GLENDALE — Careen Khachatoorian, a PhD candidate in the Cell, Molecular and Developmental miology program at the University of California, Riverside was recently awarded the AESA Scholarship for her graduate work on the toxicity of Electronic Cigarettes (ECig). Her work involves identifying and quantifying the chemicals in the residue left behind from ECig use while also studying the toxicity of this residue. She is in the last year of her PhD program and currently working on her dissertation.
As a graduate student, she not only learns and conducts research but also furthers her education by joining professional societies, volunteering for numerous STEM programs, and communicates science through the Science to Policy certificate program at UCR. She is an active member in the Society of Toxicology, contributing her time as a secretary for the graduate student leadership committee and a graduate student representative for the dermal toxicology specialty section. She has been an active member of AESA for 5 years and was elected as a council member for 2020. It is her mission as a graduate student to help the public understand science and she hopes to inspire a new generation of scientists.
AESA offers a $3,000 scholarship every year to any Armenian graduate student involved in a thesis/dissertation program in an accredited university. The 2019 scholarship is sponsored by Harout Bronozian.
AESA is a non-partisan, non-sectarian, and non-profit organization founded in 1983 in Glendale, CA, based on a vision to create a worldwide Armenian scientific organization with the objective of creating venues for all engineers, scientists and industrialists of Armenian descent to network, interact and help one another. AESA is engaged in various activities including organizing an annual AESA Science Olympiad for middle and high school students, organizing an annual AESA STEM Conference and Expo, organizing various leadership and entrepreneurship programs through AESA Leadership and Entrepreneurship Academy, awarding scholarships for STEM graduates and undergraduates, organizing periodic STEM lectures, and finally recognizing STEM professionals with awards such as the award named after Victor Hambartsumyan, who was the first recipient of the prestigious award. Visit www.aesa.org to read more about AESA’s initiatives. Sign up for AESA’s newsletter to stay informed on events and opportunities in the local STEM community. Follow AESA on Facebook for all updates!
