Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs Distinguished Mentor Award

A crucial component in developing a successful career, particularly in science, is a good mentor. Outstanding postdoctoral mentorship is expected of our faculty members but is rarely rewarded. In recognition of the value Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs (BPP) places on mentorship, BPP has created the Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs’ Distinguished Mentor Award. This award is designed to acknowledge superb mentors from among the BPP participating faculty.

2012 Award: Anil K. Rustgi, M.D.

“From the start, Anil discusses with his postdocs their career aspirations and goes out of his way to help make them a reality. He is always respectful, caring and quick with a kind word. Anil also cares a great deal about science, and does all that he can to facilitate the work of his postdocs by creating a collegial work environment, arranging collaborations with field-leading researchers or just giving sound advice. Furthermore, Anil understands the demands that many postdocs experience outside of the lab, and affords his postdocs tremendous flexibility to accommodate their responsibilities outside the lab. For all of these reasons, and many more, Anil Rustgi is deserving to be recognized for his outstanding commitment to mentorship.” — Nominator

 

AUM LifeTech and AUM Science & Innovation Awards

Two awards will be given:

AUM Science and Innovation Awards for Best Oral Presentation
AUM Science and Innovation Awards for Best Poster

Veenu Aishwarya, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, AUM LifeTech:

"The past decade has seen some of the most important innovations in science and technology. Be it Steve Jobs’s iPhone, which has revolutionized communication forever or Jonathan Rothberg’s idea of a genome sequencer that can sequence the entire human genome in less than a day. We have come a long way and have seen an extraordinary transformation across spectrum in almost every area of science and technology. If the last decade was a decade of “Change”, this is a decade to move “Forward” on this exceptionally strong foundation.

"It gives me great pleasure to introduce our research community to AUM LifeTech, a developmental stage biotech start-up that has a vision to be a part of this “change” and help our research to move “forward”. At AUM, we aim to create novel platforms by developing research tools that will help to facilitate basic and translational research. Just as importantly, we aspire to create avenues and gather resources to facilitate education and research in academia. Our focus will be to work towards making education and knowledge more accessible with a mission to foster extraordinary ideas encouraging research in life sciences and technology to move “Forward”.

"Most start-ups are formed in “home garages” and ours is no different. Most start-ups try to create a difference in the world and we are also optimistic. Most start-ups believe that it is very important to dream and have an undying desire to achieve their dreams and we hope to do the same. However, there are a few factors that we believe makes AUM different from the rest.
At AUM we understand the importance of innovation and creativity, and strongly believe that it usually takes a “paradigm shift” to create a breakthrough in science or technology. To create value in research, it is imperative to work across platforms using a multidisciplinary approach. We believe that it is very important to constantly stimulate and challenge ourselves with revolutionary but practical ideas. More importantly, we are an “idea driven” organization based on individuals who have hope, faith and a strong belief in ourselves and our work to pursue a common goal “to help our society move Forward”.

"I consider myself extremely fortunate to have worked at Penn and for having the opportunity to learn from its extraordinary interdisciplinary research environment. I would hereby like to highlight the perspective that Penn cultivates within its community; that although there are ups and downs in our lives and sometimes we fail and it may take a much longer time than expected – but if we remain passionate, if we persevere long enough, work even harder and challenge ourselves time and again, we certainly do achieve our goals and aspirations. I believe that the journey is equally and sometimes even more important than the destination; it is the encouragement and inspiration we receive from our peers and mentors combined with an unparalleled support system at Penn that makes this experience and journey so extraordinary. This is why, people across disciplines are proud to be a part of Penn’s community because its exceptional environment nurtures us to excel in every dimension of life, both professionally and personally.

"With this thought, it is an honor for me for having this opportunity to contribute back to our research society. AUM’s non-profit wing has instituted the “AUM Science and Innovation Award” that will honor early stage research scientists, investigators and trainees who have demonstrated AUM’s ideology in their scientific and technological endeavors by performing exceptional basic research with the potential to create a translational contribution leading to a positive societal impact.

"I sincerely hope that this award will help to further strengthen the extraordinary research culture that exists within the Penn/CHOP community; and that the discoveries and innovations by our extraordinary scientists and researchers will help the human race to move “Forward”.