September 2023 – Lalita Shevde-Samant Lab

Congratulations to Courtney Swain for her F31-Diversity Award!

Courtney submitted and was successfully awarded an Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31-Diversity) from the NCI. The Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (F31 Diversity Training Fellowship) enhances the diversity of the health-related research workforce by supporting the research training of outstanding predoctoral candidates from underrepresented groups (Credit: NCI). This fellowship will support the remaining years of Courtney’s MD-PhD training here at UAB. Her grant is titled, “Investigating the impact of hyperglycemia on modulating T cell populations in breast cancer” and Dr. Lalita Samant serves as her sponsor. You can learn more about this award and project here on the NIH RePORTER.

Courtney’s Visit to D.C. for the inaugural AAMC Learner’s Summit

Courtney received the great opportunity of attending the first Learner’s Summit led by the American Association for Medical Colleges (AAMC) in Washington, D.C. The Learner’s Summit was a professional development weekend workshop led by physicians, basic research scientists, and medical educators. She learned potential ways to shape her medical career to fit her research and clinical goals, and attended talks about work-life balance and resilience in medicine.

The Samant Lab at AACR 2023

In April 2023, graduate trainees of the Samant Lab, Courtney Swain and Amr Elhamamsy, traveled to Orlando, FL for the 2023 American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting. They presented their PhD research and got the opportunity to network with other trainees and cancer experts from around the world.

Welcome Bhavya, Annie, Mohamed, Melanie, and Ian

In the past year, we’ve welcomed five new lab members to our group. Make sure to read more about them, their projects, and their interests by visiting their profiles under the “Profiles” tab!