http://louisville.edu/rso/bbgso What significant contributions have this organization made to the University Community? The Black Biomedical Graduate Student Organization (BBGSO)was the first graduate student organization formed on the health science campus. Over the years this organization has performed many tasks and is active on the HSC campus to bridge the gap between students and their faculty. This organization has held numerous events to enhance student professional development such as inviting prominent scientists to give seminars on their research, hosting the TADA workshop for thesis completion, the Marshall financial group, as well as student roundtables to discuss major issues facing students on our campus. These are only a few of the events that were held on campus. This organization also is committed to community service with KY organizations such as Relay-4-Life, Gilda's Club, Girl Scouts, Wayside Mission, American Heart Association, Suzan G Koman Foundation, Spina Bifida Foundation, Black Achiever's Program, to name a few. Involvement at UofL: Not only is this organization actively involved in the HSC campus community, but they also correspond with the Black Professional Graduate Students, SGA, Black Law Students and Students from the Kent School located on the Belknap campus. Every year this organization hosts the UNITY Social where all members meet, mix and mingle and discuss the future of their organizations together. The student members of BBGSO have been awarded numerous travel awards, fellowships for their work, and most have published in peer reviewed journals. BBGSO members were also involved with the program committee for the National Graduate Student Leadership Conference held in conjunction with University of Kentucky, where 21 other prominent University and Colleges around the nation gathered to discuss issues facing graduate students on their campuses and how to solve these issues. Student organizations like BBGSO are working toward making the graduate student experience an insightful and pleasing transition. Why does this organization deserve the Award? This organization has transformed the HSC community by acting as a keystone for mentoring between new and older students as well as filling the gap between students and faculty. BBGSO has graduated the first African-American students in the Physiology Dept in 2007. Most biomedical graduate programs have graduated less than 10 Black students to date. Therefore, BBGSO works hard to recruit and retain minority students into the Biomedical Sciences at UofL. Selected Member Acheivments: (Erica N Rogers) • Pharmacology & Toxicology • 2008 Recipient of the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award for Individual Predoctoral Fellowships (F31) to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research • 2007-2008 U of L Environmental Health Sciences Predoctoral Training Program Training Grant (T32 ES011564) • 2007 Graduate Student Travel award Recipient, 2008 Annual Meeting for Society of Toxicology / (Maia L Green) • Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Department • 2007-2008 U of L Environmental Health Sciences Predoctoral Training Program Training Grant (T32 ES011564) • FASEB, MARC Travel Award • Eli Lily Women and Minorities Travel Award • Young Investigator’s Teratology Society Travel Award • Bradford Best Poster Award and Wilson Best Presentation Award; Teratology Society 2007/ (Stephanie Mathews) • Pharmacology & Toxicology • Supplemental Grant National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism/ (Lasharon Mosley) • Pharmacology & Toxicology • FASEB/MARC Travel Award 2007, 2008 • Susan G. Komen Travel Award 2008 • Susan G. Komen Internship 2008 • Southern Regional Education Board Fellowship (SREB) 2007, 2008 • St. Jude National Graduate Student Invitation 2008 • University of Louisville Minority Student Fellowship 2007, 2008/ (Mesia Steed) • Physiology & Biophysics • Supplemental NIH Grantee • American Physiological Society Travel Award • John Richard Binford Graduate School Award • Dean’s Citation/ (Ivo Teneng) • Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Department • Context-specific regulation of LINE-1.Teneng I, Stribinskis V, Ramos KS. Genes Cells. 2007 Oct;12(10):1101-10./ (Immaculate Amumnon) • Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Department • Dean’s Citation (Gilandra Russell) • Pharmacology & Toxicology • U of L Environmental Health Sciences Predoctoral Training Program Training Grant (T32 ES011564) • Diversity Committee Member-American Society of Experimental Therapeutics/ (Sylvia Lyons) • Anatomical Sciences & Neurobiology • Dean’s Citation/ daily 1 2006-10-14T14:13:26Z