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                        JeffNEWS, January 31, 1995
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College of Graduate Studies Helps Direct Minorities Toward the Sciences
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The Minority Affairs Committee of the College of Graduate Studies (CGS) 
hosted a group of high school graduates who participated in the Summer 
Bridge Program at Montgomery County Community College. The focus of the 
Bridge Program, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, is to 
encourage minority students entering college to consider careers in 
science.

The group was welcomed by their host, Jussi J. Saukkonen, MD, dean of 
CGS and vice president for special programs. Members of the Minority 
Affairs Committee on hand to greet them were chairman, Georganne K. 
Buescher, EdD, associate dean, CGS; co-chairman, Jessie Pervall, 
coordinator of admissions, CGS, and secretary of the committee, and Leonard 
M. Rosenfeld, PhD, assistant professor of physiology.

To help the students understand what it would be like to be a graduate 
student in the sciences, the program included a brief lecture on 
"Pharmaceutical Advances Through Basic Science Research," by Wolfgang 
Vogel, PhD, professor of pharmacology, followed by visits to the research 
laboratories of Allan M. Lefer, PhD, professor and chairman, physiology, 
and Kamel K. Khalili, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry and 
molecular biology. Student laboratory demonstrations were provided by Lois 
M. Newman, PhD, associate professor of anatomy and developmental biology, 
and Dr. Buescher, clinical professor of microbiology and immunology, in 
their respective disciplines.

Four CGS students interacted with the Bridge students while serving as 
guides for the laboratory visits. They were Terry Kwak, president of the 
Graduate Student Organization of CGS and a PhD candidate in the pathology 
program; Maria Limardo, a PhD candidate in the genetics program; Ray 
Garcia, a doctoral candidate in the pathology program; and Bekele Abebe, a 
candidate in the master's degree program in biomedical chemistry.

At the closing session, Ms. Pervall, Dr. Rosenfeld, Dr. Buescher and 
Edward Christian, PhD, assistant dean for special programs, Jefferson 
Medical College (JMC), spoke with the students about how to prepare for a 
career in the sciences, admissions criteria, career options and also 
entertained questions from the students.


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Information provided by:  Editor, JeffNEWS
                          (215) 955-6204
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