Awardee Spotlight: IBB's 2024 Nerem International Travel Award

The Nerem International Travel Award is one of several awards IBB sponsors to reward individuals in various ways. To honor his life-long contributions in the field of bioengineering and his dedication to the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, the friends and colleagues of Bob Nerem established an annual award of up to $3,000 to support travel and living expenses for post-docs and graduate students traveling outside the U.S. as part of their research training.

One of this year's awardees was Kierra Franklin, a Ph.D. student in the Haynes Lab. Franklin used her award to travel to the 2024 International Conference on Epigenetics & Bioengineering in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. “Attending this conference was an incredibly enriching experience,” said Franklin. “I had the opportunity to learn about cutting-edge epigenetics research from real leaders in the field and the presentations and discussions were not only interesting and thought-provoking but also highly relevant to my own work. I also got to share my work in a lightning talk and poster. One of the most rewarding and invaluable aspects was meeting and networking with peers and leaders who are studying similar topics and receiving constructive feedback on my thesis work. This support made a meaningful difference in my professional development, and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity for new learning and networking experiences that I may not have had otherwise.”

Another awardee was Yarelis Vargas-Gonzalez, a Postdoctoral Fellow in Mechanical Engineering, who used her award to attend the ISSVA (International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies) World Congress of Vascular Anomalies in Madrid, Spain. “Thanks to this travel award, I was able to attend the conference to present an oral abstract in front of over 400 clinicians and researchers from all over the world," said Vargas-Gonzalez. "I was fortunate to be the only abstract from the CHOA group to be accepted for an oral presentation to represent our collaboration between IBB, Georgia Tech, Emory, and CHOA. This award not only allowed me to present my work in an international conference and participate in discussions with experts from the field, but it also allowed me to visit a place I had never been before and had only dreamed about! I even went on a little trip to Barcelona a few days before the start of the conference. This award really was an avenue to further connect with other researchers across the world, and a great opportunity to explore the world through my science!”

We look forward to their ongoing contributions to IBB's dynamic research community!