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About the SOT Postdoctoral Assembly (PDA)
Postdoctoral membership in SOT provides early career toxicologists with opportunities for scientific growth, networking, and career advancement. All members of SOT who self-identify as postdoctoral scholars are part of the Postdoctoral Assembly (PDA), which was formed to increase involvement of postdocs in SOT and to address issues related to the postdoctoral experience. The PDA is governed by an elected PDA Executive Board who provide leadership for communications, strategic activities, and events of special interest to postdocs. Postdoctoral members serve leadership roles in the Society by participating as representatives for SOT Regional Chapters, Special Interest Groups, Specialty Sections, and to Committees.
How SOT Defines a Postdoc
The Society of Toxicology aligns its definition of a postdoctoral researcher closely with the definition set by the National Postdoctoral Association.
Characteristics that define a postdoctoral position include:
- The postdoctoral appointment is temporary.
- Effort is focused primarily on research.
- The development of professional skills prepares the postdoc to actively pursue a career.
- The postdoc is supervised by at least one senior scholar.
- The postdoc is allowed and encouraged to publish the results of his or her research or scholarship.
- The appointment is not part of a clinical training program.
PDA Executive Board and Representatives
All SOT Postdoctoral members are part of the Society’s Postdoctoral Assembly (PDA), which is governed by the elected PDA Executive Board. Postdoctoral representatives are appointed to SOT Regional Chapters, Special Interest Groups, Specialty Sections, and some SOT Committees to enhance the involvement of postdoctoral scholars within SOT.
PDA Executive Board
Anke Tukker
Chair
Dr. Anke Tukker obtained a BSc in Biomedical Sciences (Utrecht University, NL), followed by an MA in Latin America studies (University of Amsterdam, NL) and MSc in Toxicology and Environmental Health (Utrecht University, NL). She obtained her PhD (2020) in Neurotoxicology (supervisor: Dr. Remco Westerink; Utrecht University, NL) and currently is a postdoc in Dr. Aaron Bowman’s lab at Purdue University. Anke has strong interests in neurotoxicology, alternative model development and gene-environment interactions. She became a member of SOT in 2016 and joined NTSS and WIT. In 2021 she joined IVAMSS and SCSS. Anke was postdoctoral representative for NTSS in 2021-2022 and was elected Vice Chair for the PDA in 2022. Currently she is PDA's Chair. In 2019 she presented in the SOT Symposium Session “Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS): Global and Persistent Environmental Contaminants.” In 2020, Anke was chair and presenter of the Symposium Session “Opportunities for human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons in in vitro neurotoxicity safety testing.” In 2023 she presented her work in the session "Mechanisms of Neurotoxicity, Neurodegeneration and Neurodevelopmental Dysfunction Induced by Metals and Pesticide". Additionally, she chaired the session "Leader's Digest: The Art of Scientific Leadership" that she organized in her capacity as PDA Vice Chair.
Olawande Olagoke
Vice Chair
Dr. Olawande Olagoke is a biomedical scientist with about a decade of experience practicing in academia and the healthcare industry, through international fellowships and positions at BIDMC & Harvard Medical School, UFSM Brazil, and KIU Uganda. His research experience spans the development of predictive models of health and disease, as well as the discovery and safety assessment of functional foods with bioactive compounds, and he has authored/co-authored over a dozen peer-reviewed articles. As a lecturer, he has been involved in the development and implementation of physiology and toxicology teaching curriculums, modules, and case studies. He is also actively involved in mentoring the next generation of scientists via platforms like the Toxicology Mentoring and Skills Development Training (directed by the University of California Davis and the Society of Toxicology), and the International Research Initiative (directed by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health). Dr. Olawande has provided expert service for professional bodies and committees including the SOT Continuing Education Committee, Graduate Student Leadership Committee, Professional Development Subcommittee, Food Safety Specialty Section, and Toxicologists of African Origin. He is currently the vice chair of the SOT PDA Executive Board.
Samuel Cochran
Secretary
Dr. Samuel Cochran graduated with his BS in Biology from the Ohio State University in 2017. He also completed his PhD in Environmental Science at OSU in 2022. His doctoral research investigated epidemiological associations between indoor microbial exposures and asthma outcomes, although his interests include the pathophysiology of lung injury resulting from environmental exposures. He is currently a postdoctoral scholar in the division of Pulmonary, Critical, and Sleep Medicine at The Ohio State University where he is studying environmental immunotoxicology in the lab of Dr. Kymberly Gowdy. His current research focuses on macrophage-mediated inflammation and resolution following ozone exposure. Dr. Cochran is equally passionate about research, mentorship, and career development and looks forward to serving as the 2023-2024 Secretary for the SOT Post-Doctoral Assembly Executive Board. Outside of work he enjoys hiking, painting, and spending time with family and friends!
Qiran Chen
Treasurer
Dr. Qiran Chen is a postdoctoral associate at the Department of Environmental and Global Health and a member of the Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology at the University of Florida, where she is to advance the human risk assessment of environmental chemicals and nanoparticles using machine learning and other computational methodologies. She received a doctorate in environmental health from Indiana University Bloomington in 2020. Her doctoral research focused on the improvement of dose-response analysis in chemical risk assessment. She joined the Society of Toxicology since 2020. Her relevant work was recognized by the Society of Toxicology and awarded Andersen-Clewell Trainee Award (2020), Perry J. Gehring Award (2022), and Best Postdoctoral Publication Award (2023). Before joining the University of Florida, Dr. Chen was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Computational Comparative Medicine at Kansas State University. Qiran is also the author of 5 peer-reviewed articles.
Elise Hickman
Councilor
Dr. Hickman is a postdoctoral research fellow at UNC Chapel Hill in the Curriculum in Toxicology and Environmental Medicine and is mentored by Dr. Julia Rager. Her research focuses include understanding wildfire smoke mixtures toxicity using in vitro and computational approaches and the role of extracellular vesicles in respiratory responses to toxicants using human clinical samples. Dr. Hickman received a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Toxicology from The University of California, Davis in 2017 and PhD in Toxicology and Environmental Medicine from UNC Chapel Hill in 2022. Dr. Hickman has been a member of the Society of Toxicology since 2019 and has attended SOT every year since 2019. She has previous SOT leadership experience as Inhalation and Respiratory Specialty Section graduate student representative (2020-2021), Faculty United for Toxicology Undergraduate Recruitment and Education Committee graduate student representative (2020-2021), and Graduate Student Leadership Committee Executive Board member (professional development subcommittee secretary, 2021-2022).
Kruuttika Satbhai
Councilor
Dr. Kruuttika Satbhai is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst since Fall 2022, where she works to understand the impacts of PFAS on pancreas development in zebrafish embryos, and the role of oxidative stress. She received her doctorate in Environmental Toxicology from Texas Tech University in August of 2022, and her MS in biology from University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Kruuttika has served as the student representative on the board of aquatic toxicity testing interest group (ATTIG) associated with the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) for 2021 and 2022 and continues to serve as a board member. She has also co-chaired sessions at the Annual North America SETAC Conference in 2021 and 2022. She is the author/ co-author of three peer-reviewed publications and has been a member of the SOT since 2021. Kruuttika is excited for the opportunity to become more involved in SOT.
Chidozie Amuzie
Council Contact
Dr. Dozie Amuzie is the Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation-JLABS in Canada where he is responsible for external engagement, innovation sourcing, new company onboarding, educational programming, and portfolio management. He is trained, board-certified, and experienced in comparative pathology and toxicological sciences. Before his current role, Dr. Amuzie was at Janssen Pharmaceutical R&D, where he was nonclinical safety representative on projects and led the North American Discovery and Project Pathology organization. Dr. Amuzie is a modality-agnostic safety assessment leader and had the privilege to work with teams that drove discovery or acquisition of several biopharmaceutical entities across 10 modalities from early discovery through clinical development and some regulatory approvals. His scientific leadership has helped shape strategies for safety assessment of some novel modalities at Janssen R&D. Prior to joining Janssen R&D, Dr. Amuzie was the Associate Director of Pathology at MPI Research, where he spent about five years in various pathology roles, on diverse nonclinical safety assessment studies. He also provided scientific leadership for the biomarker and investigative pathology unit.
Dr. Amuzie has authored/coauthored six book chapters and 22 peer-reviewed manuscripts in different areas of immunotoxicology, pathobiology and animal models of disease. He was a guest editor on a 2022 Toxicologic Pathology journal special issue that created practical knowledge on the pathology of laboratory nonhuman primates.
Postdoc Regional Chapter, Special Interest Group, and Specialty Section Representatives
Each SOT Regional Chapter, Special Interest Group, and Specialty Section may appoint a Postdoctoral Representative to provide leadership for their group and communication with the PDA. The representative encourages membership in SOT and the Component Group as well as development of activities to enhance involvement of postdocs in SOT.
Postdoc Committee Representatives
Some SOT Committees invite the PDA Executive Board to appoint a Postdoctoral Representative to serve as an ad hoc member of the committee to provide the perspective of, and communication with, SOT postdoctoral scholars.
Best Postdoctoral Publication Award
The Best Postdoctoral Publication Award recognizes outstanding work accomplished during formal, mentored postdoctoral traineeships by recognizing recently published exceptional papers in the field of toxicology. Applications are reviewed by the Postdoctoral Assembly Board and outside reviewers with appropriate scientific expertise, following NIH conflict of interest, confidentiality, and nondisclosure rules.
Qiran Chen, PhD
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Chen, Qiran, Wei-Chun Chou, and Zhoumeng Lin. 2022.
“Integration of Toxicogenomics and Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling in Human Health Risk Assessment of Perfluorooctane Sulfonate.”
Environmental Science & Technology
56, no. 6 (March): 3623–33.
Isha Mhatre-Winters, PhD
Florida International University, Miami, FL
Eid, Aseel, Isha Mhatre-Winters, Ferass M. Sammoura, Melissa K. Edler, Richard von Stein, Muhammad M. Hossain, Yoonhee Han et al. 2022.
“Effects of DDT on Amyloid Precursor Protein Levels and Amyloid Beta Pathology: Mechanistic Links to Alzheimer’s Disease Risk.”
Environmental Health Perspectives 130, no. 8 (August): 87005.
Alexandra N. Nail, PhD
University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
Nail, Alexandra N., Lakynkalina M. McCaffrey, Mayukh Banerjee, Ana P. Ferragut Cardoso, and J. Christopher States. 2022.
“Chronic Arsenic Exposure Suppresses ATM Pathway Activation in Human Keratinocytes.”
Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology
446 (July): 116042.
Postdoc Events and Activities
Upcoming Events
Register for Postdoc Funding Opportunities: Overview and Perspectives from a Toxicologist
Save the date for October 18, 12:00 noon–1:30 pm ET when SOT’s Postdoctoral Assembly will hold a webinar titled “Postdoc Funding Opportunities: Overview and Perspectives from a Toxicologist” for SOT postdoctoral members. Join for an overview of postdoc funding opportunities from a wide range of organizations, and a personal perspective from an SOT member on applying for and receiving NIH funding as a postdoc.
Register here
Poster Tours for Trainees
The Postdoctoral Assembly organizes Poster Tours for Trainees at the SOT Annual Meeting for graduate students and postdoctoral scientists to participate in a one-hour guided poster tour with a toxicologist guide. These small group tours provide the opportunity for trainees to take part in critical evaluation of cutting-edge toxicology methods and research findings and network with a senior toxicologist.
PDA Luncheon
To encourage increased participation and networking among postdoctoral scholars, the Postdoctoral Assembly (PDA) Board hosts a luncheon at the SOT Annual Meeting exclusively for postdocs to gather in an informal setting to relax, network, and celebrate their achievements others, including PDA officers, Postdoctoral Representatives, and SOT Councilors.
Career Exploration through Speed Informational Interviews
During this career-development event, small groups of trainees rotate through a series of short, timed discussions with career representatives from academia, government, and industry. Trainees can ask the representatives about their background, career path, the hiring process, and other aspects of identifying and pursuing career interests. This event provides an informal opportunity to gain insight about different employment sectors in toxicology.
National Postdoc Appreciation Week
National Postdoc Appreciation Week (NPAW) was created by the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) to recognize postdocs and their numerous accomplishments in research and scientific discovery around the globe. SOT appreciates and recognizes postdoctoral scholars as an integral part of the SOT community, who make meaningful contributions to the Society, advance the science of toxicology, and build for the future of the discipline. During NPAW, the Society joins the NPA in focusing attention on all the contributions and accomplishments of postdoctoral scholars through the multiple PDA virtual activities.
NPAW Blogs and Resources
- Managing Stress and Pursuing a Healthy Lifestyle
- A Postdoc’s Place in Peer Review
- Cultivating Your Success as a Postdoc
- Nevertheless, They Persisted: Caregiving as Doctoral Students and Postdocs
- Other Postdoc-Focused Blogs
Resources
The Post-y Newsletter
The Post-y is produced by the Postdoctoral Assembly on a biannual basis to feature news and articles of interest to SOT postdoctoral members throughout the year.
