Clark University - Clark News fall 2003
Alumni scientists changing our world
By Tammy Griffin-Kumpey
New science facilities underway. Read more.
From the lab, to the hospital, to the classroom, alumni working in various fields of science exemplify Clark's innovative spirit.
Clark scientists are known for challenging conventional wisdom and changing our world for the better. Clark alumnus and physics professor Robert Goddard—perhaps the University's most famous scientist—ushered in the Space Age in 1926 with his launch of the first liquid-fuel rocket. Today, the world is a different place, with more complicated needs and inquiries. But Clarkies working in science still reflect the spirit that drove Goddard's quest. Like their predecessors, alumni scientists aren't afraid to explore the tough questions, to think creatively, to reach beyond the boundaries of conventional scholarship. They are energized by the possibilities of the unknown.
The following alumni exemplify Clark's long-standing tradition of innovation. Their disciplines may differ, but they share a common commitment to making our world a better place.
Engineering new medical devices
Nicole Raptis '00 was inspired to pursue a career in biomedical engineering by the balloon catheter, a medical device that saved her mother's life. Her mother, she explains, is a diabetic who also has coronary heart disease. During a medical procedure called angioplasty, a balloon catheter was inserted into her mother's obstructed artery to restore blood flow.
"I always knew that my professional place would be somewhere in the realm of medicine. After seeing this apparatus prove so effective for my mother's heart condition, I decided that I wanted to engineer such technologically advanced equipment." Raptis was in high school at the time of this revelation.
At Clark, Raptis participated in the five-year 3/2 liberal arts/engineering dual bachelor's program. She earned a B.A. from Clark in biology with a minor in Spanish and a concentration in the International Studies Stream, spent a year studying abroad in Spain and then earned a B.S. in biomedical engineering with a focus on cellular engineering from Columbia University. After graduating, she worked as a research engineer for a small medical-device company whose patented technology aided the treatment of rare skin diseases, burns and foot ulcers caused by diabetes. Her mother also suffered from these foot ulcers.
Raptis is currently a research engineer in the neonatal intensive-care unit at UMass-Memorial Hospital in Worcester, where she is studying apnea, or breathing cessation, in premature infants. Apnea is a common disorder of premature infants, and if left untreated, she says, can severely compromisethe health of a newborn baby, potentially resulting in death. Raptis says the goal of the study is to determine the best stimulation conditions to improve respiration and reduce both the frequency and duration of episodes in patients suffering from this disorder.
"Working toward the development and improvement of bioengineered products and instruments is very meaningful to me and this reality of truly helping people only motivates me more," says Raptis, who wants to pursue a graduate degree. She hopes to eventually attain a top position as a biomedical engineer/scientist in the healthcare, biotechnology or medical-device industries.
"Whether I'm working independently or as part of a national or international team, I want my work to improve the quality of life for patients in need," Raptis says.
From the classroom to the lab
Nick Guerin '01, M.A. '02 always knew he wanted to teach and that was the plan when he entered Clark. But as an undergraduate, Guerin landed a work-study job in the Clark biology labs with biologist Denis Larochelle and discovered research. By the time he was a senior, Guerin was toying with the idea of earning a Ph.D. and working at a biotech company.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the lab. "I got stuck with grand-jury duty for the whole summer," explains Guerin, who adds that honoring his civic duty "pretty much squashed" his plans to spend the summer preparing for graduate school. When the three-month stint was up, he wondered what to do next. A friend suggested he give teaching a second look.
Guerin just completed his first year as a high-school chemistry teacher at Wachusett Regional High School in Holden, Mass.
"I love my job," he says. "And the kids are the best part. They're completely blank slates; like sponges, ready to soak up everything you throw at them." He says his greatest challenge is explaining complex material to those students who don't understand it. "I know basic chemistry inside and out, but I need to teach it to kids who don't know it inside and out. That takes some work, but I really enjoy it."
Now, Guerin has the best of both worlds—teaching and research. This summer, through a Research Experience for Teachers grant from the National Science Foundation, Guerin was back in the Clark labs.
"It's so great to be able to come back to Clark and do research," says Guerin, who is working in Larochelle's lab, investigating a gene responsible for cell division. "If we can find out what is controlling or aiding division, it can be possible to develop drugs or methods of treating abnormal cell division."
"It's pretty exciting work," says Guerin, who adds that it's also a nice addition to teaching. "We're not curing cancer in the lab, but we are trying to find a piece of the puzzle so maybe someday we will find a cure. Plus, it's nice to feel like I'm three years younger and back in college," says Guerin—even if it is just for the summer.
Building patient relationships
"Every day is different," says Melissa Robledo '93. "Never dull; never boring." Robledo is a specialist in internal medicine in a private practice at Lutheran General Hospital and Rush North Shore Medical Center in Chicago.
Since the 10th grade, Robledo knew she wanted to work with people and loved biology. Planning for medical school was a natural choice. Guided by her high-school science teacher and mentor, Robledo took every biology course offered to prepare for college and a major in biology. Yet when she started at Clark, Robledo realized biology wasn't challenging enough for her. So, she turned to chemistry—a subject she previously shied away from because she found it too difficult.
"Clark's chemistry department and faculty are fantastic," says Robledo. She says she benefited from the small classes—only four members of her graduating class majored in chemistry—and formed close bonds with classmates and professors. And she was able to do research as an undergraduate. As a sophomore, Robledo had already gained the necessary skills to land a summer job at Astra Pharmaceuticals. She worked there during breaks and the income helped pay for her education.
Although her grades were exceptional and she was determined, Robledo says she "shocked" her premedical adviser, Professor Emeritus Edward Trachtenberg, when she was accepted into medical school at the University of Chicago.
"The University of Chicago is one of the top medical schools in the country," she explains, and her adviser knew the competition would be tough—even for an exceptional student. "Ed Trachtenberg has done miracles for a lot of students," says Robledo. "But that one happened on its own."
While in Chicago, Robledo met her husband Adam and decided to stay there for her residency. Now, she juggles motherhood—she has an 8-month-old son, Zachary—with a full-time position in a private practice. She is also medical chair of Walgreen's Health Initiatives Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, which manages prescription drug benefits for various health plans.
Robledo says it's a balancing act, but explains that she joined a private practice so she'd have flexibility in her schedule to spend time with her family.
"I never wanted to be the Surgeon General," Robledo asserts. "I just want to care for and build relationships with my patients. I can't imagine doing anything else. I love it."
Sustaining Earth's future
Clean-energy entrepreneur Howard Geller '77 has worked for more than two decades influencing national and international energy policy. Geller spent 20 years leading a successful public interest organization, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, in Washington, D.C., and has advised and conducted studies for utilities, governmental organizations and international agencies. He has influenced important energy legislation in the United States, including the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act of 1987 and the Energy Policy Act of 1992. He also spent three years in Brazil helping to establish a national energy-efficiency program.
Geller's interest in energy and the environment began at Clark. Majoring in physics and science, technology and society in the mid-70s—around the time of the world's first oil crisis—Geller was exposed to the problems associated with conventional energy sources. He worked with Clark physicists Chris Hohenemser and Robert Goble on a project that analyzed energy use at the University, learning to apply an interdisciplinary approach to energy and environmental challenges. Geller says it's imperative that the world make the transition to greater energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.
"A business-as-usual energy future threatens the security and sustainability of our planet," says Geller, who adds that current energy patterns and trends will lead to rapid depletion of oil resources, more air pollution and potentially catastrophic global warming. A business-as-usual path, he says, also fails to improve the standard of living for the 2 billion people in developing countries who use little or no modern fuels or electricity.
Geller is executive director of the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP), a new public interest organization he founded in 2001. "I am dedicated to helping make the southwest region—Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming—a leading region with respect to energy efficiency and renewable energy."
He also remains active in energy policy debates worldwide and recently published his fourth book, "Energy Revolution: Policies for a Sustainable Future."
Combining science and sociology
"You need to study more than science if you want a career in public health," says Karen Gwozdowski '99. "You also need to have a pretty good understanding of populations and cultures."
At Clark, Gwozdowski majored in biology. Although she has found that Clark is well-known by those in her field for its scholarship in the sciences, Gwozdowski says the diversity of classes in Clark's liberal-arts program propelled her ahead of others who studied only science. Noting in particular several courses she took in sociology, Gwozdowski says her Clark education gave her a well-rounded foundation to succeed in graduate school and build a career in public health.
After Clark, Gwozdowski was a microbiology research associate for GENE-TRAK Inc., a company that manufactured and marketed assays for the rapid detection of food-borne pathogens in food and environmental samples. Simply put, she developed test kits for food-borne illnesses by day; studied for a master's degree at night. When the company was bought out, she easily found a job as a laboratory technician for a biochemical company that specializes in the manufacturing of custom peptides and antibodies used in research. Gwozdowski completed her graduate work, earning a master's in public health from the University of Massachusetts.
"I constantly draw from my Clark experience," she says, speaking fondly of two Clark professors: microbiologist Thomas Leonard and marine biologist H. William Johansen. "Dr. Leonard pushed me to go on to graduate school. He was a great adviser. He not only focused on what I was doing at Clark, but also made sure that I was achieving my life goals."
Likewise, she says Johansen made an impact as teacher and mentor. "I enjoyed every one of the classes I took with Dr. Johansen. It was a way for me to expand my love for microbiology into the field of marine biology."
Gwozdowski now works in the regulatory-affairs department for Davol Inc., a medical-device company in Cranston, R.I. The company develops products in surgical specialty areas including hernia repair, hemostasis, arthroscopy and laparoscopy. Gwozdowski is part of a team that submits tested products to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as well as similar international administrations. She recently helped get a new hernia-repair device to market.
"It's great to be part of getting a new medical product out," she says. "It takes a while to develop the products so it's an achievement. I also feel I'm helping society in some way."
"Sniffing out" global hazards
A neuroscientist at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, John Kauer '67 says he never would have predicted that studying salamanders would lead to the invention of an artificial nose that might one day save lives. It may sound far-fetched, but based on the physiological and anatomical principles that emerged from his research of the tiger salamander, Kauer and Tufts colleague Joel White developed a "sniffing" device modeled after a dog's nose.
Kauer says this unique, computerized, electronic "nose" can detect particles from explosives in the soil and air above buried landmines. And it's trainable—just like a dog—so it can be programmed to recognize different signatures. Once "trained," the artificial nose has the ability to separate the small nuances of odor—like the DNT used to make the TNT in land mines—from environments cluttered with many scents. Although other artificial noses have been built, Kauer says this is the first that emulates not just the cross-reactivity of odor sensors, but also many other biological principles.
According to Kauer, an estimated 50 million to 100 million landmines are buried in war-torn, developing countries throughout the world—a menacing hazard especially to curious children. Currently, minesweepers working to remove the mines crawl along the ground with sticks feeling for buried explosives. The work is both dangerous and tedious. Kauer explains that metal detectors arenot reliable—they cannot detect mines encased in plastic—and trained dogs are expensive to maintain.
Kauer believes fine-tuning this device will be key to the safe and economical removal of landmines. And so does the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which awarded Kauer funding to perfect the device. He and White have co-founded CogniScent, a company that will further develop and produce thisinnovative technology.
Because the "nose" can be programmed to recognize the difference between many types of odors, Kauer is excited about other possible uses for the artificial nose such as diagnosing disease, improving airport security, controlling the quality of cosmetics, monitoring the environment for pollutants, monitoring food safety, or even enhancing a person's sense of smell—all innovative applications born from studying the olfactory system of a salamander.
"It just validates the importance of funding basic research," says Kauer, recalling one of his favorite Clark professors, Rudy Nunnemacher, a serious biologist who made all the male students wear ties to class. "Rudy was a great influence. He was one of those old-style biologists—‘Study nature, not books.' He really turned me on to thinking independently. But we all really hated wearing the ties."
To support Clark's science faculty, graduate students and undergraduates in their pursuit of new scientific knowledge, the University is upgrading and expanding its science and technology facilities.
The project includes the construction of a 50,000 square-foot building for the biological sciences and the renovation of the 32,000 square-foot biophysics building, the second-oldest building on campus. The renovated building will house physics, mathematics and computer science. The adjacent Sackler Sciences Center will house chemistry. The construction and renovation of the facilities began this fall; completion is slated for spring 2005. The estimated total cost is $22 million.
The new and renovated facilities are designed to promote a sense of community among the sciences, with state-of-the-art teaching and research laboratories, laboratory equipment, faculty and graduate-student offices and space for interaction among faculty, graduate students and undergraduates.
Special features of the project include:
- Research laboratories to support science faculty in their research with undergraduates and graduate students;
- Laboratory support to allow significant shared equipment;
- Flexible teaching laboratories to accommodate a variety of instructional approaches;
- Classrooms and seminar rooms that incorporate technology;
- And offices near the laboratories to promote collaboration and collegiality.
The location of the new building on Maywood Street and its environmentally responsible design will enhance the physical appeal of the campus and help improve the neighborhood.
Clark biologist Denis Larochelle, whose research involves graduate and undergraduate students (see page 10), says the new complex will not only attract new students, but also open up more research opportunities for current students. "There's a real revolution going on out there and Clark is a significant contributor," LaRochelle says, explaining that the facilities will help ensure that Clark remains a first-rate institution and continues to attract the best students and faculty.
Alumni and friends who would like to support the new science facilities should contact University Advancement at 508-793-7200. For more information, visit www.clarku.edu/sciences.
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