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Dolores C. Shockley Poster Awards

About the Award

The Dolores C. Shockley Poster Awards were established by ASPET in 2010 to honor Dr. Dolores C. Shockley, the first African-American woman to earn a PhD in pharmacology and the first to be appointed to chair a pharmacology department in the U.S. The award is offered through the ASPET Mentoring and Career Development Committee as part of their mission to promote diversity in pharmacology. The awards are given annually as part of the ASPET Student/Postdoc Poster Competition at the ASPET Annual Meeting. Awards are available in the same categories as for the general competition: 1) undergraduate students; 2) graduate and post-baccalaureate students; and 3) postdoctoral scientists.

Application Criteria

Applicants for the Dolores C. Shockley poster award must be members of groups defined by the NIH to be underrepresented in the biomedical sciences, which include: Black or African-American, Alaskan Native, Hispanic or Latino, Native American, and natives of the US Pacific Islands; individuals with disabilities; and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. All other eligibility requirements, award terms, and prizes are as stated for the general poster competition. For more details and to apply, please visit the ASPET Poster Awards page.

About Dr. Dolores C. Shockley

Dolores C. ShockleyBorn in 1930 in Clarksdale, Mississippi to a successful family of professionals, Dr. Shockley earned a bachelor's in pharmacy in 1951 from Xavier University in New Orleans and continued her studies at Purdue University. After earning her PhD in pharmacology in 1955, she received a Fulbright Fellowship to the Pharmacology Institute in Copenhagen which allowed her to hone her research skills.

Shockley returned to the U.S. after that two-year fellowship and began her career in research and teaching as an assistant professor at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, and as a visiting professor at Einstein College of Medicine in New York from 1959 to 1962. In 1988, she was appointed chair of the Department of Pharmacology at Meharry, making her the first black woman to chair a pharmacology department in the U.S.

Dr. Shockley’s research has focused on chemical compounds which could be used to treat stimulant dependency and overdose. In 2009, Dr. Shockley received the Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater, Purdue University. She has been a long-standing member of ASPET and has served on numerous national committees.

Dolores C. Shockley Award Winners

2021 Winners
See the 2021 Poster Award winners list.
2019 Winners
See the 2019 Poster Award winners list.
2018 Winners

2018 Shockley Poster Winners 

Postbaccalaureate/Graduate Student

  • 1st Place – Ashleigh Matthews, Univ. of Michigan, Characterization of the Discriminative Stimulus Effects of the Delta-Opioid Receptor Agonist, SNC80, in Rats
  • 2nd Place – Yadira Pérez-Páramo, Washington State Univ., Identification of the Enzyme Isoforms Responsible for the N-oxide Detoxification Pathway in Tobacco Specific Nitrosamines (TSNAs)
  • 3rd Place – Aleena Arakaki, Univ. of California, San Diego, The α-Arrestin ARRDC3 Suppresses Breast Carcinoma Invasion by Regulating GPCR Lysosomal Sorting and Signaling

Postdoctoral

  • 1st Place – Natalie Scholpa, Univ. of Arizona, Pharmacological Induction of Mitochondrial Biogenesis Using the β2-adrenoreceptor Agonist Formoterol for the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury
  • 2nd Place – Patrick Garcia, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham, Utilizing SULT4A1 Mutant Mouse Models to Characterize SULT4A1

All awardees were presented with their awards at the EB 2018 meeting in San Diego, CA.

2017 Winners

2017 Shockley Grad Winners 

Graduate Student

  • 1st Place – Alexa Hendricks, Wake Forest University, Fetal Betamethasone Exposure Markedly Attenuates the Protein Expression of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 but not Dipeptidyl Peptidase 3 within the Brain Dorsomedial Medulla of Adult Female Sheep
  • 2nd Place – Colleen Carpenter, University of Michigan, CNS-Permeant Tamoxifen Analog Modulates The Dopamine Transporter And Reduces Amphetamine Reinforcing Effects
  • 3rd Place – Elizabeth Vargas, New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, Cardiac HMGB1/TLR4 Activation in Pre-Type 2 Diabetes: A Potential Mechanism Triggering Diabetic Cardiovascular Complications
  • 3rd Place – Aurellia Whitmore, Florida A&M University, Targeting Human DNAJAs for Sensitization to Chemotherapeutic Agents

2017 Shockley Postdoc Winners 

Postdoctoral Scientist

  • 1st Place – Adeleke Badejo, Pacific University, Re-Purposing FDA-approved Raloxifene to Target Apoptotic Proteins in KRAS-mutant Pancreatic Cancer
  • 2nd Place – Natalie Scholpa, University of Arizona, Enhanced Mitochondrial Biogenesis for the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury
  • 3rd Place – Patrick Garcia, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Development and Characterization of SULT4A1 Mutant Mouse Models

All awardees were presented with their awards at the EB 2017 meeting in Chicago, IL.

2016 Winners

2017 Shockley Award Winners
 

Graduate Student

  • 1st Place – Jenaye Robinson, Texas Southern University, Changes in Hydrogen Sulfide Concentrations in Porcine Ocular Anterior Segment Explants Under Elevated Perfusion Pressures: Role Of Prostaglandins
  • 2nd Place – Dominique Jones, University of Louisville, miR-186 Suppresses Cell Proliferation and Anchorage-Independence in a Metastatic Prostate Cancer Cell Line
  • 3rd Place – Antoinette Nelson, Rutgers University, Engineering Nano-Based Delivery Systems for a Rectal Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Treatment for HIV Prevention

Postdoctoral Scientist

  • 1st Place – Rheaclare Fraser-Spears, University of Texas Health Science Center – San Antonio, Rapid Antidepressant-like Effects of the "Uptake-2" Blocker, Decynium 22 in the Flinders Sensitive Line Rat Model of Depression
  • 2nd Place – Iñigo Valiente-Alandi, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Inhibiting Fibronectin Improves Cardiac Function in a Mouse Model of Heart Failure

All awardees were presented with their awards at the EB 2016 meeting in San Diego, CA.

2015 Winners
Dominique
Dominique Jones 		 Alina
Alina Monteguedo 		 Kerri
Kerri Pryce 		 Ariell
Ariell Joiner 


The first place was awarded to Dominique Jones from the University of Louisville for her abstract entitled “miR-186 Inhibition Alters Cell Proliferation and Colony Formation in Prostate Cancer”. 

The second place went to Alina Monteagudo from the University of Rochester for her abstract entitled “Transglutaminase 2 as a Possible Chemotherapeutic Target in Glioblastoma Multiforme”.

The third place was shared by Kerri Pryce from SUNY-Buffalo for his abstract entitled “Regulation of the sodium-activated potassium channel Slack by MAGI-1” and Ariell Joiner from the University of Michigan for her abstract entitled “The Role of Cilia in the Regulation of Olfactory Horizontal Basal Cells.”

All awardees were presented with their awards at the EB 2015 meeting in Boston, MA. 
2014 Winner

Fernando MouraFernando Moura of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio was the winner of the 2014 Dolores C. Shockley Best Abstract Award at the EB 2014 meeting in San Diego, CA for his abstract entitled, "'Differential Generalization Among Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Agonists in Nicotine, Varenicline, and Epibatidine Discriminations in Mice." 

2013 Winner

Antentor Hilton JrAntentor O. Hinton, Jr. of the Baylor College of Medicine was the winner of the 2013 Dolores C. Shockley Best Abstract Award at the EB 2013 meeting in Boston, MA for his abstract entitled, "Estrogen-responsive neurons in the medial amygdala prevent stress-induced hypertension." 

2012 Winner

Joanne PetersonJoanne L. Peterson of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center was the winner of the 2012 Dolores C. Shockley Best Abstract Award at the EB 2012 meeting in San Diego, CA for her abstract entitled, “The molecular mechanism of betacellulin induced corneal epithelial wound healing.” 

2011 Winner

Carlos MonroyCarlos Monroy of the University of Iowa was the winner of the 2011 Dolores C. Shockley Best Abstract Award at the EB 2011 meeting in Washington, DC for his abstract entitled, "Endogenous modification of RGS4 during oxidative stress." 

2010 Winner

Ya Fatou Njie-Mbye of Texas Southern University was the winner of the Dolores C. Shockley Best Abstract award at the EB2010 meeting in Anaheim, CA for her abstract entitled “Hydrogen Sulfide Stimulates Cyclic AMP Formation in Mammalian Retina Through the Adenylyl Cyclase Pathway.”

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