2011 Spring Meeting - Treetops

Dear all,

Here are the photos we captured during the meeting...

We had a great time! Special thanks to the SCASM board members, especially Nelson, Kelsey and Phoebe, for all of the hard work. Also, thanks to the Hilo group for making the effort. It was great to hear and see what you are working on. Dr. Jarvi's talk was very enjoyable.

Congratulations to all of the student award winners:

Oral Ph.D. Category:

1st Place, Mukesh Kumar, Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology

Role of Nod-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in West Nile virus (WNV)-induced neuroinflammation

2nd Place, Esther Volper, Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology

Early Detection and Rapid Diagnosis of Dengue Virus Infection: Development of Luminex Platform-Based Microsphere Bead Assays

3rd Place,

Ying Huang, Department of Zoology

Bacterial genes and larval settlement of the tube worm Hydroides elegans

Oral M.S. Category:

1st Place,

Nelson Lazaga, Department of Molecular Bioscience and Bioengineering

Archetype human polyomavirus JC (JCV) replicates in primary human brain microvascular endothelial (HBMVE) cells

2nd Place, Kelsey Roe, Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology

In vivo WNV infection modulates the markers of blood-brain barrier integrity

3rd Place,

Hsin-I Tong, Department of Microbiology

Development of enhanced detection of human norovirus and adenovirus in Hawaiian recreational waters

Poster Ph.D. Category:

1st Place, Sody Munsaka, Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology

Cannabinoid receptor expression on peripheral blood mononuclear cells of HIV subjects and marijuana users by flow cytometry

2nd Place, Yeung Tutterrow, Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology

Early production of high avidity antibodies to full-length VAR2CSA during pregnancy correlates with absence of placental malaria

Poster M.S. Category:

1st Place,

June Lee, Department of Molecular Bioscience and Bioengineering

Defective lentiviral vector mediated expression of a potential neuroprotective gene in primary mouse bone marrow monocyte cultures

2nd Place,

Jannai Yafuso, Department of Molecular Bioscience and Bioengineering

Expression of genes for Mimosine biosynthesis in E. coli

Travel Awards: Mukesh Kumar, Nelson Lazaga and Kelsey Roe

Undergraduate Essay Contest Winner: Chihui Jun; HIV and its Eradication

Also, thanks to all of the abstract reviewers and presentation judges:

Audrey Asahina,

Sandy Chang,

Moti Champagain,

Beth-Ann Collier, Paul Fox,

William Gosnell,

Susan Jarvi,

Pakieli Kaufusi,

Hongwei Li,

Michael Lieberman,

DeWolfe Miller,

Paul Patek,

Audrey Thevenon,

Saguna Verma,

Richard Yanagihara

Please welcome the new SCASM President, Kelsey Roe. I know she will do exceptional work this year. As for me, it's been a great pleasure serving as SCASM President for the 2010-2011 term. I'll graduate this year but look forward to getting involved as a full-member in the future.

Aloha,

James