Dr. Ivan Azarov named 2011 Gordon A. Melson Outstanding Doctoral Student

Ivan Azarov has been named the recipient of the Gordon A. Melson Outstanding Doctoral Student Award for 2011. This award is presented to the most meritorious doctoral student each year during the May Hooding & Awards Ceremony. Ivan began work towards a PhD in physics in 2006 under the supervision of his adviser professor Daniel Kim-Shapiro, and completed the requirements for his doctoral degree in Spring 2011. His dissertation entitled "Nitric Oxide Bioavailability Regulation by Hemoglobin" explores how the important signaling molecule nitric oxide is maintained under normal physiological conditions, is compromised in disease, and how it can be restored through therapeutics. His work has led to about eleven peer reviewed publications in excellent journals. Ivan is now a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pittsburgh.