Danbury, CT - April 27, 2010: The Society for Biomolecular Sciences (SBS) announced today that University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) graduate student, Sam Hasson was awarded the JBS Academic Excellence Award for his presentation Developing New Chemical Tools to Study Mitachondrial Protein Translocation.

"I was surprised when I won because the other presenters were very good, but I was very happy. It validates the technique I chose to use," said Hasson, who was one of three finalists invited to present his abstract at the SBS 16^th Annual Conference & Exhibition, April 11 - 15.

SBS and the Journal of Biomolecular Screening (JBS) established the JBS Academic Excellence Award to support graduate students in skill-building and career development. Each presenter was given 15 minutes to present their work, followed by five minutes of question and answer by a panel of SBS member judges. Presenters were judged on scientific merit, experimental approach/innovation, presentation and grasp of the subject matter.

 "As a student, there aren't many ways to be recognized," said JBS Editor-in-Chief Robert Campbell. "I firmly believe this award will provide a very positive learning experience and promote the development of up-and-coming young scientists."  

"I've always wanted to attend the SBS conference. For drug discovery there's nowhere better than SBS. The expertise and the environment you find here, you can't get anywhere else," said Hasson, who also took advantage of scientific technical sessions, career counseling and networking events while attending the SBS conference. "Being able to interact with professionals from both academia and industry is very valuable," Hasson said. "I'm coming home from this conference with many new ideas."

After graduating from UCLA in June, Hasson will hold a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Prior to entering the Biochemistry PhD. program at University of California Los Angeles, Sam Hasson completed a degree in molecular biology at Pitzer College in Claremont, California.  Currently, his dissertation research is focused on developing new chemical modulators of mitochondrial biogenesis in the laboratory of Dr. Carla Koehler.

After graduating in June, Sam will be moving to Washington DC to continue research at the NIH on a postdoctoral fellowship.  Utilizing high throughput drug discovery and functional genomics, Sam will be studying the molecular basis of Parkinson's disease under the direction of Dr. Richard Youle (NINDS) and the NIH Chemical Genomics Center.

 Headquartered in Danbury, CT, the Society for Biomolecular Sciences (SBS) is the only international non-profit scientific society dedicated to drug discovery and its related disciplines. SBS was founded in 1994 to provide a forum for global education and information exchange among professionals in the chemical, pharmaceutical, biotech, and agrochemical industries. SBS members represent many of the largest and most influential research institutes, universities and pharmaceutical companies in the world, including the National Cancer Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, government agencies and organizations, and most major companies involved in drug discovery.