Congratulations to Ph.D. candidate Caixing Xiong as she was named the newest recipient of the Entomological Society of America’s MUVE (Medical, Urban, Veterinary Entomology) Travel Award.
The award allows Xiong to attend the ESA Annual Meeting that will be held in St. Louis, Mo. from November 17-20.
Xiong is mentored by Dr. Patricia Pietrantonio and will be presenting in the President’s Prize graduate student 10-minute paper competition in the MUVE category.
Xiong’s research interests include validating arthropod-specific G protein coupled receptors, or GPCRs, as targets, and discovering of their novel functional roles by performing both in vitro and in vivo experiments.
“I felt very honored to receive the MUVE travel award. I am grateful for all the support and guidance my supervisor, Dr. Patricia Pietrantonio, has provided me with my research and professional development, and many great opportunities the department has offered to help me develop a strong application package,” she said. “This award will support my travel to ESA and broaden my network. Importantly, it will also help advocate Texas A&M AgriLife brand as well as our department at the awards ceremony.”
Pietrantonio was very proud of Xiong for her hard work and dedication and said that the award will help Caixing to present her research to a broad audience.
“The ESA Travel award from the section Medical, Urban and Veterinary Entomology is the result of Caixing’s dedication to her research and her timely production of results that we published in prestigious peer-reviewed journals,” Pietrantonio said. “Our colleagues at ESA recognized high quality, innovative research in vector biology, specifically in endocrinology of the cattle fever tick and the yellow fever mosquito, both a threat in Texas. I am very proud of this recognition that highlights our departmental achievement in graduate student education and training.”