National Postdoctoral Association

The Meetings Committee plans and coordinates all NPA-sponsored meetings and seminars.

This committee interacts with all NPA committees, officers, and staff to develop programmatic content for all NPA-sponsored meetings and works with the Outreach and Resource Development Committees to help advertise the meetings. This committee offers an opportunity to network with postdocs and administrators from institutions across the country. It also provides a great way to develop management and organizational skills. There are many small tasks on this committee if your availability is limited. The Annual Meeting is the showcase event of the NPA. Join us to help keep the meetings vibrant!

Charges

• Identify and announce venues for NPA-sponsored meetings, including Annual and Regional Meetings and seminars.
• Develop agendas and programmatic content for meetings.
• Convene a fundraising team to secure sponsors, exhibitors, and advertisers for meetings.
• Convene teams to solicit and recommend travel and service awards.
• Consult with staff and the Finance Committee to establish budgets for meetings.
• Consult with Outreach Committee to market/advertise meetings.
• Complete post-meeting functions, including evaluation and debriefing activities.
• Consult with other committees and Officers to avoid project duplication and promote coordination.

Meet Our Meetings Committee Leaders

Schaun Korff, Ph.D.
Meetings Committee Chair
(Contact)

Schaun Korff, Ph.D., a native of South Africa, completed his undergraduate training in Biochemistry at North-West University, South Africa in 1997, his M.Sc. in Molecular Pharmacology at the University of Hertfordshire, England in 2004 and went on to do his Ph.D in Pharmacology at the North-West University, South Africa before moving to Memphis in 2008. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Genetics at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital where his work focuses on the DNA damage response in brain tumors and exploring the utility of manipulating DNA damage signaling as a means to enhance brain tumor therapy. 
He was awarded a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship in 2002/2003; this scholarship is awarded annually to 20 individuals from developing countries on a word-wide competitive basis. He was also the recipient of a Scholar in Training award from the American Association of Cancer Research for his work in 2009.
 He was Deputy Chair of the Postdoctoral Association Council at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital until June 2011.

Besides work, Schaun has a few interesting goals/hobbies, one of which is to run a marathon on each continent. The challenge started in 2003 when he did the London marathon for a charity. To date, he has completed 12 marathons and more than 40 half marathons on 3 continents. "I enjoy eating too much to make a serious attempt at the world record; besides, you can turn your back on goals if you have to, but you can never turn your back on a muffin."

Jennifer Hobbs, Ph.D.
Meetings Committee Vice Chair
(Contact)

Jennifer E. Hobbs, Ph.D. obtained her B.S. in biology from Loyola University Chicago, and her Ph.D. in cancer biology from Northwestern University.  In 2007 she began her postdoctoral training at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  Following completion of her postdoctoral training she returned to Chicago to join the Northwestern Brain Tumor Institute.  In 2011 she became the Director of the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs for  Northwestern University.  Her graduate studies were funded by Northwestern’s Carcinogenesis Training Grant (NIH T32), she was a recipient of the American Association for Cancer Research Minority Scholar Award and she was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the American Cancer Society. Her research has included investigating coagulation factors in pancreatic cancer and utilizing proteomic techniques to investigate signal transduction, chromatin remodeling and gene regulation in brain tumors and pediatric lymphoma.  

During her postdoctoral fellowship she led the postdoctoral Career Development program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital where she initiated monthly workshops aimed to improve training, grant writing, leadership and communication skills.  She has twice presented workshops on science and public policy as well as career development at the NPA Annual Meeting. Jen has served as a research mentor for undergraduate, graduate and medical students at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.  She has participated in initiatives to increase the recruitment and retention of multicultural graduate students and faculty through Northwestern’s  Science and Engineering Committee on Multicultural Affairs.  Each year she is an active fundraiser and runner for the Memphis Half Marathon supporting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Magellan Development Half Marathon supporting the Northwestern Brain Tumor Institute.

Corinne E. Zeller-Knuth, Ph.D.
Meetings Committee Chair Elect
(Contact)

Corinne E. Zeller-Knuth, Ph.D., did her undergraduate studies in Chemistry at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton and her graduate work at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill in the Biochemistry and Biophysics Department. Following graduate school she taught chemistry and biology courses at St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, N.C., for two years before returning to the lab at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) as a postdoctoral fellow. Corinne is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the UNC Nutrition Research Institute in Kannapolis, N.C. (just north of Charlotte). Her research is currently focused on obesity and metabolism, specifically the role of the gut in satiety, energy expenditure, and body weight. As a postdoctoral fellow at both the NIEHS and UNC, she has been involved in postdoctoral career development programming. She is currently the chair of The Catalyst Group, an organization of students, postdocs, and employees on the North Carolina Research Campus where she organizes career development workshops, scientific symposiums, and social events. She has been involved with the NPA Meetings Committee since 2011.