Professor honored for 'patient, thorough' mentorship of student researchers

The award honors Geetha-Loganathan for significant accomplishments in training, advising and encouraging students in research -- work that often involves her own cutting-edge studies in genetics and developmental biology. The award will be presented at the college's Fall Academic Affairs Retreat.

Geetha-Loganathan's support for the award included a letter of nomination from Manna Job, a recent graduate and recipient of the 2019 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence, who said her experience as a research assistant was fascinating and rigorous, and validated her decision to apply to medical school.

"As an underclassman with no exposure to developmental biology, I was unsure how successful I would be in this research lab," Job wrote in a letter of recommendation for Geetha-Loganathan's award. "However, Dr. Poon was very patient and thorough as she oriented her research students. She made me feel at ease as she broke down complicated ideas and generously took her time to explain the projects she has been working on."

Geetha-Loganathan, whose doctorate is from University of Freiburg, Germany, primarily studies chicken and turtle embryos as model organisms for the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie development. However, she and Job devised a study of freshwater mussels to quantify the accumulation of the herbicide atrazine in mussels' tissues and study physiological changes that resulted.

"I soon began to see how Dr. Poon constantly broadened her horizons," wrote Job, who will next attend Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. "Dr. Poon is always ready to resolve any challenges in her path. … She was so dedicated to this project and it inspired me to give it my best every single day."

Their study, among other things, resulted

President Deborah F. Stanley congratulates biological sciences faculty member Poongodi Geetha-Loganathan.