Praveen Kumar Shukla, graduate student and research assistant in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, was awarded the prestigious Young Investigator Award at the 2010 Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine conference in Anaheim, Calif., on April 24-28.

Young Investigator Awards are given to graduate students and individuals within five years of earning doctoral degrees and who are regular, associate or student members of the society.

Shukla is in the fourth year of his doctoral program at NDSU. His research focuses on understanding how melatonin influences the coronary artery function. "Understanding this effect of melatonin is very important as the hormone is commonly used for the treatment of jet lag and other sleep disorders," he said.

Founded in 1903, the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine is a not-for-profit scientific society formed to promote investigation in the biomedical sciences by encouraging and facilitating interchange of scientific information among disciplines. The society also fosters career development of students and new investigators and has more than 1,600 members worldwide.