Five Students Receive Awards at Recent Society of Toxicology Conference
Top row, left: Romina Gonzalez-Pons; Andrew Roney; Isha Olive Khan. Bottom row: Ebenezar Okoyeocha; Samantha Musso.
At the recent Society of Toxicology annual meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, five Michigan State University Pharmacology & Toxicology students took home awards. They include:
Dr. Isha Olive Khan: He received the Stem Cell Specialty Section Excellence in Research Award from the Stem Cell Specialty Section of the Society of Toxicology. His abstract was titled, “Single cell transcriptomics reveals key phenotypic and signaling alterations with TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin) in an in vitro model of human hematopoiesis.”
Isha is a recent graduate of our program. He completed his studies in Dr. Norbert Kaminski's Lab and is currently a postdoctoral research associate with MSU’s Institute for Integrative Toxicology.
Samantha Musso: She received the CSS Dharm V. Singh Carcinogenesis Graduate Student Endowment Award, presented by SOT's Carcinogenesis Specialty Section and based on her abstract entitled, “Associations Between Chemical Exposures and Markers of Multiple Myeloma Pre-Cancers: AN NHANES Analysis.”
She is a second-year Ph.D. student in Dr. Jamie Bernard’s Lab and her current research focuses on understanding the role environmental toxicants, such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons like phenanthrene, have on multiple myeloma progression.
Ebenezar Okoyeocha: He received the 2024 Graduate Student Travel Support Award and the OTSS Graduate Student Trainee Support Award, which advances the understanding of ocular toxicology and pharmacology.
He is a third-year Ph.D. candidate studying the effects of the chemical warfare agent chloropicrin and its effects of the cornea. A native of Nigeria, he is in Dr. Neera Tewari-Singh’s Lab.
Romina Gonzalez-Pons: She received the Bristol Myers Squibb Graduate Student Research Training Award to Promote Diversity in Toxicology, which complements resources available to academic laboratories supporting Black, Hispanic or Latino, and Indigenous American graduate students to conduct research and training.
She was awarded a $10,000 grant for her project, “Adiposity Facilitates Breast Cancer via Kynurenine-Triggered Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Activity: Insights into Environmental AhR Agonists Impact on Tumor Development.” Her research aims to understand the processes underlying the promotion of cancer development, particularly in relation to obesity, by unraveling the interactions between adipose tissue and breast tissue.
A native of Puerto Rico, she is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Jamie Bernard’s Lab.
Andrew Roney: He received the Edgewell Personal Care Student Award for his abstract on dermal toxicology, "Long-Term Inflammatory Effects Arising from Acute Cutaneous Nitrogen Mustard Exposure."
He is a second-year Ph.D. student researching the impact of chemical warfare agents on the skin and works in Dr. Neera Tewari-Singh’s Lab.