From the Department Head After nearly 100 of you responded to the first Newsletter, providing information about yourselves, I was not expecting the response we received to the second Newsletter. But as you can see in these pages, over 50 more of you have now told us what you are up to. Nancy Johnson has been the Administrative Assistant to the Department Head for the last seven years, and she deserves a great deal of credit for the Newsletter. She worked closely with University Publications in the design and logistics of producing the first Newsletter, enabling us to now produce further Newsletters without additional assistance from Publications. Since no one has volunteered to serve as editor of the Newsletter, I will continue to write it and Nancy to produce it.

Several of you have suggested that we feature a graduate of our department in each Newsletter--what he/she is doing now; one person recommended the requirement that the person featured must have graduated at least 20 years ago. We'll be happy to include such an article, but of course we are dependent upon you to provide us with the write-up. Feel free to contribute a write-up about yourself, plus your photo. I can't guarantee we'll be able to publish all contributions, but we'll try to fit one in per issue.

We've included descriptions of two faculty members' research in this issue because they were already written up and ready to go. Often when an article is published in Science or Nature, the College's science writer prepares a news release in case there is interest by the local or national media. Since this occurred twice in the last several months, we've included both write-ups in this issue while they are still timely.

Life Sciences Consortium

The University has made a major commitment to enhance the life sciences at Penn State. Each year for the next five years the University will provide one million dollars in new money, such that at the end of five years permanent, continuous funding for the life sciences will have increased by five million dollars, distributed across the University mainly to our College, the College of Health and Human Development, the College of Agricultural Sciences and Hershey Medical Center. Most of the funds, administered through the Life Sciences Consortium (LSC), will be devoted to hiring new faculty and supporting graduate students in new graduate programs. Seven new interdepartmental and intercollege graduate programs have been approved by the LSC. Two that impact our department the most are the Cell and Developmental Biology program, whose director is Bob Simpson and to which approximately half of our faculty belong, and the Chemical Biology program. Discussions are underway in our department's Graduate Affairs Committee to determine whether these two programs could become options in our own departmental graduate program.

Personnel

One new faculty member joins us this Fall, John Golbeck, who comes to us as a full professor from the University of Nebraska. John's area of specialization is structure-function relationships within photosynthetic reaction centers and the mechanism by which light is converted into chemical-free energy in photosynthesis. He further strengthens our Biomolecular Structure/Function Group.

One faculty member retired this past summer, Bob Bernlohr. Bob served variously as Head of the Department of Microbiology, Head of the Department of Biochemistry, Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, and Head of MC3B, spanning a decade from 1975-1985. The department thanks Bob for his excellent leadership in its formative years and for providing the solid foundation upon which the department now rests. We all wish Bob the best of luck in improving his golf game.

I am pleased to inform you that Greg Farber and Jerry Workman have both been tenured and promoted to Associate Professor, and that Teh-hui Kao has been promoted to full professor.

Although not a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology personnel matter, I thought you might be interested to learn that Dr. William Jeffery will become the new head of our sibling department, Biology, in January 1997. Bill replaces Linda Maxson, who resigned the position to move to the University of Tennessee about two years ago; Bob Mitchell has been serving as interim head. Bill arrives from the University of California, Davis, is the current president of the American Society for Developmental Biology, and studies the evolution of development.

Honors and Awards

Several of our faculty received prestigious national awards last year. Marty Bollinger was one of only ten recipients, nationwide, of a Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award, and one of only fifteen recipients, nationwide, of a Searle Scholar Award. Although he is the first member of our faculty ever to receive a Dreyfus award, he becomes the third member to receive a Searle award in the last five years, joining Greg Farber and Frank Pugh.

And this year Frank Pugh joined Jerry Workman in being named a Scholar of the Leukemia Society of America.

For the second time ever, a Penn State undergraduate has received a Marshall Award. The award, presented to only 40 students nationwide, is the British-funded equivalent of the Rhodes Scholar Award. Bruce Booth, who just graduated with an honors degree in Biochemistry, was the recipient, and will study molecular medicine at Oxford next year. Most of you have probably seen Bruce, but are not aware that you have. Last year one of the short clips about Penn State which you saw during our televised football games featured Bruce. In the background was Frank Pugh, with whom Bruce did his honors research.

Each year approximately 250 Goldwater Fellowships, which provide essentially a full-ride (tuition, room, board, fees and books) are presented to outstanding science, math and engineering undergraduate students nationwide. A number of students in our department, including Bruce Booth, have been recipients. However, last year was a banner year for us. Four Penn State students received Goldwater Fellowships, and three of them are in our department (Chandreyee Das, Michael Goller and Elizabeth Shank). We're very proud that Bruce and these other students are representing Penn State and our department with such distinction.

A group of microbiologists in our department recently teamed up with other faculty in our department and in Chemistry who are members of the Center for Biomolecular Structure and Function, and submitted a $1.8 million dollar proposal for a Research Training Grant to the National Science Foundation, with Greg Ferry as the Principal Investigator. It is my pleasure to inform you that the proposal, titled "Structure/Function and Physiology of Novel Enzymes from Diverse Microbes," has been funded and will provide support for graduate students and funds for equipment used in their training over the next five years. BMB faculty who are part of the training grant are Jean Brenchley, Don Bryant, Marty Bollinger, Greg Farber, Greg Ferry, John Golbeck and Ken Johnson.

Theses

The following undergraduate students graduated as University Scholars from the department in 1996:

Eileen C. Black, BIOL, Dr. Brenchley
"Cloning, Expression and Analysis of an Acidic Phosphatase From a Psychrotolerant Bacterial Isolate"

Bruce L. Booth, Jr., BIOCH, Dr. Pugh
"A Specific 3'-5' Nuclease Removes Four 3' Terminal Nucleotides From U6 snRNA"

Michael D. Caton, MCB, Dr. David Tu
"Biochemical Characterization of the Recombinant Drosophila Glutathione S-Transferase GST"

Nicholas A. Demonaco,BIOCH, Dr. Hymer
"The Effect of Hypophysectomy and Growth Hormone Administration on Myosin Heavy Chains in Rat Skeletal Muscle"

Anup Mahesh Desai, MCB, Dr. Workman
"The Binding Affinity of USF for its Respective Site Within Nucleosomal DNA is Modulated to the Relative Positioning of the Underlying Histone Octamer"

Madhumita Mahalanabis, MICRB, Dr. Babitzke
"Effect of a 5' Stem-Loop on Regulation of the trpEDCFBA Operon of BACILLUS SUBTILIS"

Ann J. Marzen, MICRB, Dr. Brenchley
"The Isolation and Survey of Psychrotolerant Microorganisms and the Characterization of Their Enzymes"

Jitu Rajni Modi, BIOL, Dr. Workman
"The Binding Affinity of NF-kB for Its Respective Site Within Nucleo-somal DNA is Modulated by the Relative Positioning of the Underlying Histone Octamer"

Erika A. Olander, MCB, Dr. Gay
"Molecular Analysis of a Transgene Insertion Associated With Ovarian Teratocarcinoma"

Manish Arun Patel, BIOL, Dr. Hymer
"The Effects of Acute Exercise on Male Rat Growth Hormone Cells and Growth Hormone Secretion"

Jennifer L. Peel, MCB, Dr. Tu
"Identification of Ser-9 as the Catalytically Essential Residue in Drosophila Glutathione S-Transferase D1"

Amie L. Peterson, BIOCH, Dr. Gay
"An Evaluation of Bone Cell PolarityIn Vitro"

Ruth Ellen Scrano, PREMED, Dr. Pazur
"Interaction of a Glucose Specific Antibody and Lectin with Glycoproteins and Glycoconjugates"

The following students received M.S. or Ph.D. degrees in 1995/96:

Dennis Michael Barlow, Jr., BIOCH, MS, Dr. Johnson
"Characterization of the Drosophila Kinesin Motor Domain Truncated to 384 Amino Acids"

Koushiki Choudhury, BMMB, MS, Dr. Gilmour
"An Analysis of Processivity in the Drosophila HSP 70 Promoter by Primer Extension"

Pamela Anne Goldthorp, BMMB, MS, Dr. Brenchley
"Purification and Characterization of a Cold-Active Protease from Janthinobacterium lividum"

Shihshieh Hung, MCB, Ph.D, Dr. Teh-hui Kao
"Functional Studies of the Petunia inflata S Gene in Self-Incompatibility"

John Dale Jackson, MCB, Ph.D., Dr. Hardison
"Functional Analysis of the Locus Control Region of the Mammalian Beta-Globin Gene Domain"

Richard Donald Kidd, MCB, Ph.D., Dr. Johnson and Dr. Farber
"I. Strategies for Cryatallizing the Kinesin Motor Domain; II. Structures of Mutants of Subtillsin BPN' in Dimethylformamide"

Baiyong Li, MCB, Ph. D., Dr. Gilmour
"Analysis of Promoter Proximal Pausing of RNA Polymerase II on the Drosophila HSP70 Promoter"

William Peter Long, M.S., BMMB, Dr. Bryant
"Phenotypic Characterization of ycf4 Mutants of Synechococcus sp.PCC 7002."

Susan Kay Reimer, MCB, Ph.D, Dr. Buchman, "Yeast Silencers and Chromatin Domains"

John Francis Sojda III, MCB, Ph.D, Dr. Nixon
"A Biochemical and Molecular Genetic Analysis of an Integration Host Factor Binding Site and Its Effect on the Expression of the Rhizobium leguminosarum dctA Promoter"

Jennifer Julian Swenson, MCB, Ph.D., Dr. Frisque
"Characterization and Localization of JC Virus Large T Antigen Phosophorylation Domains"

Congratulations!

Researchers Discover Enzyme that Controls Chemical Reactions at Cell Surface by Barbara Kennedy A discovery published in the June 7, 1996, issue of the journal Science has revealed the function of an enzyme thought to control such life-sustaining processes as the clotting of blood, the secretion of cell products, and the safe disposal of dead cells. "This research, plus additional work we have not yet published, indicates we may have found the first members of a previously unrecognized family of genes that code for these kinds of enzymes in all living cells," says Robert A. Schlegel, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State.

Schlegel and his research team discovered that the enzyme's function is to control certain chemical reactions at the cell's surface. It moves one of the building blocks of the cell's double-layered protective membrane, a phospholipid molecule named phosphatidylserine (PS), from the outside to the inside layer of the membrane. When PS appears on the outside of the membrane, it serves as a foothold where other compounds can latch onto the cell, initiating reactions such as blood coagulation.

Schlegel and his colleagues determined that the enzyme patrols the cell membrane, flipping back to the inside any PS molecules that stray to the outside--unless they are needed for a particular reaction. Scientists call this enzyme "aminophospholipid translocase."

"Researchers have found aminophospholipid translocase activity in every type of tissue where they have looked for it," Schlegel says. "It is of enormous importance in blood cells. We suggest it may have a common function in all cells--to trigger the recognition of dying cells that should be removed before their disintegration can do any damage--but that remains to be proven."

In blood cells, the enzyme keeps PS on the inside most of the time "so your blood clots only when you are cut, not when it is circulating in your veins," Schlegel explains.

The enzyme also helps certain cells die gracefully at the appointed time without causing harmful inflammation--a process known as programmed cell death or apoptosis. "Apoptosis is one of the hottest topics in biology right now," Schlegel says. "It is a process in the development of adults from embryos and is very likely a process in such diseases as AIDS and cancer." The enzyme shuts off during apoptosis, allowing straying PS molecules to stay on the outside of the cell membrane, signaling macrophages--the garbage-disposal cells of the body--to surround and digest the dying cell, isolating it from the rest of the organism before it can do any damage.

The function of the enzyme had been a mystery since it was first identified along with similar enzymes in red blood cells 20 years ago. "Researchers had identified the function of all the other similar red-blood-cell enzymes over the years, but not this one's," Schlegel says. "It was the only one left whose function we did not know for sure." Scientists suspected the enzyme might be moving PS to the inside of the cell membrane--a function they termed "aminophospholipid translocase"--but they had not been able to prove it.

Schlegel and his colleagues approached the problem by first figuring out how to get enough of the enzyme to work with. "We are the first to isolate this enzyme in large enough quantities to determine its protein sequence and then to clone its gene," Schlegel says.

The researchers decided to work with cow adrenal cells because the enzyme is present in large quantities in organs like the adrenal gland that secrete compounds such as hormones. "Cow adrenal glands are big and readily available, so you have a lot of material to work with," Schlegel explains. "Plus, a procedure for isolating this enzyme from the adrenal gland already had been published."

After they successfully cloned the gene for the enzyme, they sent its nucleotide sequence to the worldwide gene databanks to see if it would match any of the millions of other genes that scientists have sequenced. The nucleotide sequence of the gene determines the amino-acid sequence of the enzyme that the gene specifies. "We got lucky," Schlegel says. They discovered three highly similar genes in three very different organisms: yeast, the malaria parasite, and the nematode worm.

Better yet, another lab already had developed a mutant yeast strain that lacks the enzyme. "Yeast cells do many of the same things that mammal cells do," Schlegel comments. Schlegel and his team grew some of the mutant yeast and some normal yeast and used them both to test the function of the enzyme.

They attached a fluorescent tag to some PS phospholipids, put them on the surface of both normal and mutant yeast cells, and watched what happened. "The fluorescence on the surface stayed the same in the mutant yeast but it decreased substantially in the normal yeast," Schlegel says. "The normal yeast cells were able to move PS inside the cell membrane but the mutant yeast cells--the ones without the enzyme--could not, which proves that the enzyme is the aminophospholipid translocase," Schlegel explains.

The researchers then went one step further. They attached a fluorescent tag to another phospholipid building block of the cell wall and found that their enzyme did not move it at all, either in the mutant or in the normal yeast. Schlegel says this test confirmed that his first experiment was not just the result of some general defect in the mutant cells.

The scientists say their next goal is to make mutant mice that do not have this enzyme so they can learn about its function in mammals and its role in diseases that affect mammals--including humans.

"We suspect that this enzyme is one member of a whole family that controls a variety of important functions in all cells," Schlegel says. Because the function of an enzyme can affect how its gene is named, Schlegel says scientists probably will wait until they know what all the other members of this family of enzymes do before they give the new gene family a name.

Other members of the research team include Xiaojing Tang, currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Margaret S. Halleck, senior research associate at Penn State, and Patrick Williamson, professor of biology at Amherst College.

Molecules Team Up to Turn Genes On
by Barbara Kennedy

Scientists have discovered some of the techniques cells use to control their genes--including processes important in leukemia and other cancers--according to a research paper to be published in the Friday, July 26, 1996, issue of the journal Science. The research demonstrates, for the first time, that high-powered, promiscuous proteins roam throughout a cell's nucleus, temporarily joining with other molecules to find and turn on specific genes by permanently untangling the tightly knotted structures that prevent them from functioning.

"This research concerns a central process in gene regulation--how energy-driven teams of molecules function as chromosome-remodeling machines that unlock the cell's genetic codes," says Jerry L. Workman, associate professor of molecular and cell biology and the leader of the research group at Penn State.

A chromosome, the gene-containing structure in a cell's nucleus, is one, long, rope-like molecule of DNA tangled up with proteins and intricately knotted, twisted, and looped into a densely packed structure. Genes are sections of DNA that contain a cell's genetic codes. "All cells contain the same genes but each cell turns on only the particular genes it needs," Workman explains.

A gene "turns on" when a transcription enzyme attaches to it and copies its genetic code, which it then uses to make the cell's proteins and other molecules. The chromosome's dense packaging effectively locks up all the genes by tying them into knots, leaving no place for the transcription enzyme to attach.

The research reveals that a high-powered protein complex apparently untangles a knotted-up gene while other molecules called transcription activators slip in and securely attach themselves to a binding site on the gene. "A transcription activator helps the transcription enzyme bind exactly where it should to start copying a specific gene," Workman explains. The combination of the temporary disruption caused by the powerful protein complex and the binding action of the transcription activator results in the permanent smoothing out of the previously knotted gene, clearing enough space for the transcription enzyme to attach.

"We have demonstrated that a permanent structural change occurs only at the specific site where the transcription activator attaches," Workman says. "We also demonstrated that the cell's energy-driven protein complexes, which are far outnumbered by the genes that have to be turned on, work as roving catalysts throughout the chromosome, helping to turn on many genes rather than remaining attached to a single one."

Workman explains that the protein complex gets the extra power it needs from the cell's energy molecule, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), to wrench open the tangled DNA knots. "Proteins that need to function like machines inside the cell typically break off a phosphate from an ATP molecule, using the energy released to fuel their work," Workman explains.

Workman and his colleagues set up a test involving the smallest knot in the chromosome tangle, a structure consisting of a core of protein molecules known as histones wrapped around with a double loop of DNA. They first made a long string of this knotted DNA, then treated it with an enzyme that cuts only between the knots. They then separated the DNA fragments by size, using a technique called gel electrophoresis that produces a fuzzy image of alternating black and white bands stacked one on top of the other. "The white bands tell you where the knots are and the black bands show you where the DNA was cut," Workman explains.

They next attached purified transcription activators to one of the DNA knots, then added an ATP-powered protein complex and ran the gel test again. This time the resulting picture was even fuzzier, with dramatically less contrast between the black and white areas. "We lost the apparent positions of the knots, which tells us that the protein complex was disrupting them all in some way," Workman says.

Workman and his colleagues then added more knotted strings of DNA to their test-tube mixture to give the powerful protein complex someplace else to go, as they suspected it does in a living cell. "The protein complex apparently moved off our knotted string of DNA because the positions of all the original knots reappeared on the next gel--except for the one with transcription activators attached to it," Workman explains. "That knot appears to have been untangled permanently." The catalytic action of the roving, ATP-powered protein complex had never before been shown to be possible in a molecule that regulates transcription, Workman says.

"This research gives us new information about the process that controls gene expression, an important factor in diseases like cancer that involve uncontrolled cell growth that can result from defects in a cell's gene-expression system," Workman says. "It demonstrates that access to the genes within the chromosome structure is a very dynamic process that is powered by energy sources within the cell."

Workman says his research also provides an alternative to the long-standing theory that genes can be turned on only during the duplication of chromosomes that takes place prior to cell division, when chromosomes get pulled apart and the DNA knots untangle briefly. "This study shows that a cell can turn on the genes it needs even after they have been tightly knotted up inside chromosomes," he adds.

Other members of the research team include Penn State Postdoctoral Fellow Thomas A. Owen-Hughes, Penn State Graduate Student Rhea T. Utley, Penn State Postdoctoral Fellow Jacques Cote, University of Massachusetts Associate Professor of Biochemistry Craig L. Peterson, and Workman.

WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT

In this time of decreased support from the State of Pennsylvania and the extreme difficulty in obtaining Federal funds, contributions to the department become increasingly more important in permitting us to pursue our departmental goals. I'm sure you are aware that if you make donations to the University you can direct them to wherever you wish. If you would like to direct your donations to our department, there are several funds to which you may contribute.

Endowed funds are those which require a certain amount to establish them, are invested, and from which the interest each year is available for awards. These can take the form of an endowed faculty position, a scholarship, a lectureship or an award; additional funds can be added to the principal of these endowments at any time.

Other funds are not endowed. They may accrue interest, but generally amounts are withdrawn from them as necessary to fill the needs of the program to which they have been designated.

Below is a listing of funds within our department. We would of course be very pleased to receive donations toward any of them you may choose to support. Following the list of funds are those of you who contributed to any of them in 1995.

We greatly appreciate your generous support. Each Newsletter we will publish the names of those of you who have contributed since the previous Newsletter.

Endowed Funds

• Arthur K. Anderson Memorial Award
• Irving and Jean Atlas Scholarship in Biochemistry
• Paul & Mildred Berg Travel Endowment
• Paul & Mildred Berg Scholar Endowment
• R. Adams Dutcher Memorial Fund
• Charles R. Gerth Scholarship
• Kevin Daniel Gilmore Memorial Award
• Richard L. Maginnis Memorial Award
• Stanley Person Graduate Fellowship in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Award
• Stanley Person Professorship in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Award
• Pollard Lecture in Biophysics or Molecular Biology Award
• Stone Lecture in Microbiology Award
• Daniel R. Tershak Memorial Scholarship Award
• Daniel R. Tershak Memorial Graduate Fellowship Award
• Daniel R. Tershak Memorial Teaching Award

OTHER FUNDS

• Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department Award
• Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research Award
• Biochemistry Program Award
• Microbiology Program Award
• Medical Technology Program Award
• Frederick C. Wedler Memorial Fund in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

1995/96 Distinguished Lectures

Dr. Ira Herskowitz presented the Russell Marker Lectures in Genetic Engineering, titled "Using Mating Types to Address Fundamental Questions in Cell and Developmental Biology." Dr. Herskowitz is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California at San Francisco.

Dr. M. Thomas Record presented the Pollard Lecture in Biochemistry or Molecular Biology, titled "Site-Specific Protein-DNA Interactions Involved in Control of Transcription Initiation: Equilibrium and Kinetic Studies of Lac Repressor-Operator and RNA Polymerase-Promoter Interactions." Dr. Record is John D. Ferry Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Dr. Carol Gross presented the Stone Lecture in Microbiology, titled "Function and Regulation of Sigma Factors in Escherichia coli." Dr. Gross is a professor of Stomatology and Microbiology, and Vice-Chair of the Department of Microbiology at the University of California at San Francisco.

Alumni News

'40

Lois G. Turner (B. S., Micrb, '47) is retired from Bristol Myers Squibb where she was the Head of Microbiology Q.C.

'50

Mary-Lou Moore, MA, MT (ASCP)(CLS) NCA, (B.S., Med Tech, '55) recently retired as Program Director/Medical Technology Program at the Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. She has also served as an Adjunct Instructor for Penn State's Eberly College of Science until March 1996.

'60

Carole (Urban) Jacobsen (B.S., Med Tech, '61) is employed by the Illinois Department of Public Health-Chicago where she inspects laboratories for the Federal CLIA Program and resides with her husband in Carpentersville, Illinois. She has two children and one grandchild.

Cornelius (Neal) W. Sullivan (B.S., Bioch, '65; M.S., Micrb, '67, Earl Casida) spent 20 years at the University of Southern California where he was Professor of Biological Sciences and Director of the Allan Hancock Institute of Marine Studies,before joining the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C. as Director, Office of Polar Programs, where he heads the Nation's research in Antarctica. He and his wife, Jill, and their 3 children reside in Virginia.

J. David Turnball ('65) had been employed by the Medical University of South Carolina, in Charleston, retiring in 1996. He retired from service in the U.S. Army as a Lt. Colonial in 1987.

Flip Kosak Young (B.S., Med. Tech., '66) is employed as a Database Manager with Lockheed Martin Utility Services in Piketon, OH.

Bruce D. Korant (M.S., Micrb., '67, Ph.D., Micrb., '69, Chris Pootjes) is a Research Fellow of Virology with DuPont Merck where he resides with his wife, Mary Anne Tilmont Korant (B.S., Micrb, '67). His research is aimed at new therapies for HIV. Mary Anne is an income tax accountant and IRS enrolled agent.

Donald L. Fine (Ph.D., Micrb, '68, Ernie Ludwig) was the Director of Research Support Programs at NCI/Frederick Cancer Research and Developmental Center until July 1995 when he joined Science Applications International Corp. as a Sr. Scientist and Sr. Program Analyst. SAIC provides analytical, technical and administrative support systems to the US Army Medical Research and Material Command.

Richard L. Antrim (Ph.D., Bioch., '69) is employed as a Director of Research for the Grain Processing Corporation in Muscatine, IA. His focus is on new product development through enzyme and organic synthesis, and microbiology. He and his wife, Sunday, live on Lake McBride in the Solon area.

Stephen D. Miller (B.S., Micrb, '69; M.S., Micrb, '73; Ph.D., Micrb, '75) is a Professor of Microbiology-Immunology at Northwestern University Medical School and Dir. of the Northwestern University Interdepartmental Immunobiology Center. His research involves two main areas - study of the molecular mechanisms of T lymphocyte co-stimulation and tolerance; and study of the pathogenesis and specific immunoregulation of mouse models of multiple sclerosis including both autoimmune (experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis) and virus-initiated (Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus-induced demyelinating disease) disease models.

'70

Suzanne Mattingly (B.S., Med Tech, '73) is the Vice President for Marketing at Oxford Molecular Group, Inc., a firm specializing in software solutions and research services for academia and the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry.

Jeffrey Sands (Ph.D., Biophys., '73, Wally Snipes) is a Professor in the Dept. of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University. He has been at Lehigh for 23 years where he served as Dept. Chairman from 1988-94. He is now the Dir. of the Howard Hughes Undergraduate Education Program at Lehigh and will be graduating the 13th Ph.D. student from his lab this fall. His research involves virology and human Papillomaviruses.

Benjamin Jones (B.S., Bioch., '74) received his MS in 1978 and Ph.D. in 1980 at the University of Tennessee. He is now employed with the Campbell Soup Company where he is a Research Program Leader and develops new flavors for Campbell and Swanson products. He recently received the "Outstanding Contribution to Research" award. He resides with his wife and daughter in Somerdale, New Jersey.

Kimberly Napoli Eaton (Reynolds) (B.S., Bioch, '74) After graduation, Kimberly attended the University of Pittsburgh and obtained a Ph.D. in Medical Chemistry in 1983. She is currently an Associate Research Professor of Surgery in the Division of Immunology and Organ Transplantation at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. Her research involves the pharmacology of immuno-suppressive agents and support of related clinical trials.

John K. Adamiak (B.S., Micrb., '75) John is the President of Preferred Gas Sales, Inc. and resides with his wife, Patty, and 3 children in Robinson Township, Pennsylvania.

Barbara Rose (Zani) Fegley (B.S., Micrb, '75) is employed as a lab manager at the Electron Microscopy Research Center of the University of Kansas Medical Center. She is married to Jeffrey Fegley (B.S., Acctg., '76) and has two sons.

Debra M. Moriarity (B.S., Bioch., '76) graduated with a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Temple University School of Medicine in 1981. She is now a Full Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and lives with her husband, Joe Howard, and daughter in New Market, AL.

Michael D. Miller (B.S., Micrb., '78) is self-employed as a consultant and manufacturer's representative. He is married to Karen L. Hunter (B.A., Art Ed., '78) and has 2 sons. They reside in Frederick, MD.

Lynnda T. Watson (B.S., Micrb., '78) married in 1991 to Wilson Watson. She received her MS in Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She has been employed as a Forensic Chemist for the Maryland State Police for the last 16 years. She has also been a Forensic DNA Analyst for 7 years. She was hired by Baltimore County to set up a Biology Lab for DNA analysis.

Joseph J. Havrilla (B.S., Micrb., '79) is a self-employed periodontist. He received his DDS in 1984 and served his residency in Periodontology in 1986 at Temple University School of Dentistry. He is presently serving as President of Chester and Delaware Counties Dental Society. He has a full-time practice in Springfield, PA and is married with two children.

Carol Pfeifle (B.S., Med. Tech., '79) is employed as an Associate Clinical Lab Medical Technologist and is a board member of the Pennsylvania Society of Clinical Laboratory Scientists. She has two children.

John Schibli (B.S., MCB, '79) received a medical degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1983. He is currently Chief of Staff of Horizon Hospital System in Greenville, PA.

Marianne K. Sickles (B.S., Bioch., '79) is an ordained United Methodist minister serving as pastor of a medium size congregation in a Baltimore suburb. She graduated from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC in May 1983 with a Master of Divinity. She is currently a graduate student in the Pastoral Counseling program at Loyola College in Baltimore. She has an eleven year old son.

F. Leland Thaete (B.S., Bioch., '79; MD, Hershey, '83) was recently promoted to Associate Professor of Radiology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He is married to Cynthia Britton, also a graduate of Hershey Medical Center (MD, '83) and a radiologist at UPMC. They just celebrated the birth of their second daughter in March.

William A. Wien (B.S., Micrb.,'79) served in the Air Force for four years. He is now in private practice of family medicine in Lee County, Florida at Physicians Primary Care of Southwest Florida. He resides in Ft. Myers, FL with his wife, Janet Marie and their two children.

'80

Michael R. Butterworth, DDS (B.S., Micrb., '80) received his DDS from Temple University in 1994. He served as a Lieutenant Commander for the U.S. Naval Reserve and is now a self-employed dentist with a private practice in Millsboro, DE. He resides in Millsboro with his wife and two children.

Susan Henderson McMahon (Ph.D., Micrb., '80, Ed Gaffney) is now teaching at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, TN. She and her husband, John McMahon (M.S., Chem., '81) have a son and a daugher.

Tracy Weight Ascah (B.S., Bioch., '81) is employed by Supelco as a Research & Development Manager. She is married to Jim Ascah (B.S., Cmpsc., '67).

Domenic A. Paone (Ph.D., Micrb., '81, Ed Stevens) is employed at Sybron Chemicals, Inc. in Salem, VA as a Senior Microbiologist. He is married with two children, a cat and a dog. They enjoy a beautiful view of mountains in S.W. Virginia and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Catherine Krebs Heitman (B.S., Micrb., '82) works as a Principal Clinical Research Scientist at Glaxo Wellcome, Inc.

Bryan S. Horveath (B.S., Micrb., '83) is a Managed Care Account Executive for Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Corinne E. (Miller) Olesen (B.S., Micrb., '83) received her Ph.D. in Biology from M.I.T. in 1991. She is employed at Tropix, Inc. in Bedford, MA and has one son.

Harold J. Schreier (Ph.D., Bioch., '83) is an Associate Professor (w/tenure) at the Center of Marine Biotechnology, University of Maryland Biotech Institute at the Columbus Center in Baltimore, MD. He also holds an appointment as Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at University of Maryland Baltimore County. He and his wife, Susan, have three children.

David Zarkower (B.S., Bioch., '83) received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1989. He was a postdoc at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK from 1989-1994. He is an Asst. Prof. of Biochemistry at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He resides with his wife, Vivian, in Minneapolis.

Christine E. Bartley (B.S., Micrb., '85; M.S., Fd Sc, '91) is Director of New Product Development for Fresh Express Farms in Salinas, CA. She is also a Member, Board of Directors, and Technical Advisor for Viticultural Division, Coastal Sierra Packaging in Salinas, CA. She is currently living on the Monterey Peninsula.

Mary M. Burns (B.S., Micrb., '86) earned her M.S. in Biology, Cell Biology concentration, from Rutgers University, 1996. During the time of her thesis research she was also employed full-time as a histocompatibility technologist at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She has received a first-year fellowship in the Molecular Biosciences Ph.D. program at Rutgers and will begin second year as a Ph.D. student this Fall.

MaryAnn (Romancheck) Powles (B.S., Micrb., '86) is employed as a Research Biologist for Merck & Co. and resides in Rahway, NJ.

Bob Baltera (B.S., Micrb., '87; M.S., Genet., '90) is now at Amgen as manager of Business Analysis. He also completed an MBA at The Anderson School of Management at UCLA in June 1996.

Daniel Sageser (B.S., MCB, '87) graduated with a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) in 1994 from the University of Utah. He then served an advanced residency in Hematology/Oncology from 1994-95 at the Pittsburgh Cancer Inst., University of Pittsburgh. He is currently a Clinical Oncology Specialist at the Cancer Center of Southwest Washington and lives with his wife, Nannette Ames, Pharm.D., in Vancouver, WA.

Kimberly Kriger Robyak (B.S., Bioch., '88) is employed as a Staff Chemist, Safety Assessment, with Merck & Co. She is married to PSU Alum, Rick Robyak (B.S., CE, '87; M.S., CE, '90) and they live with their daughter in Doylestown, PA.

Anne (Bonneau) Hayes (B.S., Bioch., '88) completed her Residency and Chief Residency in Internal Medicine at the Hershey in June, 1996. She is currently practicing general internal medicine with Lebanon Internal Medicine Associates, P.C. (Lebanon, PA). Her husband, Daniel M. Hayes (B.S., Bioch., '87) resigned from his position as Associate Scientist II at Centocor, Inc. (Malvern, PA) in March, 1995 to stay home full-time with their daugher. Dan's duties have increased with the arrival of their second daugher. The family resides in Lebanon, PA.

David E. Winder (M.S., Micrb., '88) received his second M.S. ('91) and his Ph.D. ('95) in Micrb/Immunology from the Univ. of Rochester. He is currently a post-doctoral fellow in the Dept. of Dental Research at the Univ. of Rochester.

J. D. Alvarez (B.S., MCB, '89) completed his Ph.D. in 1995 from the Washington Univ. - St. Louis. He was a Research Associate with Nippon Roche Research Center in Kamakura, Japan from 1995-96. He will complete his M.D. in 1997 from Washington University in St. Louis.

Stephanie (Gurysh) Krohto (B.S., Med Tech., '89) is a Blood Bank Supervisor for Miriam Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. She had a son in 1995.

Susan B. (Hinman) LeBlanc (B.S., Bioch., '89) received her Ph.D. in 1995 in Microbiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She married Allen LeBlanc in 1992 and had a son in 96. She is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Dept. of Epidemiology at the University of Alabama looking at mycobacterial disease in AIDS patients.

Cynthia A. Pawlik (B.S., Bioch., '89) graduated with a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Tennessee in June 1996. She received a postdoctoral fellowship at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital to study novel anticancer drugs used in the treatment of pediatric brain tumors and rhadomyosarcomas.

Natalie (Botdorf) Taylor (B.S., Micrb., '89) recently resigned from Merck & Co., Inc. to raise two children. She is married to Bill Taylor (B.S., Ed., '89).

Lori A. (Claman) Vilevac (B.S., Micrb/Med T, '89) is employed as a Lab Technologist II for the American Red Cross and resides in Dublin, OH.

'90

Jeffrey A. Pierce (B.S., Micrb., '90) was recently promoted to Sr. Development Microbiologist in the Biocides department at Zeneca, developing new antimicrobials and providing technical support for the coatings industry. He and his wife, Chris, reside in Bear, Delaware.

David Szymkowski (Ph.D., MCB, '90) is a project leader at Hoffman-LaRoche in Welwyn Garden City, England. He previously did a postdoc at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London. He is married to Susan Yost (Ph.D., MCB, '92) who is a staff scientist at the WHO's National Inst. for Biological Standards and Control (England) and received tenure earlier this year. They have a one year old son.

Mark J. Engleka (B.S., MCB, '92) is entering the University of PA's graduate program in Molecular Biology. He has been working at Wistar Institute as a technician for four years. He is married to Becky O'Hara (B.A., LA, "92) and they reside in Bala Cynwyd, PA.

Charles L. Wynn (B.S., MCB, '92) has decided to pursue full-time ministry with the Great Commission Ministries, an organization that focuses on ministering to college students. He is currently serving as a campus staffer at Michigan State University.

Kevin T. Ashliman (B.S., Micrb., '93) graduated from the MBA program at Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh in June 1996. He accepted a position as a Marketing Management Associate in the Human Health Division at Merck & Co., Inc. He is engaged to be married October, 1996.

Tanya (Miller) Raschke (B.S., Bioch., '93) is a Ph.D. candidate in the Dept. of Molecular and Cell Biology at University of California, Berkeley. He is studying protein folding in the laboratory of Dr. Susan Margusee. Her husband, Matthew (B.S., CE, '92) is an Environmental Engineer working for CET Environmental Services, Inc.

Brooks Kelly (Ph.D., MCB, '94) is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Medicine. He is studying the molecular biology of human cancer.

Andrea (Bell) Stitzman (B.S., Micrb., '94) is employed as a lab technician for Merck where she has been working with the mumps vaccine, and more recently, the chicken pox vaccine. She resides in Pottstown, PA.

Jennifer A. Donnelly (B.S., Micrb., '95) is employed as a Quality Control Microbiologist for Sandoz Pharmaceuticals. She resides in North Plainfield, New Jersey.

Aaron Goldstrohm (B.S., MCB, '95) has joined the lab of Dr. Mariano Garcia-Blanco as a Ph.D./MD. student in the Molecular Cancer Biology Department at Duke University Medical Center.

Todd Mayover (B.S., Micrb., '95) is working on his Masters degree in Microbiology at the University of Maryland. He is researching protein interactions in the chemotaxis signal transduction pathways of E. coli.

Akash Patnaik (B.S., Bioch., '95) is currently an M.D./Ph.D. fellow at Penn State's Hershey Medical Center. He has completed his first year and began his rotations this past summer.

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