UCSF Postdoc Receives Genetics Society of America's DeLill Nasser Award

Gilles Hickson

The Genetics Society of America (GSA) has named UCSF postdoctoral research Gilles Hickson among eight recipients of the DeLill Nasser Awards for Professional Development in Genetics. Hickson works in the cell biology laboratory of Patrick O'Farrell, PhD, a professor of biochemistry in the UCSF School of Medicine. Using the fruit fly Drosophila as a model organism, Hickson is dissecting molecular mechanisms controlling cytokinesis. Hickson is using his award to attend the "Mechanics and Control of Cytokinesis" meeting this month in Edinburgh, Scotland. Hickson earned his PhD degree in cell biology at the University of Glasgow and a BSc degree in biology at the University of Manchester. Thanks to a generous gift from the Burroughs Welcome Fund in 2007 and donations from GSA members, more than $10,000 was distributed to four graduate students and four postdoctoral researchers for 2008. The graduate students are: Yen-Ping Hsueh, Duke University, Durham, NC; Roshan A. Jain, Princeton University, NJ; Chanhee Kang, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX; and Amanda M. Larracuente, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. The other postdoctoral researchers to win awards are: Kate M. O'Connor-Gilles, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Mara Schvarzstein, Stanford University, CA; and Sarit Smolikov, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. The DeLill Nasser Awards for Professional Development in Genetics were established in 2001 by the Genetics Society of America to honor the memory of and recognize the critical role that DeLill Nasser, a GSA member and program director for eukaryotic genetics at the National Science Foundation, played in advancing the science of genetics. Since its establishment, about $27,000 has been distributed to 25 young researchers to assist them in attending national and international meetings or enroll in laboratory courses. The GSA is a membership society representing nearly 5,000 scientists and educators in the field of genetics. Related Link: O'Farrell Lab