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Chris Guilfoy
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38 Minority Scientists Receive Travel Fellowships to Experimental Biology 2007 in D.C.

BETHESDA, Md (March 15, 2007) – One of the nation’s oldest and most respected non-profit science organizations will provide $47,000 in travel fellowships to underrepresented minority students and scientists to attend the Experimental Biology conference in Washington, D.C., April 28 – May 2. The American Physiological Society (APS), which administers the program, has announced that 38 fellows will receive the travel awards.

APS administers the program with financial support from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Both NIDDK and NIGMS are part of the National Institutes of Health.

The APS Minority Travel Fellowship Program is designed to encourage more students from minority groups that are underrepresented in science to become scientists and remain in the field. African-American, Hispanic, Native American and Pacific Islander undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral students and faculty are eligible for the fellowships. The APS has awarded travel fellowships to approximately 500 minority students and faculty since 1987, when the program began.

In addition to paying travel and registration costs, each fellow is paired with an established researcher, an APS member who is usually in the same research area as the student. More than 60 APS members volunteer each year to be mentors. A number of former minority travel fellows -- now established researchers with their own graduate students -- serve as mentors themselves.

The program provides many career networking opportunities. The mentor introduces the fellow to other established scientists at the conference, and the fellows meet other minority students at an orientation and reception for current and past travel fellows. APS also invites fellows to career workshops, sessions on special skills development, and other special sessions during the conference.

Past fellows have praised the program, saying they received advice concerning their research from scientists they met through the program and also learned the ins and outs of interviewing for a postdoctoral or faculty position.

The 2007 Minority Travel Fellows are as follows:

Adebowale Adebiyi, University Of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tenn.

Julio Ayala, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn.

Carmelo Blanquicett, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.

Carmen Troncoso Brindeiro, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Neb

Jessica Clark, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo.

Sonya Coaxum, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, S.C.

Nildris Cruz, University of Puerto Rico Medical Science Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Kylie Davis, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, N.D.

Carlos del Rio, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

Dolores Doane, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Ill.

Maria Dominguez, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Ind.

Leticia Gonzalez, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas

Laura Gonzalez Bosc, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N.M.

Kristin Green, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, N. D.

James Harris, Auburn University, Auburn, Ala.

Brooke Henderson, University of Louisville, Louisville, Ky.

Mark Hernandez, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Mo.

Andres Hernandez, Auburn University, Auburn, Ala.

Crystal Hill-Pryor, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Ga.

Michael Hoffman, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.

Anna Leal, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, Texas

Lymari Lopez-Diaz, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Wendell Lu, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio

Keisa Mathis, LSU Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, La.

Karl Pendergrass, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C.

Farah Ramirez-Marrero, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

Clintoria Richards-Williams, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Ala.

Edelmarie Rivera-De Jesús, Ponce School of Medicine, Ponce, Puerto Rico

Ana Rodriguez, University of Puerto Rico Medical Science Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Walter Rodriguez, University of Louisville, Louisville, Ky.

Melissa Romero-Aleshire, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.

Olga Santiago, Ponce School of Medicine, Ponce, Puerto Rico

Mesia Moore Steed, University of Louisville, Louisville, Ky.

Keshari Thakali, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.

Ann Tobin, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wis.

Wanda Vila-Carriles, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Ala.

Vabren Watts, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tenn.

Julia Wilkerson, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.

Physiology is the study of how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function to create health or disease. The American Physiological Society has been an integral part of this scientific discovery process since it was established in 1887. The Society provides a wide range of research, educational and career support and programming to further the contributions of physiology to understanding diseased and healthy states.