Lead and manage a scientific team or your own professional practice. Students majoring in Chemistry can prepare to direct projects and teams with a professional minor in Applied Management, opening doors to leadership careers in the scientific industry, clinical management, or business.
Alums Courtney Aceto, Stacey Wardenfelt and Corinna Carter were spotted at the homecoming tailgate on Saturday on the north campus. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for reconnecting with old friends. The day was topped off with a W against Albright at Mustang Stadium.
Freshman chemistry and biochemistry majors served during Mustangs Make a Difference Day as part of their first year seminar course. The students spread awareness and signed up prospective donors to the national bone marrow registry of Be the Match. This is the third year in a row that the students have helped with this organization, which is especially in need of young ethnically diverse donors, for whom matches are harder to find. If you are interested in learning more about their cause, or considering adding yourself to the registry, visit BetheMatch.org.
Senior biochemistry major David Willen spent his capstone last summer at the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Institute for Human Virology in the Laboratory of Viral Diagnostics, under the guidance of Dr. Neil Constantine. His work involved testing the sensitivity of HIV rapid testing kits. These kits are essential in rural and underdeveloped areas to quickly diagnose HIV positive patients and prevent the spread of disease. David presented his work at the 21st Annual International IHV Conference held in downtown Baltimore last week.
Students from the Ner Israel Rabbinical College have been taking classes at Stevenson to supplement their courses at their home institution. This cohort of 13 students are preparing for medical school or other health professions and as such, need courses like general chemistry, organic chemistry and biochemistry. After successfully completing organic chemistry with Dr. Ward last spring, the students are now enrolled in Biochemistry with Dr. Dwyer which meets in the evening. This arrangement, which kicked off in January, is a special two-year program—designed specifically for Ner Israel students—that allows them to complete a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies with a Pre-Med Focus and minor in Medical Humanities while accommodating their studies at Ner Israel. Dr. Dwyer met with the biochem class last Thursday and took a photo break.
Senior Biochemistry major Kristen Snitchler is all set to graduate in December. She recently completed a summer internship at Kennedy Kreiger in their Behavioral Psychology department, specifically within the Child and Family Therapy Clinic (CFT). Kristen worked alongside post-doctoral fellows and psychologists in order to score patient measures and create assessment reports for patients at the clinic. Additionally, she was able to observe counseling sessions, both group sessions (CBT, DBT, and family sessions), and individual sessions run by the clinicians. Kristen is interested in pursuing a career in medical research as either an MD or a Ph.D. and has already a fair amount of independent research experience under her belt. After graduation she will join the The Structural Biophysics Laboratory (SBL) at the National Institutes of Health as part of the Postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Program (IRTA). The SBL "focuses on solution structural biology and biophysics aimed at understanding and regulating the mechanism of action of proteins and nucleic acids". In the laboratory of senior investigator Dr. Andrew Byrd, where she will be located, work "focuses on protein-protein interactions in the ubiquitin-proteasome regulation pathway and the area of ADP-ribosylation factor (Arf) family of GTP-binding proteins and their regulators, the Arf GTPase-activating proteins (Arf GAPs). They seek to provide detailed structural and mechanistic insight, which, when combine with collaborations in molecular and cell biology, will inform and modulate biological function." Congratulations, Kristen!