ICBR Hosts Successful Inaugural Research Day

The University of Florida Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research (ICBR) recently held its inaugural ICBR Research Day. The 2024 event was a great success, attended by over 80 scientists representing the various colleges and departments across campus. The event began with two plenary talks followed by 4 separate sessions where 12 speakers presented their research and groundbreaking discoveries made possible by the support and expertise of the ICBR.

ICBR Director Dr. Anna-Lisa Paul (far left) with ICBR poster session winners Jane Hsi (middle) and Nina Erwin (far right).

A lunch time peer-reviewed poster session showcased 30 diverse research projects supported by ICBR with two posters receiving awards for excellence in science. Jane Hsi, a graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Mei He in the Department of Pharmaceutics, presented a poster titled Extracellular Vesicles Enhance Delivery of Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras for Novel Cancer Therapy Development. Nina Erwin, a graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Robert McKenna in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, discussed her research poster titled Engineering of the AAV9 Capsid to Generate Variants Capable of Evading Neutralizing anti-AAV9 Antibodies derived from Patients Post-Zolgensma® Treatment. Both awardees received $1,000 in ICBR usage credit.

“ICBR Research Day showcased the diversity of research enabled by the cutting-edge technology and expertise available in the ICBR,” said Dr. Steven Madore, Associate Director for Science at ICBR and organizer of the event. “The presentations and posters are clear examples of the innovative and impactful science being conducted here at our university.”

ICBR is proud to champion and enable scientific discovery and innovation within the University of Florida research community by providing access to world-class biotechnology expertise and instrumentation. We hope to make ICBR Research Day a regular tradition to continue celebrating research made possible through ICBR’s support.