UK College of Medicine Student Receives Fellowship Award

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 17, 2014) − University of Kentucky College of Medicine student Melanie Pleiss has received the PhRMA Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship in Pharmacology/Toxicology.

The fellowship is a two year award that provides recipients with an annual stipend of $20,000 to support the research activities of a doctoral program.

"The application process is extremely competitive, with just one applicant per institution allowed to apply and only a certain number of awards given to U.S. schools of medicine, pharmacy, dentistry or veterinary medicine," said Dr. Linda Van Eldik, director of the Sanders Brown Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky. "Melanie underwent an intense review and completed a lengthy application, including a detailed description of her thesis project."

Pleiss earned her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences from Marshall University in 2011 and is currently completing her Ph.D. in Molecular and Biomedical Pharmacology under the mentorship of Dr. Christopher M. Norris. Her graduate research has focused on examining Alzheimer's Disease and neuroinflammation.

"We're delighted that Melanie was honored with this award and the opportunity it provides through training to become a more competitive and independent scientist," Dr. Van Eldik said.