BBB Awards

ELIOT STELLAR PRIZE This award was named after Dr. Eliot Stellar, a professor and provost at Penn, who was involved in the creation of the BBB Program. The candidates for this award will be selected from the outstanding honors thesis presented at the symposium. The prize will be awarded by a committee that will consider the quality of the oral presentation as well as the overall quality of the candidate's undergraduate record.
The 2008 winner of the Stellar Award was Alexander Small who worked with Dr. Kyle Kampman on Long-Term Tolerance and Sensitization to the Effects of Cocaine in Humans.

EDWARD N. PUGH, JR. AWARD This award was named after the second director, Dr. Edward N. Pugh, Jr. who held the post for more than five years. Established in 1994, this award is awarded to a graduating senior for academic excellence.
The 2008 winner of the Pugh Award was Devan Jaganath.

STEVEN J. FLUHARTY AWARD This award was named after the third director, Dr. Steven J. Fluharty who held the position as director for more than ten years. Established in 2006, this award is awarded to the student with the most outstanding poster presentation at the Student Research Symposium.
The 2008 winner of the Fluharty Award was Sarah Leinwand, who worked with Dr. Jonathan Raper.

 

BBB Student Research: Astrocyte soluble factors increase inhibitory synaptogenesis. Neurons grown in astrocyte-conditioned medium (right panels) show increased development of inhibitory synapses as demonstrated by the overlapping expression of vesicular GABA transporter and the GABAA receptor. This Stellar award-winning work was performed by Molly Cahill, working with Neuroscience graduate student Ethan Hughes in Dr. Rita Balice-Gordon's lab.