Winners of GSA poster awards announced at 56th Annual Drosophila Research Conference

The Genetics Society of America (GSA) and the Drosophila research community are pleased to announce the winners of the GSA poster awards at the 56th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, which took place in Chicago, IL, March 4-8, 2015. The awards were made to undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral scientists in recognition of the research they presented at the conference. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is one of the most versatile and widely used model organisms applied to the study of genetics, physiology, and evolution--and is an effective system for studying a range of human genetics diseases.

"These early career scientists are already making substantive contributions to our field," said Adam P. Fagen, PhD, GSA's Executive Director. "Conference attendees had the opportunity to learn about some exciting research advancements from these talented scientists."

Over 1,500 researchers attended the meeting, and the winning posters were selected by a panel of leading Drosophila researchers.

The winners of the 56th Annual Drosophila Research Conference GSA Poster Awards are:

Undergraduate winners

FIRST PLACE

Jonathan Cohen, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
Poster title: "The microbiota induces Pvf2 to activate the antiviral ERK pathway in the Drosophila gut."
Advisor: Sara Cherry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

SECOND PLACE

Ashley Kline, Butler University, Indianapolis, IN
Poster Title: "Characterizing a Role for the Misshapen Kinase in Growth of the Germline Ring Canals in the Developing Egg Chamber."
Advisor: Lindsay Lewellyn

THIRD PLACE

Irina Pushel, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Poster Title: "Genome-wide effects of retinoblastoma family proteins on gene expression and chromatin state in Drosophila melanogaster development."
Advisor: David Arnosti

Graduate student winners

FIRST PLACE

George Aranjuez, Cleveland Clinic Foundation & Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
Poster title: "Myosin activity at the periphery of the border cell cluster promotes its compact shape during migration between nurse cells."
Advisor: Jocelyn McDonald

SECOND PLACE

Kathleen Cunningham, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Poster Title: "Enhanced protein degradation protects against neurodegeneration in a Drosophila model of c9orf72-ALS."
Advisor: Tom Lloyd

THIRD PLACE

Katharine Schulz, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Poster Title: "Zelda facilitates chromatin accessibility during the earliest stages of development."
Advisor: Melissa Harrison

Postdoc winners

FIRST PLACE

Leila Rieder, PhD, Brown University, Providence, RI
Poster title: "The dosage compensation protein CLAMP is involved in non sex-specific histone transcript misprocessing."
Advisor: Erica Larshan

SECOND PLACE

Justin Cassidy, PhD, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Poster Title: "A microRNA minimizes the phenotypic impact of genomic diversity."
Advisor: Richard Carthew

THIRD PLACE

Sandra Zimmerman, PhD, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Poster Title: "Imaginal disc growth factors regulate dorsal-appendage tube morphogenesis."
Advisor: Celeste Berg

Each poster awardee receives a cash prize, a complimentary extension to their GSA membership, and a copy of Conversations in Genetics, a series of interviews with leaders in the field of genetics. The Society typically awards such prizes several times a year at each of their conferences on genetic research focused on a variety of model organisms.

Cohen and Pushel were also recipients of a Victoria Finnerty Undergraduate Travel Award, which provided support for them to present their research at the meeting.