Steering Committee Leadership
The Steering Committee is a group of postdoctoral scholars who regularly take part in meetings, events, and interact with the officers of the UMN-PDA. The Steering Committee are the postdoctoral scholars responsible for shaping postdoctoral policy at the University of Minnesota. Officers are voted on annually and can serve up to three years.
Any postdoc can become a member of the Steering Committee simply by notifying the PDA and showing up for meetings (in person or virtually).
Minutes of all Steering Committee meetings are publicly available.
Interested in volunteering with the PDA? Please fill out this form to express your specific interests.
Click here to review the PDA's By-Laws, which include a description of each leadership position's roles and responsibilities.
Officers
President
Upendra Chelise, PhD
Department of Cardiology; Medical School
Vice President
Sachin Dhanda , PhD
Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics ; College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Sciences
Treasurer
Harry Tran, PhD
Department of Biomedical Engineering; College of Science and Engineering
Secretary
Dhananjay Singh, PhD
Department of Veterinary Clinical Services; College of Veterinary Medicine
Committees and Chairs
Communications Committee
Chair:
Becky Forgrave, PhD; Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
Members:
contact pda@umn.edu to join
Policy & Advocacy Committee
Chair:
Courtney Matson, PhD; Department of Microbiology and Immunology
International Affairs Chairs:
Xing He, PhD; Department of Physics
Marco Künzli, PhD; Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Members:
Elizabeth Abraham, PhD; Institute on the Environment
Patrick Brady, PhD; Department of Epidemiology & Community Health
Ankit Sood, PhD; Department of Neuroscience
Harry Tran, PhD; Department of Biomedical Engineering
Social Committee
Chair:
Ryan Abdella, PhD; Department of Biochemistry
Members:
Saarik Kalia, PhD; Department of Physics
Xing He, PhD; Department of Physics
Harry Tran, PhD; Department of Biomedical Engineering
Career Development Committee
Vacant - contact pda@umn.edu to join
Representatives and Liaisons
Grace Conchas, PhD
Department of Biomedical Engineering; College of Science and Engineering