During the ASM General Meeting in Philadelphia, Pa., the awardees of the ASM General Meeting Minority Travel Grant were honored at a reception. The ASM General Meeting Minority Travel Grant program offers travel grants to increase the participation of underrepresented minority (URM) groups in the ASM General Meeting. The following individuals received the 2009 awards: 

Postdoctoral Awardees
Daniel L. Garcia, Ph.D., New York State Department of Health, Wadsworth Center
Vicente Gomez-Alvarez, Ph.D, Michigan State University
Robert J. Martinez, Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology
Quincy C. Moore, III, Ph.D., University of Mississippi Medical Center
Everett Salas, Ph.D., Rice University
Jorge E. Vidal, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Faculty Awardees
Francis O. Eko, Ph.D., Morehouse School of Medicine)
Rossana P. Marcos, Ph.D., University of Puerto Rico
Salina Parveen, Ph.D., University of Maryland, Eastern Shore
Nydia M. Rodriguez Bonano, Ph.D., Universidad del Este

The reception was organized by the Committee on Microbiological Issues Impacting Minorities (CMIIM), chaired by Marian Johnson-Thompson. The Committee developed the grant program for ASM. Agnes Day and Crystal Johnson, members of CMIIM, attended the reception. ASM Past President Clifford Houston, also attended the reception and congratulated the awardees on their achievement. Other ASM volunteers at the reception included ASM Treasurer James Tiedje; Underrepresented Members Committee Chair Maureen Wright; Lorraine Findlay, Chair of the Committee of the Committee on the Status of Women in Microbiology; Vickie Baselski, Chair of the Committee on Professional Affairs; Alice Weissfeld, member of the Committee on Professional Affairs; and Meetings Board Chair and CMIIM member Lucia Rothman-Denes. ASM staff present included Heather Garvey and Suzanne Leous from the Office Public Affairs and Amy Chang, Director, Education Department.

The ASM General Meeting Minority Travel Grant program is in its fourth year. ASM selects postdoctoral scholars from underrepresented minority groups in the microbiological sciences and faculty from Minority Serving Institutions. Each grantee is offered up to $1,500 to defray expenses associated with travel to the ASM General Meeting. The grants are supported by the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health. For more information about the grant program contact ASMGM This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The deadline for submission to apply for a grant to attend the 2010 General Meeting in San Diego, Calif., is 22 January 2010.