Collaborative effort earns poster award from Society of Research Administrators…
The Society of Research Administrators International awarded “Best Poster of the Year” to Lynn Mande, a research administrator in the MSU Department of Osteopathic Medical Specialties, and Esther Gondwe, who is a research administrator for the University of Malawi College of Medicine at its 2014 symposium in San Diego.
e pair won the competition for their project titled, Challenges in International Travel: Covering Costs without a Credit Card. It focused on how travelers can attend scientific meetings and conferences around the globe when they do not possess a credit card.
In 2014 Mande and Gondwe distributed an electronic survey to individuals associated with the University of Malawi College of Medicine after receiving approval from the MSU IRB and the Malawi National Health Sciences Research Committee. The team received assistance to review and tabulate the results from MSU Distinguished Professor Terrie Taylor and the head of the information and communication technology department at the University of Malawi College of Medicine, Demster Ngauma.
“Most of our colleagues from Malawi don’t have credit cards. Malawi is a low income country in southern Africa and cash is the primary means of payment there,” said Mande.
Esther Gondwe (far right) and Lynn Mande (standing next to her) discuss their poster with SRAI competition judges
Their research was supported by the Fogarty International Center for the National Institutes of Health.
The poster team submitted a letter of intent to the SRA describing the project and the poster. Their contribution was approved by the symposium review committee, and Mande and Gondwe were invited to present their poster at the annual meeting.
All of the approved posters were displayed at the annual meeting and each team made an oral presentation. Based on a list of criteria, the Poster Award Panel chose the winner. Mande and Gondwe will be invited to accept their award at the 2015 annual symposium in Las Vegas.
The pair, “Plans to revise and periodically redistribute the survey to monitor how to make travel easier for their colleagues,” said Mande.