Do you have an extraordinary mentor who should be recognized for their record of supporting trainees in their professional development? Do you have a stellar colleague or trainee who is making waves in the field? AAI confers awards for every stage of the scientific career.
AAI members can nominate fellow scientists for AAI career awards that honor immunologists of extraordinary scientific achievement and promise. The nomination window is open now through September 10.
We spoke with AAI Awards Committee vice-chair Dr. Pamela Schwartzberg about the importance of these awards and why you should consider nominating your peers, mentors, and mentees.
Why should AAI members nominate their peers and mentees?
Schwartzberg: In these troubling times, this is one thing we can actively do for our fellow immunologists/PIs. There is a variety of awards at different levels—please consider nominating a colleague. You can even work on this as a group, and it is a wonderful thing to do. Because ultimately, supporting our colleagues is one of the best things we can do.
What should members know about the nomination process?
Schwartzberg: I have done this as parts of groups who have nominated people for the AAI Excellence in Mentoring Award, the AAI-Steinman Award for Human Immunology Research, and the AAI-Biolegend Herzenberg Award for B cell biology—maybe some others. It is a great way to recognize someone and you would be surprised how many people will be happy to help.
I also encourage new tenure-track investigators to apply for the AAI ASPIRE Awards. All the rest, we do the nominating.
What attracted you to joining the Awards Committee?
Schwartzberg: It is important to support our upcoming and established investigators and to recognize the strengths of a diverse group of incredible scientists.
Nominations for AAI Career Awards are open through September 10.
