The Division for Molecular Pharmacology would like to recognize our young scientists who attended the ASPET Annual Meeting at EB 2021 and participated in our poster or oral competitions.  The judges were very impressed with the science and presentations this year.

Poster Competition Awards

Each year, the ASPET Student-Postdoc Poster Competition showcases and recognizes the highest quality scientific work submitted by ASPET’s young scientist members. Congratulations to the 2021 winners:

Graduate and Post-baccalaureate Students:

1st place: Khairunnisa Semesta, Duke University
“A high-throughput CRISPR interference screen for dissecting functional regulators of GPCR/cAMP signaling.”

2nd place: Vanessa Gutzeit, Weill Cornell Medicine
“Optical Interrogation of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor-Mediated Modulation of Cortical Circuits using Optimized Photoswitchable Tethered Ligands.”

3rd place: Tyler Lefevre, University of Michigan
“Signaling Specificity of the Gαi G Protein Subfamily 8.5.5.”

Postdoctoral Scientists:

1st place: Yu-Chen Yen, Purdue University
“Cryo-EM Structure of Atypical Chemokine Receptor 3 (ACKR3) in Complex with its Endogenous Ligand CXCL12.”

2nd place: Karina Pena, University of Pittsburgh
“Location Bias in cAMP Signaling and its effects on Parathyroid Hormone Receptor Biological Effectiveness.”

3rd place: Yonghoon Kwon, University of California, San Diego
“Molecular Mechanism of GPCR-mediated ERK Pathway in Cancer.”

Oral Competition Awards

The division invites top scoring abstracts submitted by young scientists to present in the Division for Molecular Pharmacology Postdoctoral Award Competition. Congratulations to the 2021 winner:

1st Place: Qiuyan Chen - Purdue University
“Structure of the Rhodopsin–rhodopsin Kinase Complex Defines the Rules of Engagement between G protein-coupled Receptors (GPCRs) and GPCR Kinases,”