By Megan Bohn, Ph.D., NIAID Postdoc/Predoc Program Coordinator
The agenda for the NIAID 16th Annual Fellows Workshop will feature work from a prominent cancer immunologist, a reporter who covers leading scientific issues, the NIAID Outstanding Mentor awardee, and scores of talented NIAID fellows. Occurring virtually over two days on November 17 and 18, the workshop will provide a platform for NIAID trainees to share their work and learn about the broad science conducted within the Institute across such distant sites as Maryland and Montana and beyond.
Miriam Merad, M.D., Ph.D., will deliver the morning plenary talk on the first day of the workshop on November 17. Dr. Merad is the director of the Precision Immunology Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and an internationally recognized physician-scientist known for influential work on dendritic cell and macrophage biology and their impacts on human disease. Expanding the dimension of the workshop, science reporter Katherine J. Wu, Ph.D., will address attendees in the afternoon, sharing her experience covering the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting vaccines as a staff writer for The Atlantic. The recipient of the 2022 NIAID Outstanding Mentor Award, Michail Lionakis, M.D., Sc.D., senior investigator and deputy chief of the Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Microbiology, will also provide remarks, sharing insights on his research and mentoring philosophy.
The NIAID Fellows Advisory Committee (FAC) collaborated with the Office of Research Training and Development (ORTD) to create an annual workshop agenda that brings NIAID fellows together and champions their work as it furthers the NIAID mission. Drs. Merad, Wu, and Lionakis join an event program of oral talks from accomplished NIAID postbacs, graduate students, postdocs, research fellows, and clinical fellows. Developing fellows' scientific communication skills and providing the opportunity to present a talk emerged as a priority goal. To accomplish that goal, planners decided to replace the traditional poster session with short virtual scientific talks from all predocs, postdocs, and research fellows. "We're keenly aware that the pandemic affected the ability of fellows to present their science at meetings. We look to the annual workshop to give them an opportunity to share their voice and develop their ability to present in the virtual format," says Megan Bohn, a member of NIAID Training staff who is overseeing workshop logistics.
NIAID fellows are encouraged to submit abstracts, which are currently being accepted through October 17. For abstracts to be considered for oral talks on the first day, abstracts must be received by September 7. More information can be found on the event website or by contacting Megan Bohn at Megan.Bohn@nih.gov.