Mae Carol Jemison is a chemical engineer, physician, teacher, and former astronaut. At the age of 12, Jemison entered high school, and she was really passionate about science and dance; she was curious about astronomy, anthropology, and archaeology and learned African, Japanese, ballet, jazz, and several other styles of dance. She won a scholarship to Stanford University at the age of 16 and graduated in 1977 with a BSc degree in Chemical Engineering and a B.A degree in African and African-American studies. During that period she served as the head of the Black Students Union and choreographed a musical called "Out of the Shadows". Dr. Jemison received her medical degree from Cornell University in 1981 and worked as a volunteer in several countries including Cuba, Kenya, and Thailand. She was part of the Hepatitis B vaccine, schistosomiasis, and rabies research with the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Jemison applied to NASA's astronaut program and was accepted as one of fifteen astronaut candidates in 1987 for the space mission STS-47. She became the first African American woman to go into space in 1992. During the space mission, she was a co-investigator in the bone cell research experiment. Fun fact: Dr. Jemison really enjoyed watching Star Trek as a child and that is how her interest in Astronomy started. Post-NASA endeavor, in 1993, she appeared in an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation", episode "second chances". Relevant articles: Frazer, J. and Jemison, M.C., 1993. Advancing African health care through space technology: an interview with Dr. Mae C. Jemison. Africa Today, pp.70-73. Thiel, K., 2017. Mae C. Jemison: First African American Woman in Space. Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC. NASA.gov: https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/jemison.html Ola Salama Masters student
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Harold Amos (1918 – 2003) was an American microbiologist and professor at the Harvard Medical School where he taught for nearly 50 years and was the first African-American department chair of the school.
Harold made various high-profile discoveries in his discipline including the finding of the 5-methylcytosine in the E. coli RNA and spearheading research into the use of bacterial RNA to program the synthesis of higher cell proteins. He received many awards throughout his career including: the first Charles Drew World Medical Prize from Harvard University in 1989, an Honoris Causa doctoral degree from Harvard University in 1996, the Centennial Medal of the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 2000, and the National Academy of Science’ highest honor, the Public Welfare Medal in 1995. In 1975, he was named the Maude and Lillian Presley professor of microbiology and molecular genetics. He was a presidential advisor to Richard Nixon. He inspired hundreds of minorities to become medical doctors. A diversity award at Harvard Medical School is named after him. Relevant articles: Schwartz, A.G. and Amos, H., 1968. Insulin Dependence of Cells in Primary Culture: Influence on Ribosome Integrity. Nature, 219(5161), pp.1366-1367. Palepu, A., Carr, P.L., Friedman, R.H., Amos, H., Ash, A.S. and Moskowitz, M.A., 1998. Minority faculty and academic rank in medicine. Jama, 280(9), pp.767-771. Abdul-Rahman Adamu Bukari PhD student Treena Livingston ArinzehThis week, we would like to introduce you to Dr. Treena Livingston Arinzeh! Treena Livingston Arinzeh is a professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, NJ, USA, specializing in stem cell tissue engineering, developing biomaterial repair of bone, cartilage and musculoskeletal tissues. Her research, focusing on the development of functional biomaterials that can accelerate repair utilizing stem cells and other cell types, has revolutionized adult stem cell therapy for which she gained national recognition and awards such as the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2004), Technology Rising Star Award, 21st Women of Color STEM Conference (2016) and the Thomas Edison Patent Award, R&D Council of NJ (2017), to name a few. Breakthroughs: A method to repair bone damaged by trauma or tumors by creating a demineralized bone matrix derived from donor tissue that can act as a scaffold to support bone-building adult stem cells (FDA approved product). Showed first evidence that adult stem cells taken from one person could be implanted in another without causing an adverse immune response. Fun fact! Dr. Arinzeh can play the flute, piano, violin and percussion and was in the wind ensemble in her school orchestra. Relevant articles: Khader, A., and Arinzeh, T. L. (2019) Biodegradable zinc oxide composite scaffolds promote osteochondral differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. Biotechnology and Bioengineering. https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.27173 Wu, S. et al. (2018) Aligned fibrous PVDF-TrFE scaffolds with Schwann cells support neurite extension and myelination in vitro. Journal of Neural Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-2552/aac77f Lee, Y-S., and Arinzeh, T. L. (2011)Electrospun Nanofibrous Materials for Neural Tissue Engineering. Polymers. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym3010413 Jigeesha Mukhopadhyay PhD student |
AuthorWe are graduate students at the Department of Microbiology, University of Manitoba Archives
October 2023
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