NARESH SUNKARA APPOINTED TO
THE GRADUATE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL
SOCIETY (ACS)
Naresh Sunkara, a graduate student in the Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, received a three-year appointment
to the Graduate Education Advisory Board (GEAB) of the ACS. The appointment
begins at the ACS National Meeting in Chicago, IL March 25-29, 2007.
The GEAB is comprised of a committee consisting of nine senior ACS
members, a graduate student and a postdoctoral appointee who advise
the ACS Office of Graduate Education(OGE) on matters related to graduate
education within the chemical sciences. GEAB members attend two
yearly meetings at the ACS National Meetings with travel and hotel
expenses covered by ACS. Key issues identifed by the GEAB for OGE
review include student-professor relationships, advisor-advisee responsibilities,
the digital divide, degree requirements, and relations between businesses
and graduate programs. Sunkara was selected by the Younger
Chemists Committee (YCC) of the ACS from a national pool of 30
graduate student leaders who applied for this appointment. ACS, which
is the largest scientific society in the world, is a self-governed,
individual membership organization founded in 1876 that consists
of more than 158,000 members at all degree levels and in all fields
of chemistry. Current president of the UMBC Graduate Student Association
(GSA), Sunkara previously served as the vice president of the GSA
and chaired the Graduate Research Conference (GRC) in 2006. He was
awarded the Graduate Student Leader of the year in 2006. Sunkara's
research in the laboratory of Dr.
Katherine Seley-Radtke encompasses the synthesis and methodological
development of anti-cancer and anti-viral drugs.
CONGRATULATIONS TO JOSEPH
R. BLASIC, JR., UMBC's SECOND WYETH FELLOW
Joseph R. Blasic, Jr., a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department
of Biological Sciences, was recently selected to receive the
second two year Wyeth Fellowship at UMBC. Blasic, who is studying
melanopsin in the laboratory of Dr.
Phyllis Robinson, will receive an annual stipend and mentoring
support from an industry scientist at Wyeth
Research. Blasic is studying the deactivation of the G protein
coupled receptor melanopsin, that is responsible for the the dection
of light for non-image forming functions like regulation of circadian
rhythms and pupil constriction. He earned a Master's Degree in Biotechnology
from Johns Hopkins University in 2004 and B.S. Degrees from the University
of Sciences in Philadelphia in Biochemistry and Microbiology in 2001.
Orrette R. Wauchope, a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, received the inaugural, two-year
Wyeth Fellowship at UMBC. Wauchope is studying synthetic organic
chemistry in the laboratory of Dr.
Katherine Seley-Radtke. His research focuses on the design and
methodological development of chemical agents that potentially serve
as anticancer, antiviral and antiparasitic catalysts. Wauchope is
a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Brooklyn College, where he
majored in chemistry. A formal signing of a memorandum of understanding
between Wyeth Research and UMBC took place on July 25, 2006 at the
Wyeth Research Facility in Collegeville, PA. The partnership includes
graduate fellowships for talented students conducting research in
fields of joint interest to UMBC faculty and Wyeth scientists. The
Wyeth-UMBC partnership includes a three-year commitment to Gold-Level
sponsorship for UMBC’s annual life science symposium—A Look Ahead: Futures in Biomedical Research. Wyeth, headquartered
in Madison, N.J., is a global leader in pharmaceuticals, consumer
health care products and animal health care products. (Visit
the link to the UMBC News & Events article from 8/4/06.)
The College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences
currently enrolls 270 graduate students in 13 graduate programs and
administers nearly half of the doctoral programs at UMBC. Our graduate
students are dedicated researchers who work side by side with their
faculty mentors as they pursue their educational goals at UMBC with
the ongoing support of their home departmentthe UMBC Graduate School.
Emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration and access to faculty
members and facilities of the entire University System of Maryland
maximize the graduate students' abilities to identify programs best
suited to their indiviual interests.
LIFE SCIENCES
Biochemistry (Ph.D.)
Biological Sciences (Ph.D. & M.S.)
Marine-Estuarine-Environmental
Sciences (Ph.D. & M.S.)
Molecular
and Cell Biology (Ph.D.)
Applied
Molecular Biology (Masters of Science)
Neurosciences
and Cognitive Sciences (Ph.D. & M.S.)
Biostatistics (M.S.)
NATURAL AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Chemistry (Ph.D. & M.S.)
Applied Mathematics (Ph.D. & M.S.)
Statistics (Ph.D. & M.S.)
Toxicology (Ph.D. & M.S.)
Applied
Physics (Ph.D. or M.S.)
Atmospheric
Physics (Ph.D. or M.S.)
For more information about the UMBC Graduate School,
please visit:
http://www.umbc.edu/gradschool/
For information about UMBC Graduate School Admissions
or to apply online, please visit: http://www.umbc.edu/gradschool/admissions/
In addition to a very active and supportive Graduate
Student Association at UMBC, there are four CNMS Graduate
Student Organizations that support UMBC graduate students..
These groups, which meet regularly, are student directed and focused
on the interests of student members. For additional information,
contact the following GSO leaders:
Graduate
Association of Biological Sciences - Ryan McMullin - rmcmul1@umbc.edu
Chemistry/Biochemistry - Naresh Sunkara - naresh1@umbc.edu
Mathematics/Statistics - Ana Maria Soane - asoane@umbc.edu
Physics - Brian Wingert - bwing2@ubmc.edu
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