Pharmacology and Toxicology Students Recognized

Five students working in the laboratory of James R. Olson, PhD, professor of pharmacology and toxicology, presented papers at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Society of Toxicology (SOT), March 6-10, Washington, D.C.

Corie A. Ellison, PhD candidate, received three awards from the society for his study, titled, “Construction and Validation of a Human PBPK/PD Model for Dermal Chlorpyrifos Exposure Utilizing Human Biomarker Data.” Ellison’s awards included:

• Best Student Abstract Award from the Occupational and Public Health Specialty Section
• Perry J. Gehring Best Graduate Student Abstract Award from the Risk Assessment Specialty Section
• Graduate Student Travel Award from the Regulatory and Safety Evaluation Specialty Section

Alice L. Crane, Oswald A. Dadson, Steven T. Singleton, and Yuan Tian also presented research at the conference.

Loukia Karacosta, a PhD candidate in the laboratory of Arthur M. Edelman, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology, was one of five recipients of the Sigma Xi Research Award at the Celebration of Academic Excellence on April 6. UB’s Chapter of Sigma Xi presents these awards in recognition of outstanding original graduate research. Karacosta’s poster, “The Role of CaMKK2 in Prostate Cancer,” was one of 65 presented from across UB, and one of nine from the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology.

Hamzat Feshitan, a senior in his last semester at UB, received a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow travel award from the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) to attend the Experimental Biology 2011 meeting in Washington, D.C., April 9-13. Because Feshitan’s poster was chosen as Best Undergraduate Poster at last spring’s Pharmacology Day (May 14, 2010), he also received the Undergraduate Travel Award from the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology to attend this same conference.

Feshitan is currently conducting research in the laboratory of Margarita Dubocovich, PhD, chair of the department.

Two pharmacology and toxicology majors were named recipients of Undergraduate Awards for Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creativity at the Celebration of Academic Excellence. The awards recognize outstanding contributions from each decanal area that achieve superiority in presentation, content, and scope, and which therefore merit acknowledgement as efforts worthy of university-wide distinction.

• Oswald A. Dadson, a BS/MS student working on his MS thesis in the laboratory of James R. Olson, PhD, professor of pharmacology and toxicology, was honored for his research, “Estimating Egyptian Cotton Field Worker Exposure to the Organophosphorous Pesticide Profenofos.” He was also a participant in UB’s CLIMB UP (Undergraduate Program) for Summer Research in 2010 and is supported by UB’s Bridges to the Doctorate Program.
• Tatiana Shaurova, working in the lab of Rajendram V. Rajnarayanan, PhD, assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology, was honored for her project, “Curcumin Analogues for Targeting Cancer Metastasis via G-alpha Protein Signaling.” Her collaborator, postdoctoral fellow Marc Koyack, won a 2010 Young Scientist Travel Award from the American Chemical Society’s Younger Chemists Committee and the CIBA Foundation for this same work.
• Marisa Hornbaker, an undergraduate pharmacology and toxicology major and standout member of the UB volleyball team, was awarded the Clifford C. Furnas Scholar-Athlete Award at the Celebration of Academic Excellence. Established in 1964 by then-UB President Clifford C. Furnas, this award recognizes outstanding undergraduate performance in scholarship and athletic prowess, and provides funding toward graduate or professional education.