Shayna McGill, a third year graduate student working for Dr. Hugh Smyth has received the Student Research Award for the  International Society for Aerosols in Medicine 2009 Congress. The award is given once every two years to an investigator who is currently a full-time student enrolled in an M.D., Ph.D. or Masters program and has demonstrated outstanding independent research in the field of aerosols. Competition for this award is part of the biennial ISAM Congress. In addition to a cash award, the 1st place winner will be sponsored to the ISAM 2009 Congress and will commit to publish part of his/her work in the Journal of Aerosol Medicine. She submitted an abstract based on her work using magnetic nanoparticles to enhance drug delivery through biological barriers, such as mucus and bacterial biofilms.  Shayna is from California and has a B.Sc. in biology.