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NEWS
and Notes
- Dr. N. Kent Peters and Dr. Brian Pike recently
joined NIGMS as scientific review administrators in
the Office of Scientific Review, where they manage
the review of applications to the MORE Division as
well as other selected grant applications.
Peters was formerly a program director for metabolic
biochemistry at the National Science Foundation.
Before that, he was a professor in the department of
chemistry and biotechnology at the Agricultural
University of Norway. He earned a bachelor’s degree
in biological sciences from Indiana University and
a Ph.D. in cellular and molecular biology from the
University of Michigan. He conducted postdoctoral
research at Stanford University.
Pike was formerly a research assistant professor in
the department of neuroscience at the University of
Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville. He earned
a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Ph.D. in biological
psychology from Virginia Commonwealth
University in Richmond. He conducted postdoctoral
research in the department of neurosurgery at the
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
- Dr. Barry R. Komisaruk, a program director
in the NIGMS MORE Division, received a 2002
National Role Model Mentoring Award. The award
was presented by Minority Access, Inc., a nonprofit
educational organization that assists Federal agencies,
universities, and corporations to improve their recruitment,
retention, and training of minority researchers.
Komisaruk was cited for his 17 years of service on
NIGMS’ MBRS grant at Rutgers, The State University
of New Jersey. During his affiliation with the MBRS
program at Rutgers, including 14 years as the grant’s
principal investigator, Komisaruk mentored more than
100 minority students.
Komisaruk was among 10 individuals selected for
a mentoring role model award. He received the award
during a ceremony at the National Role Models
Conference in Washington, DC, in September.
- Dr. Thomas Landefeld, the MARC and Bridges to
the Baccalaureate program director at California State
University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), received the
2002 Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native
Americans in Science (SACNAS) Undergraduate
Institution Mentor Award at the society’s annual meeting
in September. The award recognizes individuals who
have dedicated themselves to science, education, and
mentoring and who serve as role models for the next
generation of minority scientists. Landefeld is associate
dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and is a
professor of biology at CSUDH.
- Dr. Victoria Luine and Dr. Carol Woods Moore
were honored as Outstanding Women Scientists in
November by the New York Metropolitan Chapter of
the Association for Women in Science. Luine is a professor
of psychology and an MBRS program director
at the City University of New York (CUNY), Hunter
College. Moore, a medical professor, is a principal
investigator on an MBRS grant at the Sophie Davis
School of Biomedical Education of the CUNY Medical
School. Both were recognized for the exceptional quality
of their scientific research and for their outstanding
mentoring of women.
- Barry University in Miami Shores, FL, marked the
20th year of its MARC program with a research symposium
at the university in February. The symposium
included research presentations by some of the 100-plus current and past MARC students. For more on
the symposium, see http://www.barry.edu/marcsymposium.
- Participants in the American Indian/Alaska Native
Bridges to the Doctorate program at the University of
Minnesota-Twin Cities met in October for their
second annual project retreat. The retreat featured
student and faculty research focused on Indian health.
This Bridges program provides both cultural and
academic support to students pursuing a Ph.D.
in nursing.
- Sederick C. Rice, a former MBRS program participant
at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
(UAPB), was selected as one of Ebony magazine’s
“Young Leaders of the Future.” Rice was featured in the
magazine’s February issue among the top 30 individuals
aged 30 and younger who have “excelled in sports,
the arts, religion, medicine, business, and education.”
Rice earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from
UAPB in 1994. He went on to earn a master’s degree in
biology from Delaware State University in 1996, and is
currently pursuing his Ph.D. in the department of pediatrics
at UVM’s College of Medicine. Rice’s research
focuses on the genetic effects of chemotherapy in children
with acute lymphocytic leukemia.
- Among the student participants in NIGMS’ minority
programs who earned degrees recently are:
Seven MARC undergraduate students at Delaware
State University received their bachelor’s degrees in
May and entered Ph.D. programs with scholarships
this fall. Denise Davis received a degree in biology and
is attending Yale University; Patrice Green received a
degree in physics with an engineering emphasis and is
attending the University of Delaware; Yvette Green
received a degree in biology and is attending Rutgers,
The State University of New Jersey/The University of
Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; Shari Lee
received a degree in biology and is attending the
University of Pennsylvania; Darius Sanders received
a degree in physics with an engineering emphasis and
is attending Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University; Melissa Tamburo received a degree in
psychology and is attending Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey; and Aaron Williams
received a degree in physics and is attending North
Carolina State University.
Two MBRS program participants at CUNY
received doctoral degrees in biology. They are Angel
Pimentel, who attended City College, and Melania
Mercado Pimentel, who attended City College and
Lehman College. Both began postdoctoral fellowships
at the University of Arizona in September.
Three MBRS program participants at the
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF),
received doctoral degrees during spring and summer
commencement ceremonies. Abraham Anderson
received a Ph.D. in bioengineering and is now a bioinformatics
scientist at Torrey Mesa Research Institute
in San Diego; Keith Reiling received a Ph.D. in
biophysics and is performing postdoctoral research
at the University of California, Berkeley; and
Christopher Reyes received a Ph.D. in biophysics
and is performing postdoctoral research at UCSD.
Two former MBRS program participants at
Chicago State University who received Ph.D.s are
Reginald Teverbaugh, whose Ph.D. in chemistry
is from Northwestern University, and Chris
Withers, whose Ph.D. in physics is from the
University of Miami.
Angela Erazo and Kester K. Haye, both MARC
undergraduate students at CUNY, Brooklyn College,
received bachelor’s degrees in biology this past June.
- Many participants in NIGMS’ minority programs
spent the summer of 2002 performing research away
from their home institutions. The participants and
their summer institutions are listed below, grouped by
home institution:
Barry University: Maria Abreu, Baylor College
of Medicine; Constanza Berger, Western Kentucky
University; Eauly Brautigam, University of Maryland,
Baltimore County (UMBC); Melanie Camacho,
Emporia University; Nikeisha Chin, Colorado State
University; Paola Colmenares, University of the West
Indies, Jamaica; Dominique Florville, University of
California, Los Angeles (UCLA); Empress Hughes
and Nahshan St. Bernard, The Hormone Research
Center, Korea; Ivette Lopez, University of Miami;
Raquel Peralta, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine;
Kevin Peterson and Amber Siler-Knogl, Columbia
University; Roody Pierre-Charles, Stazione Zoologica,
Italy; Erica Ramos, Northern Arizona University;
Dick Salihah, Cornell University; Christina
Stujenske, California Institute of Technology;
Florence Taylor, University of California, Berkeley;
and Gesulla Toussaint, University of Florida.
Chicago State University: Keyona Fletcher,
University of Michigan; Jeremy Harrison, Purdue
University; Kara Scott, University of Alabama; Corpia
Smith, Chicago State University; Stephen Smith,
University of California, Berkeley; and Tiffany White,
Northwestern University.
CUNY, Brooklyn College: Allyson Bunbury,
National Institute on Aging, NIH; Tamara Edwards,
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; Ismaele
Jacques, Weill Medical College of Cornell University;
Ufeta Om’Iniabohs, UCSD; and Shella Saint Fleur,
Harvard Medical School.
CUNY, Hunter College: Ten MARC and MBRS
students participated in the Hunter College/Columbia
University Health Sciences summer research program.
They are Lauriaselle Afanador, Jeanne Amuta, Jayson
Bastien, Alain Berthold, Candice Etson, Lavonne
Hunter, Randy Jackson, Sidonie Jones, Tracy
Robinson, and Julane Thompson.
Delaware State University: Diana Ackah, Yale
University; Joyce Addo, Joel Copper, Michele LaMarr,
and Jenel Nixon, University of Pennsylvania; Anthea
Aikins, Carrie Belfield, Jeniter Hughes, and Rozie
Townsend, University of Virginia; David Charlot,
College of William and Mary; Mastingor Desir,
University of Miami; Tiffany Hawkins, UCSF; Dorcey
Jones, Harvard Medical School; Donté Jones and
Victoria Williams, Rutgers, The State University of
New Jersey; Emeka Omereh, University of Delaware;
Meron Solomon, Cornell University; Alicia Sherrell,
UMBC; Dara Waiters, Brown University; KaTonna
Williams, The Johns Hopkins University; and Jessica
Witherspoon, Stanford University.
Jefferson State Community College: Bridgett
Hill, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
North Carolina A&T State University: Manza
Atkinson, University of Iowa; Jennifer Davis, The
Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta; Shylise Griffiths and
Franki Faulkner, University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill; and LaKisha Partman, University of
South Carolina.
University of Arizona, Tucson: Irene Alvarez,
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH; Alex
Barela, NIDDK, NIH; Nanibaa Garrison, Pasteur
Institute, Paris, France; Linda Mobula, The Johns
Hopkins University; Humberto Sirvent, University
of Notre Dame; and Jennifer Thompson, UCSD.
UCLA: Charisse Crenshaw, University of
Florence, Italy.
Virginia State University: Phyllis Wilson,
Strategic Petroleum Reserve, New Orleans.
- The following participants in NIGMS’ minority
programs made presentations about their research at
recent scientific meetings:
Benedict College: MBRS program participants
Nafeesa Ahamed, Shannel MacKall-Moore, and
Ndiya Ogba presented at the 2002 Annual Meeting
of the South Carolina Alliance for Minority People
in Columbia, SC, in August.
CSUDH: MARC undergraduate students Bernice
Aguilar, Ibette Lemus, Jerome Nwachukwu, and
Susana Rodriguez presented at the SACNAS annual
meeting in September. Jerome Nwachukwu presented
at the XIII Undergraduate Research Symposium in
Puerto Rico in October. Dr. Thomas Landefeld, the
MARC program director at CSUDH, served as the
meeting’s keynote speaker.
Medgar Evers College-Kingsborough Community
College: Bridges to the Baccalaureate program participants
Sherise Warner, Shawlorna Morris, Kawasi
Lett, Turkesha Huggins, Candice King, and Ayodeji
Nicholson presented at the 35th annual Metropolitan
Association of College and University Biologists
Conference in October.
North Carolina A&T State University: MARC
students Shylise Griffiths, Manza Atkinson, Jennifer
Davis, LaKisha Partman, and Franki Faulkner
presented at the First Annual North Carolina Alliance
to Create Opportunity Through Education Conference,
held in September on the campus of North Carolina
State University.
- In recent months, we have received word about the
following current and former student participants in
NIGMS minority programs • Sherrice Allen, Sue
Carson, and Roberto Frontera-Suau, former participants
in the Institutional Research and Academic
Career Development Award program at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have gone on to faculty
positions. Allen is a botany instructor at North
Carolina State University, Carson is an assistant professor
of biology at Fayetteville State University, and
Frontera-Suau is an assistant professor of biology at
Elizabeth City State University • Cheryl Anderson,
a former MBRS program participant at the University
of Washington in Seattle, is an assistant professor of
epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania School
of Medicine • Diana M. Avila, a former MARC
trainee at St. Mary’s University and MARC predoctoral
fellow at the University of Texas Health Science Center
at Dallas, has joined the faculty of St. Mary’s University
as an assistant professor in the department of biological
sciences • Carol Bristol, a former MARC
participant at CUNY, Brooklyn College, graduated
with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in June 2000
and is in her second year of studies for an M.P.H.
degree at George Washington University • Alexis
Epps, an MBRS program participant at the University
of Missouri-Columbia, has received a fellowship from
the National Science Foundation/Missouri Alliance
for Graduate Education and the Professoriate. The
award will provide Epps with 5 years of support to
pursue a doctoral degree in parasitology at the university
• Julio C. Gonzalez, a former MARC trainee at
San Jose State University (SJSU), earned an M.D.-
Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and is now a
fellow in the department of infectious diseases at the
University of Washington Medical Center-Roosevelt
• Nathan Mata, a former MBRS and MARC program
participant at the University of Texas at San Antonio, is
now an assistant professor of ophthalmology at UCLA
• Liz Reynoso Paz, a former MARC trainee at SJSU,
received her Ph.D. in immunology from the University
of California, Davis. She plans to start her own biotech
company after completing postdoctoral work at the
university • Elizabeth B. Torres, a former MARC
trainee at SJSU, received her Ph.D. in cognitive science
from UCSD and is now completing a postdoctoral
fellowship at the California Institute of Technology.
We are always interested in hearing about NIGMS
minority program faculty, alumni, and students.
Photographs of your students, research labs, and
activities are also welcomed and encouraged.
Please send information to:
Editor
NIGMS Minority Programs Update
Room 3AN.32
45 Center Drive MSC 6200
Bethesda, MD 20892-6200
Tel: 301-496-7301
Fax: 301-402-0224
atheys@nigms.nih.gov
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