page 4

Effective Communications at WorkSam Castañeda, Director, Office of Visiting Scholarand Postdoc Affairs, UC Berkeley

Today, a person’s competence and effectiveness arebased on their ability to communicate effectively.Competence isn’t the problem. How you communi-cate is! The average worker receives more than 150communications each day through a variety ofmedia. Learn the tips on how to be an effectivecommunicator at work by understanding the bene-fits and obstacles of communicating face-to-face, inmeetings, in written form, by e-mail, or by tele-phone, including voice mail. The only thing worsethan a bad meeting is a great presentation thatcould have been sent as a memo. This workshop willenhance your understanding of the limitations ofwritten communication as well as the benefits of“live” communication. Fifty-five percent of whatpeople perceive of others comes from body languageand facial expression; 38 percent comes from tone of voice; seven percent is based on the actual words people use! Come and learn to effectivelycommunicate.

Postdoc Policy 101

Carol Manahan, Science and Technology PolicyFellow, American Association for the Advancementof Science (AAAS)

Raymond Clark, NPA Executive Board Member

“The best advocate for postdoc policy change is aninformed constituent.” This session is designed toaddress this goal by informing postdocs and postdocadvocates about postdoc policy, the policy process,and the opportunities and challenges facing advo-cates for changing the postdoctoral experience. Themajor focus will be on national and federal policiesand perspectives, but the institutional policy cli-mate will be discussed as well. Throughout this ses-sion, past and current efforts by the NPA to changepostdoc policies will be discussed. The session willdirectly address the following questions:

1. What issues are important to postdocs andwhich can be addressed by policy change?

2. What are the implications of postdoc policychange, or lack of change, to the broader scien-tific community?

3. Who are the big players on the national and fed-eral scene?

4. What recent events and policy changes haveaffected postdocs?

5. What are the challenges for changing or propos-ing national and institutional postdoc policies?

This session will provide participants with theknowledge they need to be truly effective advocatesfor changing postdoctoral policies.

A Comprehensive Pilot Mentoring Program atthe University of California, San FranciscoChristine D. Des Jarlais, Assistant Dean forGraduate Outreach & Postdoctoral Affairs, UCSFGraduate Division

James Kahn, Associate Director, UCSF-GladstoneInstitute, Center for AIDS Research

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Saturday, March 12, 2005

To develop the next generation of scientists, theCenter for Aids Research (CFAR) at the GladstoneInstitutes recently launched a pilot mentoring pro-gram targeted towards the scientific career con-cerns of junior investigators and postdocs. This pro-gram emphasizes one-on-one interactions betweenwell-established UCSF PIs and junior researchersfrom diverse academic disciplines, and also providesa series of career workshops for mentees and train-ing for mentors.

10.30 – 11.00 Break

11.00 – 12.30Session VII Plenary: National Policy UpdateWalter Goldschmidts, Acting Research TrainingOfficer, Office of Extramural Research, NationalInstitutes of Health

Jim Lightbourne, Senior Advisor, Directorate forEducation and Human Resources, NationalScience Foundation

Keith Yamamoto, Member, National ResearchCouncil’s Bridges to Independence: Fostering theIndependence of New Investigators in the LifeSciences Committee

This session will provide an update on efforts bythree national agencies, two federal and one pri-vate, to address policy issues affecting the quality ofthe postdoctoral training experience and the transi-tion to independence as an early career scientist.Representatives of the National Institutes of Healthand the National Science Foundation will discussrecent efforts to address these issues proactivelythrough conferences, advisory bodies, staff taskforces, programmatic changes and substantive rec-ommendations that will impact budgets and grantrequirements. The session will conclude with anoverview of the National Research Council’sBridges to Independence Committee Report. Thiscommittee within the Board of Life Sciences wascharged with examining the challenges facing earlycareer bioscientists in achieving independence, withparticular emphasis on obtaining research grantsfrom the NIH.

12.30 – 2.00 Networking Lunch

2.00 – 3.30Session VIII: Concurrent ProfessionalDevelopment Workshops

Perspectives in Diversity II: Fact versusFiction – A Roundtable Discussion

Jabbar Bennett, Research and Science Specialist,Minority Faculty Development Program, Office forDiversity and Community Partnership, HarvardMedical School

This interactive workshop will build on the back-ground presented in “Perspectives in Diversity I:Fostering Effective Communication and BuildingTrust” and provides participants an opportunity toshare their experiences and perspectives withregards to diversity. The session will conclude witha presentation of statistics related to diversity inScience, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics(STEM) disciplines. The session will serve to putindividual thoughts and experiences into the con-text of creating a more diverse scientific workforce.

Policy Roundtable: Fostering Collaboration

FEATURED PARTICIPANTS: Walter Goldschmidts, Acting Research TrainingOfficer, Office of Extramural Research, NationalInstitutes of Health

Jim Lightbourne, Senior Advisor, Directorate forEducation and Human Resources, NationalScience Foundation

Keith Yamamoto, Member, National ResearchCouncil’s Bridges to Independence: Fostering theIndependence of New Investigators in the LifeSciences Committee

Raymond Clark, NPA Executive Board Member

Avi Spier, Director of Business Development, TheGenomics Institute of the Novartis Foundation

This session is designed to bring influential stake-holders together with postdoctoral scholars to dis-cuss ways these groups can collaborate to enacteffective and beneficial policy changes at nationaland institutional levels. It is clear that stakeholdersare actively seeking to improve postdoctoral train-

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ing, but it is less clear how coordinated this effort is.This session is an ideal opportunity to (1) match theneeds and unique capabilities of complementarystakeholders, (2) harness the energy and initiativeemerging from earlier sessions at this meeting, (3)discuss which NPA Policy initiatives resonate moststrongly with our constituents, and (4) identify thechallenges that need to be addressed in implement-ing these policies. Active participation of the NPAmembership is highly desired during this session toenhance the exchange of ideas and to enable all par-ticipants to gain an appreciation for their role in theprocess of creating innovative and essential post-doctoral policies. The final goal of this session is tocreate a set of suggestions that the PolicyCommittee and Executive Board can use in settingpolicy priorities for the NPA.

Postdoc Work Visa Options and PermanentResidence in the U.S.

Adam Green, Immigration Attorney, Law Office ofAdam Green, Los Angeles, CA

Sam Castañeda, Director, UC Berkeley VisitingScholar and Postdoc Affairs, UC Berkeley

Most international postdocs enter the U.S. witheither a J-1 or H-1B visa. Leading national immi-gration attorney, Adam Green, will present aninformation session that will provide a comparisonbetween these visas. The J-1 visa waiver and H-1Bwork visa options will be discussed and an overviewof how to obtain permanent residence as anOutstanding Professor/Researcher, as an individualof Extraordinary Ability, or through the NationalInterest Categories will be offered. The new laborcertification program will also be discussed. Plentyof time will be set aside for your questions.

Career and Job Search Strategies forPostdocs (sponsored by ScienceCareers)

Repeated; see description on page 4

A Comprehensive Pilot Mentoring Program atthe University of California, San Francisco

Repeated; see description on pages 7-8

3.30 – 4.00 Break

4.00 – 5.30Session IX Plenary: Academic-IndustryRelationsJim Severson, Vice Provost, Intellectual Propertyand Technology Transfer, University of Washington

Doros Platika, President & CEO, Pittsburgh LifeSciences Greenhouse

Trevor Penning. Associate Dean for PostdoctoralResearch Training, University of Pennsylvania

The evolving relationship between academia andindustry impacts postdoctoral training on severallevels. In addition to direct effects, training for afuture in academia or the many careers availableoutside academia is better served by understandingthis relationship. This session will provide anoverview of the relationship between academicresearch and industry, the potential for regional col-laborations to enhance training that respond tothese influences, and the challenges for institutionsas they strive to provide innovative training that iscognizant of this relationship.

5.30 – 6.00Meeting Summary and ClosingJames Austin, Associate Editor, Science’s NextWave

7.00 Optional Dine Around

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SPONSORSAAAS/Science

The Alfred P. Sloan FoundationThe National Institute of Environmental HealthSciences (NIEHS)ScienceCareers.org

Our Colleagues at the American Associationfor the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Jim Austin, PhD, Associate Editor, Science’s NextWaveCathy Campos, Directorate Administrator,Education and Human ResourcesBeth Dwyer, Sales Manager, ScienceCareers.orgShirley Malcom, PhD, Head of Directorate,Education and Human ResourcesGinger Pinholster, Director, Office of PublicProgramsDarryl Walter, Marketing Manager, Office ofPublishing and Member ServicesAnn Williams, Senior Production Specialist,Education and Human Resources

Our Colleagues at the American ChemicalSociety

Jura Viesulas, EdD, Manager, ProfessionalServicesJerry Bell, Senior ScientistMarta Gmurczyk, PhD, Senior Education AssociateBeverly Johnson, Manager, Logistics, Meetingsand Expositions ServicesKathleen Thompson, Assistant Director, Meetingsand Expositions Services

Corporate Partners

Garnett-Powers & Associates

NPA Advisory Board (2004)

Eleanor Babco, Executive Director, Commission onProfessionals in Science and TechnologySam Castaneda, Director, Visiting Scholar andPostdoc Affairs Program, University of California,BerkeleyPhilip S. Clifford, PhD, Associate Dean forPostdoctoral Education, Prof. of Anesthesiologyand Physiology, Medical College of WisconsinTimothy Coetzee, PhD, Director, Research TrainingPrograms, National MS SocietyGeoff Davis, PhD, Principal Investigator, Sigma XiPostdoc Survey, Sigma Xi, The Scientific ResearchSocietyRoslyn W. Orkin, PhD, Assoc. Clinical Prof. ofAnatomy and Cellular Biology, Harvard MedicalSchool; Assistant Dean for Faculty AffairsTrevor M. Penning, PhD, Prof. of PharmacologyBiochemistry & Biophysics and OB/GYN,University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine;Associate Dean of Postdoctoral Research Training,and Director of Biomedical Postdoctoral ProgramsJoan P. Schwartz, PhD, Assistant Director, Officeof Intramural Research, OD/NIH Nancy B. Schwartz, PhD, Prof., Departments ofPediatrics and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology,University of Chicago; Director, Kennedy MentalRetardation Research Center; Dean, GraduateAffairsAvron Spier, PhD, Director of BusinessDevelopment, Genomics Institute of the NovartisResearch FoundationCrispin Taylor, PhD, Executive Director, AmericanSociety of Plant Biologists

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AcknowledgementsThe National Postdoctoral Association wishes to thank

the following organizations and individuals for their advice and support in organizing and promoting our Third Annual Meeting.

The NPA DistinguishedService Award 2005The National Academies’ Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy (COSEPUP),including its staff and volunteer members, has shown unprecedented leadership on behalf ofenhancing the postdoctoral experience. For over a decade, COSEPUP has drawn much-need-ed attention to the issues of mentoring, postdoctoral training, and the role of the scientificcommunity in proactively addressing these issues. With the publication of its MentoringGuide in Science and Engineering in 1997, COSEPUP provided critical guidance for facultyand other professionals who interact with postdoctoral scholars. Perhaps the most significantcontribution by COSEPUP was the publication of its handbook on Enhancing the PostdoctoralExperience for Science and Engineers in 2000. This book provided a blueprint for all stake-holders wishing to address the shortcomings of the current postdoctoral training system.Never resting on its laurels, COSEPUP sponsored the first Convocation on Enhancing thePostdoctoral Experience for Science and Engineers in 2001, bringing together a diverse groupof faculty, postdocs, administrators, funders and disciplinary society leaders to foster collabo-rative approaches to implementing solutions. Since that time, the COSEPUP Chair and itsstaff have been active in many conferences and meetings focused on these issues. The NPAwas pleased to join with COSEPUP and other allies to co-sponsor the second Convocation onEnhancing the Postdoctoral Experience for Science and Engineers in 2004, immediately fol-lowed by the NPA’s 2nd Annual Meeting. COSEPUP has continued to be a vital source of lead-ership on critical issues facing the postdoctoral community, as evidenced by its current inves-tigation into the Policy Implications of International Graduate Students and PostdoctoralScholars in the U.S. The NPA is pleased to recognize the efforts of COSEPUP, which haveserved as a catalyst for significant change in the quality of the postdoctoral experience.

About the award....Each year, the NPA offers a Distinguished Service Award to an individual or entity that hasdemonstrated a profound, sustained, or leadership contribution to improving the postdoctor-al training experience. Nominations are welcomed from the public, including NPA members.A formal call for nominations is issued each Fall. The first recipient of the NPA DistinguishedService Award in 2004 was Dr. Ruth Kirschstein.

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Jim Austin graduated from Swarthmore College in1987 with a major in physics. After completing aM.S. (UNC, 1989) and a Ph.D. (UNC, 1992) heworked for several years as a postdoc, one year as avisiting research professor, and an additional yearas soft-money research professor before followinghis chemist wife to the wilds of Maine where henavigated a chaotic but eventually successfulcareer change into science writing and policy.

Jim joined Science’s Next Wave in 2001, aswriter/editor for the Career Development Centerfor Postdocs and Junior Faculty (CDC). In thiscapacity he studied and wrote about the essentialcareer skills needed for success in academic science.Jim has since become Next Wave’s global Editor;the scope of his work has expanded to encompassscience careers inside and outside of academe.Since joining Next Wave, Jim has consistentlyadvocated the interests of young scientists againstan often indifferent scientific establishment.

Shannon Bayer, BS, is the Program Administrator inthe Office for Postdoctoral Training and CareerDevelopment (OPTCD) at the Dana-Farber CancerInstitute (DFCI). As the Program Administrator ofOPTCD she is responsible for leading a variety ofprojects, such as a salary analysis for the postdoc-toral population and a benefits analysis for thosewho are changing their funding status. Shannonbegan working at the DFCI a Research Recruiter in2002. She is responsible for finding the best andbrightest technicians, researchers and postdoctoralcandidates to further Dana-Farber’s mission totreat and cure cancer. Shannon received herBachelor’s Degree from the University of Vermontin Animal and Biological Sciences. Shannon is cur-rently pursuing a J.D. at Suffolk University with afocus on International Employment and Labor. One

of her main interests is dealing with equality in theworkplace. Dana-Farber recently implemented astandardized Diversity training for all employeesand mandates that all employees attend the train-ing. She leads internal trainings in Dana-Farber forthe Human Resources department and plans toexpand her trainings for OPTCD.

Jabbar R. Bennett, PhD, is Research and ScienceSpecialist in the Office for Diversity andCommunity Partnership at Harvard MedicalSchool (HMS), and Adjunct Professor in the Schoolof Education at Lesley University in Cambridge,MA and at Roxbury Community College in Boston,MA. He received his B.S. in biology and minor inSpanish from North Carolina A&T State Universityand his PhD in biomedical sciences from MeharryMedical College where his dissertation researchfocused on the ablation of gene expression inLeishmania. He is Co-Principal Investigator of theHMS Minority K-12 Initiative for Teachers andStudents (MKITS) grant funded by the NationalHeart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of theNational Institutes of Health (NIH), and is current-ly an Administrative Fellow in the HarvardUniversity Administrative Fellowship Program. Herecently completed a tenure as an Education PolicyFellow in the Massachusetts Education PolicyFellowship Program (EPFP) sponsored by theInstitute for Educational Leadership inWashington, DC, and now serves as co-chair of theDiversity Committee of the National PostdoctoralAssociation (NPA).

Mary Brenan Bradley is Director, Post GraduateAffairs, in the Division of Biology & BiomedicalSciences at Washington University in St. Louis.The Office of Post Graduate Affairs (OPGA) was

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SPEAKER BIOSKETCHES

created in November 2002 and primarily supportspostdocs at the School of Medicine. OPGA providesresources & welcome packets for postdocs, managesthe website (http://dbbs.wustl.edu/postdoc), andruns seminars for career and professional develop-ment in conjunction with the University CareerCenter. Ms. Bradley has also worked with multipleoffices at the Washington University to implementthe Postdoctoral Education Policy which was effec-tive July 1, 2004. Ms. Bradley is a native of St.Louis but has also lived in Washington, DC andPark City, UT. She has a degree in InternationalRelations from The American University and is cur-rently working on her Master of Liberal Arts atWashington University.

Amber Budden, PhD, is currently a postdoctoralscholar within the Mueseum of Vertebrate Zoology,University of California, Berkeley. Prior to thisappointment Dr. Budden worked within the depart-ment of Environmental Science, Policy andManagement at Berkeley and the department ofNatural Resources and Environmental Science atthe University of Nevada, Reno. In addition to herecological research activities, she served the post-doc community as President of the BerkeleyPostdoctoral Association from 2002 to 2004, wascommittee member on the UC Council ofPostdoctoral Scholars and is active on variousNational Postdoctoral Association committees. Dr.Budden was recently elected to serve on the NPAExecutive Board for a two year term, commencingJanuary 2005. She is the Chair of StrategicPlanning Governance Committee, Co-chair of thePublications Committee, and a member of theInternational Postdoc Committee. She is the princi-pal liaison between the NPA and the Sigma XiPostdoc Survey project, leading the NPA’s efforts toanalyze the results of this national survey.

Lara Campbell is a Senior Program Associate withthe Research Competitiveness Program at theAmerican Association for the Advancement ofScience (AAAS). This program provides review,evaluation, and guidance to the science and engi-neering community on the development of qualityresearch programs. She is also a Program Managerwith the AAAS Fellowship Programs, which bringprofessional scientists and engineers to WashingtonDC for a year to advise and learn from policy mak-ers. There, she manages the AAAS Defense Policy,Department of Homeland Security, and AAAS/NTI

Global Security Fellowships. Prior to joining AAAS,Lara was a postdoctoral research fellow in theHeart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of theNational Institutes of Health (NIH), where herresearch focused on the effects of HIV infection oncellular redox. Before working at NIH, she servedas lecturer and postdoctoral researcher in theDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry at TheUniversity of Texas at Austin. She holds the PhD inChemistry from the University of Texas at Austinwhere her graduate work focused on syntheticorganic and bioorganic chemistry. Her bachelor’sdegree, also in chemistry, is from Rice University.Lara has studied Arabic for many years. Despiteher knowledge of statistics, she continues to ride amotorcycle.

Sam Castañeda has worked for the University ofCalifornia—Berkeley and Los Angeles campuses—for more than 20 years. During this time, he coordi-nated international support services for both stu-dents and scholars and has held several leadershippositions with the NAFSA: Association ofInternational Educators. At the Berkeley campus,Sam has introduced several innovations that havesupported the postdoctoral enterprise including theestablishment of a postdoc affairs office, ombuds-man for postdocs, postdoc grievance procedure, andworked diligently for several years on the newlylaunched UC Systemwide postdoc health and wel-fare benefits. He also co-chaired a Berkeley campuspostdoc oversight team; developed a speechimprovement class for international postdocs; andintroduced the Postdoc Pizza Parlor, a forumwhereby postdocs could informally meet campusofficials who are responsible for their oversight.Sam currently is an advisory board member of theNational Postdoctoral Association (NPA); is authorand project leader of Quick Guide to Visas forInternational Postdocs, one of the NPA’s first publi-cations; and, serves on several NPA and NAFSAsub-committees.

Joseph Cerny is a Professor of Chemistry at theUniversity of California at Berkeley and a FacultySenior Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley NationalLaboratory. He received a BS in ChemicalEngineering from the University of Mississippi in1957, was a Fulbright Scholar at the University ofManchester, England (1957-58), and received aPhD in nuclear chemistry at Berkeley in 196l.Remaining at Berkeley, he was the Chair of the

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Chemistry Department (1975-79); AssociateDirector of LBNL and Head of its Nuclear ScienceDivision (l979-1984); and Berkeley’s Provost (1986-94) then Vice Chancellor (1994-2000) for Researchand Dean of the Graduate Division (1985-2000). Hewas a member of the Association of AmericanUniversities’ Committee on Postdoctoral Education(1995-98).

Mukund Chorghade, PhD, is currently President ofChorghade Enterprise/CP Consulting, Inc. inNatick, MA, where he provides consultations tomajor pharmaceutical companies on collaborationswith Indian academic, government and industriallaboratories, European technology based compa-nies, process re-engineering, and project manage-ment of technology transfer. In this role, he hasmarketed technologies and the capabilities ofIndian laboratories to other countries, representedcustom synthesis vendors to pharmaceutical com-panies for establishing strategic partnerships, andconducted cGLP/cGMP training and implementa-tion in academic and industrial laboratories. Dr. Chorghade earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degreesfrom the University of Poona in India. Aftercoming to the US in 1975, he earned a PhD in

organic chemistry at Georgetown University inWashington, DC, in 1982. He completed postdoctor-al appointments at the University of Virginia andHarvard University, visiting scientist appointmentsat University of British Columbia, Vancou-ver,Canada and College de France/ Universite’ LouisPasteur and directed research groups at DowChemicals, Abbott Laboratories and CytoMed. Hehas been the recipient of three “Scientist of the YearAwards” and had the honor of being a featuredspeaker in several national and international sym-posia. He established his own enterprise as a con-sultant to the pharmaceutical industry in 1995. Hewas the Vice President of Chemical DevelopmentSciences at Geltex / Genzyme. Dr. Chorghade wasprivileged to become an ACS member in 1982, wassection chair (Brazoria) in 1990 and is currently ontheBoard of Directors of the Northeastern Section.He heads the Public Relations and Public AffairsCommit-tees of the local section and is an activeparticipant in the activities of the ACS CareerServices at the national level.

Raymond J. Clark, PhD, is a Founding Member of theNational Postdoctoral Association and currentlyserves as Vice Chair of the Policy Committee, where

he addresses national postdoctoral and workforcepolicy issues. In addition to his work as anExecutive Board Member of the NPA, Raymond is aProgram Administrator for the University ofCalifornia Institute for Global Conflict andChange’s (IGCC) Biological Threats and PublicPolicy Project. He is also an adjunct Professor ofPhysiology at Palomar Community College. A for-mer postdoctoral fellow in Molecular Cardiology atUCSD, Raymond also works on a variety of projectsdesigned to enhance the visibility of and increaseopportunities for early career scientists and engi-neers in the San Diego region. He recently foundeda consulting company (Science ProfessionalsConsulting Group) that designs and implementscareer workshops for early career scientists.Raymond remains active in research as a consult-ant, providing advice and performing fieldwork onprojects involving amphibian and avian biodiversi-ty. He has also formed another company (Nguyenand Clark, LLC) that is developing residential realestate for low to medium income families in San Diego.

Geoff Davis is a Visiting Scholar at Sigma Xi, TheScientific Research Society, where he is serving asthe principal investigator of the Sigma XiPostdoctoral Survey Project. Davis received a PhDin applied mathematics from New York University’sCourant Institute in 1994, and has since employedhis doctoral education in a wide range of capacities.Davis was a John Wesley Young ResearchInstructor and later an assistant professor in theMathematics Department at Dartmouth College, aresearcher working on audio compression algo-rithms in the Signal Processing Group at MicrosoftResearch, and a senior software developer at 4char-ity, a San Francisco startup company.

Christine D. Des Jarlais, EdD, is the Assistant Dean forGraduate Outreach and Postdoctoral Affairs attheUniversity of California, San Francisco. Dr. DesJarlais earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychologyfrom Smith College, a Master’s degree inPsychology from Pepperdine University, and herdoctorate in Higher Education Administration fromthe University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM). Shelived in Hawaii for 25 years and worked as aDirector of Cooperative Education at Hawaii PacificUniversity and as a Program Officer in the UHMExecutive Vice Chancellor’s Office handling facultyaffairs such as promotion and tenure, faculty men-

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toring, and post-tenure review. Since 2001, she hasbeen the Assistant Dean for Graduate Outreachand Postdoctoral Affairs at UCSF, which was anewly established position. The UCSF Office ofPostdoctoral Affairs coordinates the appointment,compensation, and other employment-related con-cerns for postdoctoral scholars; provides leadershipin advancing postdoctoral education on campus; col-laborates with San Francisco State University in aprogram to provide mentored teaching experiencesfor postdoctoral scholars; has developed, in collabo-ration with the Graduate Council, a policy andguidelines for faculty mentoring of postdoctoralscholars; provides advice and counseling to post-docs and faculty regarding postdoc matters; andadministers grievance policies pertaining to post-doctoral education. Dr. Des Jarlais has a keen inter-est in developing mentoring programs and provid-ing guidance and support to both mentors andmentees.

Jeff Goldberg, PhD, has been a Professor in theDepartment of Biological Sciences at the Universityof Alberta since 1987. He is currently an AssociateDean in the Faculty of Graduate Studies andResearch, where he is responsible for graduate pro-grams in Science and Engineering, and thePostdoctoral Fellows Office. He received a Bachelorof Science in Neurobiology from McGill Universityin 1978 and a PhD in Neurophysiology from theUniversity of Calgary in 1983. He conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Iowa andColorado State University between 1983 and 1987.He has sat on numerous administrative and adju-dication committees both locally and nationally,including the Natural Sciences and EngineeringCouncil of Canada Scholarships and PostdoctoralFellowships Committee from 1996-99. His researchexamines the physiological and developmentalroles played by neurotransmitters during embryon-ic development, using the pond snail Helisoma triv-olvis as a model experimental system.

Walter Goldschmidts is the Special Assistant to theNIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research, andis currently the Acting Research Training Officerfor the NIH. The Research Training Officer coordi-nates all extramural research training and careerdevelopment programs across the various fundingcomponents of the NIH. Prior to joining the NIHDirector’s Office he was a Senior Associate with themanagement and technology consulting firm of

Booz Allen and Hamilton. He has served as an NIHProgram Official with the National Institute ofMental Health and has conducted research in theintramural research program of the NationalCancer Institute. From 1992 to 1997 Dr.Goldschmidts was a Program Officer for the NIMHOffice on AIDS where he managed national strate-gic research and development initiatives focused ondefining, preventing and treating the impact of HIVinfection on the central nervous system. In 1997 hewas appointed as the Associate Director of theDivision of Neuroscience and Basic BehavioralScience and the Director of the Division’s ResearchTraining and Career Development Program. Dr.Goldschmidts also coordinated all training andcareer development programs and associated poli-cies for the Institute. Dr. Goldschmidts received hisundergraduate degree from the University ofMaryland and PhD in Microbiology fromGeorgetown University. His postdoctoral researchexperience at the National Cancer Institute encom-passed molecular and cellular approaches to devel-op and evaluate novel therapeutic strategies totreat pediatric and HIV associated lymphomas. Dr.Goldschmidts has been an Adjunct Professor of theGeorgetown University School of Medicine for thepast ten years.

Adam Green, J.D., has specialized in immigration lawand representing international students and schol-ars all over the United States for 20 years. He hasauthored numerous articles on immigration lawand speaks to students and scholars on the lawsaffecting employment of foreign nationals. Hisoffice specializes in obtaining work permits and“green cards” for international scientists throughthe Outstanding Scientist, Extraordinary Abilityand National Interest categories. Mr. Green isimmigration legal advisor to the InternationalPostdoc Committee of the National PostdoctoralAssociation. This Association is sponsored by theAmerican Association for the Advancement ofScience (AAAS). Mr. Green is the former Vice Chairof the American Immigration Lawyer’sAssociation’s State Department Liaison Committee.He was also its F-1 foreign student committee chairfor five years. He is the former Vice Chair of theNational Association for Foreign Student Advisors(NAFSA) Employment Based CIS committee. Hewas a foreign student advisor at HarvardUniversity. Most recently he has produced andpresents on the educational videotapes, “Applyingfor the F-1 Visa at an American Consulate and F-1

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Student Visas and Status in the U.S. He has alsoco-authored the booklet, “The F-1 Visa Regulations:As the Dust Settles.”

R. Kevin Grigsby, DSW, is Vice Dean for Faculty andAdministrative Affairs and Professor in theDepartment of Neural and Behavioral Sciences atPenn State College of Medicine in Hershey,Pennsylvania. Prior to being appointed to his cur-rent position, he served as Vice-Dean forAdministration and Research in the School ofMedicine at the Medical College of Georgia, wherehe was also Professor of Psychiatry and HealthBehavior. Dr. Grigsby has an extensive history ofprogram planning, implementation, and evaluationin the area of innovative home and communitybased health and mental health services. His prac-tice experience has been primarily in under servedrural and inner city areas. Areas of practice expert-ise include children at imminent risk of out-of-homeplacement, perinatal intervention with substanceabusing women, children and adolescents in sheltercare, home-based services to parents and childrenwith HIV related illnesses, and the use of advancedtelecommunications technology in health servicesdelivery. His research interests include evaluatinginnovative service delivery via advanced telecom-munications technology and the culture-bound syn-drome of kaolin-specific pica. During the past fiveyears, the focus of Dr. Grigsby’s work has shifted toorganizational development in academic healthcenters.

Dave Jensen writes the popular “Tooling Up” columnfor monthly career tips and techniques on the AAASNextWave website at www.nextwave.org. In addi-tion to his work for the AAAS, his monthly column“Managing Your Career” has been visible in biotechindustry trade journals for more than fifteen years.His column ran for twelve years in BioPharm and isnow in each issue of Contract Pharma where he is aContributing Editor. Mr. Jensen has published over265 papers on management and personal develop-ment topics for these journals along with regularfeatures in Genetic Engineering News and otherspecialty magazines such as those published by theACS or the ASM. He has delivered seminars andworkshops in industry meetings internationally,including keynote presentations at career eventsheld by Johns Hopkins University, UNC ChapelHill, Vanderbilt, University of Rochester, UCSFand the California State University Program for

Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSU-PERB). Dave Jensen is the founder and ManagingDirector of CareerTrax Inc., a recruiting firm(Sedona, AZ). Prior to the launch of CareerTrax in2001, Jensen was the founder and CEO of SearchMasters International (SMI), a top biotechnologyexecutive search practice founded in 1985. The SMIbrand is now a unit of Kelly Services (Troy, MI) withits main offices in Chicago, IL. Prior to 1985,Jensen established a life sciences practice for Govigand Associates (Phoenix, AZ) under theManagement Recruiters International franchise.

Steve Johnson’s experience includes an eleven-yearcareer with the University of California, workingfor ten years in the Office of Graduate Studies atthe Irvine Campus, and one year in the GraduateDivision at the Santa Barbara Campus. In 1997,Steve joined Garnett-Powers & Associates as anInsurance Broker, specializing in the procurementand implementation of comprehensive benefit plansfor Educational Institutions. During this time,Steve has assumed co-responsibility for the UCIGraduate Student Health Insurance Plan, helpedto implement a comprehensive benefit program forthe students at Vanguard University, set up thePost-Doctoral Fellow Insurance Programs at UCI,and UCLA, and most recently helped with theimplementation of the University of CaliforniaSystemwide Postdoctoral Scholar Benefits Plan.

James O. Kahn, MD, is a Professor of ClinicalMedicine and Associate Director of the Center forAIDS Research and also Director of the CFAR PilotMentoring Program at the University of California,San Francisco. Dr. Kahn earned his bachelor’sdegree in American History at the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley and his MD at the Universityof California, San Francisco. He completed aninternship and junior residency at Johns HopkinsUniversity and a senior residency at UCSF. He alsocompleted two fellowships in Clinical Epidemiology,and Hematology and Oncology at UCSF. In recentyears, Dr. Kahn has conducted research and super-vised high school, undergraduate, graduate stu-dents, and postdocs. He has carried out both inpa-tient responsibilities on the Medical Service of SanFrancisco General Hospital and has had a part-time outpatient practice with the UCSF PositiveHealth Program at SFGH His research activitieshave focused on three areas: antiretroviral andnovel therapeutic treatments of HIV infection, HIV

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vaccine development and electronic medical recordsfor outcome research. He has conducted Phase 1through Phase 3 protocols. He has acted as theNational chairman for the NIAID sponsored AIDSClinical Trials Group study and is presently focusedon developing systems to store and retrieve datafrom various platforms for research.

Joan M. Lakoski, PhD, is the Assistant ViceChancellor for Academic Career Development,University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences,Founding and Executive Director of the Office ofAcademic Career Development, and Professor ofPharmacology in the University of PittsburghSchool of Medicine. She is an internationally recog-nized neuropharmacologist, whose research focuseson the interactions of steroid hormones with sero-tonin receptor function in the aging brain. In addi-tion, Dr. Lakoski provides oversight for new initia-tives focused on the comprehensive career develop-ment of medical and graduate students, postdoctor-al and clinical fellows, residents, and faculty acrossthe six Health Science Schools at the University ofPittsburgh and lectures widely on topics related tomentoring, career planning, professional develop-ment skills and research ethics.

Christina Lewis, PhD, is a 3rd year postdoc at UCSF,where she is using functional genomics to study thepathogenesis of asthma. Dr. Lewis earned her doc-torate in physiology from Colorado State Universityin Ft. Collins, CO, but conducted her doctorateresearch at the National Jewish Medical &Research Center in Denver, CO. Dr. Lewis is cur-rently the President of the Postdoctoral Scholar’sAssociation at the University of California, SanFrancisco, where her interests and roles in postdoc-toral issues are both diverse and extensive. In addi-tion to her responsibilities as the President of thePSA, she is committed to the UCSF campus com-munity, as evidenced by her numerous roles whichinclude postdoctoral representation to theChancellor’s Advisory Committee on the Status ofWomen, the Graduate Council of the AcademicSenate, facilitator and participant for Women inLife Sciences Postdoctoral Peer Mentoring Group,member of the newsletter committee for the SanFrancisco chapter of the Association for Women inScience, and active participant on the executiveplanning committee for the “Preparing FutureFaculty” (PFF) pilot program at UCSF that waslaunched in 2004, modeled after the national initia-

tive. In her capacity as the President of the PSA,Christina is also providing UCSF representation tothe University of California system-wide Council ofPostdoctoral Scholars, whose mission is to fostercommunication among UC postdocs, administra-tion and faculty, to facilitate working together withthe UC administration and faculty to ensure equi-table treatment of postdocs, and to facilitate a pro-ductive climate for postdoctoral training on theindividual UC campuses.

James Lightbourne received his PhD in Mathematicsat North Carolina State University in 1976. Hisareas of research have been in partial differentialequations, initially partial differential equations inabstract spaces and later work in multi-phase flowmodels. He joined the faculty at Pan AmericanUniversity in 1976 and at West Virginia Universityin 1979. Subsequently, he held a Visiting ResearchPosition at the Mathematics Research Center of theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison. He served asDirector of Graduate Studies of the WVUDepartment of Mathematics and became Chair ofthe Department in 1988. In 1991, he took a leave ofabsence from WVU to assume a rotator position inthe NSF Division of Undergraduate Education tomanage the NSF Calculus Program. In 1992, heaccepted a permanent position at NSF as a SectionHead in the Division. He later was appointedDirector, Division of Graduate Education, and cur-rently is Senior Advisor, NSF Directorate forEducation and Human Resources.

Bill Lindstaedt has spent more than a decade helpingscientists and engineers make career decisions. Hebegan his own career as a chemical engineer, latermoving into a career counseling position and nowdraws on his own experiences as a career-changerwhen helping his clients find their ideal profession-al paths. “After practicing as an engineer and thendiscovering that I was not interested in followingthe traditional engineer’s path, I struggled to redefine myself. But what I do now is highlyrewarding!” Bill completed a Master’s degree in theCounseling Psychology and Higher EducationDepartments at Indiana University. His careercounseling experience includes work with engineer-ing and science students at Case Western ReserveUniversity and Rose-Hulman Institute ofTechnology. Since 2002, he has served as Director ofthe Career Center at the University of California,San Francisco, where he assists graduate-level

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trainees and postdoctoral research scientists withcareer and professional development issues. He hasdeveloped particular expertise working with lifeand health scientists as they transition from aca-demic positions to careers in biotech and otherindustry settings. Bill has written career-relatedpieces for the Boston Globe, the Indianapolis Starand Science’s Next Wave. His insights have beenfeatured in job market articles in the New YorkTimes, Science Magazine, the San FranciscoChronicle, USA Today and Newsweek.

Carol Manahan, PhD, is currently an AmericanAssociation for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)Science and Technology Policy Fellow placed at theNational Science Foundation. She is in the Divisionof Science Resources Statistics (SRS) working onthe Postdoc Data Project. This project is a multi-year process to determine the feasibility and designfor an ongoing data collection on postdoctorates(foreign as well as domestic) in the United States.Prior to the National Science Foundation, she wasa postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins School ofMedicine in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Devreotes,Director of the Department of Cell Biology (Sept.2000-Sept. 2004). Her research focused on deter-mining the mechanisms of adaptation to chemotac-tic signals in the social amoeba, Dictyostelium dis-coideum. While at Johns Hopkins, she wasPresident (2002-2003) and Treasurer (2001-2002) ofthe Johns Hopkins School of Medicine PostdoctoralAssociation (JHPDA). Dr. Manahan is one of thefounders of the National Postdoctoral Associationand was Chair of the Executive Board (2002-2004).In addition, she has served as Chair of theExecutive Director Selection Committee, member ofthe Board Development and Finance GovernanceCommittees and as member of the AAMC’s GREATGroup Postdoctoral Committee. Currently, Dr.Manahan is serving on the National Academies’Committee, “Bridges to Independence: IdentifyingOpportunities for and Challenges to Fostering theIndependence of Young Investigators in the LifeSciences.”

Keith Micoli, PhD, is a postdoctoral trainee at theUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), cur-rently working in the Department of Pathology,with research focusing on the pathogenesis of AIDS.Dr. Micoli earned his PhD at UAB in 2001 from theprogram in Molecular and Cellular Pathology. He

joined the graduate school at UAB following receiptof his bachelor’s degree from New College of USF,now New College of Florida, in Sarasota. Dr. Micolihas been a member of the NPA since its inauguralmeeting in Berkeley in 2003, has served on many ofits committees, and was elected to the ExecutiveBoard in 2004. He served as co-chair of the PolicyCommittee and chair of the Strategic PlanningCommittee until his election as NPA ExecutiveBoard Chair in January 2005.

Robert Milner, PhD, is Professor of Neural andBehavioral Sciences and Director of the JuniorFaculty Development Program at the PennsylvaniaState University College of Medicine. He has along-standing interest in the professional develop-ment and education of individuals at all stages ofacademic careers. His background as a basic sci-ence researcher in the field of neuroscience and asa former department chair provides a wealth ofexperience and knowledge about the challenges ofadvancing an academic career in the researcharena. He is also the Director of the NeuroscienceGraduate Program, directs courses in professionaldevelopment and ethics for graduate students, andcoordinates professional development programs forpostdoctoral fellows and scholars at the College ofMedicine.

Ahmad B. Naim, MD, is a Postdoctoral Fellow atThomas Jefferson University, where he conductsresearch on human dilated cardiomyopathy andspontaneous dilated cardiomyopathy. Prior to hiscurrent appointment, Dr. Naim held positions as aWhitaker Foundation Fellow, as a PostdoctoralResearcher at the University of Pennsylvania, andas a Scientific Officer in the Biomedical & GeneticEngineering Division of KRL, in Islamabad,Pakistan. He also worked as an AttendingPhysician in Internal Medicine at the FamilyHospital in Lahore, Pakistan. Dr. Naim completedhis Residency Training in Internal Medicine atServices Hospital Lahore, Pakistan. He earned hisMD from the University of Punjab, Allama IqbalMedical College, Lahore, Pakistan in 1990, and hisFellow of Science (F.Sc., pre-medical) in1983 fromBurn Hall College, Abbottabad, Pakistan. Dr. Naimis currently the President of the Thomas JeffersonUniversity Postdoc Association.

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Jessie J. Peissig, PhD, is a postdoctoral research asso-ciate in the lab of Michael J. Tarr in the Cognitiveand Linguistic Sciences Department of BrownUniversity. She is currently studying the propertiesof face recognition and the role of surface propertiesin object recognition. From 2002 to 2004 Jessie wasa postdoctoral fellow for the Perceptual ExpertiseNetwork, working with David Sheinberg andMichael Tarr at Brown. She received her PhD fromthe Behavioral and Cognitive NeuroscienceProgram at the University of Iowa, and a B.A. inpsychology with a minor in biology from WinonaState University.

Trevor M. Penning, PhD, is Professor of Pharmacology,Biochemistry & Biophysics and Obstetrics &Gynecology, and Associate Dean for PostdoctoralResearch Training and Director of BiomedicalPostdoctoral Programs at the University ofPennsylvania. He received his PhD in Biochemistryfrom Southampton University, U.K. and conductedpostdoctoral studies at The Johns Hopkins School ofMedicine. In 1982, he joined the faculty of theUniversity of Pennsylvania. Dr. Penning’s researchon steroid hormone enzymology and action have ledto The Albert Ethelbert Ebert Prize and Medal fromthe American Pharmaceutical Association, a CareerDevelopment Award from the National CancerInstitute, and election to The Johns HopkinsSociety of Scholars. He is a member of the EditorialBoards of the Journal of Biological Chemistry,Chemical Research in Toxicology and Steroids, andis a full-member of the Cancer Etiology StudySection at the National Institutes of Health. He haspublished over 130 peer-reviewed papers. In 1997,he became an Associate Dean, he is Chair-Elect ofthe GREAT Group, a member of the GREAT GroupSteering Committee, and he is Co-Chair of theGREAT Group Postdoctoral Committee, he is also amember of the advisory board of the NationalPostdoctoral Association.

Doros Platika, MD, currently serves as President andCEO of the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse.Dr. Platika joined the PLSG from MPM Capital, aleading national venture capital firm. Before that,Dr. Platika was Chairman, President and CEO ofCentagenetix, Inc.; Chairman, CEO, President andFounder of Curis, Inc.; President and CEO ofOntogeny, Inc.; and Executive Vice President ofResearch and Development with Progenitor Inc.Prior to his entrepreneurial experience, Dr. Platika

served as chief resident at the MassachusettsGeneral Hospital and as a faculty member of bothHarvard Medical School and the Albert EinsteinCollege of Medicine after serving as a medical doc-tor for 11 years. He earned his B.A. at Reed College,majoring in Biology and Psychology; he received hisMD, from the State University of New York at StonyBrook, School of Medicine; and completed his post-doctoral study at the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology’s Whitehead Institute in gene therapy,and at Massachusetts General Hospital, HarvardMedical School, in developmental biology.

Steven B. Sample, PhD, became the 10th president ofthe University of Southern California (USC) inMarch 1991. He is the university’s first holder of theRobert C. Packard President’s Chair. Dr. Sample isalso a past chairman of the Association of AmericanUniversities, a consortium of the 63 leading NorthAmerican research universities. From 1994 to 1998he chaired the AAU’s Committee on PostdoctoralEducation, which published an influential reportwith recommendations in March of 1998. Dr.Sample is a member of the National Academy ofEngineering and the American Academy of Arts andSciences and a tenured professor in the USC ViterbiSchool of Engineering. His patents on digital appli-ance controls have been licensed to practicallyevery major manufacturer of appliance controls andmicrowave ovens in the world. Over 300 millionhome appliances have been built using his inven-tions. Dr. Sample is the author of an acclaimedbook, The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership, whichwas a Los Angeles Times best-seller, was chosen bythe Toronto Globe and Mail as one of the top 10business books of 2001, and has been translatedinto five languages. Dr. Sample came to USC fromthe State University of New York at Buffalo, wherehe served as president from 1982 to 1991. Heearned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoraldegrees in electrical engineering from theUniversity of Illinois, and he holds honorarydegrees from Northeastern University, theUniversity of Nebraska, Purdue University, theUniversity of Sheffield in England, CanisiusCollege, and Hebrew Union College.

Sandra L. Schmid, PhD, is an internationally recog-nized cell biologist and professor at The ScrippsResearch Institute (TSRI) and is its first femaledepartment chairman. Dr. Schmid plays a strongleadership role in the institutional and intellectual

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life of TSRI as well as in the broad context of theinternational scientific community. Dr. Schmid hasalso played a key role in developing a new initiativeat TSRI, the Center for Integrative MolecularBiosciences, which has recently opened and is theworld’s most advanced biological microscopy center.Additionally, Dr. Schmid has participated as around table discussant at ASCB Women in CellBiology luncheons and has served as a mentor bothto local high school science teachers as well as highschool students who have spent summers in herlaboratory working as part of the research team.She is a strong advocate for science literacy/scienceeducation and is involved in the promotion of sci-ence and scientific careers for young women.

James A. Severson is the Vice Provost for IntellectualProperty and Technology Transfer at the Universityof Washington. In this role, he has responsibility forprograms to commercialize discoveries made fromresearch conducted at the UW. Prior to joining theUniversity of Washington, Jim was the President ofthe Cornell Research Foundation where he hadresponsibility for technology transfer from Cornell’sIthaca campus and the Weill Medical College ofCornell University in New York City. From 1990 to1999, Jim held positions in technology transfer atthe University of Minnesota, including the positionof Director of Health Technologies, Office of Patents& Technology Marketing. In this position he wasresponsible for technology transfer activity fromthe University’s Academic Health Center. From1986 to 1990, he was with Amersham Corporationand held positions in new technology assessmentand market development. At the time that he leftAmersham he was the Manager of PharmaceuticalMarket Development. Jim received a B.S. in zoolo-gy and a PhD in physiology from Iowa StateUniversity, and did postdoctoral research at theUniversity of Southern California. From 1980 to1986 Jim held a faculty appointment in theUniversity of Southern California School ofMedicine. Jim is a Past President of the Associationof University Technology Managers (AUTM), anational organization of university technologytransfer professionals, and has served as a memberof the Board of Directors of the Council onGovernmental Relations (COGR), a Washington-based association of over 140 research universitiesthat focuses on the policies and issues of federallysponsored research programs at universities.

Avi D. Spier, PhD, is the Director of BusinessDevelopment, The Genomics Institute of theNovartis Foundation (GNF). Dr. Spier was anNRSA postdoctoral fellow at The Scripps ResearchInstitute (TSRI) La Jolla, California, where heworked on the neurobiology of two neuropeptideneurotransmitters, hypocretin and cortistatin. Hereceived his B.A. in biological sciences from OxfordUniversity, and PhD on the molecular characteriza-tion of the 5-HT3 receptor from CambridgeUniversity. In 2001, Avi left TSRI to start AllonTherapeutics, Inc, a biotech company developingtherapeutics for neurodegenerative conditions.Following two rounds of financing, in September2004 the company was acquired and joined theToronto Stock Exchange [NPC.V]. In November2004, Avi joined the Genomics Institute of theNovartis Foundation (GNF), in La Jolla, as Directorof Business Development, where his responsibili-ties include developing opportunities stemmingfrom the Institute’s advances in research technolo-gies, genomics, and proteomics. Avi was a leader ofthe TSRI postdoctoral association, the Society ofFellows (SOF), has written on postdoc issues forScience’s NextWave, has been an advocate forimprovements in postdoc policy, is a founding mem-ber of the National Postdoctoral Association, andremains active in postdoc issues.

Luanne Thorndyke, MD, FACP, is the Associate Deanfor Professional Development and AssociateProfessor of Medicine of the Penn State UniversityCollege of Medicine. She is responsible for leadingactivities to recruit, sustain and retain faculty, andfor post-graduate educational programming forphysicians, nurses, and allied health personnel.Initially serving as the Assistant Dean ofContinuing Education at the College of Medicine,she has extensive experience in educational plan-ning, program implementation, and accreditationstandards. As a young physician and medical entre-preneur, she established a community-based pri-vate practice in Philadelphia. Advancing to clinicaladministration, she has served as the medicaldirector of a large, inner-city public health clinic, anoutpatient academic group practice, and as a boardofficer of a multi-hospital system. A board certifiedinternist with certification in geriatrics andmenopausal medicine, Dr. Thorndyke remains anactive and established clinician with a primaryfocus in women’s health and geriatrics. Dr.Thorndyke facilitates initiatives in women’s leader-

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ship development and mentoring at the Penn StateCollege of Medicine. Born and raised in ruralNebraska, she is committed to improving the healthand status of women and men—rural and urban—through clinical practice, educational programs,administrative leadership, and community service.

Steven K. Wendell, PhD, is currently the AssistantDirector, Postdoctoral Affairs, Schools of HealthSciences, and Research Assistant Professor, Schoolof Dental Medicine, at the University ofPittsburgh. His research interests include the use ofanimal models to understand the genetics of cranio-facial development and the therapeutic potential ofstem cells. Dr. Wendell received his PhD from theUniversity of Minnesota while studying the effectsof ancient endogenous retroviral elements on theevolution of cellular gene expression in the labora-tory of Anthony J. Faras, PhD While pursuing post-doctoral training under Joseph Glorioso, PhD, Dr.Wendell co-founded the University of PittsburghPostdoctoral Association (UPPDA) in 2002 and waselected Senior Co-Chair. He was subsequently elect-ed to the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA)Executive Board in 2003. Dr. Wendell is currentlyserving on the Executive Board of the NPA and asthe Chair of the Annual Meeting Committee.

Keith Yamamoto, PhD, is the Executive Vice Dean forResearch in the UCSF School of Medicine. Dr.Yamamoto has been a member of the UCSF faculty

for more than 25 years, starting as an AssistantProfessor in the Department of Biochemistry andBiophysics in 1976. He served as the Director of theBiochemistry and Molecular Biology GraduateProgram at UCSF from 1988-2001, and asChairman of the Department of Cellular andMolecular Pharmacology from 1994-2003. Heobtained a B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Biophysicsfrom Iowa State University in 1968 and trained asa graduate student with Bruce Alberts at PrincetonUniversity, receiving a PhD in 1973. Dr. Yamamotoconducted postdoctoral research with GordonTomkins in the Department of Biochemistry andBiophysics at UCSF through 1975. Dr. Yamamotohas a longstanding interest in public policy relatingto scientific research and has devoted his effort toissues that include the ethical conduct of science,scientific misconduct, the public funding of scientif-ic research, biological research in the military, andmore recently, issues surrounding stem cellresearch in the United States, and the impact ofspecial interest groups on publicly funded research.From 1996-2000, Keith Yamamoto served asChairman of the Advisory Committee to the Centerfor Scientific Review, the body at the NationalInstitutes of Health (NIH) that determines how themajority of federal biomedical research funds aredistributed. He currently serves on the JointSteering Committee for Public Policy, the NationalAcademy of Sciences’ Board on Life Sciences, andthe National Research Council’s Bridges toIndependence: Fostering the Independence of NewInvestigators in the Life Sciences Committee.

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Annual MeetingPlanning Committee

2005

Steve Wendell, PhD, ChairSam Castaneda

Richard Bodnar, PhD Joan Lakoski, PhD

Carol Manahan, PhDKeith Micoli, PhD

Arti Patel, PhD, MPHAlyson Reed, MA

Distinguished Service Award Subcommittee

Joan Lakoski, PhD, ChairArti Patel, PhD

J. Lille Tidwell, PhD

Travel Awards Subcommittee

Rahul Bakshi, PhD, ChairDawn Eastmond, PhDMichelle Hamlet, PhDArti Patel, PhD, MPH

Local Planning Subcommittee

Adam Mullick, PhD, ChairAvi Spier, PhD

Raymond Clark, PhDHuong Huynh, PhD

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NPA Travel Award Recipients 2005Janeen Azare

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Brian BaileyNational Cancer Institute, NIH

Jabbar BennettHarvard University

Nicole BiancoUniversity of Pittsburgh

Robert BrennanUniversity of Minnesota

Rajas ChodankarCedars-Sinai

Samuel HowertonNational Institute of Standards and Technology

Crystal IcenhourThe Mayo Clinic

Christina LewisUniversity of California, San Francisco

Ahmad NaimThomas Jefferson University

Claire NeilanIncyte Corporation

Melissa PasquinelliEnvironment Protection Agency

Jessie PeissigBrown University

Ivonne Vidal PizzaroUniversity of Pennsylvania

Maria PsathaHarvard University

Venkatraman SriramIndiana University

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NPA COMMITTEESANNUAL REPORTS

2004

The National Postdoctoral Association’s (NPA)Diversity Committee is dedicated to promotingdiversity in the postdoctoral ranks and to providinga national voice on diversity issues relevant to post-doctoral training.

The Diversity Committee seeks to:

• Serve as a national resource for groups under-represented in the postdoctoral community,which include but are not limited to women,persons with disabilities, and individuals fromcertain ethnic/racial groups, geographic areasand scientific/ scholarly disciplines,

• Enhance the postdoctoral experience of thesegroups by advocating for common interestswith a national voice,

• Educate individuals and institutions about theneed for diversity-focused initiatives and adiverse scientific workforce,

• Increase diversity within the NPA to reflectthe postdoctoral community that it serves,

• Promote networking opportunities betweenand among all individuals engaged in scholarlyresearch, especially diverse groups, and

• Develop innovative programs for the NPA thatwill advance the professional and personaldevelopment of all its members.

2004 Current Diversity Committee initiatives:

• Creation and maintenance of a website thatprovides up-to-date information on Committeeinitiatives and links to sites that address diver-sity issues, which include:

– Diversity, Affirmative Action and Non-discrimination policies

– Statistics on diversity

– Publicly available resources for minority scientists and researchers

– Resources for administrators, organizers andindividuals interested in diversity

– Identification of current and potential funding sources

• Co-sponsorship of the 2004 Howard University-University of Texas at El Paso (HUTEP)Postdoc Preparation Institute

• Co-sponsorship of the 2004 Minority PostdocSummit, a pre-conference event at the AnnualSociety of Chicanos and Native Americans inScience (SACNAS) Meeting (www.minority-postdoc.org)

• Formation of task-specific working groups

• Development of collaborations with interestedparties and funding agencies

We invite you to join the efforts of the NPADiversity Committee and to provide input on itsinitiatives. Committee members include currentand former postdocs. For more information and alist of current committee members, visit the web-site at www.nationalpostdoc.org/committees/diversity_committee or contact the CommitteeChair at diversity@nationalpostdoc.org. We lookforward to hearing from you!

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Diversity Committee

Over half the current postdocs in the USA are fromother countries. The International PostdoctoralCommittee (IPC) is dedicated to addressing theparticular needs of these postdocs. It strives to be aresource of information, and to advocate for policychanges that would enhance the postdoctoral expe-rience for international postdocs (IPs). For the pastyear, it has been chaired by Executive Board mem-ber Derek Scholes, with Chiara Gamberi as ViceChair.

At a breakout session at the NPA 2004 meeting, theIPC listened to suggestions from NPA membersabout how the committee could best respond to theneeds of international postdocs (IPs). A consensusemerged that IPs would benefit greatly from a web-based resource providing information on all aspectsof being a postdoc in this country. Thus, theSurvival Guide for International Postdocs wasborn. The Survival Guide has been a major collec-tive effort of the committee. At the time of writingit is nearing completion, and many sections arealready available to members on the NPA website.It describes the nature of a US postdoctoral fellow-ship; advises a prospective postdoc on how to choosea fellowship suitable for them in the USA; givesgeneral information on working, taxes, healthinsurance, and driving in the USA; and presentsoptions to those who have had difficulty obtaining acredit card. It features an expansive visa guide thatcompares the J1 and H1B visas, and provides linksthat enable IPs to make contact with other scien-tists in the USA from their home country. Lastly, itincludes a section for IPs to contribute their indi-vidual anecdotes based on their experiences as IPs.

The IPC has also been working hard advocating on behalf of IPs in the past year. The IPC Chair rep-resented the NPA in a large group of major

scientific associations and professional societies –including the American Association for theAdvancement of Science, the American Associationof Universities, and the National Academies – thatwrote a document stating how visa regulations arehindering science (see Science (14 May 2004) 304,943). The IPC also testified in July and November2004 in front of a National Academies’ Committeeon Science, Engineering, and Public Policy(COSEPUP) focusing on “Policy Implications ofInternational Students and Postdoctoral Scholarsin the United States.” Our testimony emphasizedthe problems that IPs still have going in and out ofthe USA, recommended that IPs be allowed to workwithin the US on a single visa type for five years,and stated that all postdocs should receive equalcompensation regardless of their nationality.

The IPC plans to increase its advocacy role in 2005.It will continue its IPC News service that posts sto-ries of interest to IPs on the IPC pages. And it willcontinue to look for other opportunities for it toserve the IP community. It is an enthusiastic,diverse group of university administrators, PIs andpostdocs originating from every continent. We wel-come enquiries from people interested in volunteerwork within the committee.

The Survival Guide for International Postdocs canbe found from clicking on a link from the NPA homepage (www.nationalpostdoc.org). You can read moreabout the advocacy work of the IPC and read IPCNews within the IPC pages in the “Committees”section of the website. To join the IPC, to requestinformation, or to send an anecdote, comments orsuggestions about the Survival Guide, please con-tact IPC Chair Derek Scholes (dscholes@national-postdoc.org).

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International Postdoc Committee

The Membership Committee worked through-out 2004 to develop new member benefits andservices, while actively recruiting membersin all categories.

Sustaining Members: We continued our institu-tional membership outreach targeted primarily atpostdoc offices and associations. By the end of 2004,the NPA had recruited 58 sustaining members.

Individual Members: We launched an individualmembership campaign in the Summer of 2004.Marketing strategies included: “viral” e-mails tocurrent members; advertising in selected publica-tions; direct mail appeals (with purchase of mailinglabels for postdocs affiliated with various societies);dissemination of an attractive membershipbrochure and other materials at various venues;exhibitions at national meetings; and the recruit-ment of local membership campaign chairs atselected institutions. We recruited 226 new individ-ual members in 2004.

Joint AAAS Members: The NPA signed an agree-ment to promote a discounted postdoc membershipcategory to AAAS members in May 2004. By theend of 2004, the campaign had yielded 77 newmembers and 8 renewing NPA members.

Society Members, Corporate Partners andFriends of the NPA: Representatives of societieshave been contacted both informally (atmeetings/conferences) and more systematically.About 100 AAAS affiliated societies were invited toparticipate in a special briefing in June 2004. Bythe end of 2004, four societies had joined, andFASEB has become a Friend of the NPA. Afundraising prospectus is in the process of beingprinted for dissemination to priority corporate part-ner targets.

BUILDING THE MEMBERSHIP BASE

To evaluate the NPA’s membership efforts, the com-mittee conducted an extensive review of all previ-ous marketing efforts, and also a survey of postdocsfrom the Postdoc Network listserve, and two focusgroups at institutions (not affiliated with the NPA)in order to gain a better perspective on what post-docs want from the NPA. Membership issues werediscussed at length and in great detail at theExecutive Board winter retreat in December 2004.The Chair of the Membership Committee and thestaff presented an extensive summary of all mar-keting strategies. The consensus was that theMembership Committee needed to make recom-mendations to streamline our membership andaddress the concerns from all of our marketingresearch. The NPA needs a plan that sets the stagefor the future and supports dynamic and long-termpotential, accomplishing our mission and goals asan advocacy organization. We anticipate changes tothe membership program that will serve to broadenour base.

Other membership plans call for changing ourvenue at society annual meetings by co-sponsoringan event where we have better personal interac-tions with postdocs and graduate students ratherthan just hosting an exhibit booth. We would like tocreate an online Membership Directory, improvecustomer service, and work more directly withother NPA committees.

Membership Committee

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The Outreach Committee was formed in order todevelop a Postdoctoral Outreach Program, and toprovide resources for professional development.2004 has seen a number of major achievements forthis Committee, and work continues on a number ofitems that the Committee hopes will ultimately aidin the improvement of the overall postdoctoralexperience.

The main focus of the Outreach Committee over thepast year has been to further develop thePostdoctoral Outreach Program. This programhas three main components:1. PDA (Postdoc Association) tool kit2. PDO (Postdoc Office) tool kit3. Team Visit Program

The PDA tool kit is expected to be complete at thetime of the Annual Meeting. This on-line basedresource for postdocs contains invaluable informa-tion to aid in the formation of newly forming asso-ciations, or to give additional advice to currentlyexisting PDA’s. Articles in the tool kit include howto write bylaws, how to develop a budget, and howto engage faculty and administrative support.There are a multitude of references and additionallinks to other items of interest. In addition, there isa section on professional skills such as leadershipand time management. The Outreach Committeehopes that 2005 will see institutions adopting thistool kit as their main source of guidance for the for-mation of their PDA.

The PDO tool kit is similar to the PDA tool kit,only this resource is targeted to the formation of aPostdoc Office, and so will serve other institutionalmembers in addition to postdocs. This kit is part ofa collaborative process with the AAMC GREATgroup. It is currently under development, and theOutreach Committee anticipates that this projectwill be complete by early summer 2005. This toolkit will contain items such as creating a standard-ized appointment process, developing a postdocdatabase, and career development.

Thanks to the excellent continued efforts of theOutreach Committee members, the NPA Team VisitProgram was launched in late 2004. Institutionscan now apply to request on-site assistance fromthe NPA with almost any aspect of their postdoctor-al programs and services. These visits are tailoredto suit the needs of the individual PDA/PDO, and adownloadable questionnaire is available to helpdetermine what site visit format would be mostsuitable for any institution.

As always the Outreach Committee strives to pro-vide continued professional development resources.A wealth of information can be found in the “ForPostdocs” folder of the NPA website.

To learn more about the Outreach Committee andits current activities, please visit the website:http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/committees/outreach_committee/

Outreach Committee

For the Calendar Year 2004 the PolicyCommittee has engaged in the following proj-ects and activities in the furtherance of theNPA’s Strategic Plan.

Institutional Policy Database: The first onlinedatabase that catalogues postdoctoral-specific poli-cies at institutions across the United States wascreated by the NPA Policy Committee and is updat-ed regularly with publicly available information.Examples of the institution-specific informationcontained therein include whether there is aPostdoctoral Office, the existence or absence of aformalized review process, as well as monetary con-siderations (e.g. salary, health care). Portions ofthis database are available to non-members, withmembers having access to all data.

NPA Policy Update: The Committee publishes abimonthly electronic newsletter that summarizescurrent policy and news stories relevant to the mis-sion and interest of the NPA. The newsletter is dis-tributed currently to the NPA Executive Board, theNPA Advisory Board, Policy Committee members,as well as individuals involved in science and work-force policy at other organizations. Future issueswill be distributed to Chairs of NPA Committees tofacilitate and encourage cross talk among the vari-ous working groups. Current issues and archivededitions of the Policy Update can be found on thePolicy Committee web page.

Established NIH/NPA Working Groups:Through ongoing interactions with members of theNational Institutes of Health’s Training AdvisoryCommittee (NIH TAC), working groups have beenformed to assess three areas of overlapping interestbetween the NPA and NIH: Data Collection, CareerTransition, and Training/Mentoring Guidelines.The groups will develop recommendations for theNIH administration over the coming calendar year.

Website Reformatting: To facilitate the dissemi-nation of Policy Committee initiatives and prod-ucts, the website for the Committee has undergonerevision through collaborative work with thePublications Committee.

Other Activities of Note:

• Participated in and helped organize NSFPostdoc Meetings on policy and data collection

• Participated in AAMC/GREAT Postdoc Group• Submitted white paper to NAS BHEW

“National Needs Committee”• Meeting with NSF Director Arden Bement and

staff • Meeting with House Science Committee Staff• Participated in NSF Graduate Student/Postdoc

Benefits meetingª Participated in NAS “Bridges to Independence”

workshop

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Policy Committee

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The Publications Committee is dedicated to increas-ing awareness of issues facing the postdoctoral com-munity by providing easy access to NPA resources.Our editorial team overseas three primary publica-tions that serve contrasting goals for diverse audi-ences.

NPA E-alert: a regular, alerting and timely publi-cation highlighting breaking news.

POSTDOCket: a well-considered, in-depth, editednewsletter recruiting individual opinion withgrowing sponsorship. The fourth most frequentlyvisited area of the website, the POSTDOCket isavailable as a quarterly periodical and provides asnapshot of key issues in an accessible and easilydistributed format.www.nationalpostdoc.org: a comprehensiveand rapidly growing resource comprising mem-bership committee driven and edited content. Thewebsite is the NPA focus, fundamental to percep-tions about the activities and mission of theorganization.

The NPA’s web site serves as a critical elementof our communication and outreach efforts.The Publications Committee has focused attentionon streamlining the site to provide critical and cur-rent information to NPA members and the generalpublic. Its success is demonstrated by the increasein visitors to the site. Since June 2004 we have seena 135% increase in visitors to the site and a 172%increase in page impressions (Fig 1). Sixty threepercent of visits are direct links from bookmarksindicating an engaged community. An additional16% of visits originate from partner (e.g. Sigma Xi,Science Careers) and associated web sites (e.g.Nature, National Academies, Science Next Wave).

Our current priority project is the collabora-tion with Sigma Xi on producing targetedarticles from their postdoctoral survey data.These publications aim to examine demographicand disciplinary variation, the minority postdoctor-al experience, the impact of visa regulations and

importance of a PDO/PDA and mentoring on thepostdoctoral experience. This project has enhancedthe NPA partnership with Sigma Xi and resultantpublications are designed to educate stakeholdersand provide analyses to support policy change.

The Publications Committee has enjoyed signifi-cant progress over the past twelve months, attrib-utable directly to our active members. Most com-mittee members also hold positions on other NPAcommittees ensuring the development of cross-cut-ting ideas for publication and facilitating effectivecommunication and information disseminationacross the NPA.

Brian Bailey (co-chair), Amber Budden (co-chair),Orfeu M. Buxton, Claire Neilan, Tasha Belfiore,Xenia Morin, Joan Schwartz, Samuel Howerton,Cindy Jo Arrigo, Melinda Butsch Kovacic, FrankBottone, Daniel Kolker, Sunita Joneswww.nationalpostdoc.org/committees/publica-tions_committee

Publications CommitteeMaintaining the public face of the NPA

Fig. 1 — NPA Web Statistics.

No. page visits (x1000)

4035302520151050N

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niqu

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x100

0)

jun jul aug sep oct nov dec jan

June 2004-January 2005

Grey data points represent estimates based on monthly trends.

pages

visitors

10

8

6

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2

0

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POSTER SESSIONABSTRACTS

Brown University: A Progression TowardsChangeJessie J. Peissig, A. J. Bennett, Caroline Delong,Christopher Grindrod, and Shannon PelkeyBrown University

The Brown University Postdoctoral Association wasformed in 2000 to address the needs of postdoctoralappointees at Brown and provide a link betweenpostdoctoral researchers and the administration.BUPA assessed the status and concerns of postdoc-toral researchers through a survey administered inOctober of 2000 to approximately 120 postdoctoralresearchers across campus. The information gath-ered through the survey indicated that postdoctoralresearchers at Brown have concerns similar tothose identified for postdoctoral researchers in anation-wide study conducted COSEPUP. Since2000, BUPA has met regularly with the adminis-tration to address these issues.

As a result of these meetings with the administra-tion, Brown formed an ad hoc committee during the2003-2004 academic year to explore improvementsfor postdocs. The committee produced a report withseveral recommendations for changes at Brown.

Below are the main points.1. Clarify Brown’s definition of a postdoc. The two

most common titles are postdoctoral researchassociate and postdoctoral fellow The Universityhas no consistent method for defining postdocsacross all departments. Also, postdocs should bepromoted to the title of Senior PostdoctoralResearch Associate after three years, and toResearch Scientist after six years.

2. Provide equal benefits to all postdocs. In general,postdoctoral research associates are universityemployees and receive full benefits as employ-ees. Postdoctoral fellows generally bring theirown funding, and thus are not considered Brownemployees. Therefore they do not receive univer-sity benefits. The report recommends that theUniversity provide Fellows access to health anddental benefits at the same individual costs asthey are provided to associates

3. The report does not recommend implementinguniversity-wide salary minimums. The large dif-ferences in the market pressures for differentdepartments makes this impractical. Salaryshould, however, be closely monitored by themechanism recommended in point four.

4. A postdoc liaison will be created within theOffice of the Vice President of Research to workwith BUPA. The liaison will assist with organiz-ing events and programs, gather information fordistribution to postdocs, maintain informationon current postdocs, and help develop grievanceprocedures for postdocs.

Creating a Community for Postdocs from Start to FinishJeff Goldberg and Susan BuchsdrueckerUniversity of Alberta

Postdoctoral fellows play crucial roles in enablingresearch-intensive universities to realize their fullpotential in research activity and accomplishment.However, historically postdocs have lagged behindacademic staff, students and non-academic staff indeveloping or accessing organized structures thatprovide essential protections and serve their pro-fessional and academic needs. This poster willshowcase the University of Alberta’s postdoctoralroadmap to date and our plans for the future, as westrive to create an environment in which theseimportant research partners can flourish.

The initial step in supporting the postdoctoral com-munity started with the creation of the PostdoctoralFellows Office in April 2003—a central, one-stopadministrative unit to support the needs of U of Apostdocs and the respective departments. From theonset, all U of A postdocs are provided a standard-ized appointment letter, outlining the duration oftheir appointments, the amount and nature offinancial compensation, health benefits offered, andthe nature of the research being undertaken.Postdoctoral fellows then formally become part ofthe university community by registering with thePDF Office. Registration ensures access to theUniversity of Alberta’s research libraries andallows postdocs to enroll in supplementary healthand dental benefits regardless of their source offunding. Beyond their research, U of A postdoctoralfellows have the opportunity to hone their academ-ic skills-set in the Professional DevelopmentProgram. Comprised of three units (communica-tion, career development, and professional prac-tice), the program gives postdocs a leading edge asthey cover concepts such as academic administra-tion, management, leadership, and teaching. A cer-tificate of completion and exit survey are the finalcomponents of the U of A postdoctoral experience.

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However, the University of Alberta is continuing tobuild upon this postdoctoral infrastructure. The for-mation of a Postdoctoral Fellows Association is cur-rently under discussion. The PDF Office is alsospearheading the creation of dispute resolution anddiscipline procedures, which will provide postdocsand departments with avenues for recourse shouldacademic disputes arise.

We look forward to sharing information and ideasabout the evolution of the postdoctoral infrastruc-ture at the University of Alberta and other postsec-ondary research institutions as you continue toenhance the postdoctoral experience at your insti-tution.

Providing Health Insurance Benefits to PostdocsSteve Johnson Garnett-Powers & Associates

Postdoctoral Scholars working in the same lab, atthe same University often find the health benefitsavailable to them are very different. MostPostdoctoral Scholars fall into one of three cate-gories; Postdoctoral Employee, Postdoctoral Fellow,or Postdoctoral “Paid Direct”. Generally, Postdoc-toral Employees, working on a faculty member’sresearch grant, will receive full faculty/staff bene-fits through the University’s employee benefit pro-gram. Postdoctoral Fellows, many of whom submit-ted proposals and were awarded their own fellow-ship administered by the University, find they havea very different benefit package available, or onsome campuses no benefits at all. And finally, the“Paid Direct” Postdoctoral Scholar receives fundingdirectly from the granting agency and the funds donot flow through the University. These PostdoctoralScholars rarely have any group health coverageavailable through the University. This poster ses-sion includes a brief summary of the unequal treat-ment of Postdoctoral Scholars based on their indi-vidual funding source and some of the reasons forthese inequities. The session will also review theplanning and implementation process for theUniversity of California Postdoctoral ScholarBenefits Plan (PSBP). The PSBP is a comprehen-sive health benefits program that offers allPostdoctoral Scholars, within the University ofCalifornia System, the same set of health benefits,regardless of funding source.

Two Solutions at UCSF: Practice of ScienceSeminar Series and Mentoring DinnersChristina C. Lewis and Samara Reck-PetersonUniversity of California, San Francisco

The Postdoctoral Scholars Association (PSA) atUCSF was founded in 1995 and is one of the mostactive postdoctoral associations in the UnitedStates. This is due to active participants in theassociation and our combined efforts with othergroups both on and off-campus. The PSA seeks topromote policies and programs that will foster asense of community among UCSF postdocs throughsocial, educational, and political activities. Since itsinception, the PSA has hosted a wide range of activ-ities that seek to improve the quality of the profes-sional life and training of postdoctoral scholars atUCSF. We present two such PSA events, thePractice of Science (PofS) annual seminar seriesand the faculty/postdoc mentoring dinners. ThePofS augments traditional bench-science trainingto include career-oriented and personal manage-ment seminars. These seminars are devoted tointroducing postdocs to career paths in academia,industry, and other scientific professions. Thistraining is indispensable for contemporary scien-tists who are positioned to make important contri-butions to both the academic and biotechnology sec-tors. PofS topics have included ControversialScience: research, ethics, and policy; Leading aLaboratory; Negotiation; Business, Communica-tions, and Government; Careers for the PhD;Making the Most of Your Postdoc Years: trainingbeyond the bench; Postdocs are from Mars, P.I.s arefrom Pluto: how to communicate when you areworlds apart; and, The Future of BiomedicalSciences: driven by need or greed? In addition tothe PofS, the UCSF PSA hosts faculty/ postdocmentoring dinners. The aim of these dinners is toencourage postdocs to explore career options andcultivate career networks with scientists/UCSFalumni from local academic institutions and indus-tries. Individual representatives of scientific careerpaths are selected by postdocs and invited to sharetheir personal experiences and insight into a specif-ic field over dinner. To date, we have hosted repre-sentatives from consulting, patent law, as well asacademic and biotech research. Both the PofS andthe mentoring dinners have filled a need that wasnot being met by any other organization on campusand have been well received by postdoctoral schol-ars, faculty and administrators.

Equalizing Postdoc Benefits: Employeevs. Non-employeeMary Brenan BradleyWashington University

Washington University in St. Louis’s PostdoctoralEducation Policy became effective July 1, 2004. Thenew policy pulls all postdocs together, regardless offunding source and treats them as equally as possi-ble within the limits of the law. The new policy setsforth two new titles specifically for postdocs, a five-year term limit to postdoctoral training, a requiredminimum stipend/salary amount, letters of appoint-ment and a benefit package specifically for post-docs. The benefit package includes health and den-tal insurance, long term disability insurance,optional life insurance, tuition remission for careerdevelopment classes, optional investment savingsand vacation/sick/time away policies.

One of our unique challenges was creating a benefitpackage that worked for both employee and non-employee postdocs. Because postdocs often flip backand forth between employee and non-employee sta-tus throughout their appointment, we strived tomake the benefit package as equal as possible.However it was difficult because of Federal tax law.At WashU, all postdocs now have access to the samelimited benefits, but they may be administeredslightly differently depending upon their status asan employee or a non-employee. For example,employees are allowed to take deductions on a pre-tax basis but anything the University provides tonon-employees is a taxable benefit to that non-employee. So, while we have accomplished our goalof a one benefit package for postdocs, it is still notentirely equal due to tax law, which is somethingthe University cannot change.

Empowering the Postdoc Community atJefferson: Challenges, Opportunities, and SolutionsAhmad B. Naim, and Lisa KozlowskiThomas Jefferson University

Jefferson Postdoctoral Association (JPA) wasformed by a group of highly motivated postdocs inresponse to an institutional initiative launched bythe Office of Postdoctoral Affairs in the JeffersonCollege of Graduate Studies in November 2003. Ourvision is to empower postdocs by offering academic

development programs, alternative career choiceseminars, effective communication skills work-shops, and above all fostering scientific, social, andmulti-cultural collaborations. In a relatively shortperiod of time, we have achieved major operationaland organizational goals. These include developingand ratifying our bylaws, which enabled us to berecognized as a formal institutional entity, holdingelections for the Executive Board, securing repre-sentation on the Graduate Council, and formulatinga comprehensive plan to achieve the academic,career development and social goals. The Jeffersonpostdoc community is a wonderful eclectic mix ofglobal cultures. So, we focused our efforts on engag-ing the postdocs in multicultural social activities tofoster friendships and inter-lab collaborations. Forthis purpose, our first social event- a summer BBQ-proved to be a great success with more than 50% ofthe postdocs attending with their families. This wasfollowed by monthly open meetings and social hoursin the fall. Our monthly open meetings provide aforum for discussion and feedback for future plan-ning to enhance the postdoc training experience.30% of our postdocs participated in the Sigma XiNational Postdoc Survey and any concerns raisedthere will be addressed. Concurrently, we are devel-oping a comprehensive website that includes aninteractive online postdoc database. This databasewill foster collaborations among postdocs, highlightvarious campus resources including online databas-es, workshops on grant writing, presentation andcommunications skills, journal clubs, career semi-nars, etc. Work is also progressing on developingcomprehensive online guides to advise on findingappropriate housing, childcare, and immigrationissues. Volunteer counselors are available to assistnew foreign postdocs in transitioning to Jeffersonand Philadelphia. Future planned events include aWelcome 2005 Celebration, an Annual PostdocResearch Day, Alternative Science Careers sympo-sium, a Chinese New Year celebration, a summerfamily Fun Day and BBQ at a local park andmonthly social hours.

Reforming policies and practices for thesupport and training of postdoctoralresearchersLara A. Campbell, Daniel C. Stanzione, and Robert E. BarnhillAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science

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Dr. Campbell will discuss, and seek input from theaudience, on the steps needed to improve the sup-port and training of the next generation of scienceand technology professionals. She will describe thepolicy recommendations concerning graduate edu-cation and postdoctoral research training thatresulted from the June 2004 workshop “Support ofGraduate Students and Postdoctoral Researchers inthe Sciences and Engineering: Impact of RelatedPolicies and Practices”, which included leaders fromhigher education, science organizations, and thefederal government and was convened to discussthe relationship between graduate education, postdoctoral training, scientific discovery, and theworkforce.

Some questions that will be addressed include: • The main obstacle in terms of drawing trainees

into the grad student/postdoctoral pipeline iscareer outcome uncertainty. What can we do totrain postdocs and grad students for the realworld?

• What can be done to provide more adequateinformation to both policy makers and traineesabout career outcomes, thus ensuring betterdecision making at the outset?

• As stipends begin to increase, what effectsmight there be on the postdoctoral situation?Will fewer trainee positions be available? Willfewer grants be awarded? How might the situa-tion differ between fields?

• In order to make understand how policychanges affect the quality of the scientific work-force, we need to have metrics. What are usefulmeasures of trainee quality? (Who are the “bestand brightest” and what career paths do theypursue?)

• What is being done and what more could bedone to promote a diverse science, technology,engineering and mathematics (STEM) pipeline.

• More money for postdocs and grad students iscertainly a good thing, but too little support isprobably a bigger problem— what can be doneto ensure that all postdocs have adequatehealth care?

• Do we need to be drawing more trainees intoany STEM (science, technology, engineering,math) fields, or do we simply need to do a betterjob of more broadly training the people who arethere so that they can work in the sectors(beyond the academy) that would benefit fromtheir insights and experience?

Facilitating Collaboration Through a RegionalPostdoctoral CommunityZellers, D.F., Wendell, S.K., Bianco, N.R., Bodnar,R.J., Bell, A.W., Strotmeyer, E.S., Lakoski, J.M.University of Pittsburgh

A defining characteristic of a community is that itsmembers, through common experiences, have ashared history. History is in the making in thePennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia corridor as anew postdoctoral alliance is taking shape withinthis regional community. In October 2004, theUniversity of Pittsburgh Postdoctoral Association(UPPDA) partnered with the National PostdoctoralAssociation (NPA), with support from the Office ofAcademic Career Development, University ofPittsburgh Health Sciences (OACD), to host aregional postdoctoral symposium. Postdocs, faculty,and administrators from 12 regional institutionsand organizations gathered in Pittsburgh to identi-fy the core features of a postdoctoral experience andhow a national, regional, and local postdoctoralassociation could contribute to this experience. Theoutcomes of this historic regional event are high-lighted in the 13 January Nature, 2005. As to thevalue of a regional affiliation, a consensus was veryclear: regional postdoctoral networks are optimalfor facilitating collaborations – in science, in policyadvocacy, and in professional career development.The 2004 Regional Postdoctoral Symposium held inPittsburgh was the first collaboration and sharedexperience within this postdoctoral community. Butto the region, it was just the beginning. In February2005, regional postdoctoral community memberswere invited to a special NIH Training fundingupdate presented at the University of PittsburghHealth Sciences by Dr. Walter Goldschmidts, ActingNIH Research Training Officer for the Departmentof Health and Human Services. Plans are underwayto include regional colleagues in the 2005UPPDA/OACD career exposition held annually inOctober. As representatives of one of the premierbiomedical postdoctoral institutions in the region,the UPPDA continues to provide on-going leader-ship to its regional postdoctoral community and ismaking history in the process.

The Postdoctoral Association at theUniversity of Minnesota: A Helping Handfor Enhancing the PostdoctoralExperienceMichael Autry, Robert Brennan, BarbaraVanDrasek, Sridhar Sivasubbu, Richard Walsh,Jorune Balciuniene, Allen MY Cheong, and EsamEl-Fakahany University of Minnesota

In an effort to enhance the postdoctoral experienceat the University of Minnesota, Dr. Esam El-Fakahany founded the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs(OPDA), with the support of the Graduate Schooladministration, in the fall of 2002. As the foundingand current director of OPDA, Dr. El-Fakahanyencouraged a small group of interested postdocs toform an advisory panel intended to assist with thiseffort. The shared vision that developed out of thoseearly meetings resulted in formation of theUniversity of Minnesota Postdoctoral Association(UMN-PDA), open to anyone in the postdoctoralranks. The mission of the UMN-PDA is to helpimprove the quality of the postdoctoral experienceand to facilitate the long-term success of our mem-bers. The Association comprises all non-tenuretrack postdoctoral appointees including but not lim-ited to Postdoctoral Fellow, Postdoctoral Associate,and Research Associate, who together numberaround 1100 at the U of MN’s Twin Cities campuses.

UMN-PDA volunteer members assist in the devel-opment of career workshops and serve as liaisonbetween postdocs and the OPDA. To date, thePostdoctoral Association has focused on profession-al development and human resource policies. ThePDA has been instrumental in helping to organizenumerous postdoctoral workshops focused on fundraising, mentoring, and job hunting. The PDA hasalso worked with the Office of Postdoctoral Affairson addressing human resource policies affectingpostdocs at the University of Minnesota, bringingadded clarity and equity to issues of health insur-ance, retirement benefits, and vacation and leave.

The UMN-PDA continues to grow. In the fall of2004, a seven-member PDA Board was formalizedand officers were elected to serve as President,Vice-president, Secretary, Administrative Liaison,Workshop Coordinator, International Represen-tative, and Social Planner. The purpose of theBoard is to provide leadership for the UMN-PDA in

areas of career development, human resource poli-cies, international matters and family issues. It isour hope that the Postdoctoral Association willserve as a core in the formation of a vibrant com-munity of postdoctoral researchers on our campus,where information, ideas, and inspiration areshared.

Improving the Postdoctoral Experience at CaltechEloisa B. ImelCalifornia Institute of Technology

In late 2002, the Office of Human Resources recog-nized the need for a position to manage thePostdoctoral Scholars/Visitors Services (PDS/V)office and to implement programs to improve thequality of life for postdoctoral scholars, visitors andtheir families. Eloisa Imel was hired from anotherdepartment at Caltech to fill this position. In addi-tion to streamlining the administrative aspects ofthe office, Eloisa and her staff has turned the officeinto a resource for postdoctoral scholars, visitorsand their families who face social and cultural chal-lenges.

The PDS/V office provides individual check-in ori-entations for all incoming postdocs and visitors todiscuss benefits, taxes and specific transitionalissues. In addition, a comprehensive web site(http://www.hr.caltech.edu/postdoc/about.htm) wasdeveloped to assist domestic and internationalscholars regarding the many aspects of workingand living in Pasadena.

In September 2003, the PDS/V office launched the“ESL Club for Postdoc Spouses” program. The clubprovides free ESL instruction (provided by aTESOL certified instructor) along with free child-care services. In addition, they are planning a“Buddy Program” where an already establishedpostdoc would befriend a newcomer to Caltech andPasadena.

In September 2004, the PDS/V office obtained useof three transitional apartments that incomingpostdoctoral scholars could rent on a short-termbasis until they find permanent housing. Theseunits are fully furnished and are walking distanceto the Caltech campus. This program has been sucha success that other units made be available fortransitional use.

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In addition to the programs mentioned above,Caltech has also improved the overall benefits ofpostdoctoral scholars (regardless of funding source)to include: Long-term disability insurance, LifeInsurance and paid maternity leave. Finally, effec-tive July 2005, postdoctoral scholars with three ormore years of Caltech service and who receive qual-ifying compensation will, for the first time, becomeparticipants in the TIAA-CREFF staff retirementprogram.

The PDS/V office works closely with the CaltechPostdoc Association (CPA) and its initiatives. Inaddition, under the direction of Ms. Imel, thePDS/V office collaborates with the other offices andservices, such as the Career Development Center,Staff/Faculty Consultation Center, and theWomen’s Center, to improve the quality of the post-doctoral experience at Caltech.

Opportunities for Graduate Students andPostdoctoral ScientistsIrene V. Hulede, American Society for Microbiology

While graduate students and post-doctoral scholarshave numerous opportunities to conduct scientificresearch during their training, they have limitedand inconsistent training in career planning, grantwriting, communications and networking. TheAmerican Society for Microbiology addresses theseshortcomings in the annual ASM Summer Institutein Preparation of Careers in Microbiology, an inten-sive week of closely guided instruction in five keyareas important for choosing and preparing for acareer as a scientist in government, industry, aca-demia and other places. In a second program, theASM/National Center for Infectious Diseases(NCID) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, fellowsreceive both hands-on research in infectious dis-eases and formal training in grant writing and com-munications. The last program, the AnnualBiomedical Research Conference for MinorityStudents offers 300 graduate students and post-doctoral scholars topics spanning from preparingan abstract to seeking the right post-doctoral posi-tion to balancing ones personal and professionallife. Hear how the ASM fosters the professionaldevelopment of post-doctoral scholars through itsnational programs and services.

The ABCs of NIH Fellowship, Research CareerAwards, and Training Grants

Peter J. Kozel and the NIH Training AdvisoryCommitteeNational Institute of Health

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) supportsthe training and career development of researchscientists in the areas of biomedical, behavioral,and clinical research with specific grant awards forevery career stage, from undergraduate to seniorinvestigator. The NIH has more than a dozen grantaward mechanisms that are of potential interest tosoon-to-be postdocs, current postdocs, and newlyindependent investigators. Each NIH Institute orCenter (IC) may use these grant award mecha-nisms in slightly different ways to enhance theirresearch mission and to best assist new investiga-tors entering research fields supported by the IC.Given the complexity of this system, figuring outwhich is the best type of grant award for you canappear to be a daunting task — but it doesn’t haveto be.

To aid in demystifying this process, this postertranslates the alphanumeric codes associated withNIH grant award mechanisms and illustrateswhen, over the course of your career, one mightwant to consider submitting specific types of NIHgrant award applications. It also outlines the majorNIH grant award mechanisms appropriate for post-doctoral trainees and newly independent investiga-tors. In addition, the poster describes the importantinformation found in NIH Program Announce-ments. Finally, the contact information is providedfor the training program officers at each NIH IC.

The CCR-FYI Association: A Story ofPostdoctoral Fellows Making a DifferenceMelissa Maderia, Kwang Suh, Arti Patel, KevinChang, Jonathan Wiest

Center for Cancer Research, National CancerInstitute, National Institutes of Health

The Center for Cancer Research Fellows and YoungInvestigators (CCR-FYI) Association is comprisedof early career scientists at the National Institutesof Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI),Center for Cancer Research working to promote sci-ence and to ensure that the concerns of the post-doctoral and clinical fellows are heard by the

administration. The CCR-FYI Association was cre-ated in 2001 by a group of proactive fellows with theenthusiastic support of the Scientific Director, Dr. J.Carl Barrett, to promote the career development ofthe 1,000 early career scientists training at theNCI. The CCR-FYI Steering Committee is a self-governing committee that has elected positions,operates under a set of by-laws, and is advised byour NCI administrative liaison, Dr. Jonathan Wiest.The main objectives for the CCR-FYI include organ-izing and hosting an annual off-site retreat, foster-ing presentation skills through a regular seminarseries, providing information to incoming fellows,disseminating information via a newsletter which ispublished on a quarterly to semi-annually basis,and serving as the representative for CCR fellowsin administrative meetings.

One of the key endeavors of CCR-FYI SteeringCommittee is planning and organizing the annualCCR-FYI Retreat. The CCR-FYI Retreat providesan opportunity for postdoctoral researchers to pres-ent their work, to explore various career paths, tointeract directly with the NCI administration, andto learn about the research of prominent biomedicalscientists outside of NCI. A number of workshops,such as grant writing and financial planning, thataddress professional and personal issues faced byCCR fellows are held at the retreat. Last year,approximately 500 postdoctoral fellows, clinical fel-lows, NCI trainees as well as several PrincipalInvestigators who are active in the leadership of theCCR attended the retreat. The featured keynotespeakers in 2004 included Dr. Robert Weinberg, Dr.Stephen Lippard, Dr. Stanley Prusiner, and Dr.Shiv Grewal. This year, our keynote speakers willinclude Dr. Margaret Foti, Dr. Rita Colwell, Dr. TomMisteli, and Dr. Emanuel Petricoin. Due to thetremendous support from the CCR director’s office,we are able to recognize eight outstanding oral andposter presenters with $1,000 travel awards toattend a scientific meeting of their choice.

Over the past 4 years, the CCR-FYI has evolvedinto a resource for all investigators at the NCI. TheCCR-FYI actively promotes opportunities for fel-

lows to be involved in advancing their scientificcareer. Some of these opportunities include twonoteworthy organizations at the NIH, FELCOM(The Fellow’s Committee at NIH) and the CCR-Fellows Editorial Board. The Fellows EditorialBoard enables individuals to gain experience withthe scientific editorial process through editing manuscripts submitted by theirs peers.Communication between the NCI administrationand key committees ensures that CCR Fellows arein an environment that fosters their professionaldevelopment and establishes a strong scientificfoundation for their future careers.

If you would like more information about the CCR-FYI please visit our website, http://ccr.nci.nih.gov/careers/fellows/default.asp.

NPA Committee Posters

ANNUAL MEETINGSteve Wendell

DIVERSITYJabbar Bennett and Arti Patel

INTERNATIONAL POSTDOC (IPC)Chiara Gamberi

MEMBERSHIPLille Tidwell

OUTREACHClaire Neilan and Chris Blagden

POLICYSam Howerton and Raymond Clark

PUBLICATIONSAmber Budden and Brian Bailey

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2005 NPA EXECUTIVE BOARD

Keith J. Micoli, PhDChair

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Derek T. Scholes, PhDVice Chair

Wadsworth Center

Douglas J. Rowland, PhDTreasurer

Washington University in St. Louis

Chris Blagden, PhDNew York University

Amber Budden, PhDUniversity of California, Berkeley

Raymond Clark, PhDScience Professionals Consulting Group

John R. LeViathan, M.A.The J. David Gladstone Institutes

Arti Patel, PhD, M.P.H.National Cancer Institute, NIH

Jayne Reuben, PhDUniversity of Michigan

Claudina A. Stevenson, PhDDana-Farber Cancer Institute

J. Lille Tidwell, PhDNational Institutes of Health

Steven K. Wendell, PhDUniversity of Pittsburgh

Alyson Reed, M.A.Executive Director

Keith Micoli, PhDNPA Executive Board Chair

Keith Micoli, PhD is a postdoctoral trainee at theUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), cur-rently working in the Department of Pathology,with research focusing on the pathogenesis of AIDS.Dr. Micoli earned his PhD at UAB in 2001 from theprogram in Molecular and Cellular Pathology. Hejoined the graduate school at UAB following receiptof his bachelor’s degree from New College of USF,now New College of Florida, in Sarasota.

Dr. Micoli has been a member of the NPA since itsinaugural meeting in Berkeley in 2003, has servedon many of its committees, and was elected to theExecutive Board in 2004. He served as co-chair ofthe Policy Committee and chair of the StrategicPlanning Committee until his election as NPAExecutive Board Chair in January 2005.

“My goal as chair is to facilitate the transformationof the good intentions and innovative ideas of theNPA and its collaborators into widespread applica-tion as national and local policies andpractices. This goal will not be achieved easily orquickly, our success is not certain, and many realand perceived obstacles to progress lay in ourpath. But I have tremendous faith in our executiveboard, the NPA staff, its members, and our friendsat all levels, and believe that they will continue towork with the same intensity and spirit that hasmade our current progress possible.”

“I hope that my experience, moving from anattendee at the first NPA meeting with no practicalcommittee experience, to chair of the executiveboard in less than two years will be an example ofwhat can be achieved by individuals through serv-ice with the NPA. The NPA is a special organiza-tion, and working with the NPA is an opportunityopen to every postdoc, faculty member, administra-tor and policy maker. Together, we can improve the

professional lives of postdocs and ensure the futureexcellence of the scientific enterprise in the UnitedStates”.

Derek Scholes, PhDNPA Executive Board Vice-Chair

Derek Scholes is a Research Scientist at theWadsworth Center in Albany in upstate New York.Dr. Scholes studies the virulence of influenza A,with a particular interest in the avian highly path-ogenic H5N1 strain that in Asia has been transmit-ted from birds to humans with fatal results.Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at theWadsworth Center analyzing the cellular regula-tion of retrovirus-like DNA elements called retro-transposons (Genetics 159: 1449-1465; PNAS 100:15736-15741). A British citizen, he received his BSc(Hons) in Genetics and his PhD from the Universityof Liverpool in the United Kingdom, before accept-ing his postdoctoral appointment in the USA.

Having experienced some of the difficulties of beinga postdoc in the USA, Dr Scholes joined the NPA inthe summer of 2003 wishing to enhance the post-doctoral experience for future postdocs. He waselected to the Executive Board in October 2003, andwas elected as Vice Chair by the Executive Board inJanuary 2005. Dr Scholes has a passionate beliefthat the postdoctoral experience can be enhancedby changes in the policies that frame the modernpostdoc, and is a member of the PolicyCommittee. He is also a member of the OversightCommittee charged with overseeing elections forthe Executive Board and with writing amendmentsto the Constitution and By-Laws. Having been aninternational postdoc, he has a natural interest inissues that affect foreign nationals who come to theUSA to perform postdoctoral research, and haschaired the International Postdoctoral Committeesince November 2003.

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NPA Executive BoardBiosketches

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Douglas Rowland, PhDNPA Executive Board Treasurer

Doug Rowland is a Research Instructor atWashington University in St. Louis in theMallinkrodt Institute of Radiology. Dr. Rowland’sresearch focuses on in vivo imaging of small ani-mals using Positron Emission Tomography in orderto study both cancer and cardiac diseases. Prior tojoining the NPA Executive Board, he held severalleadership positions starting with his tenure ingraduate school. Dr. Rowland was a representativein both the Graduate Student Association ofChemistry and the Graduate Student Council(GSC). While serving on the GSC, he became theAcademic Affairs Officer and was a liaison to boththe Faculty Senate and the Council of PrincipleInvestigators. During this time, Dr. Rowland alsorepresented graduate students by lobbying theTexas State Legislature. Currently, he serves as arepresentative on the Associate Member Council ofthe American Association of Cancer Research andas an ex officio member of the Science Policy andLegislative Affairs Committee representing theCouncil. Dr. Rowland also serves on the SteeringCommittee for the Postdoctoral Association atWashington University. Within the NPA, he servesas a member of the Policy and DiversityCommittees. Dr. Rowland earned a B.A. fromKenyon College and a PhD from Texas A&MUniversity.

Christopher Blagden, PhD

Chris Blagden, a current member of the ExecutiveBoard, is a Postdoctoral Fellow at New YorkUniversity School of Medicine, in the MolecularNeurobiology Program, studying regulation of geneexpression in skeletal muscle by electrical activity.He completed his PhD, on the subject of Hedgehogsignalling in muscle development, at the Universityof London in 1999.

Dr. Blagden is a postdoctoral council member of thePostdoctoral Office at NYU SoM, driving the devel-opment of the postdoctoral community there. He isthe chair of the NPA’s Board DevelopmentGovernance Committee, and Vice-Chair of theOutreach Committee. He has been involved in mul-tiple projects of importance to the NPA, includingformulation of hypotheses for the Sigma XiNational Postdoc Survey, and development of the

NPA’s PDO/PDA toolkit, for which he has writtenseveral pieces of documentation. More recently hehas coordinated the development and implementa-tion of the NPA’s Team Visit Program, an initiativedesigned to allow the NPA to directly assist institu-tions, upon request, to develop areas of their post-doctoral programs.

Dr. Blagden is also one of the founder members ofthe Future Science Educators at NYU SoM(http://www.med.nyu.edu/Sackler/fse), a postdoc-driven forum which encourages both graduate stu-dents and postdocs to attend professional develop-ment workshops on various aspects of good scienceteaching, maintains contacts with surroundingschools and institutions about teaching opportuni-ties, and outreaches to local institutions and pro-grams to provide hands-on teaching experiences forour life science trainees.

Amber Budden, PhD

Amber Budden, PhD, is currently a postdoctoralscholar within the Mueseum of Vertebrate Zoology,University of California, Berkeley. Prior to thisappointment Dr. Budden worked within the depart-ment of Environmental Science, Policy andManagement at Berkeley and the department ofNatural Resources and Environmental Science atthe University of Nevada, Reno. In addition to herecological research activities, she served the post-doc community as President of the BerkeleyPostdoctoral Association from 2002 to 2004, wascommittee member on the UC Council ofPostdoctoral Scholars and is active on variousNational Postdoctoral Association committees. Dr.Budden was recently elected to serve on the NPAExecutive Board for a two year term, commencingJanuary 2005. She is the Chair of StrategicPlanning Governance Committee, Co-chair of thePublications Committee, and a member of theInternational Postdoc Committee. She is the princi-pal liaison between the NPA and the Sigma XiPostdoc Survey project, leading the NPA’s efforts toanalyze the results of this national survey.

Raymond Clark, PhD

Raymond J. Clark, PhD is a Founding Member ofthe National Postdoctoral Association and current-ly serves as Vice Chair of the Policy Committee,

where he addresses national postdoctoral andworkforce policy issues. In addition to his workwith the NPA, Raymond is a ProgramAdministrator for the University of CaliforniaInstitute for Global Conflict and Change’s (IGCC)Biological Threats and Public Policy Project. He isalso an adjunct Professor of Physiology at PalomarCommunity College. A former postdoctoral fellow inMolecular Cardiology at UCSD, Raymond alsoworks on a variety of projects designed to enhancethe visibility of and increase opportunities for earlycareer scientists and engineers in the San Diegoregion. He recently founded a consulting company(Science Professionals Consulting Group) thatdesigns and implements career workshops for earlycareer scientists. Raymond remains active inresearch as a consultant, providing advice and per-forming fieldwork on projects involving amphibianand avian biodiversity. He has also formed anothercompany (Nguyen and Clark, LLC) that is develop-ing residential real estate for low to mediumincome families in San Diego.

John Leviathan, M.A.

John Leviathan, M.A. is the Human ResourcesManager and Postdoctoral Fellow’s Advisor at theGladstone Institutes. In this position, he works onall aspects of the fellows program, including devel-opment of polices, recruitment, benefits, compensa-tion, and training. He also works closely withUCSF, where several postdocs hold appointments.He created a postdoctoral fellows handbook thatoutlined policies, procedures, and conduct for fel-lows. He also designed and implemented a PostdocWeb, which serves as an online resource for ourpostdocs with information and resources on itemssuch as grant writing, visas, ethics and postdocissues. He has written articles on our program,published on the Postdoc Network and has beencontacted on several occasions to be interview foran article. Mr. Leviathan has been invited to par-ticipate on several panel discussions on postdocissues at meetings such as the AAAS Conference inSan Francisco and the Postdoc Network NationalMeetings in Washington D.C.

Arti Chiman Patel, PhD, M.P.H.

Dr. Arti Patel PhD, M.P.H. is currently a fellow inthe Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program in theDivision of Cancer Prevention at the National

Cancer Institute. She received her undergraduateand graduate degrees from the University of NorthCarolina at Chapel Hill. Her doctoral researchfocused on understanding the genetic and epigenet-ic alterations that contribute to the development ofmouse lung tumors. Dr. Patel also holds a Master’sdegree in Public Health from the Johns HopkinsBloomberg School of Public Health. Currently, herprimary appointment is in the Laboratory of TumorImmunology and Biology within the Center forCancer Research at the NCI, where her interestsare concentrated on nutrition, immunity and can-cer prevention. Dr. Patel’s research focuses on thedevelopment and implementation of interventionsthat combine immune-stimulating diets, chemopre-ventive agents and cancer vaccines to enhance thehost’s immune response to cancer.

Additionally, Dr. Patel has been an advocate forimproving postdoctoral training since graduateschool. She along with a group of proactive individ-uals was involved in starting the Trainees’Assembly at the National Institutes ofEnvironmental Health Sciences in 1997. Duringthat time, she successfully led the establishment ofseveral programs to enhance the training of gradu-ate students and postdoctoral fellows at theNIEHS. One of these programs, a Science andCareer Fair designed to promote the professionaldevelopment of graduate students and postdoctor-al, has become an annual event. She was alsoinvolved in starting the National Cancer Institute’sCenter for Cancer Research Fellows and YoungInvestigator’s Association in 2000. As Chairpersonfor both of these organizations and the AmericanAssociation for Cancer Research Associate MemberCouncil, Dr. Patel has instrumental in bringingtogether key stakeholders to work together towardsthe common goal of improving postdoctoral train-ing. She has also served on the Fellows Committee(FELCOM) at the National Institutes of Health andwas on the advisory board of the Postdoc Network(PDN). She has written several articles on postdocissues, which have been published on Science’sNextWave. Additionally, Dr. Patel was a member ofthe Steering Committee that conceived and wrotethe proposal that was submitted to the Alfred P.Sloan Foundation for the creation of the NationalPostdoctoral Association (NPA). She continues to bean active member of the NPA Executive Board andis former chair of the Diversity Committee.

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Alyson Reed, M.A.Executive Director

Alyson Reed is the Executive Director of theNational Postdoctoral Association, providing staffleadership to this newly-formed professional socie-ty representing postdoctoral scholars. Ms. Reed isan experienced non-profit manager and executive,having previously served as the Executive Directorof the Maryland Commission for Women and of theNational Committee on Pay Equity. She has alsoworked in senior management and policy posts atthe National Kidney Foundation and the AmericanCollege of Nurse-Midwives. Early in her career, Ms.Reed worked as a radio news reporter for an NPRaffiliate in upstate New York, and also as a ProjectManager for the League of Women Voters. In addi-tion to her professional experience, Ms. Reedearned a Masters degree in Public Policy andWomen’s Studies from the George WashingtonUniversity and a Bachelor’s degree in EnglishLiterature from SUNY-Binghamton. She resides inUniversity Park, Maryland.

Jayne Reuben, PhD

Jayne S. Reuben, PhD is a UNCF∑MERCKPostdoctoral Science Research Fellow in the depart-ment of Pathology at the University of Michiganwhere she investigates mechanisms of the lunginflammatory response under the direction of Dr.Peter A. Ward. She is a graduate of ConverseCollege in Spartanburg, South Carolina where shereceived a B.A. in Chemistry. In 2001, she complet-ed her PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences with a spe-cialization in Pharmacology and Toxicology fromFlorida Agricultural and Mechanical University(FAMU) College of Pharmacy and PharmaceuticalSciences. She is the recipient of fellowships fromthe American Foundation of PharmaceuticalEducation, the Delores A. Auzenne Foundation, andthe FAMU Faculty Development Program. In addi-tion, Dr. Reuben currently serves as a member ofseveral scientific societies (AAAS, ASPET, AAI andASIP) and is a charter member of the University ofMichigan Postdoctoral Association.

Dr. Reuben believes that in addition to the researchcomponent, the postdoctoral experience should rou-tinely include career development opportunities

that enable postdoctoral fellows to identify thesteps necessary to achieve their goals as well asmake more informed decisions regarding theirfutures. While in attendence at the 2004 COSEPUPand NPA meetings, she was recruited to serve onthe NPA Diversity committee. In October 2004, shewas elected to the Executive Board. Her intent is tofunction as a liaison and advocate as well as assistin the implementation of programs and distributionof information relevant to the professional develop-ment of all members of the national postdoctoralcommunity. To this end, she also serves on the NPABoard Development and Finance committees.

Claudina A. Stevenson, PhD

Claudina A. Stevenson, PhD is an Instructor inMedicine in the Dept. of Cancer Biology at theDana-Farber Cancer Institute. In her role asInstructor, she will pursue her research interests ofelucidating the role of ABC transporter drug effluxpumps in multi-drug resistant breast cancer. In herrole as Inaugural Director of the Postdoc Office, shewill be responsible for creating and providing aconducive environment to support and preparepostdoc for successful careers.

Dr. Stevenson was a postdoctoral fellow in theNational Cancer Institute Center for CancerResearch. Dr. Stevenson obtained her PhD inBiochemistry and Molecular Biology fromLouisiana State University studying the molecularevolution of Alu, short interspersed repeated ele-ments. Dr. Stevenson was active in her graduatestudent association at LSU, began a cross-depart-mental seminar series, and served as President forone year. While at NIH/NCI, she also served asChair of the Center for Cancer Research – Fellowsand Young Investigators Association in NIH, andhelped organized the postdoctoral retreat in 2002 toprovide presentation experience and educationalworkshops for over 400 postdocs in attendance. Dr.Stevenson was a founding member on the SteeringCommittee of the National Postdoctoral Associa-tion. She currently holds a position in the NPAExecutive board and Chairs the OutreachCommittee.

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J. Lille Tidwell, PhD

J. Lille Tidwell, PhD was recently awarded anIntramural Research Training Award to serve at theOffice of Technology Transfer at the NationalInstitutes of Health in Rockville, Maryland startingin October, 2004. Technology transfer encompassesthe process of moving technology from the laborato-ry bench to the public market, therefore Dr. Tidwellassists the NIH with patenting and license agree-ments. Dr. Tidwell hopes to become proficient in fivemain areas of technology transfer; policy, patenting,negotiating, contract skills, and marketing. Theseskills will give Dr. Tidwell the proper training tosucceed as a director of a technology transfer office.

Dr. Tidwell earned a B.S. with a senior researchthesis from Western Carolina University in 1991.For the next five years she worked in radiationchemistry near the Hanford nuclear site inWashington State, where she also became a volun-teer fire-fighter and EMT. Dr. Tidwell then pursueda PhD in Neurobiology and Anatomy at WakeForest University while continuing to serve on thelocal rescue squad team. Trauma to the nervoussystem had become a main interest for Dr. Tidwell.Under the supervision of co-advisors, Drs. MichaelTytell and Lucien Houenou, she completed her dis-sertation “Neuronal Survival Promoted by HSP70”in December 2001. Immediately following herdefense, Dr. Tidwell joined Dr. Bregman, chairmanof the department of Neuroscience at theGeorgetown University Medical Center. Herresearch project tested the hypothesis thatincreased levels of cAMP enhance axonal regenera-tion into transplanted fetal tissue following spinalcord injury. During her training, she also taughtPathophysiology as an Adjunct Assistant Professorat Marymount University.

With her postdoctoral advisor’s support and a trav-el award from the National Postdoctoral Association(NPA), Dr. Tidwell attended the NPA inauguralmeeting in March, 2003. This meeting was instru-mental in helping Drs. Tidwell and Lea co-found theGeorgetown University Postdoctoral Association.Currently, Dr. Tidwell serves as an Executive Boardmember of the NPA.

Steven Wendell, PhD

Steven K. Wendell, PhD is currently the AssistantDirector, Postdoctoral Affairs, Schools of HealthSciences, and Research Assistant Professor, Schoolof Dental Medicine, at the University ofPittsburgh. His research interest include the use ofanimal models to understand the genetics of cranio-facial development and the therapeutic potential ofstem cells.

Dr. Wendell received his PhD from the University ofMinnesota while studying the effects of ancientendogenous retroviral elements on the evolution ofcellular gene expression in the laboratory ofAnthony J. Faras, PhD While pursuing postdoctor-al training under Joseph Glorioso, PhD, Dr. Wendellco-founded the University of PittsburghPostdoctoral Association (UPPDA) in 2002 and waselected Senior Co-Chair. He was subsequently elect-ed to the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA)Executive Board in 2003. Dr. Wendell is currentlyserving on the Executive Board of the NPA and asthe Chair of the Annual Meeting Committee.

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NPA SUSTAINING MEMBERS 2004Thank you for your support!

American Society for MicrobiologyAmerican Sociological AssociationArizona State UniversityBoston CollegeBrookhaven National LaboratoryBrown UniversityBurroughs Wellcome FundCalifornia Institute of TechnologyCase Western Reserve UniversityCity of Hope Beckman Research InstituteCold Spring Harbor LaboratoryCombustion Research FacilityDana Farber Cancer Institute, Postdoctoral OfficeEmory UniversityHarvard Medical School – Harvard School – Dental

Medicine Quad Postdoctoral AssociationInternational Association for Dental ResearchJohns Hopkins Postdoctoral AssociationJohns Hopkins University School of MedicineMayo Research Fellows’ AssociationMedical College of WisconsinNational Cancer InstituteNational Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NIH)National Institute of Environmental Health Science

(NIEHS/NIH)National Institutes of Health (NIH), FelComNew York University School of Medicine,

Postdoctoral AssociationPacific Northwest National Lab, Postdoctoral OfficePennington Biomedical Research CenterSalk InstituteSt. Jude Children’s Research HospitalStanford University, Postdoctoral AssociationThe Burnham Institute, Postdoctoral AssociationThe Rockefeller University, Postdoctoral AssociationThe Scripps Research Institute, Postdoctoral

AssociationThe University of Alabama at BirminghamThe University of Chicago, Postdoctoral Association

The University of Texas Southwestern MedicalCenter at Dallas

Thomas Jefferson University, PostdoctoralAssociation Graduate Division

University of Alberta, Postdoctoral OfficeUniversity of California Council of Postdoctoral

ScholarsUniversity of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, DavisUniversity of California, Davis Postdoctoral

Scholars AssociationUniversity of California, Los Angeles Graduate

DivisionUniversity of California, San Diego, Postdoctoral

AssociationUniversity of Medicine & Dentistry of NJ

Postdoctoral AssociationUniversity of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey,

Postdoctoral OfficeUniversity of Minnesota, Postdoctoral AssociationUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pittsburgh – School of Medicine,

Postdoctoral AssociationUniversity of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center,

Postdoctoral AssociationUniversity of Texas Medical Branch, Postdoctoral

AssociationUPENN – Biomedical Postdoctoral CouncilVirginia Commonwealth UniversityWake Forest University Graduate School of Arts

and Science, Postdoctoral OfficeWashington University in St. Louis, Postdoctoral

OfficeWeill Medical College & Graduate School of Medical

Science, Postdoctoral OfficeWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Postdoctoral

Office

1200 New York Ave., Suite 635Washington, DC 20005

www. nationalpostdoc.org202-326-6424; Fax: 202-371-9849email: info@nationalpostdoc.org