Creating Opportunities for Grad Students

Isom Endowed Award Established in Pharmacology and Toxicology

Amanda Layne Isom

Graduate students in the UAB Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology will now have greater chances to travel and participate in important educational opportunities that directly enhance their education. An endowment to honor Amanda Layne Isom has been established in the department to provide this much-needed support.

“The funds generated from the Isom endowment will allow us to recognize and support other outstanding students,” says Mary-Ann Bjornsti, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. “Opportunities to travel to and participate in scientific conferences and other activities are of tremendous value to our students, and we are deeply honored by the Isom family’s support.”

Isom was a graduate student who touched numerous individuals as a student and doctoral candidate before her untimely death in 2005, after which UAB posthumously awarded her doctoral degree. The Amanda Layne Isom Pharmacology and Toxicology Endowed Travel Award pays tribute to her extraordinary life, her academic and professional accomplishments, and her outstanding contributions to the department and the collective scientific knowledge in the fields of pharmacology and toxicology. A skilled researcher, Isom dedicated her career in academic medicine to scientific investigation and was a member of several highly regarded, internationally recognized research teams in the department. She was highly esteemed by her colleagues and fellow graduate students.

“Amanda was an exceptional student and an exceptional person,” says Stephen Barnes, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology, who mentored Isom during her UAB years. “She brought a tremendous energy to her work, and I am confident she would have made a significant difference during her career. Her greatest enjoyment was attending national and international meetings and being able to freely exchange ideas with the scientific leaders, even Nobel laureates, who immediately recognized her obvious talents. She communicated this to her family, which led to this endowment to support students like Amanda. It is a wonderful tribute to her life and legacy.”

Maintaining the Momentum / Summer 2011