Conference Summary
American Society for Cell Biology
December 1-15, 2007, Washington, DC

Anthony Hutchinson
PhD Candidate
Neuroscience GIDP

I would like to thank the Graduate Interdisciplinary Program Advisory Council for selecting me as a recipient of the Herbert E. Carter Travel Award for Fall 2007. I consider this award a great honor and I greatly enjoyed the meeting it allowed me to attend. I used the proceeds of my award to attend the 2007 conference of the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) held December 1-5 in Washington, DC. ASCB is the largest national organization of educators and researchers in the field of cell biology. The annual meeting offers a forum for both the dissemination of the latest biological research findings and the discussion of public policy, science advocacy and science education. I chose this conference based on positive educational experiences I¡¦ve had at past ASCB meetings.

I was chosen by the ASCB to present one of the approximately 3000 posters at the meeting. This was perhaps the most important reason for me to attend this conference, as I was eager to share some interesting new data about the molecular mechanisms that potentially underlie the treatment of glaucoma. I appreciate the instrumental role the Travel Award played in allowing me to do this.

Finally, I was able to attend a number of seminars that I found intensely interesting. In order to get some exposure to topics outside my own research field, I spent a great deal of time listening to talks given by Alzheimer¡¦s disease researchers. I was very interested to hear about the controversies in this field, primarily the differing thoughts on the roles played by the beta-amyloid peptide in Alzheimer¡¦s pathogenesis. I also spent some time listening to speakers addressing public policy and science education, by which I gained a greater understanding of the current federal research funding situation, the processes by which funding is awarded by the National Institutes of Health, and new approaches in teaching math and science to undergraduate students. I enjoyed these experiences tremendously, and hope that they contribute to my becoming a mature and well-rounded citizen-scientist.

Again, thank you for giving me this opportunity.