Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine student wins national poster presentation

3 Oct 2014

Caroline Shea of Fairfax County, Virginia, was awarded the 2014 James C. Bradford Memorial Student Award for her poster presentation at the 54th Annual Teratology Society Meeting: Pushing the Boundaries of Birth Defects Research, held in Bellevue, Washington, earlier this year.

Shea is a master’s degree student in the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology at Virginia Tech. She is conducting research on the developmental and reproductive toxicity of quaternary ammonium compounds.

Shea was awarded the top prize in the predoctoral category for her poster, “Male and Female Exposures Both Contribute to Teratogenicity of QAC Disinfectants.”

The award was jointly sponsored by the Middle Atlantic Reproduction and Teratology Association and Sanofi-Aventis. Judging was based on the poster subject and impact, clarity of presentation and appearance, and on the presenter’s understanding and knowledge (evaluated by answers to judges’ questions).

Shea is working alongside Dr. Terry Hrubec as a research assistant in her lab. Hrubec is a research assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology at the veterinary college and an associate professor of anatomy at Blacksburg, Virginia’s Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Founded in 1960, the Teratology Society is the premier source for cutting-edge research and authoritative information related to birth defects and other disorders of developmental origin.

The society includes scientists from a variety of disciplines, including researchers, clinicians, epidemiologists, and public health professionals from academia, government, and industry who study birth defects and disorders of developmental origin.