From the Department Head In the last issue of the Newsletter, we provided a form which you could fill out if you were interested in having your name listed in a departmental Alumni Directory. The idea is to provide you with a way to find out where your former classmates are and to discover if other graduates of our department are living in your area. We received about 100 responses. That may seem like quite a few, but not when you consider that our department and its precursors have about 4000 living alumni! Accordingly, we provide again in this issue a form which you can fill out and return if you'd like to be in the directory. You may remember that you have to sign the form to allow us permission to publish the information. If you've already filled out the form, you needn't again. Whatever responses we receive this time will be added to the listing from the previous request which we've already compiled in a database. We'll send this listing out to those who have provided information, plus any other alumni who request it. As usual, we also provide you in this issue of the Newsletter with a WHERE ARE YOU? page for updating your activities in the next issue of the Newsletter, separate from being listed in the Alumni Directory.

Speaking of alumni, about 20% of Penn State alumni contribute to the University. In contrast, over 50% of alumni from our department and its precursors contribute to the University, so you are a generous bunch. About 75% of you direct your gifts to the Eberly College of Science; of this group, 90% received undergraduate degrees and 10% graduate degrees. About 10% of you direct your gifts to our department; in this group, 70% received undergraduate degrees and 30% received graduate degrees.

How did we get so many alumni of our department? The current enrollments provide a clue as to the numbers of new alumni we are now adding each year. For the last several years total undergraduate enrollment in our three departmental majors has remained steady at about 600 students. This Fall, for the first time, total enrollment in the department's graduate program exceeds 100, standing at 108. Although post-doctoral fellows and research associates aren't formally alumni, their level has remained constant at 40-50 at any given time over the last several years.

I thought you might be interested in some construction projects occurring in the department. The most major project, by far, is the renovation of two laboratories on the third floor of Althouse Laboratory to create a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Laboratory for Jerry Workman. You may recall that a few years ago Jerry was appointed an Associate Member of HHMI. According to HHMI policies, Jerry's lab becomes an extension of the HHMI, which HHMI rents and is now renovating. The two laboratories have been entirely gutted, joined into one lab and will be optimally reconfigured and outfitted from scratch. The project should be completed by the end of this calendar year.

Those of you who have ever had occasion to be in Althouse Laboratory in the Spring or Fall will doubtless recall that fixed change-over dates for switching from heating to air-conditioning and vice versa resulted in many days where you huddled together for warmth or suffocated from not being able to open the windows to cool down the building. Those types of days should be in the past since the university has added equipment to keep the water in the cooling tower on the roof of Althouse from freezing in the winter, thus allowing a proper balance of heating and air-conditioning to be maintained throughout the year. Althouse has also seen some recent improvements in appearance, with all the hallways receiving new floor tile and paint, including the tunnel to North Frear, and some new furniture for the hallways, uniform from floor to floor, is on the way. The lobby has received new lighting, and there are plans for new furniture for both Althouse and Frear lobbies.

We continue to squeeze out extra space until the new Life Sciences Building is completed, which, unfortunately, is now projected to be 2003. Two storage rooms on the 2nd and 4th floors of South Frear are being converted to offices. In Althouse, one of the auxiliary equipment rooms on the 2nd floor is being converted to a fully-outfitted new shared cell culture facility, to supplement the one already maintained on the 4th floor of North Frear. Like the Biofermentation Facility in the basement of North Frear we established two years ago, this cell culture facility would not have been possible without the gifts you have so generously contributed to the department. Like the Biofermentation Facility, we will place on the wall outside the cell culture facility a plaque which indicates that the facility was made possible, in part, by contributions of friends and alumni to the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

The final general design and layout of the new Life Sciences Building has now been approved by the Board of Trustees. It will be located on Shortlidge Road, between the Thomas Classroom Building in which the Eberly College of Sciences Dean's Offices are located, and Eisenhower Auditorium. The exciting news is that it will be linked by a gateway, spanning Shortlidge, at the 3rd and 4th floors, with the new Chemistry Building which will be located directly across the street. The 3rd floor of the Life Sciences Building will have a commons area which opens out to the third floor of the gateway where posters will be presented. So, the face of the sciences on campus will be changing dramatically in the next few years.

Personnel

Two long-time members of the Department announced their retirement in the past year and another has accepted a new challenge elsewhere.

Wes Hymer, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, retired June 30th of this year. Wes has been a member of our department for 35 years! He will not be sitting in his rocking chair, however, as he will be a member of a $2M project in the Applied Research Laboratory funded by the Marine Corps to study the effects of radiation on human tissue.

Mary Jane Wronski, Instructor of Microbiology, retired September 30th after 20 years of service to the department. As many of you will be aware from first-hand experience, Mary Jane has been in charge of our Micro 107 and 202 laboratories and, more recently, served as our department's Co-op coordinator. She deserves a rest!

Kamal Rashid, Director of Biotechnology Outreach Programs and Affiliate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, directed our Biotechnology Workshops and had been Director of the Summer Symposium for nearly ten years, although he has served Penn State much longer in other capacities. He also taught our Animal Cell Culture undergraduate laboratory course and the Biotechnology Freshman Seminar. Kamal accepted a position at Utah State University as Assistant Director of Biotechnology.

Collectively, these three individuals have provided 65 years of dedicated service to our department! Certainly, it will not be the same without them, but we wish them all the best in their new endeavors.

The department has started a new practice of having caricatures drawn and presented to long-time, retiring employees. We make copies of the caricatures, which we are going to hang in the 456 North Frear conference room. Next time you're visiting, you'll have to have a look at this amusing new gallery.

Due to these retirements, we have been able to hire one new faculty member who will join us in January of 2001, and two new instructors who began their assignments this Fall.

Wendy Hanna-Rose received her B.A. in Biology from Anderson University in Anderson, Indiana, her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from Harvard University, and did postdoctoral studies at the University of Colorado. Wendy's research will focus on investigating the process of morphogenesis during development using the nematode, C.elegans as a model system.

Steven Keating received his B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Maryland and his doctorate in Entomology from Penn State. He was a Research Associate in Entomology at the University of Massachusetts, before joining the faculty at St. Francis College in Loretto, PA. Steve comes to us with 11 years of experience teaching Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Botany and Human Biology.

David Hulce received B.S.'s in Biology and in Economics, with minors in Mathematics, History and Chemistry, from Towson State University in Towson, MD. His doctorate is from Iowa State University in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. David has held several research positions at Penn State in plant molecular biology, and has taught Biology, Botany, and Molecular and Cell Biology at Juniata College and Lock Haven University.

We welcome Wendy, Steve and Dave to the department.

Honors and Awards

Jerry L. Workman, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Associate Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has been named the Paul Berg Professor of Biochemistry. Jerry, who joined us in 1992, conducts analyzing protein complexes from yeast and human cells that modify chromatin, which is the gene-containing structure in a cell's nucleus. Jerry expects their work to render new insights into the development of cancers and other human diseases that result from aberrant gene expression. His ongoing research has revealed protein molecules previously unknown to be involved in gene expression plus other dynamics among the protein molecules, which work together as a team to activate genes.

The Paul Berg Professorship was created in 1995 by an anonymous donor in honor of Paul Berg, a 1948 graduate of our department, who was named a Distinguished Alumnus in 1974 and earned the Nobel Prize in 1980 for developing a method to map the structure and function of DNA.

A few years ago, we began having a reception in the Spring to honor our undergraduates, graduates and postdocs who received national recognition in the preceding year. In addition, we inscribe their names and their awards on plaques in 456 N. Frear where the receptions are held. Last year's recipients were:

Undergraduates -

• Jeremy Jones - National Science Foundation (NSF) Predoctoral Fellowship
• David Maag - National Science Foundation (NSF) Predoctoral Fellowship
• Erin Criswell - Fulbright Fellowship - Australia
• Deborah Kubisiak - Fulbright Fellowship - Germany
• Michael Stitzel - Fulbright Fellowship - Germany
• Elif Ince - Fulbright Fellowship - Turkey
• Ryan W. Draft - Andrew Mutch Scholarship from the St. Andrew's Society - Scotland
• Dominick Sudano - Goldwater Scholarship
• Jayaram Srinavasn - Goldwater Scholarship

Postdoctoral Students -

• Christine Brown - Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Postdoctoral Fellowship
• Patrick Grant - Burroughs Wellcome Trust Career Development Award

Brian Kelch (Bollinger lab), who graduated in 1999 and is currently a doctoral candidate in the laboratory of David Agard at the University of California-San Francisco, has been selected as the recipient of one of only 80 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Predoctoral Fellowships awarded each year in the Biological Sciences. He had previously been awarded a National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship.

You may also be aware that in the lobby of Althouse we have plaques on which are inscribed the names of the Spring Commencement standard bearers for each of our undergraduate majors. Those so honored in Spring 2000 were: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology -- Wei Dennise Duan (Tu); Biotechnology -- Lance J. Pietropola (Rashid); and Microbiology -- Jeremy Jones (Frisque).

As announced in the Newsletter, two awards have been established to recognize outstanding student dissertations. The 1999/2000 Frederick C. Wedler Outstanding Honors Dissertation Award was shared by David Maag (Cameron lab) and Jeremy Jones (Frisque lab). The Frederick C. Wedler Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award was shared by Brian Meyer (Perdew lab) and Daniela Zarnescu (Thomas lab). Their names have been inscribed on plaques which hang in 456 N. Frear.

Finally, as announced last year, we now have several endowed funds to recognize outstanding teaching in the department. The recipients for the 1999/2000 academic year were Andrea Mastro (Tershak Outstanding Faculty), Mary Jane Wronski (Althouse Outstanding Instructor) and Sue-Jean Hong (Althouse Outstanding Teaching Assistant). Geoffroy Knudsen received an Honorable Mention for the last award.

Other News

Jean Brenchley, along with Drs. Sue Brantley and Kate Freeman in the Geosciences Department in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, have been awarded and are serving as co-principal investigators of a $2.7 million research training grant from the National Science Foundation. The Biogeochemical Research Initiative for Education (BRIE) is an interdisciplinary training program they designed to bring together graduate students in microbiology, geochemistry, environmental engineering, and soils science to solve problems of biogeochemical importance. Researchers are aware that microorganisms control the earth's environment through processes such as element cycling, oxygen production, acidification of mine-waste waters, etc. However, few scientists are prepared to address these microbial biogeochemical questions due to disciplinary differences in vocabulary, technique, and scientific paradigm. The BRIE training program will help break down these barriers and train students with broader backgrounds who can become leaders in biogeochemical research. Recent breakthroughs in experimental methods in both microbiology and geochemistry make this an ideal time to initiate innovative interdisciplinary research. Areas of special interest include the isolation and characterization of extremophilic microorganisms, such as psychrophiles, and the study of isolates, such as methanogens, from anoxic environments. More information on this exciting new program is available on the BRIE web page (http://www.essc.psu.edu/BRIE).

Jean Brenchley and Greg Ferry are Task Leaders of the Penn State Astrobiology Research Center (PSARC) which is a component of the $5.3 million NASA-sponsored National Astrobiology Institute. PSARC is a multidisciplinary research effort encompassing the departments of Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Geochemistry. The major goal of research at PSARC is to increase our understanding of the connection between the changes in the environment and the changes in the biota on Earth, especially during the period between 4.5 billion to 500 million years ago. Jean and Greg are concerned with the origin and early evolution of life with emphasis on psychrophilic microbes and anaerobes from the Archaea domain. Their research involves the isolation of novel psychrophiles and their enzymes, and analyses of the structures and roles of metalloenzymes in the methane-producing Archaea. The results of this research will greatly enhance our ability to predict the future of life on Earth and to identify the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe.

Through the efforts of Carol Gay and Mardi Hockenberry, staff assistant in the department, a mentoring program for first- and second-year undergraduates has been established. A list of upper-classmen who are willing to act as contacts/mentors to discuss such matters as course scheduling, independent study, co-op experience, etc. has been compiled. We are also in the process of establishing a similar program for seniors in our department, with contacts/mentors being alumni, to advise and discuss various career options - industry, graduate school, or medical school. Seniors looking for such contacts will access a list of alumni on the department's undergraduate web site. If you are interested in becoming a mentoring volunteer for seniors, please provide the department with your name, e-mamil address, and current position.

Theses

The following undergraduate students graduated as University Scholars in 1999/2000:

Joshua E. Babiarz, B M B, Paul Babitzke, "trpE Translational Control Requires a Higher Tryptophan Concentration Than What is Necessary for Transcription Attenuation of the Bacillus subtilis trpEDCFBA Operon"

Vinay G. Babu, P M, Andrea Mastro, "Quantification of Zinc in Lymphocyte Subpopulations"

Andrew Baraniak, B M B, Ola Sodeinde, "The Role of mRNA Stability in the Regulation of Chloroplast Gene Expression"

Paul Cesanek, P M, Graham Thomas, "Characterization of Mutations in ßHEAVY-Spectrin Resulting from Imprecise Excision of the P Element in the karst01318 Allele"

Erin K. Criswell, B M B, Richard Frisque, "A Comparison of DNA Replication Efficiencies of JC Virus Variants MAD1, MAD2, MAD3, and MAD4 and Related Chimeric Viruses"

Wei (Dennise) Duan, B M B, Zhi-Chun Lai, "Investigations of Yan, a Repressor of Neuronal Differentiation in the Drosophila Compound Eye"

Heather Fenderson, MICRB, Allen Phillips, "Role of HutD on the Regulation of the HutG Gene Encoding Formylglutamate Amidohydrolase in Pseudomonas Putida"

Rebecca Holby, MICRB, B. Franklin Pugh, "Limited Proteolysis of TAF-172 and Effects of Upstream DNA on TAF-172 Binding to TBP-DNA"

Elif Ince, B M B, Jean Brenchley, "Molecular and Biochemical Analyses of Novel ß-Galactosidases from Psychrophilic Arthrobacter Isolates"

Jeremy O. Jones, MICRB, Richard Frisque, "Alternative Splicing Pattern of the JC Virus Early Messenger RNA"

Sarfaraz N. Kabeer, MICRB, Allen Phillips, "Growth Inhibition by Imidazolone Propionic Acid (IPA): Evidence for an Oxygen Dependent Mechanism"

Deborah L. Kubisiak, B M B, Christine Milcarek (U Pitt Sch of Med), "A Study of Growth Stage-Dependent Variations in the 64 kDa Subunit of Cleavage Stimulation Factor"

Na Young Lee, B M B, Andrew Henderson, "The Functional Interaction of Transcriptional Activator C/EBPb with Coactivators Enhances Propagation of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus"

David Maag, B M B, Craig Cameron, "The Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Ribonucleoside, Ribavirin, Is a RNA Virus Mutagen"

Todd S. MacFarlan, B M B, Carol Gay, "The Asymmetric Distribution of Plasma Membrane Calcium ATPase and Sodium Calcium Exchanger in Bone Forming Cells"

Edward T. Melkun, B M B, Robert Paulson, "An Amino Terminal Mutation of CDC25A Accelerates the G1/S Transition, Increases Phosphatase Activity, and Prematurely Activates Cyclin E-Dependent Kinases"

Bryan O'Connell, B M B, Ross Hardison, "The Affinity of CpG-Island DNA for Nucleosome Formation In Vitro"

Betsy Pathickal, BIOL, J. Martin Bollinger, "Chemical Rescue of Defective Electron Transfer Caused by Tryptophan-48 Substitutions in the R2 Subunit of Ribonucleotide Reductase"

Michael L. Stitzel, B M B, Joseph Reese, "Molecular and Genetic Analysis of TSG6: A Gene Required for Ultraviolet Irradiation Resistance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae"

Alexander Tu, B M B, Robert Schlegel, "RNA Interference to Knock Out Aminophospholipid Translocase Function in Caenorhabditis elegans"

Lisa Wray, B M B, Diana Cox-Foster, "Vector Specificity of Aphids for Luteoviruses: Characterization of Putative Virus Receptors Using Anti-idiotypic Antibodies"

The following students received MS or Ph.D. degrees in BMMB in 1999/2000:

Divvya Dhulkotia, M.S., Zhi-Chun Lai, "Characterization of a GP150 Homolog in Drosophila Virilis and Its Expression During Embryogenesis"

Richard Gregory, Ph.D., Don Wojchowski, "Signaling Events and Novel Genes Regulated by Erythropoietin Receptor Membrane-Proximal Cytoplasmic Subdomains"

Cheryl Ann Keller, Ph.D., Susan Abmayr, "An Investigation into the Role of Nautilus in Drosophila Myogenesis"

William Peter Long, Ph.D., Gary Perdew, "Examination of the Role of Protein Kinase C in Regulating the Transcriptional Activity of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor and the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Nuclear Translocator Proteins in Dimer Contexts"

Brian Keith Meyer, Ph.D., Gary Perdew, "Identification and Characterization of the Hepatitis B Virus X-Associated as a Member and Regulator of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Signal Transduction Pathway"

Priya Nagarajan, M.S., Robert Schlegel, "Cloning and Characterization of the Class IIB Putative Amphipath Transporter"

Jacalyn Sue Newman, Ph.D., Richard Frisque, "Identification and Characterication of JCV Variants present in Two Pediatric and Two Adult PML Patients"

Maria Steitz, Ph.D., Esther Siegfried, "An Investigation of Zeste White-3 Inactivation by Wingless Signaling"

Rex Tarpey, M.S., Ola Sodeinde, "Gene Targeting in the Nucleus of Chlamydomonas Reinhardt II"

Mai Xu, Ph.D., Robert Simpson, "Chromatin Structure and Transcriptional Regulation: Novel Approaches and Distinctive Mechanisms"

Daniela Zarnescu, Ph.D., Zhi-Chun Lai, "On the Role of B_H Spectrin during Epithelial Development in Drosophila Melanogaster"

Huiyu Zhou, M.S., Andrew Henderson, "Regulation of HIV Expression in Macrophages by C/EBP Factors"

Congratulations!

WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT

Below is a listing of funds within our department. We would of course be very pleased to receive donations toward any of the funds you may choose to support. Following the list of funds are those of you who contributed to any of them in 1999; we greatly appreciate your support.

Endowed Funds

Paul M. Althouse Memorial Outstanding Teaching Awards
Arthur K. Anderson Memorial Scholarship in Biochemistry
Irving and Jeanne Atlas Scholarship in Biochemistry
Paul and Mildred Berg Graduate Student Travel Endowment
Paul and Mildred Berg Summer Scholar Research Endowment
Adams Dutcher Memorial Scholarship in Biochemistry
Charles R. Gerth Scholarship in Biochemistry
Kevin Daniel Gilmore Memorial Scholarship in Biochemistry
Ruth Ott Scholarship in Biotechnology
Richard l. Maginnis Memorial Scholarship in Medical Technology
Stanley Person Graduate Fellowship in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Pollard Lecture in Biophysics or Molecular Biology
Stone Lecture in Microbiology
Daniel R. Tershak Memorial Scholarship
Daniel R. Tershak Memorial Graduate Fellowship
Daniel R. Tershak Memorial Teaching Award
Frederick C. Wedler Memorial Fund for Outstanding Dissertations
Jacqueline Hemming Whitfield Undergraduate Summer Research Endowment

Other Funds

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department
Biochemistry Program
Microbiology Program
Medical Technology Program

Contributors in 1999

Corporations and Charitable Organizations

Alumni News

'30

Louise J. Daniel (M.S., Bioch, '36) moved into a life care retirement community in California with her twin sister a couple of years ago.

'60

Phillip M. Achey (Ph.D., Biophys, '66) is Program Director of Institutional Research at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He continues to hold a half-time appointment as Professor of Microbiology and Cell Science.

Lois Rankus Keefe (B.S., MedTech, '62) is President of Atlantic Preferred in Orlando, FL. She and her husband have resided in Florida for the past 18 years. They have two sons.

Gerald Liddel (Ph.D., Micrb, '64) is retired and living in Bethesda, MD.

Barbara L. Ritten (B.S., MedTech, '69), is a Senior Clinical Research Technician and has assumed responsibility for SOPs/GLP for the Safety Evaluation and Assessment Laboratory in the Clinical Pharmacology Unit of SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals in Philadelphia.

Karl Siebert (B.S., Bioch, '67; M.S., Bioch, '68; Ph.D., Bioch, '70) is Professor of Biochemistry in the Department of Food Science and Technology at Cornell University. After spending 18 years in the brewing industry, most recently as Director of Research for Stroh's, he entered academia nearly 10 years ago. For the first five years he was chairman of the Food Science and Technology Department and Associate Director of the Cornell Institute of Food Science. He is now enjoying a 100% research appointment and the many opportunities to apply chemometrics.

Arthur S. Tischler (B.S., Bioch, '67) is Professor of Pathology, Tufts University School of Medicine.

'70

Kendra LaBarge Borka (B.S., Micrb, '79) is an Environmental Protection Specialist. She was promoted to LTC in the Army Reserves in February '99. Married for 18 years, she and her husband Gregory have three boys (Christopher, Andrew and Kevin).

Rebecca Dickstein (B.S., Bioch, '76) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Her research focuses on the development of symbiotic nitrogen fixing root nodules in Medicago.

Key Dismukes (Ph.D., Biophys, '71) is Chief Scientist for Human Factors at NASA Ames Research Center.

James P. Funk (B.S., Micrb, '72) is a sales manager for CHR Hansen, Inc. in Mahwah, NJ. He and his wife have four sons. Jim is also a volunteer firefighter/EMT and EMS Director for the St. John Volunteer Fire Department.

Susan Jacobs Bertenthal (B.S., Micrb, '78) is a business consultant for Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield/Health Education Center in Pittsburgh. She and her husband, Steven, have two children.

Pamela R. Lamagna (B.S., Micrb, '79) is employed by Union Switch & Signal, Inc., in Pittsburgh. She and her husband, Rudolph, have two children.

Joanna Manz Sell (B.S., Micrb, '75) received her Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Washington in 1990, and a V.M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. She is a practicing veterinarian in Akron, OH. She and her husband, Jonathan, have four children.

Erik G. Nelson (B.S., Micrb, '75; M.S., Micrb, '76) is in clinical practice in Lake County, IL in Head and Neck Surgery, and continues to do research at the University of Chicago in hearing loss and ear pathology.

Gary T. Overmeyer (B.S., Bioch, '79) is a lead chemist with NEN LIFE Science in Boston, MA.

Peter C. Preusch (B.S., Biophys, '74) is Program Director, Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biological Chemistry Division, NIGMT, NIH in Bethesda, MD.

David A. Reiher (B.S., Bioch, '76) is a medical technologist at Victory Memorial Hospital in Waukegan, IL.

Christine C. Robinson (M.S., Micrb, '71) received her Ph.D. in 1980, then completed a post-doc at the University of Connecticut Health Sciences Center. In 1983 she established and became Director of Virology Lab and Clinical Consultant in Molecular Diagnostics at Children's Hospital in Denver, CO. She is also an Assistant Professor of Pathology at University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Christine, her husband and two children reside in Denver.

Jean M. Schifano (B.S., Med Tech, '75) is Administrative Manager, Department of Surgery, at Bassett Healthcare in Cooperstown, NY. She and her husband, Anthony, have two children.

Jill Stonesifer Gonzales (B.S., Micrb, '78) Is a scientific communications consultant with Lilly Research Labs in Indianapolis, IN. Married, with two children, Jill works on the Prozac Product Team at Lilly.

Irene K. Trout (B.S., Med Tech., '76) is an Education Coordinator for Miller Memorial Blood Center in Bethlehem, PA. Her son, Steve, is currently a sophomore at Penn State.

John C. Weiser (B.S., Biophys, '74) received his Ph.D. in Medical Physics at the University of Pittsburgh in 1990. He was appointed Adjunct Clinical Professor of Radiology at the West Virginia University School of Medicine in 1999. Currently, he is Director, Integration and Test Facility, Informatech Medical Services Division in Frederick Md.

'80

J.D. Alvarez (B.S., MCB, '89) and his wife Rachael, reside in Philadelphia, PA.

Wendy Bollinger Bollag (B.S., BIOCH, '84) was promoted to Associate Professor at the Medical College of Georgia in 1999. She and her husband, Roni, have two daughters.

Anthony L. Farone (B.S., Micrb, '84) received his Ph.D. in Microbiology at Miami University. He was a NIH postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health (Physiology Program). He currently is an associate professor in the Biology Department of Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN. His research focuses on the immune response to viral and bacterial lung infections. He and his wife, Mary, have two daughters.

Susan Henderson McMahon (Ph.D., Micrb, '80) is an Assistant Professor in the Natural Sciences Department of Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, TN. She recently won a statewide (Tennessee) award, the Tennessee School-to-Career Best Practice Award for a course she developed, "Careers in Biology." This course allows students to shadow any of 80 professionals in many areas of biology, medicine and agriculture. She and her husband, John (M.S., Chem, '81) have two children.

Susan E. Hill (B.S., Bioch, '86) worked as a Research Scientist at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company in Wallingford, CT for 10 years. She is now a Scientist at Praecis Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, MA.

David E. Hutchinson (B.S., MCB, '89) is a Bulk Sales Specialist with Fisher Scientific/Aeros Organics in Doylestown, PA.

Jan Gonda Newell (B.S., Micrb, '83) and her husband, Robin (B.S., Agron, '79) live in Hummelstown with their 4 children.

Anand P. Iyer (Ph.D., Micrb, '85) switched careers to become an intellectual property attorney in Chicago after being in academia for the last 12 years (the last four as a faculty member at Northwestern University School of Medicine).

Meredith A. Kern (B.S., Micrb, '81) is a physician (Ob/Gyn) at UMASS Memorial Healthcare. She and her husband (Christopher) have two children.

Roy M. Long (B.S., MCB, '85) is Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Medical College of Wisconsin. He was named a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences in 1999.

Suzette (Neu) Gore (B.S., Micrb, '85) received her M.S. in Traditional Oriental Medicine from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in New York City in 1998. She is National Board Certified in Acupuncture and Chinese Herbology and maintains a private practice in Newtown, PA.

Corinne E.M. Olesen (B.S., MICRB, '83) is employed by Tropix, Inc./PE Biosystems in Bedford, MA.

Michelle L. Polimadei (B.S., Bioch, '89) is an optometrist in Monroeville and Mt. Lebanon, PA.

Joseph W. Polli (B.S., MCB, '86) is currently a senior research investigator in the Bioanalysis and Drug Metabolism Division at Glaxo Wellcome, Inc. His current research interests include the importance of membrane transporters on drug disposition, and drug delivery to the central nervous system. Joe lives in Cary, NC with his wife, Christine (fellow PSU graduate), and four children.

Debra Richards Powell (B.S., Micrb, '82) is married to Kirby Powell (PSU, ASEE, '80) and has two daughters. After teaching for 10 years in the Biology Department of Albright College, she decided to enter college again. She received her M.S. in Microbiology from MCP-Hahnemann in 1997. She is currently a 2nd year medical student at Penn State's College of Medicine.

Robert D. Reinhart (B.S., Bioch, '88) is a physician in Hammond, LA.

Catherine Ristey Patterson (B.S., MCB, '89) received her Ph.D. in 1999 from Princeton University. She currently is researching neurotropic virus infections at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. She and her husband, Bill (PSU, PolSci, '87) have one son.

Marco Scarpetta (B.S., Bioch, '86) received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Maryland in 1992. He did a postdoc at the University of Michigan, followed by work as a forensic serologist at the Detroit Police Crime Lab (DNA Unit). He is currently Associate Director of National Legal Labs, a paternity testing lab, in East Lansing, MI.

Kurt Timmerman (Ph.D., Bioch, '87) is the manager of Research and Development at Bohdan Automation, a Mettler Toledo company. The company develops and produces laboratory robotic systems for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

Denise Mazzarini Williams (B.S., Micrb, '80) left PSU in '94, after 11 years as Senior Preparation Technician in the Micro Prep lab, to begin a career at Merck and Co. Currently, she is a QA Auditor in Worldwide GMP Quality Assurance. Her husband, Russell J. Williams (B.S., Micrb, '94), is also employed at Merck & Co. as a biotechnician working in vaccine production. They live in Southeast PA with their children, Carl and Naomi.

'90

Christopher H. Cabell (B.S., MCB, '90) is finishing his cardiology fellowship at Duke University Medical Center after spending a year as Chief Resident in Internal Medicine at Duke. His research interests include endocarditis and microvascular circulation. Chris and his wife, Ann, have 3 children.

Andrew Demma (B.S., Micrb, '97) is enrolled in the Ph.D. program for Population Biology, Ecology and Evolution at Emory University in Atlanta, GA.

Harry C. Ledebur (Ph.D., MCB, '92) is Director of Research and Development at Caprion Pharmaceuticals in Montreal.

Heidi (Heiles) Lyon (B.S., Bioch, '92) works as an analytical chemist at Copperhead Chemical Company in Tamaqua, PA. She and her husband, Terry, have two children.

Lisa G. May (Ph.D., MCB, '96) and her husband, Brent, live in Media PA with their daughter, Victoria Elisabeth.

Steven J. McCullough (B.S., Micrb, '94) is in his third year of internal medicine residency at Lehigh Valley Hospital.

Karen E. (Miller) Stump (B.S., Bioch, '93) and her husband reside in York, PA with their daughter, Charity.

Tamara L. Mohr (B.S., Micrb, '99) is a graduate student majoring in Physical Therapy at Duke University.

Diana Nevins (M.S., MCB, '91) accepted a fellowship position in cytopathology at the University of Rochester.

Aprile L. Pilon-Clayton (Ph.D., MCB, '90) is co-founder and Executive Vice President of Claragen, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company in College Park, MD. She and her husband, Bruce, have 3 children.

Stephen M. Rentz (B.S., Bioch, '90) received his M.S. in Analytical Chemistry from Seton Hall University in 1995, and is currently Project Manager, Women's Health Care, and Wyeth-Ayerst Research in Radner, PA. He and his wife, Michele, have two sons.

Lara Yurchak Toerien (B.S., MCB, '91) is an account manager with Invitrogen in San Diego, CA.

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