Two Einstein postdoctoral fellows were honored on May 11 with the Dennis Shields Award for Outstanding Postdoctoral Research. Einstein established the award in 2004 to acknowledge the contributions of postdocs and named the award in honor of Dennis Shields, Ph.D., a beloved Einstein faculty member in the departments of developmental and molecular biology and of anatomy and structural biology, who passed away in 2008. The event featured a postdoctoral poster session, scientific talks and an award ceremony followed by a reception.

This year’s award recipients were Erin Sundermann, Ph.D., who works in the laboratory of Richard B. Lipton, M.D., and Myles Poulin, Ph.D., who works in the laboratory of Vern L. Schramm, Ph.D. Each awardee received $5,000.

Dr. Poulin’s topic was the binding characteristics and effects of transition-state analogs, and Dr. Sundermann spoke on why women may have better memories for words than men despite evidence of similar levels of shrinkage in areas of the brain that show the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s disease. “These two presentations reflect the breadth of research that goes on at Einstein,” said Anne R. Bresnick, Ph.D., a professor of biochemistry and director of the Belfer Institute for Advanced Biomedical Studies, which oversees postdoctoral life at Einstein.

Dr. Shields was dedicated to biomedical research and committed to improving the quality of postdoctoral education at Einstein.