October 7, 2014 — About 50 postdocs and their mentors celebrated Harvard School of Public Health’s “Postdoc Appreciation Day” on September 19, 2014, which was held in conjunction with National Postdoc Appreciation Week as a formal “thank you” for all the hard work that postdocs do at HSPH.
Postdoctoral Association (PDA) President Usheer Kanjee introduced members of the PDA Council and spoke about some of the major achievements made by the group over the past year. Highlights included a new Research Grant Peer Mentoring Network to connect postdocs applying for grants with postdocs who’ve already had success in obtaining grants; a number of faculty-postdoc mentoring events held over the past year; and a new outing club.
Recognizing achievements
The Outstanding Mentor of the Year award went to Jane Kim, associate professor of health decision science, who was chosen from a field of seven faculty nominees. Debbie Mattina, former assistant director of faculty affairs for postdoctoral and research appointments (recently retired), was acknowledged with a Distinguished Service Award—a brand new award—for her many years of hard work. The Postdoc Advisory Committee, a group of faculty representatives, was thanked for offering advice, guidance, and support. And Kanjee presented the 2013-2014 PDA Council members with certificates of appreciation for their service over the past year.
Nanocourses, travel awards
Kanjee talked about the launch of public health “nanocourses”—short courses aimed at providing snapshot overviews of major topics in public health. He also discussed the PDA’s travel awards that help postdocs present their work at conferences, and the Kocaeli Travel Awards, which enable postdocs to visit Kocaeli University in Turkey for a week-long research and academic exchange. This fall, for the first time, two medical students from Kocaeli are also visiting HSPH for a week.
Collaborations, off campus and on
Kanjee has also begun meeting with leaders of other Boston-area PDAs as part of the Boston Pan-Postdoc Association, which held a symposium on the future of research at Boston University on October 2-3. Here at the School, the PDA is collaborating with the HSPH Student Government and the Office for Faculty Affairs for an upcoming Poster Day on November 7.
photos: Emily Cuccarese
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