Fall 2024 Travel Award Recipients

Bell Travel Award             

Tolulope Ade (Hancock Lab) presented a poster entitled “RpoN-dependent phosphotransferase systems in Enterococcus faecalis”.  Ade said “Through this conference, I was able to present my research and get positive feedback from individuals at the conference.  I was also able to share and discuss ideas with other scientists from other laboratories who also work with Enterococcus faecalis.”

Hirata Travel Award

Abdulrahman Naeem (Hancock Lab) presented a poster entitled “The three-component signal transduction system YesLMN of Enterococcus faecalis senses host glycans to activate expression of an ABC transporter required for host glycan import.”  Naeem said “I had the privilege show what I have been working on so far since I joined the graduate program, and to be able to get valuable feedback from graduate students, post docs, and professors who are experts in the field. This is very important for my career; to be able to show my work and meet with other scientists in the same field.  I now have more resources of scientists who I can communicate with regarding research questions and/or future collaborations.”

Whitmire Travel Award

Lexie Cutter (Hefty Lab) presented a poster titled “Assessment of the Chlamydial Rsb Partner Switching System and Sensing Host Metabolite Levels to Control Growth”.  Cutter said “Presenting at this conference allowed me to network with a broad scientific audience. This conference also held a career plan where professionals from a diverse range of career fields answered our questions and gave us advice on how to pursue our future career path.  I am grateful I got to meet the other Chlamydia researchers who also study my system of interest. We were able to bounce ideas off each other and leave this conference with new directions to progress each of our projects. Thank you to the Molecular Biosciences Travel Award Committee for selecting me and gifting me with this opportunity”.