Reception to honor students, faculty in NIH science programs

LAWRENCE — The KU Office of Diversity in Science Training will host its 5th Annual Welcome Reception honoring students and faculty mentors at KU and Haskell participating in 2011-12 programs funded by the National Institutes of Health to encourage underserved students to pursue careers in biomedical science.

The reception will be held Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 4 p.m. in the Bruckmiller room of the Adams Alumni Center. All KU faculty and staff are invited to attend to support the participants and mentors of these programs. A brief program will begin at 4:30 p.m.

The director of KU’s Office for Diversity in Science Training, James Orr, will recognize 38 returning students and newly selected participants in five NIH-supported programs at KU and Haskell: Bridges to the Baccalaureate, Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD), Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA), Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP), and Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE).

Estela Gavosto, associate director of the Office for Diversity in Science Training, will announce the 2011 faculty mentor of the year. The mentor of the year is nominated by ODST students who worked in a research lab under the mentorship of the faculty member. This award was established in 2006 to recognize exceptional faculty mentors who engage students in research in their labs and make the success of these training programs possible.

More information on Office for Diversity in Science Training programs can be found at www2.ku.edu/~odst.

Participants are listed below by hometown, university, tribal affiliations (if applicable), major, NIH program and faculty mentor. KU students are listed with their parents’ names and high schools, when available.