Three scientists have been selected for the inaugural Morgridge Institute for Research Postdoctoral Fellows program, designed to prepare promising young scientists for a changing research landscape.
Fellows in this program will have research mentors from both Morgridge and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The fellowships are meant to promote cross-disciplinary thinking and public engagement through Morgridge outreach programs.
The 2015 fellows are:
-
Ellen Arena, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France. Arena will work with Kevin Eliceiri (medical engineering) and Ming Yuan (virology) of the Morgridge Institute; and with Nathan Sherer, a UW–Madison assistant professor of oncology. Her work will focus on microscopy, bioimaging and the retroviral life cycle.
-
Omid Forouzan, a graduate student in biomedical engineering at UW–Madison. Forouzan will work with Virology Lead Paul Ahlquist at Morgridge and with David Beebe, professor of biomedical engineering. Forouzan will focus on cervical cancer and tumor micro-environments.
-
Andrew Pohl, who completed his doctorate in 2014 at the Center for Genomic Regulation, Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain. Pohl will work with Morgridge Chief Technology Officer Miron Livny and Albee Messing, professor of comparative biosciences and interim director of the Waisman Center. Pohl will focus on optimizing computation for use in neuroscience research.
The scientists will begin their three-year terms in summer 2015.
“By working together with both a great public university and private institute, our fellowships should help connect people across disciplines that will benefit from more robust communication,” says Morgridge CEO Brad Schwartz. “This may lead their science in unexpected but valuable directions.”
With an emphasis on identifying and developing transferable skills such as leadership, management, team-building and communication, these postdocs may be better positioned for future opportunities in areas outside the traditional academic path, says Debora Treu, Morgridge education liaison and program director. The postdocs will participate in the Morgridge Discovery Outreach programs, which reach more than 30,000 community members annually.
For more about the program, contact Treu at dtreu@morgridge.org, 608-316-4304.