Prachee Avasthi, an associate professor of biochemistry and cell biology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, has received the 2020 Women in Cell Biology Junior Award for Excellence in Research from the American Society for Cell Biology. Dr. Avasthi will receive the award and give a lecture at the Cell Bio Virtual 2020 annual meeting in December.
The prestigious award is given each year “to a woman in an early stage of her career who is making exceptional scientific contributions to cell biology, is developing a strong independent research program, and exhibits the potential for continuing at a high level of scientific endeavor and leadership.”
“I was excited to hear that I’d been chosen for this year’s award and that my name would be added to such an outstanding list of past awardees,” Dr. Avasthi said. “Every year, I notice who wins this award and it’s always someone who I really respect, and think is doing beautiful science.”
Established in 1961, the American Society for Cell Biology is an international community of biologists studying the cell as the fundamental unit of life. Now with more than 9,000 members worldwide, the organization is dedicated to advancing scientific discovery, advocating sound research policies, improving education, promoting professional development, and increasing diversity in the scientific workforce.
Dr. Avasthi joined the faculty at the Geisel School of Medicine this fall. For the past five years, she has been as an assistant professor of anatomy and cell biology and of ophthalmology at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
A graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she majored in molecular and integrative physiology, Dr. Avasthi earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of Utah.