Day: February 1, 2010

The American Physiological Society (APS) announced awardees for the 2010 Carolyn tum Suden/Francis A. Hellebrandt Professional Opportunity National Award, and two Michigan Tech graduate students were on that list. Christopher Schwartz (PhD candidate, biological sciences) and Sarah Stream (MS candidate, biological sciences) were two of 38 awardees announced this week. Over 140 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows throughout the US and beyond applied for the award.

Christopher and Sarah were not quite sure what to expect when they applied for this abstract-based award this past fall.

“I think in the back of our minds we were hopeful one of us would get recognized,” said Schwartz. “We were both somewhat surprised that each of us received the award. It is quite an honor.”

The two graduate students conduct research in the Integrative Physiology Laboratory under the advisement of Jason Carter, chair of the Exercise Science, Health and Physical Education department. Schwartz’s research aims to determine the neurovascular responses to mental stress in normotensive and prehypertensive humans. Stream’s research focuses on the influence of acute alcohol consumption on neural control of blood pressure and orthstatic stability in healthy humans.

“It is remarkable that both Christopher and Sarah received this award,” said Carter. “This is a prestigious, well-recognized research award in the field of physiology. They were competing with graduate students and postdocs from some of the top universities and medical schools in our country. This award is a testament to their hard work, dedication and high caliber of research.”

Christopher and Sarah will be honored during the 2010 Experimental Biology conference in Anaheim, CA, this April. A full listing of all 38 awardees is available at the APS website.