Awards
IVAM Student and Postdoc Awards
The In Vitro and Alternative Methods Specialty Section sponsors student awards for posters on subjects related to in vitro toxicology.
Every year the IVAM recognizes outstanding student scientists for their work in the field of In Vitro Toxicology. The interests of this specialty section include studies of basic mechanisms of cell injury and cell death for target organ systems and the development and application of in vitro test systems for predictive toxicology and risk assessments. Support of the widespread industrial use of validated in vitro test systems for product development and safety assessments, and acceptance of these approaches for regulatory processes are also major goals. In addition, another IVAM goal is to encourage the use of sound science-based in vitro toxicology test systems as rapid, cost-effective alternatives to animal testing.
| Award Title | Best Paper Award |
| Award Description | Any paper published in a peer-reviewed journal during the calendar year prior to the SOT Annual Meeting is eligible for the Best Paper Award.
Papers should illustrate techniques or approaches that are likely to significantly advance the field of in vitro and alternative methods. One author must be an IVAM member.
To nominate a paper for this award, submit a complete citation and a brief justification statement to IVAM’s Vice President. The first author of the winning paper will receive a plaque and an invitation to the IVAM reception held during the Annual Meeting. Contact Kristie Sullivan, 2022-2023 IVAM Vice President. |
| Deadline | January 5 |
| Applicable Documents | |
| Award Title | Best Poster Award |
| Award Description | Any abstract that is accepted for a poster presentation at the SOT Annual Meeting which focuses on in vitro and alternative methods is eligible to apply for the Best Poster Award. The winning author(s) will receive a blue ribbon, a plaque, and an invitation to the IVAM Specialty Section reception held during the SOT Annual Meeting. Interested applicants should email an “intent to submit” for this award to Kristie Sullivan (ksullivan@pcrm.org) which includes a copy of their submitted abstract, no later than January 5, 2023 . Failure to email an “intent to submit” will disqualify the applicant from consideration. All qualified applicants must then email a PDF copy of their poster to Kristie Sullivan, no later than February 15, 2023. |
| Deadline | January 5 |
| Applicable Documents | |
| Award Title | Elsevier Best Poster Award |
| Award Description | Any abstract presented by a trainee that is accepted for a poster presentation at the SOT Annual Meeting which focuses on in vitro and alternative methods is eligible to apply for the Elsevier Sponsored Best Poster Award. The winning author(s) will receive a monetary award of $1000, a plaque, and an invitation to the IVAM Specialty Section reception held during the SOT Annual Meeting. Summary of required documents: Interested applicants should email an “intent to submit” for this award to Kristie Sullivan (ksullivan@pcrm.org) which includes a copy of their submitted abstract, no later than January 5, 2023 . Failure to email an “intent to submit” will disqualify the applicant from consideration. All qualified applicants must then email a PDF copy of their poster to Kristie Sullivan, no later than February 15, 2023. |
| Deadline | January 5 |
| Applicable Documents | |
| Award Title | Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Awards |
| Award Description | Scientific merit of submitted abstract. Submitted abstract must be accompanied by letter of support from advisor. IVAM Specialty Section membership is strongly suggested. Winner Receives: Awards of up to $1,000 for either graduate students or postdoctoral scholars. The interests of this specialty section include studies of mechanisms of action of chemicals or stressors in target organ systems and the development and application of in vitro test systems and alternative strategies for predictive toxicology efforts, risk assessment and/or decision-making. Support of the widespread adoption and use of validated in vitro test systems for product development and safety assessments and acceptance of these approaches for regulatory purposes are also goals. In addition, the IVAM specialty section seeks to encourage the use of sound science-based in vitro toxicity testing and alternative strategies as rapid, cost-effective alternatives to animal testing. Students and postdoc scholar must attend the IVAM Reception during the SOT Annual Meeting to win. Summary of required documents: Submitted SOT abstract and letter of support from applicant's advisor Contact: Please email submission package to: Kristie Sullivan Additional details at IVAM Awards |
| Deadline | January 5 |
| Applicable Documents | |
| Award Title | MB Research Award for Distinction in Practical In Vitro and Alternative Toxicology Methods |
| Award Description | Recognizes: outstanding abstract by a postdoctoral scholar in the field of in vitro or alternative methods toxicology. Submitted abstract must be accompanied by letter of support from advisor. Winner Receives: An award of $500. Open to Postdoctoral Scholars. This award is meant to focus on the practical aspects of in vitro or alternative methods, in contrast to basic research or mechanism-based research. A panel of judges composed of MB Research staff and an IVAM Executive Committee member will judge the submitted abstracts. Only abstracts submitted for the Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting will be considered for this award. Applicants must be present at the IVAM Reception during the SOT Annual Meeting to win. Contact: Please send abstracts to Dr. George DeGeorge. Additional details at IVAM Awards |
| Deadline | February 15 |
| Applicable Documents | |
2023 IVAM Award Winners
1st Place Graduate Student Award—Kyle Burns, Oregon State University, for “Evaluating Toxicity of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from Wildfire Smoke in a 3D Respiratory Co-culture Model”
1st Place Postdoctoral Award—Dr. Alysha Simmons, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, for “Effect of Inter-individual Variability on a Phenotypic Endpoint Battery in an In Vitro Co-culture Model of the Human Respiratory Tract after Exposure to Model Reactive Gas Acrolein”
1st Place Poster Award—Dr. Kimberly Rockley, ApconiX, for “An Integrated Approach for Early In Vitro Seizure Prediction Utilizing Human-Derived Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Human Ion Channel Assays”
MB Research Award—Dr. Alysha Simmons, University of North Carolina, for “Effect of Inter-individual Variability on a Phenotypic Endpoint Battery in an In Vitro Co-culture Model of the Human Respiratory Tract after Exposure to Model Reactive Gas Acrolein”
Elsevier Best Poster Award—Ambra Maddalon, University of Milan, for “Impact of Endocrine Disruptors on In Vitro T Cell Differentiation”
Best Paper Award—Dr. Diane Ramsden, Takeda Development Center Americas, Inc., for “Leveraging Microphysiological Systems to Address Challenges Encountered During Development of Oligonucleotide Therapeutics”
2022 IVAM Award Winners
1st Place Graduate Student Award—Sabina Burlă-Mihăescu, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, for “An In Vitro Test System for the Prediction of Chemical Respiratory Sensitizers and Irritants”
1st Place Postdoctoral Award—Dr. Anna Kreutz, Oak Ridge Institute for Science & Education, for “In Vitro-In Vivo Extrapolation (IVIVE) for Neurodevelopment: Toxicokinetics & In Vitro Point of Departure Evaluation of Putative Developmental Neurotoxicants”
1st Place IVAMSS Poster Award—Dr. Christian Pellevoisin, Episkin SA, Lyon, for “Pre-validation of SENS-IS Assay for In Vitro Skin Sensitization of Medical Devices”
MB Research Award—Dr. Julia Herbert, Rutgers University, for “Toxicity of E-cigarette Menthol Flavoring in a Precision Cut Lung Slice Model of Chronic Pulmonary Disease”
Elsevier Best Poster Award—Dr. Megan Culbreth, US Environmental Protection Agency, for “Optimization of an Animal Component-Free System for High-Throughput Phenotypic Profiling of Human Neural Progenitor Cells”
Best Paper Award—Dr. Amy J. Clippinger, PETA Science Consortium International e.V., for “Human-Relevant Approaches to Assess Eye Corrosion/Irritation Potential of Agrochemical Formulations”
2021 IVAM Award Winners
1st Place Graduate Student—Sherri Bloch, Universite de Montreal, for “Mass Balance Model for Simulation In Vitro Dynamic Chemical Distribution with Repeat Dosing”
1st Place Postdoctoral—Dr. Alysha E. Simmons, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for “Sub-Cytotoxic Effects of Diesel Exhaust Particles and Woodsmoke in an Organotypic Model of the Human Alveolus”
1st Place Poster Award—Dr. Saroj Kumar Amar, US Army Engineering Research and Development Center, for “Sunlight-induced Generation of Cytotoxic Reactive Oxygen Species of Parathion Suggest Photo-sensitization Potential”
2020 IVAM Award Winners
1st Place Student—Sarah Burnett, University of Texas A&M, for “An In Vitro Human Population Model for Screening Environmental Chemicals for the Cardiotoxicity”
1st Place Postdoctoral—Dr. Phillip Clapp, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for “An Inexpensive Open-Source In Vitro Exposure System for Uniform Sedimentation of Liquid Aerosols Generated by New and Emerging Tobacco Products”
2019 IVAM Award Winners
1st Place Student—Eva Vitucci, University of North Carolina for “Piecing Together the Puzzle: Identifying the Role Oxidative Stress and the Alveolar Epithelium Play in Air Pollution Induced Cardiovascular Disease”
1st Place Postdoctoral—Dr. Jinpeng Li, Dow Chemical for “Functional comparison of HepaRG cells and primary human hepatocytes in monolayer and spheroid culture as repeated exposure models for hepatotoxicity”
2018 IVAM Award Winners
1st Place Postdoctoral—Samantha Christine Faber, PhD for “Diesel Exhaust Particles Downregulate PI3K/Akt/mTOR Signaling and Mitochondrial Bioenergetics in A Novel Organotypic Model of the Airway Microenvironment”
1st Place Student—Kelly Hanson for “Modeling Toll-like receptor 4-mediated apoptosis resistance in lung fibroblasts to investigate pulmonary fibrosis pathogenesis”
2017 IVAM Award Winners
1st Place Student—Rachel Schaffer, University of Washington for “Lifestage-Specific Modeling Platform for Adverse Outcome Pathways of Male Reproductive and Developmental Processes”
2nd Place Student—Johanna Nyffeler, University of Konstanz for “Non-dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls modify gap junctions to specifically disturb human neural crest cell migration”
1st Place Postdoctoral—Fabian Grimm, Texas A&M University for “Diversity in a dish: A population-based organotypic human in vitro model for cardiotoxicity testing”
MB Student Research Award for Distinction in Practical In Vitro and Alternative Toxicology Methods Winner—Taynah Vicari, UFPR, Curitiba, Brazil for “Constructing a 3D In Vitro Fish Gonadal Model (RTG-2 Cell Line) for Genotoxicity Testing (Comet Assay)”
2016 IVAM Award Winners
1st Place Student—Shih-Yu Chang, University of Washington for “Microphysiological Systems (MPS) to Identify Organ-Organ Interactions in Toxicology: Hepatic Metabolism Enhances Nephrotoxicity of Aristolochic Acid”
2nd Place Student—Leah Norona, University of North Carolina for “Modeling Drug-Induced Hepatic Fibrosis In Vitro Using Three-Dimensional Liver Tissue Constructs”
3rd Place Student—Ashley Maiuri, Michigan State University for “A Promising, In Vitro Approach to Classify Drugs According to Their Potential to Cause Idiosyncratic, Drug-Induced Liver Injury”
1st Place Postdoctoral—Jenna Currier, US EPA for “Investigating key event-based points of departure for adverse oxidative events in human bronchial epithelial cells exposed to zinc: A systems biology approach”
2nd Place Postdoctoral—Michelle Angrish, US EPA for “Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) Network Development for Fatty Liver”
3rd Place Postdoctoral—Sreenivasa Ramaiahgari, US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for “Metabolically Competent HepaRG Spheroid Model for In Vitro Toxicology Studies”
MB Student Research Award Winner—Katherine Dunnick, West Virginia University for “Assessing DNA damage through direct measurement of double strand breaks”
2015 IVAM Award Winners
The IVAM Specialty Section was pleased to recognize the achievements of our student award winners at the 2015 National Meeting in San Diego, California. Five awards were given this year; a 1st place postdoctoral award, and two individuals were tied in the evaluations for the 2nd place postdoctoral award, and 1st and 2nd place student awards. Each award winner received an award letter at the IVAM business meeting and luncheon, a monetary award and Student/Postdoc membership for 2015/2016 (Initial SOT membership application required). Congratulations to all.
1st Place Student—Yao Li, Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). “In Vitro Models for the Prediction of Renal Proximal Tubular Toxicity in Humans”
2nd Place Student—Sean Harris, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, “Investigating Toxicity of Diverse Compounds in an Organotypic Model of Testes Development: Impacts on Cytotoxicity, Cytokine Production and Testosterone”
1st Place Postdoc Winner—Jill Franzosa, National Center for Computational Toxicology US Environmental Protection Agency, “Evaluation of In Vitro Biotransformation Using HepaRG Cells To Improve High-Throughput Chemical Hazard Prediction: A Toxicogenomics Analysis”
2nd Place Postdoc Winner–Natalia van Duyn, Integrated Systems Toxicology Division–Carcinogenesis Branch Environmental Protection Agency, “Building Predictive Gene Signatures Through Simultaneous Assessment of Transcription Factor Activation and Gene Expression”
2nd Place Postdoc Winner–Jayanta Das, Department of Environmental & Occupational Health, Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, Florida International University, “Human Microvascular 3D Spheroid Model for Toxicity Testing”
