Irina Abaza, from Fatima Gebauer's lab, at the Centre for Genomic Regulation, has been selected as one of the finalists for the RNA Society/Scaringe Scientist Award, in the graduate student category.

The winner will be selected at the awards ceremony at RNA Society annual meeting (RNA2006), which will be held in Seattle, Washington, from 20th to 25th June 2006.

The RNA Society/Scaringe Scientist Award was established to recognize the achievement of young scientists engaged in RNA research and to encourage them to pursue a career in the field of RNA. The award is open to all junior scientists (graduate students or postdoctoral fellows) from all regions of the world who have made a significant contribution to the broad area of RNA.  The award is not restricted to authors who have published in the RNA Journal. The prize will recognize one outstanding graduate student and one postdoctoral fellow based on their research accomplishments.