NEWSLETTER • FALL 2012 • BARRY UNIVERSITY • COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

MARC U*STAR/MBRS RISE PROGRAMS

Dr. Brenda Schoffstall, assistant professor of biology,was awarded the 2012 ASCBMACLinkage FellowsAward, August 2012 – July 2013. Sponsored by theAmerican Society for Cell Biology’s Minority AffairsCommittee, the award will provide funding for fiveminority undergraduate research students to performresearch and will support two research-relatedworkshops.Dr. Schoffstall also received the FacultyIncentive Grant for 2012 – 2014.Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Xiaotang Hu also

received the Faculty Incentive Grant for 2012 – 2014 forhis research in human myeloid leukemia.

Grants Update

Brenda Schoffstal,PhD

ABOUT THE PROGRAMSThe MARC U*STAR and MBRSRISE programs are supported bythe National Institutes of Healthto provide research opportunitiesfor students and faculty. MARCU*STAR scholars are biology,psychology, chemistry, computerscience and mathematics majorswho carry out research oncampus and who will pursue aPhD in their major. Scholarsreceive tuition and a monthlystipend. MBRS RISE studentsmajor in biology and chemistryand are paid an hourly wage tocarry out research with faculty oncampus during the semesters andoff campus during the summers.

The MARC and RISE programssupport the ROADS ResearchClub. The club provides groupresearch experiences forfreshmen and sophomores in thesciences. For more information,please contact Dr. MichaelRobinson at 305-899-4930,mprobinson@mail.barry.edu, orvisit www.barry.edu/ROADS.New students can apply toROADS through MyBarry.

� Flona Redway, PhD,MARC/RISE ProgramDirector

� Michelle Aznarez,MS,Technical Coordinator

� Michael Robinson, PhD,ROADS Coordinator

For more information contactDr. Flona Redway at305-899-3035 or visit:� www.barry.edu/mbrsrise� www.barry.edu/marc

MARC Program: From left: Precious deVerteuil,MariaCamila Martinez,Khalid El-Amine and Nicole Lopez.

RISE Program: From left: Aaron Mohammed(Chemistry), Jovans Lorquet (Biology) and DanielaMendoza (Biology).

Welcome,New Students!

In this IssueStudent Profile .........................................2Student News ..............................2, 3, 6, 7

Faculty Accomplishments.........................4Alumni Updates .......................................5

(2) MARC – RISE • COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

As a high school graduate and a newmother, I wondered where my future liedand whether or not I would be able tocomplete a college education.With thesupport and love frommy family, I enrolledat Miami Dade College, still unsure of whatI wanted to pursue. Because I alwaysenjoyed the sciences I decided to do a pre-

dental track with dentistry as my goal. As Ibegan to take the general chemistryrequirements, I realized that I truly enjoyedthe subject and had finally found my passionand my true calling. I, however, still had noidea what one had to do to pursue a careerin chemistry.Fortunately, while at Miami Dade

College, I learned about theMinorityAccess to Research Careers (MARC)program at Barry University.This programprovides minority students withopportunities to attain a PhD and a careerin research. I applied and was lucky enoughto get accepted.ThroughMARC I was ableto conduct research at Barry with Dr. JohnBoulos in organic synthesis.My projectinvolved the synthesis of muscarinic agonistsfor Alzheimer’s applications. Additionally, Iwas able to participate in a summer researchprogram at Mount Sinai School ofMedicine in New York, where I studiedtranscription factors, under the direction of

Dr. Aneel Aggarwal. Furthermore, Ipresented both of these projects at severalprofessional conferences.TheMARCprogram undoubtedly prepared me for thePhD program in chemistry at the Universityof Miami.While at UM, I joined with theTakenaka group, led by Dr.NoritoTakenaka. InMay of this year I successfullycompleted my PhD program.My thesiswork involved the development of newhydrogen bonding catalytic methods for theDiels-Alder reaction of nitroalkenes.Now that I have graduated I will be

entering the “real world.” I have recentlyaccepted an adjunct position at Miami DadeCollege, North Campus. Additionally, I willbe teaching AP/IB chemistry at PlantationHigh School. I am excited to begin this newchapter in my life, and hope to inspirestudents in the way my professors inspiredme.

Andreina Aguado and her family celebrateher graduation from the University of Miamiin May 2012.

ROADS Research Club Members Take TheirResearch to the Next LevelFor the 2011-2012 academic year, ROADS research club membersworked on a project entitled “A survey of normal gut microbial florain harvestmen (Order Opiliones, Class Arachnida).”They learnedresearch techniques in microbiology, and were able to collect enoughdata to write and submit several abstracts for presentations at localand statewide scientific meetings.InMarch 2012 Jason Llaneras gave an oral presentation, “A survey

of normal gut microbial flora in harvestmen (Order Opiliones, ClassArachnida)” at the Florida Academy of Sciences (FAS) AnnualMeeting inTampa, Florida, on the data collected during the fall2011 semester.The presentation was co-authored withTerryThomas,DeLorean Ruffin, Jenycce Montanez,Gisselle Vega,Nicole Lopez, Alec Davila, ElnaraMuradova, Akmad Akhmedov,NicolasMorales and Assistant Professor of BiologyDr. Brenda Schoffstall. Also at the FASmeeting,Nicolas Morales presented a posterentitled “A laboratory breeding colony ofLeiobunum sp.Harvestmen (Opiliones, Arachnida),” co-authored with Dr. Schoffstall and Dr. JeremyMontague.Data collected during the spring2012 semester was added to data from theprevious fall and presented at BarryUniversity’s Fourth Annual STEMSymposium and St.Thomas University’s

Seventh Annual Southeast Cell Science Research Symposium inposter form.The poster, “A survey of normal gut microbial flora inharvestmen (Order Opiliones, Class Arachnida),” was co-authoredby Jenycce Montanez, Jason Llaneras,Terry Thomas,DeLoreanRuffin,Gisselle Vega, Elnara Muradova, Akmad Akhmedov, RobertCombs,Daniela Mendoza, Precious Ezeamama, Cyndie Derne,Erline Dolce,Daphne Petit-Homme, and Dr. Schoffstall.In addition, ROADSmember Daniela Mendoza accepted an

MBRS-RISE student research position at Barry University thissummer.

From left: Terry Thomas,Daniela Mendozaand Jason Llaneras present their poster atthe STEM Symposium,April 2012.

From left: Jason Llaneras,Jenycce Montanez,Dr.Brenda Schoffstall and Nicholas Morales atthe Florida Academy of Sciences Meeting,March 2012.

Student Profile – Andreina Aguado, PhD

MARC – RISE • COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES (3)

ChristianBureu (MARC ’12), SusanaChan (MARC ’12),AlecDavila (MARC),NellaDelva (RISE ’12) and Precious deVerteuil (MARC) were inducted intoSigma Xi, the scientific research honorsociety, in April 2012.

ChristianBureu (MARC ’12),AlecDavila(MARC),Precious deVerteuil (MARC),TaliaGuardia (RISE), JovansLorquet(RISE) andKarlaRivera-Torres (MARC’12) were placed on the Dean’s List inrecognition of their academic achievement,earning a 3.5 or greater GPA during spring2012 term.

ChristianBureu (MARC ’12),AlecDavila(MARC), SusanaChan (MARC ’12) andElizabethNguyen (RISE ’12) wereinducted into Gamma Sigma Epsilon, thechemistry honor society, in February 2012.

SusanaChan (MARC ’12) received acertificate of appreciation for her role asChemistry Club vice president, 2011-2012.

AlecDavila (MARC) andNicoleLopez(MARC) won first place andChristianBureu (MARC ‘12) won fourthplace at the Fourth Annual ScienceTechnology Engineering andMath(STEM) Symposium in Biology, April 4,

2012, at Barry University. In addition,SusanaChan (MARC ’12) and Jodi-AnnBrowning-Bent (RISE ’12) receivedhonorable mentions for their posterpresentations.

AlecDavila (MARC) earned theOutstanding College Physics Student honorfor the 2011-2012 academic year.

TaliaGuardia (RISE) andNicoleLopez(MARC) were inducted into the Beta BetaBeta National Biology Honor Society onApril 27, 2012.

AaronMohammed(RISE) was therecipient of the St.Catherine Medal forOutstandingLeadership andService for 2011–2012at the HonorsConvocation inMay2012.He also traveledto France during thesummer with aBarry faculty andstaff member.Theyparticipated in a study abroad program thatfocused on medieval France and the originof the Dominican Order of Catholicism.

AndreaTirado (MARC) was placed on thePresident’s List, one of the highest honors,for her academic achievement of earning a4.0 GPA during spring 2012 semester.Andrea also won first place at the FourthAnnual ScienceTechnology EngineeringandMath (STEM) Symposium inMathematical Sciences-Computer Science-InformationTechnology-Psychology, April4, 2012, at Barry University for her posterpresentation titled “Depressive symptomsand sexual ambivalence in young adults.”This was in recognition of her summerresearch experience at the University ofFlorida, summer 2011.

KarlaRivera-Torres (MARC ’12) wasinducted into the Alpha Chi nationalscholastic honor society in May 2012.

Student Accomplishments

Sigma Xi Induction Ceremony,April 2012

Susana Chan with Dr.George Fisher

STEM Symposium winners

Dr.TonyWallner (left) with Alec Davila

Aaron Mohammed -St.Catherine's Medal

“Applying for the MARC Program was thebest decision I made. Being a psychologymajor, I was given the opportunity to pick myown research mentor and propose my ownstudy. Apart from conducting research oncampus, I also had the experience ofconducting research at UCLA, a prestigiousresearch institution. I was also able topresent my research at various conferencesacross the nation. Finally, I learned about thesteps to take to apply to graduate school.Without the MARC Program I would not havebeen able to become the researcher that I amnow. The program set me well in the path ofpursuing my ultimate academic and careergoals.”

Karla Rivera-Torres (MARC ’12)Post-Baccalaureate Psychology Program,University of Pittsburgh

Dr.Chakib Chraibi and Andrea Tirado

Faculty AccomplishmentsDr.GeorgeFisher, professor of chemistryand physical sciences, will receive theAmerican Chemical Society Award forEncouraging Disadvantaged Students intoCareers in the Chemical Sciences,sponsored byThe Camille and HenryDreyfus Foundation Inc., at the awardsceremony onTuesday, April 9, 2013, inconjunction with the 245th ACS nationalmeeting in NewOrleans.This awardrecognizes significant accomplishments inthe U.S. by individuals in stimulatingstudents, especially those currentlyunderrepresented in the profession, to electcareers in the chemical sciences andengineering, and in generating a broaderappreciation of chemistry as the centralscience.

Dr.MaurizioGiannotti, assistant professorof physics, and laboratory technicianMichaelWise, together with RISE studentAaronMohammad, started a new project innumerical simulation of stellar evolutionusing the new codeMESA (Modules forExperiments in Stellar Astrophysics).Thissummer they developed and released agraphical interface,MESAFace, toefficiently analyze theMESA output, whichnormally consists of a quarter million linesor more.The creators of MESA haveoffered enthusiastic praise for a job welldone, and several MESA users decided toadopt MESAFace for their research andclasses. Since the beginning of August 2012,MESAFace has been downloaded in severaldifferent countries in Europe, Asia andAmerica.

Dr.TangHu,associateprofessor ofbiology, as aninvited speakerpresented atBIT’s firstInternationalSymposium ofHematology( June 15-17,2012, Beijing,China) on

“Unique functions of pRb in humanmyeloid leukemia cells”).While in China,Dr.Hu also gave a lecture titled “Cell Cyclecontrol and Cancer” to about 40 graduatestudents, and presented his research datatitled “TGFβ-mediated CDK-pRb andpRB-E2F complexes” to a group of researchfaculty, staff and clinical physicians in theAffiliated Hospital of XuzhouMedicalCollege ( July 4-5, 2012, Xuzhou, China).Dr.Hu also reviewed one manuscript for thejournal Blood; received the 2010-2011Sister Jeanne O’Laughlin,O.P. ScholarsAward, in recognition of professionalaccomplishments; and in August 2012,Dr.Hu accepted an invitation to join theDataset Papers editorial board.

Drs.TeresaPetrino-Lin and FlonaRedwaymade an oral presentation on“Promoting aMeaningful UndergraduateResearch Experience” at the FloridaUndergraduate Research Conference,DeLand, FL,March 16-18, 2012.

Dr.FlonaRedway and STEMKeynoteSpeakerDr.DahraWilliams (LaSalleUniversity, PA) presented an oralpresentation titled “Keeping Your Eyes onthe Prize inTimes of Financial Constraints”at the 26th National Conference onUndergraduate Research,Ogden, UT,March 29-April 1, 2012.

Dr.LeticiaR.Vega, associate professor ofbiology, attended the Genomics EducationPartnership (GEP) FacultyWorkshop (June24-29, 2012) atWashington University inSt. Louis.The goal of the GenomicsEducation Partnership is to provideopportunities for undergraduate students toparticipate in ongoing genomics researchthat may lead to research publications.TheGenomics Education Partnership is acollaborative effort that partners primarilywith undergraduate institutions, the BiologyDepartment ofWashington University inSt. Louis, the Genome Center, and theHoward Hughes Medical Institute.

Dr.ZuzanaZajickova, assistant professorof physical sciences, received theOutstanding Faculty Member Award inrecognition of professional accomplishmentsfor the 2010-2011 year.

Dr.Tang Hu

Dr.Teresa Petrino-Lin (left) andDr.Flona Redway

GuestScientistDr.DahraWilliams,assistant professor ofpsychology, LaSalleUniversity, PA, wasthe Keynote Speakerat our FourthAnnualScienceTechnologyEngineering andMath (STEM)Symposium on April 4, 2012.The same day,Dr.Williams also executed a GraduateSchoolWorkshop titled “Promoting self-care and preventing burn-out amongundergraduate students focused on graduate education.”

Dr.DahraWilliams (center) leads the MARC/RISE GraduateSchool Workshop

(4) MARC – RISE • COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

MariaAbreu,PhD (MARC ’03) completedthe requirements toward the PhD degree inCancer Biology fromVanderbilt University,TN,May 2012. She is currently aPostdoctoral Fellow at Sanford-BurnhamResearch Institute in La Jolla, CA, and wasawarded aT32 Fellowship.

AndreinaAguado,PhD (MARC ’07)completed the requirements toward the PhDin Chemistry at the University of Miami,May 2012. Andreina is an adjunct professorat Miami-Dade College and is teachingAP/IB chemistry at Plantation High School,FL.

EarlAllick (MBRS Enrichment ’96) iscurrently the dean of student discipline forMiami Northwestern Senior High School,Miami, FL.

AlbertoAlvarez(MARC ‘05)welcomed hisdaughter AdrianaHanelaremAlvarez on June17, 2012. Adrianaweighed almost 8pounds. Albertois currentlypursuing hisMBA at KAISTBusiness School, Seoul, South Korea.

AyanaCannon-McIntosh,MD (MIRT’01) completed her fellowship in painmedicine at the University of MarylandSchool of Medicine. She will start her privatepractice July 2012.

SusanaChan (MARC ’12) is currentlyenrolled in the PhD Program in BiomedicalSciences at the University of Michigan.Susana received the prestigious RackhamMerit Fellowship Award, summer 2012.

NellaDelva (RISE ’12) is currently enrolledin the University of South Carolina’s two-year post-baccalaureate program, fall 2012.

Danielle Jackman,MS (MARC ’09)completed the requirements toward hermaster’s degree and is now a third-year PhDstudent at Colorado State University in theDevelopmental Psychology Program.

Maxime Jean (RISE ’11) is currentlyenrolled in the University of Rochester, NYPhD Program in Immunology,Microbiology and Virology, fall 2012.

Alton Johnson (RISE ’11) entered his firstyear of podiatry school at Kent StateUniversity College of Podiatric Medicine,Cleveland,OH,August 2012.

Gabrielle Johnson,MS (MBRS ’10)graduated inMay 2012 fromMississippiCollege in Clinton,Mississippi, with aMaster of Science inMedical Science.

DanamarieMoonoo (RISE ’10) is enrolledin the Physician Assistant Program at NovaSoutheastern University, fall 2012.Danamarie married Shastri Balgobin onAugust, 24, 2012, in Miami.

FrantzMoise,MS (MARC ’06) is a PhDcandidate at Palo Alto University, Palo Alto,CA, and his final thesis defense is inSeptember 2012. Contingent upon thecompletion of his degree, Frantz has beenoffered a two-year postdoctoral fellowship atthe Department of Rehabilitation andPhysical Medicine at Ohio State University.

MariaPineda,PhD (MARC ’07)completed the requirements toward her PhDdegree in Cancer from theWatson School ofBiological Sciences, Cold Spring HarborLaboratory, NY, September 2012.

MariaTeresaPerezCardenas (RISE ’09) asecond-year PhD Chemistry student at theUniversity of Maryland, College Park wasawarded the highly competitive NationalScience Foundation Graduate ResearchFellowship, April 2012.Maria visited Barryon September 27-28, 2012, and gave a talkon her research and graduate schoolexperience to the undergraduate chemistry,MARC/RISE, and ROADS students.

DaveciaRagoonath-Cameron,MS(MARC/MIRT ’02) is the Senior MedicalWriter at PRIME Inc., a continuing medicaleducation company,Miami, FL. She and herhusbandMatt are the proud parents of 2-year-old Kai Ronan and are expecting theirsecond baby, a daughter, sometime inSeptember. In addition,Davecia haspublished two articles: Singh JS, CameronDR. Summary of AHRQ's ComparativeEffectiveness Review of DrugTherapy forRheumatoid Arthritis (RA) in Adults - AnUpdate. J Managed Care Pharmacy, 18(1-b):S3-S18 and Huang S-M,Cameron DC.Dietary Supplements in Adults TakingCardiovascular Drugs: A ComparativeEffectiveness Review, available at:http://ce.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/

programs/CER37/AHRQ-CER37-Dietary-Supplements.pdf

Wendell Saintval,PhD (MARC ’01)started his new position of scientist with theNavy in Panama City, FL,December 2011.

HansSaint-EloiCadely,MS (MARC ’08)is a fourth-year PhD student in AuburnUniversity’s Human Development andFamily Studies program and published thefollowing research article: Kerpelman, J. L.,Pittman, J. F., Saint-Eloi Cadely,H.,Tuggle,F. J., Harrell-Levy,M.K., Adler-Baeder, F.(2012). Identity and intimacy duringadolescence: Connections among identitystyles, romantic attachment and identitycommitment. Journal of Adolescence, 1-13.

AlisonSt.Paul,DMD (RISE ’08) completedthe requirements toward her DMDdegree onMay 2012 at the University of Pennsylvania.She is now completing a general practiceresidency program atMontefioreMedicalCenter in NewYork.

BlandineVictor (RISE ’11) completed herPREP fellowship at Emory University,GA,and is currently working at Yerkes VaccineCenter in Emory University as a researchspecialist.

KarlaRivera-Torres (MARC ’12) isenrolled in the Post-BaccalaureatePsychology Program at the University ofPittsburgh, PA, fall 2012.

Alumni Updates

Adriana HanelaremAlvarez

From left: Past RISE alumni Odaine Gordon,Mallory Jorif,and Alison St.Paul and PastMARC alumna Lynnsay Marsan atUPenn for Alison’s graduation.

MARC – RISE • COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES (5)

(6) MARC – RISE • COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Summer Research Presentations Series, Fall 2012Each summer MARC U*STAR scholars and MBRS RISE students carry out biomedical science research at national andinternational research intensive laboratories for 8–12 weeks. During the fall semester students share their experiences throughour “Summer Research Presentation Series.” This series began on Friday, September 7, 2012 at noon in NHS 102. Please notethat the presentations on Friday, October 19, will be held in Library 145.

Friday,September 7,2012Daniella Mendoza (RISE-Biology)“Learning research techniques at BarryUniversity”Barry University, FL

Jovans Lorquet (RISE-Biology)“Telomere analysis in Ku mutants”Barry University, FL

AaronMohammed (RISE-Chemistry)“Blue stars as a laboratory for fundamentalphysics”Barry University, FL

Friday,September 14,2012Sue Ann Flores (RISE-Chemistry)“Identification of a growth factor in GreatBoiling Spring that stimulates growth ofThermoflexus hugenholtzii of the phylumChloroflexi”University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV

Friday,September 21,2012Talia Guardia (RISE-Biology)“Analyzing the mutations in theTBX5 genein patients with Holt-Oram Syndrome”Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Sloan-KetteringTri-Institutional MD-PhD Program

Ricardo DeMoya (RISE-Biology)“Characterizing the role of piwiRNAs innormal and malignant hematopoiesis”OGRUndergraduate Scholars Program atWashington University, St. Louis,MO

Friday,September 28,2012Precious de Verteuil (MARC-Biology)“Identification of novel second sitesuppressor mutations in the HIV-1 Capsid”Vanderbilt University,TN

Nicole Lopez (MARC-Biology)“Effect of cigarette smoke on the number ofciliated cells in human tracheal epithelium”University of Miami, FL

Friday,October 5,2012Alec Davila(MARC-Biology)“Metabolicdifferences in longchain fatty acidmetabolism of theright and leftventricle afterextracorporealmembraneoxygenation in theimmature pig”University ofWashington,Seattle,WA

Launie Brunot (MARC-Mathematics)“Study of the physical state of grapheneoxide using dynamic light scattering andzeta potential measurements”University of Miami, FL

Friday,October 19,2012AndreaTirado (MARC-Psychology)“Diversity of executive functions: updating,shifting and inhibition”University of Minnesota,Minneapolis,MN

Khalid El-Amine (MARC-Psychology)“Perceptions of justice as predictor ofstudent misconduct”Barry University, FL

Jovans Lorquet

Sue Ann Flores

Precious deVerteuil

Alec Davila

Student & FacultyRefereedPublicationsMaxime J. Jean, Precious

deVerteuil, Nicole H. Lopez, JoshuaD.Tapia, and Brenda Schoffstall.“Adult Zebrafish Hearts EfficientlyCompensate for Excessive ForcedOverload Stress with HyperplasticCardiomegaly”. BioResearch OpenAccess, 2012, 1(2): 88-91. doi10.1089/biores.2012.0201GeorgeH. Fisher andMara

Tsesarskaia. HPLC Methods forDetermination of D-Aspartate andN-Methyl-D-Aspartate, in“Unnatural Amino Acids: Methodsand Protocols,”Methods in MolecularBiology Vol 794, 2011, Chpt. 16: 253-64, Loredano Pollegioni & StefanoServi, eds., Humana Press part ofSpringer Science Media.

Andrea Tirado

MARC – RISE • COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES (7)

Student Attendance & Presentations at Scientific MeetingsSecond Annual Florida UndergraduateResearch Conference, DeLand, FL,March 16-17, 2012. MARC studentAndrea Tirado presented a poster andRISE students Ricardo DeMoya, Sue AnnFlores and Talia Guardia made posterpresentations.

243rd American Chemical Society (ACS)NationalMeeting&Exposition, SanDiego, CA,March 25-29, 2012. LaunieBruno (MARC-poster)

26th National Conference onUndergraduate Research (NCUR),Ogden, UT,March 29-31, 2012. SusanaChan (MARC-poster), Karla Rivera-Torres (MARC-poster), Andrea Tirado(MARC-poster), Nella Delva (RISE-poster), Nicole Lopez (RISE-poster), andJoshua Tapia (RISE-oral).

Seventh Annual Southeast Florida CellScience Undergraduate ResearchSymposium,Miami Gardens, FL,April 14, 2012. Susana Chan (MARC-poster), Ricardo DeMoya (RISE-poster),Jodi-Ann Browning-Bent (RISE-poster),Nella Delva (RISE-oral), Christian Bureu(MARC-poster), Sue Ann Flores (RISE-poster), and Talia Guardia (RISE-poster).

Association for Psychological Science(APS) 22th Annual Convention,Chicago, IL, May 24-27, 2012. KarlaRivera-Torres (MARC-poster).

Barry University hosted the FourthAnnual ScienceTechnology EngineeringandMath (STEM) Symposium, April20, 2012. Undergraduate and graduatestudents presented posters related to theirpast and current research in biology,chemistry, computer science, informationtechnology, mathematics, psychology andphysics. There were 54 posters (27 wereMARC and RISE students), 50 judges,and close to 250 participants andattendees, which included St. ThomasUniversity and Miami Dade College.

From left: Chony Seng (Clinical Biology-DARPA), Joshua Tapia (Biology-RISE),Federico Lin (Biology-DARPA),Nicole Lopez(Biology-RISE), Karla Rivera-Torres(Psychology-MARC), Susana Chan (Biology-MARC),Andrea Tirado (Psychology-MARC),Nella Delva (Biology-RISE), Dr. Flona Redway(MARC/RISE Program Director) and ErickBriggs (Psychology)

From left: Deepa Gharbharan (Chemistry-NSF) and Launie Bruno (Mathematics-MARC)

From left: Dr. Pamela Hall and Karla Rivera-Torres

STEM Symposium,April 2012

From left: May 2012 MARC/RISE graduates NellaDelva,Christian Bureu,Elizabeth Nguyen,Jodi-Ann Browning-Bent and Susana Chan

Recent Graduates – May 2012

Bachelor of Science DegreesBrowning-Bent, Jodi-Ann (RISE – Biology)Bureu, Christian (MARC – Biology)Chan, Susana (MARC – Chemistry)Delva, Nella (RISE – Biology)Nguyen, Elizabeth (RISE – Biology)Rivera-Torres, Karla (MARC – Psychology)

“I joined MARC because I wanted to experience doing biomedical research. Not only didMARC provide hands-on experience, it also introduced me to the scientific community.During the years I was in the program, I was given the opportunity to do a summerresearch internship at Carnegie Mellon University and present my work at differentscientific meetings such as the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for MinorityStudents (ABRCMS) and the National Conference for Undergraduate Research (NCUR).Also, the mentorship provided by the program gave me the foundation necessary topursue a PhD in biomedical science.”

Susana Chan (MARC ’12)Biomedical Sciences PhD Program, University of Michigan

11300 NE Second AvenueMiami Shores, FL 33161-6695

Now acceptingapplicants forMARC and MBRSRISE programs!

”Being in the MBRS RISE program was one of the most important experiences for me while in college.Initially, medicine was the vocation that I had chosen to pursue. However, the RISE program offered methe opportunity to work in a research laboratory on and off campus. I came to really enjoy theseexperiences, and presently my career goal is set to be a physician scientist. The RISE program also feltlike having a second family. This made being far away from my home country a much easier experience.I definitely would not be where I am today if it were not for the RISE program and the amazing peoplebehind it.”

Maxime Jean (RISE ’11)PhD Virology, University of Rochester, NY

End of Semester PartyStudents and faculty ended the academic year with the annual “End of Semester” party May 2, 2012. During this event, we acknowledged

the students’ graduate and summer research internship acceptances, and faculty support of the MARC and RISE programs.