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IDIS DEPARTMENTAL RETREAT: Friday April 25
The Department will hold it's annual retreat this year, Friday April 25th at Flinchums Phoenix. The focus of this years retreat will be research presentations and posters from our graduate students. The retreat will comence at 8:30 with a continental breakfast followed by words from department chair Dr. Fred Quinn, and Dr. Sheila Allen, Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. A schedule of the retreat is available here (Link).
The keynote speaker for this years retreat will br Dr. Susan Wessler from the Department of Plant Biology. A native of New York City, Wessler graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and received her bachelor's degree in biology, with honors, from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1974. She received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Cornell University in 1980 and was a postdoctoral fellow of the American Cancer Society at the Carnegie Institution from 1980-1982.
She began her career at the University of Georgia in 1983 as an assistant professor of botany, rising through the ranks to full professor of botany and genetics in 1992. In 1994 she was awarded the title of Distinguished Research Professor which she held until 2004 when she was named a Regents Professor. In 2008 she was named the first University of Georgia Foundation Chair in the Biological Sciences.
She is co-author of The Mutants of Maize (Cold Spring Harbor Press) and of over 120 research articles. She is one of the principal authors of Introduction to Genetic Analysis, a leading textbook used in introductory genetics courses in colleges and universities throughout the world. In addition, she is an Associate Editor of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and is on the Editorial Board of Current Opinions in Plant Biology.
In 1998 she was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences and was elected in 2004 to the Council of the National Academy. In 2006 she was selected as a Howard Hughes Research Institute Professor. She is a fellow of the American Association of the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is the recipient of the Creative Research Medal (1991) and the Lamar Dodd Creative Research Award (1997) from the University of Georgia. In addition she was the first recipient of the Distinguished Scientist Award (2007) from the Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA).
Her scientific interest focuses on the subject of plant transposable elements and the evolution of plant genomes. She is the mother of two daughters, Becca 14 and Nicole 21.
GRADUATE RECRUITMENT WEEKEND: FEB 21-23 2008
The Department will hold a Graduate Recruitment weekend on February 21 to February 23 2008. The Graduate Program Committee received several applications (national and international) and 8 applicants were invited for a visit. They will arrive during the afternoon of Thursday Feb. 21 and attend an introductory session with Drs. Quinn and Jaso-Friedmann, followed by dinner with members of the Graduate Recruitment Committee. On Friday (Feb. 22), the applicants will be meeting with Faculty and students at our various locations (PDRC, AHRC, Riverbend, Coverdell, Vet Med), followed by dinner with Faculty and an evening with our students. On Saturday (Feb. 23), the applicants with get a tour of Campus as well as downtown Athens before heading back home. We appreciate everybody’s participation to make this a successful event.
CHRISTINE OSHANSKY WON AN AWARD FOR THE "BEST TRAINEE"
Christine Oshansky won an award for the " Best Trainee" at the 6th International Respiratory Syncytial Virus Symposium held October 25-28th at Marco Island, Florida. She was the winner among 46 PhD trainee presentations. Congratulation to Christine and her graduate mentor Dr. Ralph Tripp.
DR. MARY HONDALUS SELECTED FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA LILLY TEACHING FELLOWS PROGRAM
he Fellows will participate in the program for two years. The program facilitates the sharing of teaching ideas and strategies among Fellows as well as through interactions with master teachers and other senior faculty who serve as mentors. Fellows also develop and implement instructional projects to improve their courses and pedagogical methods.
Fellows are selected based on the demonstration of strong commitment to teaching excellence and efforts to improve the learning environment at UGA. The Lilly Teaching Fellows program is directed by Jean Martin-Williams, professor of music. Ron Walcott, associate professor of plant pathology, serves as faculty affilate.
NEW CHANGES IN OUR GRADUATE PROGRAM STARTING THIS FALL
The Department of Infectious Diseases is implementing several changes to the graduate program effective this fall. The most important change will be the implementation of core graduate curricula for all NEW MS and PhD students mentored through the ID Program. These curricula represent the latest stage in a gradual implementation that began several years ago. With one exception, these requirements DO NOT apply to the current students or students that will enroll in the College-wide MS program unless they are mentored by core Infectious Diseases faculty.
Core curricula are a common strategy to attain consistency in graduate training. Many, if not most, highly ranked graduate programs have utilized this approach for decades. It is particularly useful for developing interdisciplinary programs and is a requirement for acquiring federal training grant funding. The Vice President for Research and The Graduate School have been very proactive in encouraging UGA graduate programs to standardize their programs of study in order to evaluate effectiveness and enhance recruitment. Below you will find the new curriculum for both MS and PhD.
DR. KAPLAN'S GRADUATE STUDENT RECEIVES THE AAVP-INTERVET OUTSTANDING GRADUATE STUDENT AWARD
Dr. Ray Kaplan's graduate student, Martin Nielsen a veterinary from Denmark, recently received the AAVP-Intervet Outgoing Graduate Student Award.
DR. ANDREA-VARELA-STOKES ACCEPTED NEW POSITION AT MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY
Dr. Andrea Varela-Stokes recently accepted a position at the Mississippi State, College of Veterinary Medicine. Andrea received her PhD in our department under Dr. Susan Little in 2005 and most recently served as an Assistant Research Scientist continuing her work on vector-borne bacterial diseases. Her new contact information is below. We wish her well.
Andrea S. Varela-Stokes, D.V.M., Ph.D
Assistant Professor
College of Veterinary Medicine
P.O. Box 6100
Mississippi State, MS 39762-6100
Phone: (662) 325-1345
Fax: (662) 325-1031
Email: stokes@cvm.msstate.edu
DRS. RALPH TRIPP, MARK TOMPKINS, EGBERT MUNDT, JEFF HOGAN, AND ZHEN FU ARE PART OF A NEW CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR INFLUENZA RESERACH AND SURVEILLANCE ESTABLISHED BY THE NIH
Drs. Ralph Tripp, Mark Tompkins, Egbert Mundt, Jeff Hogan, and Zhen Fu are part of a new Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance established by the NIH. These investigators, working with scientists at Emory University's School of Medicine have received a $32.8 million contract to help the United States prepare for a possible flu pandemic. This center will conduct studies to determine how influenza viruses adapt to new hosts and are transmitted between different hosts, and analyze human immune responses to influenza vaccination and infection. The researchers will examine how human genes might be silenced to decrease or eliminate flu infections; identify new targets for antiviral medicines; and evaluate flu transmission between patients and physicians in the hospital emergency room setting.
FOCUS ON KEY POULTRY LAB AS UGA HATCHES BIG BIODEFENSE GOALS
University of Georgia administrators are stepping up a campaign to sell locals on the benefits the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility would bring to Athens, but the city already is home to a similar high-security research lab. The AHRC and the poultry lab already have helped UGA recruit top disease researchers to Athens. But having the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility, or NBAF, here would make the state and Athens "a world leader in protecting our health and the economy," according to UGA's Vice President for Research, David Lee. Dr. Ralph Tripp, GRA Emininent Scholar in the College of Veterinary Medicine, is also quoted. Read more...
IMMUNOBIOLOGY OF INFLUENZA VIRUS INFECTION: APPROACHES FOR AN EMERGING ZOONOTIC DISEASE
See the call for papers and scientific program for this July 29-31, 2007 seminar to be held at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center & Hotel, Athens, Ga. Peter C. Doherty, 1996 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine will deliver the plenary lecture "The relationship between influenza primary and memory CD8 T cell responses and novel developments in CD8 T cell vaccine design for influenza virus." Read more...
NAOMI LUCCHI JOINS CDC IN A PRESTIGIOUS AMS/NCID POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP
Naomi Wangui Lucchi, who completed her PhD with Dr. Julie Moore in May 2006, was selected from among a strong field of candidates for the prestigious American Society for Microbiology/National Center for Infectious Diseases Post-Doctoral Fellowship Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Chamblee. Only ten to twelve applicants are selected each year so this is an honor for one of our graduates! Naomi will be studying the immunology and genetics of cerebral malaria under Dr. Venkatachalam Udhayakumar in the Division of Parastic Diseases. While she will be based in Chamblee, her work will also take her to India.
CURO SELECTS FIRST HOLBROOK AWARD WINNER
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  Jody Dyer and Susan Sanchez |
Dyer has worked in the lab of mentor Susan Sanchez, College of Veterinary Medicine associate professor of infectious disease and BHSI member, since summer 2005. During her time, she helped elucidate the role of commensal bacterial in the gastrointestinal tract of cattle as reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance. While these bacteria do not cause disease, they may play a significant role in transmitting antibiotic resistance to potentially pathogenic bacteria.
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