Newswise CHICAGO, IL March 10, 2012 -- The Genetics Society of America (GSA) and the Drosophila community of geneticists are pleased to announce the six student winners of the Victoria Finnerty Undergraduate Travel Awards, which were used by these students to attend the ongoing 53rd Annual Drosophila Research Conference in Chicago. These students, all juniors or seniors in college are:

Selma Avdagic, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Missouri Samantha Galindo, University of WisconsinMadison Kenneth B. Hoehn, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina Emily Hsieh, University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Jacqueline McDermott, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York Mohammad Siddiq, Indiana University, Bloomington

It is inspiring to see these undergraduates conducting cutting-edge research so early in their scientific careers, said Adam Fagen, Ph.D., GSA executive director. We at GSA have no doubt that the future of genetics is strong with such talented young people leading the field.

This is the first time these students have attended a professional scientific research conference where they are describing their research to doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and principal investigators from research laboratories all over the world. The experience, described by one student as both exciting and intimidating, is an opportunity for them to explore the field of genetics research as a possible career.

Victoria Finnerty was an outstanding scientist and a dedicated teacher and mentor who conveyed her passion for Drosophila genetics in her creative approaches toward undergraduate education and research. We view this award as an important way to encourage our young scientists to pursue research careers and become our future scientific leaders, said Elizabeth Gavis, Ph.D., president of the Drosophila Board of Directors and professor at Princeton University.

The Victoria Finnerty Undergraduate Travel Awards were established last year in memory of its namesake, who was a long-time GSA member, a dedicated undergraduate educator at Emory University for 35 years, and an active member of the Drosophila research community and the genetics community at large. The six undergraduates are the first to receive this funding to attend the annual Drosophila Research Conference.

A list of the students research projects, a brief description of each and the name of their mentor (principal investigator) of the project, is attached.

ABOUT THE GSA DROSOPHILA RESEARCH CONFERENCE: At least 1,500 researchers attend the annual GSA Drosophila Research Conference to share the latest research using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and other insect species. Many of findings from these model organisms have broad application for the study of human genetic traits and diseases. For more information about the conference, see http://www.drosophila-conf.org/2012/.

ABOUT GSA: Founded in 1931, the Genetics Society of America (GSA) is the professional membership organization for scientific researchers, educators, bioengineers, bioinformaticians and others interested in the field of genetics. Its nearly 5,000 members work to advance knowledge in the basic mechanisms of inheritance, from the molecular to the population level. The GSA is dedicated to promoting research in genetics and to facilitating communication among geneticists worldwide through its conferences, including the biennial conference on Model Organisms to Human Biology, an interdisciplinary meeting on current and cutting edge topics in genetics research, as well as annual and biennial meetings that focus on the genetics of particular organisms, including C. elegans, Drosophila, fungi, mice, yeast, and zebrafish. GSA publishes GENETICS, a leading journal in the field and a new online, open-access publication, G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics. For more information about GSA, please visit http://www.genetics-gsa.org. Also follow GSA on Facebook at facebook.com/GeneticsGSA and on Twitter @GeneticsGSA.

2012 Victoria Finnerty Awardees

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Undergraduate Grant Awardees Present Research at Fly Conference

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