May 24, 2006 | The University
Eight outstanding City University of New York pre-medical students have been awarded Salk Scholarships to study medicine, and another seven have been named Honorary Salk Scholars. All will attend leading medical schools, including Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York University School of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine and Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
The Salk Scholarships are the legacy of Dr. Jonas E. Salk, who developed the polio vaccine in 1955. A 1934 graduate of City College, Dr. Salk turned down a ticker tape parade in honor of his discovery and asked instead that the money be used for scholarships. The city provided initial funding for the Salk Scholarships in 1955. The endowment now provides a stipend of $6,000 per scholar to help defray the cost of medical school.
The Salk Scholars are selected by distinguished physicians, all Salk Scholar alumni, based on the quality of their research, academic excellence and recommendations by professors and mentors. The winners were recognized for their research on cell migration and differentiation, chemical reactions within organisms, the role of the opioid system in feeding and analgesic behaviors, peptide chemistry, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and Alzheimer’s Disease. A complete list of the 2006 Salk Scholars and their research projects is attached below.
The annual award ceremony held at Baruch College on May 24 this year featured keynote speaker Dr. Richard Murphy, president and CEO of the renown Salk Institute for Biological Studies at La Jolla, California. The institute sponsors summer internships each year for several outstanding Salk Scholars.
“In a sense you walk in Dr. Salk’s footsteps,” Dr. Murphy told the students. “You have graduated
from the same university as he. You will pursue the same profession he chose –medicine and science — and many of you have set out on your journey from a background much like Dr. Salk’s. His family was from New York, they were not formally educated, and money was scarce. But they valued education and learning, Consequently Jonas Salk thrived and went on to stellar achievements. You too are off to a great beginning, with the additional benefit of having a wonderful role model in Jonas.”
Jonas Salk established the Institute more than 40 years ago to serve as a “crucible for creativity” to pursue questions about the basic principles of life. Today, the Salk Institute conducts its biological research under the guidance of 58 faculty investigators, employing a scientific staff of more than 850, including visiting scientists, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students.
Last year, as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Salk polio vaccine, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and The City University announced a partnership to create summer internship opportunities for Salk Scholars at the Institute.
The City University of New York is the nation’s largest urban public university: eleven senior colleges, six community colleges, the CUNY Honors College, the Graduate School and University Center, the Graduate School of Journalism, the Law School and the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education. The University serves more than 220,000 degree-credit students and 230,000 adult, continuing and professional education students. College Now, the University’s academic enrichment program for 32,500 high school students is offered at CUNY campuses and more than 200 high schools throughout the five boroughs of the City of New York. In 2006, the University is launching an on-line baccalaureate degree through the School of Professional Studies and a new Teacher Academy offering free tuition for highly motivated mathematics and science majors who seek teaching careers in the city’s public schools.
Biographies of 2006 Salk Scholarship Winners
Joanna Ayoung
Hunter College
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
A native of Trinidad, Joanna’s grandmother suffered complications from hypertension, diabetes and arthritis. She died of a heart attack when Joanna was fifteen, a loss that inspired her to study medicine to find cures for these disorders. A few months later Joanna’s father died after a fall, a death she was convinced might not have happened had he received proper care, which only increased her determination to become a doctor. After immigrating to the U.S. she enrolled at Hunter College and also volunteered in the emergency room at St. Vincent’s Hospital. As a sophomore Joanna conducted research in the lab of Dr. Charles Inturrisi at Weill Graduate School on the effects of cocaine on dopaminergenic neurons. The following semesters she worked on two research projects at Hunter College investigating cell migration and differentiation in Dictyostelium discoideum. Caring for her mother in law, who suffered from lung cancer, led her to volunteer in the geriatrics unit of New York Presbyterian Hospital. Joanna envisions her medical career as an opportunity to effect change in healthcare in the both U.S. and Trinidad, while also serving as a mentor, teacher, and role model for others.
Sherman Sheung Man Chu
CUNY Honors College at The City College of New York
New York College of Osteopathic Medicine
Sherman looks forward to becoming an osteopathic pediatrician because her inspiration and greatest satisfaction is assisting children growing up healthy and happy. The satisfaction of being a pediatrician also involves relieving the pressure and anxiety of parents by protecting the health of their children. As a participant in the Reach Out and Read Program in the pediatric department at Gouverneur Hospital, Sherman realized that being a physician is not just about treating disease, but about treating the whole individual by dealing with both mental and physiological health. Her research interests include the relationship between psychological factors and health, chemical reactions within organisms, and biological mechanisms. With her mentor, Professor Jay A. Edelman of CCNY’s biology department, Sherman conducted research on how humans allocate their attention in order to react quickly to changes in their environment. Sherman will participate this summer in an internship at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California.
Irina Dostova
Queens College
SUNY Downstate Medical Center
Shortly after arriving in New York six years ago from Uzbekistan, Irina’s mother was diagnosed with a detached retina, which required prompt surgical intervention. Accompanying her mother to the clinic, Irina was impressed by the doctor’s compassion, reassurance and willingness to listen despite his busy schedule. That experience convinced her to embark on a medical career. She volunteered at Bellevue Hospital and North Shore University Hospital, and was admitted to the Honors Program in Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Queens College. There she participated in undergraduate research in the lab of Dr. Richard Bodnar, studying the role of the opioid system in feeding and analgesic behaviors, which may eventually shed light on the problem of obesity. A career as a physician will allow Irina to fulfill her intellectual curiosity as well as her desire to help people in need.
Simon Gringut
Hunter College
SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine
Having seen a friend die from cocaine use inspired Simon to seek ways to find a cure for addiction. As a Hunter College sophomore, therefore, he joined a team of researchers searching for a receptor for the neuropeptide CART, with the hope that the receptor or signaling pathway might serve as a future target for dopamine related ailments and addictions. During Simon’s sophomore year, when his father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, he became distraught and considered quitting medicine. When his father’s condition stabilized, however, Simon realized that a career in medicine would be the best way to make a difference in people’s lives. He says that working as a swimming instructor and lifeguard for nearly four years taught him to be patient when listening to people’s concerns, while volunteering as a translator at a medical clinic helped refine his communication skills.
Sarah Li
CUNY Honors College at Baruch College
SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine
As a nine year old, Sarah was diagnosed with a potentially blinding eye inflammation that required numerous visits to an ophthalmologist. She also suffered from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and eczema, which required regular medical treatment. Among her most important early memories are her doctors’ efforts to make her feel like an individual, not just another chart in their file. This inspired Sarah, who began to explore medicine as a career path at Baruch College, where she took science classes and pursued an honors thesis in biology. At the American Museum of Natural History’s Microscope Imaging Facility, and at Baruch, she has worked on an honors project to perfect the use of confocal laser scanning microscopy in the three dimensional imaging of Drosophila melanogaster. Sarah has also volunteered at St. Vincent’s Hospital, where she gained a deep awareness of the responsibilities of practicing medicine.
Svetlana Rabinovich
CUNY Honors College at the College of Staten Island
SUNY Downstate Medical Center
As a youngster in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Svetlana’s interest in medicine was sparked by her grandmother, a pediatrician, and her mother, a cardiologist. As a student at the CUNY Honors College at the College of Staten Island she has participated in scientific research during all four undergraduate years. Svetlana remembers vividly a day in the laboratory several years ago when her right index finger shook with excitement and anxiety as she pressed the start button to produce her first synthetic protein-like molecule. Peptide chemistry had fascinated her during her organic chemistry class, and now the techniques that she learned were at the heart of her first independent experiment. At that moment, Svetlana realized that she had evolved from an interested student to a devoted young scientist. Medicine, she says, is a way to learn more about the human body as well as a vehicle to help humankind.
Andrea C. Silva
The City College of New York
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Andrea began her studies at Vassar College, and transferred to City College to pursue her bachelor’s degree in biology. During her first semester at CCNY she enrolled in an introductory course in genetics, which fired her interest in the field. Andrea became a member of Professor Christine Li’s lab in February 2004, conducting research on Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) a neurodegenerative disorder affecting some four million Americans. The definitive diagnosis of AD is the presence of neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques in the brain. A cleavage product of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) is a major component of the amyloid plaques. Andrea is interested in using genetic techniques to understand molecular pathways, and is utilizing multiple approaches to try to understand the function of APP. She hopes such research will one day aid in the cure of neurological disorders such as AD and schizophrenia. Andrea will intern this summer at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California.
Edwin J. Vazquez-Cintron
The City College of New York
Sackler Institute of New York University School of Medicine
Edwin’s passion for science was why he left Puerto Rico and moved to New York City, where he believed there would be greater opportunities to study and become a medical researcher. Enrolling at City College, he joined the laboratory of Dr. Mark Pezzano following his first semester and received a Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) undergraduate fellowship, which included a stipend and tuition expenses. His project in Dr. Pezzano’s lab was to identify and characterize a surface membrane protein found only on Thymic Nurse Cells (TNCs) that is recognized by a monoclonal antibody produced in the lab. Edwin used several methods to purify and identify the protein, which was then sent to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s protein facility for further study, something he described as hugely exciting. In addition, he has served as second author of a paper submitted to Mechanisms of Developmental Biology. Edwin says the training he received in the classrooms and laboratories at CCNY have prepared him well for a career in medicine and scientific research.
Honorary Salk Scholars
Lee Jennifer Cartagena
Brooklyn College
SUNY Downstate Medical Center
A native of Puerto Rico, Lee has felt a calling for medicine since she was a child helping her mother care for her ailing grandmother and uncle. But traditional family notions about a woman’s role led her, initially, to major in music performance at Brooklyn College’s prestigious Conservatory of Music. After a great deal of soul-searching, however, Lee realized that by becoming a doctor she could embrace challenges she had been seeking since she was a child. She has volunteered at Long Island College Hospital, where she used her Spanish language skills to communicate with Hispanic patients. Her research interests are the control of Malaria, Dengue and Nile Virus, and understanding the biochemical mechanisms of diseases.
Lauren Marcewicz
Hunter College
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Lauren’s service in the U.S. Navy from 1998-2000 allowed her to pursue her scientific interests as a member of a team that operated nuclear reactors. But she longed for a profession that would allow her to be involved in the lives of others, something that medicine offers. For Lauren, medicine synthesizes the pursuit of scientific knowledge in order to effect positive results for humanity. As an older student, she believes her maturity enables her to better understand herself and her goals in life. Lauren’s research interests are in cell biology and the application of genetics in virology.
Daniel J. Moskovic
Queens College
Baylor College of Medicine
Daniel was primarily interested in mathematics when he entered Queens College, but a biology course with Dr. Peter Chabora had a profound influence on the course of his academic career. Dr. Chabora’s passion for biology, combined with the example of a friend who was studying to become a doctor, led Daniel to volunteer at North Shore University Hospital. That was when he decided that medicine was his true calling. Daniel has conducted research assessing the role of histone modifying proteins in the repair of DNA interstrand crosslinks. His research interests also include synthetic chemistry, molecular biology, emergency/geriatric medicine, and immunology.
Max H. Saenz
York College
University of Virginia School of Medicine
As a child in his native Peru, Max returned home from school one day to find that his mother had been hospitalized with intense back pain. The anesthetics she received made her unable to recognize him, a shocking experience for a seventh grader. That experience, and the kindness and understanding of his mother’s doctor, convinced Max to aim for a career in medicine as a way to ease suffering in others. Attending York College and serving as a volunteer at Elmhurst Hospital have been vital stepping stones toward that goal. Max’s research interests are in biochemistry and pharmacology.
Marc Saintjour, Jr.
Brooklyn College
SUNY Downstate Medical Center
As a high school student in Haiti, Marc took advanced classes in biology, chemistry, physics and math that piqued his interest in medicine. His passion for the field was reinforced as a participant in the Exploring Health Careers program at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, where he had the chance to shadow doctors and learn about the different sub-disciplines within medicine. Marc is interested in the cellular and molecular study of retroviruses, especially the HIV virus.
Prashant Sharma
CUNY Honors College at the College of Staten Island
New York College of Osteopathic Medicine
Prashant’s desire to become a physician dates to his first year in high school when he studied biology. The vast intricacies of the human body, and its systems within systems, fascinate him. At the College of Staten Island Prashant was exposed to the study of genetics, immunology, microbiology, biochemistry and other subjects. He was also a volunteer ER Liaison at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Staten Island, an experience that exposed him to the challenges health professionals deal with on a daily basis. Prashant’s research interest is in the synthesis and stabilization of silver and gold nanoparticles for use in numerous scientific fields.
David Shiu
The Honors College at The City College of New York
New York College of Osteopathic Medicine
A premedical student, David also opened himself to other opportunities at City College. He received a Colin Powell Leadership Fellowship that gave him the chance to explore public policy issues and provided networking and policy writing skills. He found himself drawn to health related issues, exploring the health consequences of poverty, nutrition in under-served neighborhoods, and the need for universal healthcare. As David gained a global understanding of health issues through the public policy realm, however, he realized that becoming a physician is the best way for him to promote health on a personal level.