AAISCR Holds 30th Annual Meeting Honors Senior Scientists, Young Investigators
India-West Staff Reporter
ORLANDO, FL – The American Association of Indian Scientists in Cancer Research (AAISCR) celebrated its 30th Annual Meeting here in conjunction with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) conference. The mission of this non-profit affiliate of AACR is to foster a community of Indian Scientists in Cancer Research. This was the first in-person meeting after three years of virtual meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Rita Ghosh was elected President by the Board of Directors of AAISCR, and Dr. Dipak Sarkar became the Vice President. Dr. Aniruddha Ganguly, the immediate past-President and founder, will serve as the CEO of AAISCR, a press release said.
Eleven awards were presented. AAISCR honored Dr. Shankar Ghosh with the Life-Time Achievement Award for his body of research elucidating the role of the NF-kappaB family of transcription factors in immunity and cancer. Ghosh, chair of Microbiology and Immunology at Columbia University and a member of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine, delivered the keynote address spanning his work over 30 years.
AAISCR also honored Dr. Yamuna Krishnan, a professor from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Chicago, with the Outstanding Scientist Award for her groundbreaking and highly innovative work using DNA nanodevice fluorescent reporters as imaging tools to probe physiological and pathological states.
AAISCR Tripti R Ghosh Memorial Award for Women Cancer Research Scientist was presented to Dr. Hina Mir (Cancer Health Equity Institute), and the AAISCR-PR Vijaylaxmi Award for Innovation in Cancer Research was presented to Dr. Surya De, Director of Chemistry Conju-Probe.
The two researchers awarded the AAISCR-Dr. Raju Kucherlapati Travel Scholarship Awards, the press release said, were Dr. Shivani Thoingdam (Henry Ford Health) and Akshay Hira (Wright State University). Additionally, Dr. Sheetal Parida (John’s Hopkins University School of Medicine) received the AAISCR Travel Scholarship for Career Development.
In line with AAISCR’s focus on young cancer investigators, five awards were presented: two graduate students, Aditi Khatpe from Indiana University School of Medicine and Payal Ranade from the University of North Texas Health Science Center; two postdoctoral fellows Drs. Uday Pratap, UT Health San Antonio, and Sushmitha Sriramulu, Henry Ford Health; and one junior faculty Dr. Netaji Muniraj, Center for Cancer and Immunology Research, Children’s National Hospital.
The meeting concluded with dinner and live music by Mani Sastry, which brought several members to the dance floor g.
AISCR has been serving Indian American cancer research scientists for 30 years, supporting career development, facilitating networking, and honoring the best scientists.
