Team Members Share Their Experiences at National Postdoctoral Association Conference 2024
On March 15-16, 2024, the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) held its Annual NPA Conference in Seattle, Washington. The NPA Annual Conference is the largest national conference and networking event dedicated to the postdoctoral community.
Conference attendees, including postdoctoral scholars, administrators, faculty and representatives from disciplinary societies, industry and corporations, are provided the opportunity to gather and enhance their professional development and leadership skills. A few individuals from Moffitt had the opportunity to attend, namely Drs. Leanna Smithberger, Mahalakshmi Naidu Kalga and Vural Tagal.
Dr. Mahalakshmi Naidu Kalaga, a postdoc in Dr. Andrii Monastyrskyi’s lab, attended and shared how impactful the experience was. “I had pleasant conversations on challenges, career development, collaborations, visa solutions and the power of mentoring, which were helpful for all postdocs,” he said.
Not only were the conversations helpful, but this conference provided Dr. Kalaga the opportunity to network. Notably, he met Thomas P. Kimbis, president and CEO, with whom he had insightful conversations regarding future challenges and opportunities for postdocs.
Dr. Vural Tagal, a research scientist at Moffitt, shared his experience but from a different perspective, as one of the conference co-chairs.
“With having 28 plenary sessions, two poster sessions and keynote seminars by two internationally recognized speakers, as one of the conference co-chairs, it was a big pleasure and honor to host the postdoctoral community and discuss the betterment of the postdoctoral training and experience,” Dr. Tagal said. The impact of this event was greater this year than ever, with a record-breaking attendance of over 400 participants.
Dr. Leanna Smithberger, our postdoctoral affairs program administrator, expressed that the NPA Conference provided her with information to continue support the postdocs as the program administrator.
“As an administrator, it’s a great place to get ideas for training programming, as well as to learn from other institutions’ experiences implementing various strategies. There is always a strong focus on improving postdoc policies at the institutional and national levels, making the postdoc experience more equitable, equipping postdocs with necessary professional development training and attending to the unique needs of international postdocs," she said.
"This year, since the majority of Moffitt postdocs are international, I focused on attending sessions related to international postdocs’ experiences so that I can better understand how to help that population. I look forward to attending this conference each year and find it very energizing to have conversations about how the Office of Postdoc Affairs can continue to serve the needs of our postdoc community,” she added.