UNC Department of Ophthalmology would like to congratulate Han lab team member and UNC School of Medicine (SOM) second-year student (M2) Mary Kaufmann for winning Best Poster at two forums in mid-November, for posters overviewing several major laboratory studies led by Associate Professor Zongchao Han, PhD. At the Association of Women Surgeons (AWS) Conference, Kaufmann’s presentation of “Developing Mesoporous Melanin Nanoparticles for the Treatment of AMD” won the meeting’s overall poster competition. At the annual 2023 Student Research Day hosted by the John B. Graham Medical Student Research Society, Kaufmann’s presentation of “Mesoporous melanin-like nanoparticles as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory drug-delivery carriers for the treatment of AMD” won Best Poster in the basic science category. 
Dr. Han noted: “Mary joined my lab as a medical student through the Medical Students Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) Program at UNC this summer. Under the guidance of Dr. Kwon in Han’s lab, she has been actively involved in our AMD drug delivery projects, addressing crucial limitations in age-related retinal degeneration research.”