LSU, BRCC Students Recognized at National Biomedical Conference
One LSU and two BRCC students were recognized for their outstanding poster presentations at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, or ABRCMS, held in Seattle, Washington, November 11-14. Brandon Byrd, Ryan LeBlanc and Meagan Moore won awards for their poster presentations in the areas of chemistry and neuroscience.
ABRCMS is one of the largest, professional conferences for underrepresented minority students, military veterans and persons with disabilities pursuing advanced training in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM. This year’s theme, Strength in Diversity! Fifteen Years of Enhancing Minority Students’ Excellence in STEM Research” highlighted the conference’s 15-year anniversary.
More than 3,600 individuals attended the conference this year, including approximately 2,000 undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students, and 400 graduate students and postdoctoral scientists. ABRCMS also attracts about 1,200 STEM faculty, program directors and administrators. Students come from over 350 U.S. colleges and universities to participate and network. This year, a record number of 2,035 abstracts were submitted, and only 243 awards were given to students in various categories.
"We are very excited to have our students recognized with these awards," said Cynthia Peterson, dean of the LSU College of Science and Seola Arnaud and Richard Vernon Edwards Jr. Professor. "Our students have opportunities to pursue real-world research experiences at LSU, and having a national venue to showcase their work is fantastic. Congratulations!"
Brandon Byrd, a junior in the LSU College of Science majoring in biochemistry, is conducting research in the laboratory of Graça Vicente, LSU’s Charles H. Barré Professor of Chemistry. He is also a scholar in the Initiative for Maximizing Student Development, or IMSD Program. Byrd presented his research poster titled, Synthesis of Novel Soluble BODIPYs for Bio-Imaging and PDT.
Professor Vicente, director of the IMSD Program, commented “I am so proud of our IMSD scholars for all their accomplishments and for continuing to represent LSU at national competitions with their winning research presentations.”
Ryan LeBlanc and Meagan Moore are both students at Baton Rouge Community College, or BRCC, and participants in the Office of Strategic Initiatives, or OSI, National Institutes of Health Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program. They are also undergraduate researchers in the laboratory of Assistant Professor of Biological Science, Ryoichi Teruyama. LeBlanc’s poster presentation on Sexually Dimorphic Oxytocin Receptor Expressing Cells in the Mouse Hypothalamus and Moore’s presentation on Salted ChIPs: Regulation of ENaC in Vasopressin Neurons by Mineralcorticoid Receptor Modulated by Dietary Salt were two of the ten winning community college presentations. Ryan and Meagan also received extensive guidance through numerous workshops on developing and presenting research posters as well as individual consultation, led by Becky Carmichael, science coordinator with the LSU Communication across the Curriculum, or CxC.
“The experience was very eye-opening in terms of what I would like to do with my future,” said Ryan. “I was able to interact with industry and academic professionals and discuss my work, which was satisfying and validating. I was most impressed by the amount of talented people presenting their work and their professional demeanor. It all really helped me to understand what it takes to be a success in the sciences.”
The success of these students is a testament to the exceptional collective support provided by BRCC, IMSD, LSU College of Science, LSU CxC and OSI.
“We are immensely proud of these students for being recognized at the prestigious ABRCMS competition. Their accomplishments are indicative of the incredible mentoring and training provided by LSU and BRCC,” said Isiah Warner, LSU vice president for Strategic Initiatives.
Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students
ABRCMS is designed to encourage underrepresented minority students to pursue advanced training in STEM and provide faculty mentors and advisors with resources for facilitating students’ success. During the four-day conference, students participate in poster and oral presentations in twelve disciplines in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, including mathematics. All undergraduate student presentations are judged and those receiving the highest scores in each scientific discipline and in each educational level are given an award during the final banquet. In addition to the presentation competition, more than 600 representatives from graduate programs at US colleges and universities as well as scientists from government agencies, foundations, and professional scientific societies join ABRCMS in the exhibitors program to share information about graduate school and summer internship opportunities.
The conference is sponsored by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), Division of Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity (TWD) under award number T36GM073777 and managed by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). For more information about ABRCMS visit, http://www.abrcms.org.
The Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program is supported by the National Institute of
General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award number R25GM102765.
This program is an LSU Office of Strategic Initiatives project in collaboration with
the College of Science and Baton Rouge Community College to help BRCC students transition
into biomedically-related baccalaureate degree programs at LSU. Program activities
include individual mentoring, peer tutoring, academics success programs, and undergraduate
research opportunities. For more information visit www.lsu.edu/nihbridges.
Initiative for Maximizing Student Development Program
The Initiative for Maximizing Student Development, or IMSD program at LSU provides research training, academic and personal development, and career opportunities for underrepresented graduate and undergraduate students majoring in biomedical or behavioral science disciplines. The IMSD Program has been supported since 2004 by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award number R25GM069743. IMSD activities include individualized counseling, training and mentoring, as well as group learning and outreach opportunities. For more information visit, www.lsu.edu/imsd.
Communication across the Curriculum
LSU’s Communication across the Curriculum, or CxC, is the first program in the nation focused on improving student communication skills within the disciplines. Through communication intensive courses, LSU students can enhance critical thinking, while improving their communication skills in written, spoken, visual and technological forms.
Office of Strategic Initiatives
The LSU Office of Strategic Initiatives, or OSI, leads and coordinates institutional efforts to assist in raising LSU’s academic standing among its peers through competitive and outstanding achievements by students, staff and faculty. Our core mission is to prepare the next generation of science, technology, engineering and mathematics leaders. Through multifaceted initiatives, OSI assists the Office of Academic Affairs in creating and implementing programs that enhance the diversity of students and faculty at LSU.
Top photo (left to right): Bridges to the Baccalaureate students at BRCC Megan Moore and Ryan Leblanc, and LSU biochemistry major Brandon Byrd.
The content of press release is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.