2006 Neuroscience News: Congratulations to Drs. Thomas Foster, Leonid Moroz and Sue Semple-Rowland on their recent promotions Dr. Foster, Dr. Moroz and Dr. Semple-Rowland have recently been promoted to Full Professor in the Department of Neuroscience. All of the members of the department join the University of Florida in congratulating you on this well-deserved recognition of your professional achievements! Congratulations to Firas Kobeissy and Zhiqun Zhang Firas Kobeissy and Zhiqun Zhang are Ph.D. candidates in the IDP Neuroscience graduate program and have recently been awarded a $2500 research grant-in-aid and a $500 honorable mention research grant-in-aid, respectively, from the Robinson Endowment of the Tallahassee Memorial Hospital Foundation. They and their mentor, Dr. Kevin Wang, have been invited to attend the annual award dinner June 1, 2006 in the Tallahassee Memorial Hospital Auditorium. Zhiqun Zhang seleted to present research at NIMH Research Festival Zhiqun Zhang, a Ph.D. candidate in the IDP Neuroscience graduate program, a doctoral student in Dr. Kevin Wang's laboratory, recently attended the NIMH research festival in Bethesda, Maryland. She was selected, along with 72 other attendees to present her work at this event. Zhiqun had many great things to say about her experience at this event and it is hoped that more of our students will take the opportunity to attend this festival in the coming years. Zhiqun would be happy to share her experiences with any who are interested in this event. Congratulations to our Spring 2006 Graduates! This spring has been a busy one - the program congratulates Stephani Amici, Shannon Haire, Andrew James, Sami Jezzini, Kristofer Rau and Nicole Tester for successfully completing their doctoral degrees and Melissa Williams for completing her master degree. We wish all of you success in your future career endeavors. Congratulations to Dr. Nicole Tester Nicole delivered an excellent research presentation in the recent COM Medical Guild Competition. She did a great job of representing the IDP Neuroscience program. Faculty education awards! Dr. Lou Ritz was recently named a member of the UF College of Medicine Society of Teaching Scholars and Dr. Sue Semple-Rowland and Dr. Ritz received Exemplary Teacher Awards for 2006 from the College of Medicine. Both Lou and Sue will be honored at the upcoming Medical Education Banquest that will be held in Emmerson Hall on April 27, 2006. 2006 Neuroscience IDP Medical Guild Competition The 2006 Medical Guild Competition for Neuroscience was held March 10th. The graduate students who participated in this year's event included Kristina Aenlle, Firas Kobeissy, Kristofer Rau, Stephanie Jefferson, Christopher Mariani, Amy Chen and Nicole Tester. All did an admirable job of presenting their current research and were recognized for their efforts by awarding each a $100 cash award. The winner of this year's contest was Nicole Tester. She will be represent the Neuroscience IDP program in the upcoming College of Medicine Medical Guild event that is sheduled for April 11th. Please make an effort to attend and support Nicole. Faculty member awarded 2006 Distinguished Alumni Citation Dr. Sue Semple-Rowland recently was named a recipient of the 2006 Distinguished Alumni Citation awarded by her alma mater, Gustavue Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. She will attend the Alumni banquet at Gustavus to receive her award at the end of May. Congratulations to our Fall 2006 Graduates! Thomas Ha, Rita Jain, Christopher Mariani, Diana Sarko, Noah Walton, Todd White and Paul Wright