2006
Graduate Student Awards
ROBERT C. ANDERSON MEMORIAL AWARDS
for outstanding
research by recent UGA graduates
Each year two awards are given -- one in natural sciences and one in another field – for an outstanding record of graduate research and innovation. The award is named for the late Robert C. Anderson, UGA’s former vice president for research and former president of the UGA Research Foundation. Carrie B. Oser and Kesannair Praveen received this year’s awards.
Oser, a recent doctoral graduate in sociology, uses a combination of analytical methods to study the effects of different substance-use programs. She looks not only at clients’ results, but also how these programs affect the agencies and communities in which they play a role, including exploring HIV-risk reduction in rural probationers and the effectiveness of underage drinking and prenatal substance abuse interventions. Currently an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky, she is PI or Co-PI on grants from NIH/National Institutes on Drug Abuse that total over four million dollars.
Praveen, a recent doctoral graduate in infectious diseases, explores different ways of killing tumor cells and virus-infected cells. While at UGA, he discovered and described unique genes from T cells and natural killer cells, which are integral to the body’s defensive process. Once these genes were isolated, Praveen was able to clone them and study how the two types of cells are different, which is illuminating the ways that different aspects of the immune system combat cancer. He is now a member of a leading cancer immunology research team at the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago.
JAMES L. CARMON AWARD
for innovative use of computers by a UGA graduate student
These are given in memory of the late James L. Carmon, a professor who was integral to the advancement of computer research and development at UGA. Reed A. Cartwright and Chih-Yuan Lin received this award for their innovative use of computers.
Cartwright, a doctoral student in genetics, created a computational program called DAWG (DNA Analysis with Gaps) that can generate simulated DNA sequences that include potential insertions and deletions. This is the first computer program that can incorporate this type of information into a simulation.
Lin, a doctoral candidate in physics and astronomy, developed an alternative computing structure that will perform extremely complex quantum mechanical calculations much faster than was previously possible. These calculations are involved in the study of the behavior of subatomic particles like atoms, ions and molecules.
GRADUATE STUDENT EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH AWARDS
for significant graduate student scholarship
Funded and administered by the UGA Graduate School, these awards recognize graduate students who demonstrate exceptional, significant scholarship in fine arts, humanities and letters, life sciences, mathematics and physical sciences, and professional and applied studies. This year’s recipients are Jorge Majfud-Albernaz, John Hearn, Thomas W. H. Ng, Jason W. Solomon and Qi Wu.
Majfud-Albernaz, a doctoral student in Latin American literature and culture, has written essays, books, articles, short stories and poetry focused on globalization, human rights, Latin American democracy and women’s issues. His works have been published in French, Spanish and English.
Hearn, a doctoral student in chemistry, studies the components of aerosol particles and how these tiny particles that are usually dispersed in gas interact in and affect the atmosphere. Hearn built his own laboratory equipment before conducting his investigations.
Ng, a doctoral student in management, studies the reconceptualization of psychological empowerment, or the perceived feelings of competence and control and internalization by employees of a company’s goals and objectives. Ng has presented multiple papers at Academy of Management and Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology meetings in addition to being invited to author two book chapters.
Solomon, a doctoral student in music, concentrates on the perception and analysis of musical sounds as they relate to the nature of music and an audience’s acculturated responses to it. He has been credited with opening a “new route of inquiry” in the field, and has presented his work at HarvardUniversity, where it was later requested for use in a seminar on perceptual issues.
Wu, a doctoral student in cellular biology, uses fruitflies as models for studying neural pathways that are involved in the hunger process. He recognized that an insulin signaling system regulates most aspects of hunger in Fruit flies, and this likely is the case in vertebrates as well. Wu’s research has been published in Neuroscience, Neuro, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Source: 27th Annual Research
Awards Program (2006)
