Program for URSCAD 2008

The keynote speaker for URSCAD 2008 will be Andy Woster, Ph.D.                          

Dr. Woster will be speaking at 10 a.m., in Volstorf Ballroom.

Students should have posters set up by 9:30 a.m. and removed no later than 4 p.m. You are encouraged to be available for discussion of your poster as much as possible, but especially between 11-1.

Recipients of the Nelson Award will present from 1-3 p.m. in the Volstorf.

Dr. Woster's Presentation: Neurodegeneration: Playing a P-PARt?

Andy attended South Dakota State University from Fall ’96 until Spring ’01. During that time he majored in Psychology with Minors in Biology and Chemistry. He served as an undergraduate research assistant in the laboratory of Dr. Brady Phelps and also as an undergraduate teaching assistant for Dr. Scott Pedersen. Dr. Woster was active in the intellectual communities of both the biology and psychology departments and served as president of the SDSU chapter of the psychology honor society, Psi Chi, for a term.

Following graduation, Andy accepted a position within the laboratory of Dr. Colin Combs at The University of North Dakota. During his tenure there, he lectured in both undergraduate and graduate-level courses for The Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Therapeutics with the School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences. Dr. Woster was also involved with the neuroscience block of the medical curriculum for 1st year medical students at UND, teaching neuroanatomy and helping students make the associated physiologic and behavioral connections.

Andy’s graduate work focused on the use of a class of FDA-approved anti-diabetics drugs to slow neurodegeneration associated with HIV infection. The work was presented, in parts, at annual meetings of the Society for Neuroscience, as well as the annual Frank N. Low Research Day at UND. He was the featured student speaker for the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences Basic Sciences Retreat in 2005, where he presented an update to his research progress. His work, to date, has also been published in Journal of Neurochemistry.

Dr. Woster has recently returned to his roots and is currently serving as an assistant professor in the psychology department of South Dakota State University.

Nelson Undergraduate Research Mentorship Program Participants

Participants                                         Mentors                                               Department
Kristen Kramer                            Dr. Omathanu Perumal                           Pharmaceutical Science
Hey Sun Um                               Dr. Omathanu Perumal                           Pharmaceutical Science
Bethany Weinmeister                   Dr. Srinath Palakurthi                             Pharmaceutical Science
Amanda Wiechers                       Dr. Xiangming Guan                              Pharmaceutical Science
Jenna DeMers                             Dr. Gareth Davies                                  Pharmaceutical Science
Nellie Benson                             Dr. Gareth Davies                                  Pharmaceutical Science
Caroline Hallstrom                     Dr. Paul Johnson                                    Plant Science