2017 ASPET Washington Fellow Sophia Kaska has joined the Federation of American Scientists for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Board as an early career representative member. She is positioned to share her insights and experience to connect current and future generations of researchers. Dr. Kaska earned her PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Michigan State University and holds a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Kansas. Her research is focused on investigating the molecular neuroadaptations in the ventral tegmental area in response to opiates, stress, and stress-induced opiate reward. Dr. Kaska is currently the Manager of Science Initiatives and Outreach with Research!America. 

Mary-Ann Bjornsti, PhD, is now the FASEB president-elect and was FASEB’s vice president for FASEB’s science policy in 2021. Dr. Bjornsti most recently served as ASPET’s past secretary/treasurer and served on the Science Policy Committee and the Division for Cancer Pharmacology. She is the chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and chair of the Newman H. Waters Clinical Pharmacology. Dr. Bjornsti also serves an associate director for translational research at the UAB comprehensive cancer center and will serve as chair-elect of the division.