Center for Bioelectrics 2023 Retreat

Participants of the Center for Bioelectrics 2023 Retreat

The Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics (FRRCBE) held a Retreat on March 29th, 2023. The retreat had 40 registered guests from the Center and Eastern Virginia Medical School. The eminent guests included Frank Reidy, for whose continuous support the Center is named after, and Jackie Stein, Director of Research Development at Old Dominion University.

The event organizing committee included Michael Stacey, Olga Pakhomova, Christiana Dimitropoulou, Giedre Silkuniene, Mantas Silkunas, Pavel Solopov, and Vitalii Kim.

The retreat began with a welcome speech by Andrei Pakhomov, the Research Professor & Executive Director of the Center, in which he highlighted the Center's 2022 achievements, including grants, publications, and international awards. Dr. Tom Vernier was the winner of 2022 Frank Reidy Award for Outstanding Achievements in Bioelectrics, the highest honor in the field. Previous years' FRRCBE awardees were Drs. Karl Schoenbach, Richard Heller, and Stephen Beebe. The last year, FRRCBE students and young scientists won six travel awards to attend the 2022 World Congress on Electroporation in Denmark. Dr. Aleksander Kielbik's presentation at the Congress was awarded the 1st place in basic science category among young investigators, and Alexandra Chittams-Miles won the 2nd place among students. These accomplishments speak to our Center's continued world leadership in Bioelectrics.

The retreat featured four sessions with 24 oral presentations, all of them sparking great interest and active discussion, which continued during the lunch and coffee breaks.

The retreat culminated with an award ceremony. Dr. Giedre Silkuniene's study of ATP1A1 as a potential membrane target for electroporation was recognized as the best presentation in the Postdoctoral category. Alexandra E. Chittams-Miles received the best student/young scientist presentation award for bacterial inactivation studies with nsPEF. The second place in this category went to Emily Gudvangen for nanosecond-resolution imaging of cell membrane potential, and the third place was awarded to Tierney Day for her work on a new therapeutic agent against LPS-induced lung injury. Exceptional academic achievements of Emily Gudvangen and Kamal Asadipour were acknowledged by the Karl and Gisela Schoenbach Endowed Fellowship Awards.

In keeping with tradition, a group photo of all the participants was taken. The organizing committee expresses their gratitude to all attendees, looking forward to the prospect of welcoming them to the next retreat. In turn, all attendees thank the Organizing Committee for their excellent job and effort organizing this memorable event.

Dr. Giedre Silkuniene

Prof. Pakhomova with Alexandra E. Chittams-Miles

Prof. Kong, Kamal Asadipour and Emily Gudvangen

Prof. Pakhomova with Tierney Day

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