Creative, intelligent, energetic: HSPH celebrates its postdocs

A celebration of Harvard School of Public Health’s postdocs—as well as their mentors—was held on September 20, 2013, coinciding with National Postdoc Appreciation Week. The festive event in Kresge cafeteria featured awards, prizes, raffles, and kudos for the work and accomplishments of the approximately 300 postdoctoral research fellows who work at the School.

Postdocs were lauded for their “creativity, intelligence, candor, and love of learning” by Jeffrey Katz, professor in the Departments of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, who received the “Mentor of the Year” award from the HSPH Postdoctoral Association (PDA). Katz, who was chosen from a group of 17 nominees, couldn’t attend the event, but his comments were read by incoming PDA President Usheer Kanjee. “You infuse the HSPH community with fresh critical insights and unbounded energy,” Katz wrote about the postdocs. Katz was nominated by outgoing PDA President Alberto Caban-Martinez.