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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
Sarah Ann Carratt
Chair
Dr. Carratt is currently a postdoctoral scholar at the Knight Cancer Institute, where she is researching leukemia initiation and progression. Her research is supported by an NCI Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award and by early career investigator awards from the Medical Research Foundation and Collins Medical Trust. She was recently awarded Postdoctoral Fellowship and Young Investigator Award from the SOT Carcinogenesis Specialty Section. Her PhD is in Pharmacology and Toxicology, and her graduate work was in the field of respiratory diseases and pulmonary toxicology. Dr. Carratt has been an active member of SOT for four years, serving in various capacities while in graduate school and as a postdoctoral scholar. She is a member of the Pacific Northwest Regional Chapter (PANWAT), the Carcinogenesis Specialty Section, the Mechanism Specialty Section, the Inhalation and Respiratory Specialty Section (IRSS), and the Women in Toxicology Special Interest Group (WIT). After a year of serving as Vice-chair, she is eager to step up to the role of Chair of the Postdoctoral Assembly and work with a new team of postdoctoral scholars!
Joseph Lionel Jilek
Vice Chair
Dr. Jilek is a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy. His research investigates changes to renal drug transporter expression during non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), with the intent of informing altered pharmacokinetics and drug-induced toxicity in patients with NASH. He completed his PhD in pharmacology & toxicology at UC Davis, where he studied microRNAbased therapy, following undergraduate training at the University of Michigan. Dr. Jilek has been an active member of SOT six years, regularly presents research at the Annual Meeting, and was recently awarded Paper of the Year in Toxicological Sciences. He completed a two-year term as student representative for the biotechnology specialty section where he organized mentoring initiatives and edited the newsletter. His experience in SOT leadership has informed his vision as PDA Councilor, where he aims to enhance postdoctoral career development via mentorship programming and connecting postdocs with senior SOT members.
Andrea Hindman
Secretary
Dr. Andrea Hindman is in her second year as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow (STPF) with the American Association for the Advancement of Science and supporting the Department of Defense (DoD), Chemical and Material Risk Management Program. Andrea’s research and science policy interests include understanding gaps in biology linking environmental factors to developmental origins of health and risk for disease. Her passion for disease prevention is fueled by her experience as a primary caregiver to her mother, Grace, who died from lung cancer. Andrea facilitates government interagency coordination, supports program activities for defense chemical risk management both internationally and domestically, and reviews toxicological risk evaluations for DoD comment. Prior to her appointment as a science policy fellow, Andrea was a postdoctoral fellow with the non-profit research organization Silent Spring Institute, and Northeastern University’s Social Science and Environmental Health Research Institute (SSEHRI), supported by the NIEHS T32 Training Program. Her postdoctoral work focused on adverse outcome pathways and systematic review methods to evaluate the strength of evidence linking endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) to breast cancer risk. At SSEHRI, she developed an environmental health science curriculum for youth to equip them with the knowledgebase for community-based participatory research. She earned her PhD in molecular biology, studying the molecular mechanisms driving breast cancer risk following chronic and gestational exposures to EDCs. Andrea has been a member of SOT since 2017 and is serving her second year as PDA Secretary.
Jacklyn Skye Kelty
Treasurer
Dr. Jacklyn Skye Kelty is a postdoctoral scholar at the Rutgers University Environmental and Occupational Health Science Institute. Skye conducts interdisciplinary environmental justice research in partnership with members of polluted communities. As part of this research, Skye identifies exposure and susceptibility variables for her laboratory models of human pulmonary toxicity risk. As a Pharmacology and Toxicology PhD student at UC Davis, Skye managed an independent community-based participatory research project funded through multiple grants totaling ~$100,000 and staffed by over 50 community members and student researchers. Skye has extensive experience in event planning and logistics management for large fundraisers and community health festivals. Skye is coauthor of four articles and book chapters with her dissertation publications pending for 2020. Skye serves as co-chair of the Integrity, Diversity and Equity Working Group of the Citizen Science Association. Skye joined SOT in 2015 and was awarded the 2019 SOT IRSS Mary Amdur Award for her in vitro species-comparative studies of respiratory xenobiotic metabolism and naphthalene toxicity.
Joe Kochmanski
Councilor
Dr. Kochmanski is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Translational Neuroscience at Michigan State University, where he investigates the potential role for pesticide exposures in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Specifically, his research focuses on whether developmental exposure to organochlorines alters epigenetic aging, thereby increasing risk for development of PD. He received his Doctorate in Toxicology from the University of Michigan in 2018, where he investigated the effects of bisphenol A exposure on the epigenome. Dr. Kochmanski is author/co-author of 13 peer-reviewed publications, and has presented posters at the last five SOT Annual Meetings. He has been a member of SOT since 2014, and is passionate about the field of Toxicology. While Dr. Kochmanski has not served as an officer in SOT up to this point, he spent two years as a student government representative during his PhD, and is excited by the opportunity to serve as a Councilor on the Postdoctoral Assembly Executive Board.
Dahea You
Councilor
Dahea You, PharmD, PhD is a postdoctoral scholar in the Division of National Toxicology Program at the National institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Dr. You obtained her Doctor of Pharmacy in 2014 and Doctor of Philosophy in Toxicology in 2019, both at Rutgers University, where she investigated the epigenetic regulation of multidrug resistance 1 and breast cancer resistance protein transporters at the blood-brain barrier. As a postdoctoral scholar, Dr. You is currently working on two Tox21 federal interagency collaborative projects which aim to: (1) model and investigate interindividual variability in responses to neurotoxicants using neural progenitor cells derived from Diversity Outbred genetically diverse mouse population; and (2) optimize query of biological space in high throughput in vitro screening by selecting human cell lines with divergent tissue origins and transcriptional characteristics. Dr. You has been an active member and a leader in various professional organizations including SOT. She has previously served as the Graduate Student Representative for the Korean Toxicologists Association in America at SOT and for the Division of Toxicology at ASPET, and as a postdoctoral representative for Mechanisms Specialty Section and Continuing Education Committee at SOT. She is also supporting the postdoctoral community within the NIEHS by serving as a co-chair for the NIEHS Biomedical Career Symposium.
Vishal Vaidya
SOT Council Contact
Dr. Vaidya has led multidisciplinary teams in academe and industry with a goal of impacting patients’ lives by discovering disease modulating targets and disease monitoring biomarkers. As the Head of Translational Omics group at Pfizer, his team supports medicine development across all therapeutic areas in the portfolio to increase confidence in nonclinical safety and to provide clinical safety monitoring strategies by discovering, validating, and implementing translational biomarkers. As an Associate Professor at Harvard Dr. Vaidya’s team has conducted innovative research using cellular systems, mouse models, and human biospecimens to predict, prevent, and treat kidney disease. He has supervised more than 30 trainees, delivered 75 talks, authored more than 90 publications, and co-founded a biotechnology company (Mediar Therapeutics) focused on fibrotic diseases. He has received multiple honors including the NIH/NIEHS Outstanding New Environmental Scientist Award, Burroughs Wellcome Fund’s Innovation in Regulatory Science Award, SOT Leading Edge in Basic Science Award and the SOT Achievement Award. Dr. Vaidya obtained his graduate and postdoctoral training from the University of Louisiana and Harvard Medical School respectively. Apart from deep expertise in human disease biology and translational medicine, he brings proven skills in leadership, entrepreneurship, communication, and team building.
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.
Suzanne N. Martos, PhD
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Durham, NC
Martos, Suzanne N., Michelle R. Campbell, Oswaldo A. Lozoya, Xuting Wang, Brian D. Bennett, Isabel J.B. Thompson, Ma Wan, Gary S. Pittman, and Douglas A. Bell. 2020.
“Single-Cell Analyses Identify Dysfunctional CD16+ CD8 T Cells in Smokers.”
Cell Reports Medicine 1, no. 4 (July).
Johanna Nyffeler, PhD
US EPA, Durham, NC
Nyffeler, Johanna, Clinton Willis, Ryan Lougee, Ann Richard, Katie Paul-Friedman, and Joshua A. Harrill. 2020.
“Bioactivity Screening of Environmental Chemicals Using Imaging-Based High-Throughput Phenotypic Profiling.”
Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 389 (January).
Edward Alain B. Pajarillo, PhD
Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL
Pajarillo, Edward, Asha Rizor, Deok-Soo Son, Michael Aschner, and Eunsook Lee. 2020.
“The Transcription Factor REST Up-Regulates Tyrosine Hydroxylase and Antiapoptotic Genes and Protects Dopaminergic Neurons against Manganese Toxicity.”
Journal of Biological Chemistry 295 (March): 3040–54
Postdoc Events and Activities
Upcoming Events
There are no upcoming events currently scheduled.
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.
