In 60 second intervals, ASCB’s one-minute, mostly-selfies, elevator speech video contest came down to its final round Tuesday afternoon at the ASCB/IFCB 2014 meeting in Philadelphia as judges from the Public Information and Public Policy committees named the winners.
Top place and a new iPad Mini went to Sarah Friebe of EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland, for her short but sweet explanation of why she studies anthrax’s entry into cells.
Runner-up was Melissa Jarmel of the Rockefeller University who caught the judges’ favor with her metaphor, comparing a cancer’s progress to a soccer match.
Honorable Mentions went Kate Bredbenner of the Rockefeller and to Michelle Helms of the Thomas Jefferson School of Medicine.
A special Judges’ Special Prize of $100 will take DePaul professor Stan Cohn and his lab to lunch for his ultimate “elevator speech,” shot inside a real elevator in which one of Cohn’s bewildered students learns the upside of having a one-minute science talk to hand at all times. Instead of explaining the concept of a 60-second elevator speech, the judges decided to show Cohn’s video instead. “There was little to add after that,” said Public Information chair Simon Atkinson.
Winners and Honorable Mentions
Grand Prize Winner — Sarah Friebe
1st Runner Up — Melissa Jamel
Honorable Mention — Michelle Helms
Honorable Mention — Kate Bredbenner
Special Judges Award — Cohn Lab
About the Author:
John Fleischman was the ASCB Senior Science Writer from 2000 to 2016. Best unpaid perk of the job? Working with new grad students and Nobel Prize winners.
