A Graduate Student Interdisciplinary Research Club (GSIRC) Publication
The Scientist
SEPTEMBER, 2011
VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1
Spotlight on AACC 2011 in Atlanta, GA
ALL IN THIS ISSUE!
♦ Recent graduate student
activities
♦ Upcoming conferences
and seminars
♦ Departmental news
Picture taken during a poster presentation session at AACC 2011 in Atlanta, GA.
From left to right: Bhagya gunasekera, Zeng Chun, Joseph Wiencek, Mahasheema
Na, and joe El-Khoury. Picture courtesy of Joeseph Wiencek.
This year, the Department
of Chemistry of Cleveland
State University had a substantial presence at the
American Association for
Clinical Chemistry (AACC)
conference in Atlanta, GA,
with 5 graduate students
(pictured above) presenting
a total of 8 posters.
AACC 2011 took place at
the World Congress Center
in Atlanta, Georgia, 24 - 28
July,. It attracts 17,00019,000 registrants and over
650 organizations annually
from over 100 countries
♦ Job openings
and is the world’s largest
lab medicine conference.
Congratulations to all presenting graduate students.
The 5 th Annual Cleveland State Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Inside this issue:
Building on the success of For more info and submission, visit:
the past 4 years, Cleveland http://www.csuohio.edu/sciences/dept/chemistry/gsirc/abstracts.html
State University will once
again host its regional interdisciplinary research conference, organized by the
Graduate Student Interdisciplinary Research Club
(GSIRC), on Saturday,
October 15th, 2011.
All graduate and undergraduate students are encouraged to attend this
event and submit abstracts
by the stated deadline, October 5th, 2011.
Kerri smith (right), graduate student from the department of chemistry, presenting her work to dr. mekki
bayachou (left) in last year’s GSIRC conference.
Editorial
2
Letter from the President of
GSIRC
2
Wimba at CSU
2
Clinical Chemistry Seminar
3
REEL program update
3
Congratulations!
3
Job Center
4
THE SCIENTIST
Page 2
Editorial
On behalf of
“The Scientist”
team, I wish
new or returning faculty, staff and
graduate students of the
D e pa rt me nt
of Chemistry a happy start to
this new academic year.
“So please let us
know what you
think and help us
In this first issue, I would like to
take the opportunity to introduce the newsletter to its readers. “The Scientist” is a student-led
publication founded by GSIRC.
Its aims are three-fold: 1) to
promote awareness regarding
news and important events
within the Department of Chemistry, 2) to highlight the achievements of graduate students and
faculty in the Department of
Chemistry, and 3) to provide
useful information that will help
graduate students throughout
the program.
All faculty and graduate students
are invited to submit announcements and events that they believe would be of interest
to graduate students or faculty in
our department by emailing me
at j.elkhoury@csuohio.edu. I
encourage all students and faculty to participate, since the suc-
cess of this initiative depends on
you.
As of now, the issue is targeted
to be 4 pages long and contains
roughly about 8 short stories/
articles ranging from 125-500
words each. This issue is a proof
of concept and we are open to
changing everything from the
design to content.
So please let us know what you
think to help us make your
newsletter a success!
-Joe El-Khoury
Editor-in-Chief
Letter from the President of GSIRC
in making this
newsletter a
success!”
It is with utmost pleasure
that I write
this piece for
our newsletter. I thank all
members of
the Graduate
Student Interdisciplinary Research Club
(GSIRC) for electing me president.
All our effort throughout the
year culminates on the 15th of
October with the 5th Annual
Cleveland State Interdisciplinary
Research Conference (CSIRC).
In my mind, this is our primary
contribution to Cleveland State’s
rise to the top. This will be a
forum for graduate students to
present their research and establish networks. We have initiated
a program where high school
students who show interest in
science will be hosted by the
club for an exciting line-up of
activities. Also, several recreational activities are being
planned to let our minds escape
from the demanding research
environment.
I encourage students to share
their thoughts by attending our
weekly meetings on Friday at 2
pm in SR 387.
-Bhagya Gunasekera
Wimba at CSU!
In Spring 2011, Dr. Jerry Mundell and Dr. Anne O’Connor
began incorporating Wimba
Classroom, which is available on
Blackboard, into both their online and regular classroom
courses. With the use of the
Wimba Classroom application,
instructional material can be
delivered in either synchronous
or asynchronous fashion to students, whose only limitations
would be access to a PC or laptop and a stable broadband connection. At a fraction of the cost
and potential enrollments greatly
exceeding those of the Interactive Video Distance Learning
(IVDL) classroom, Wimba is
able to bring the synchronous,
interactive classroom experience
to eLearning students that is
completely lacking in the asynchronous activities that most
eLearning students experience.
Wimba’s applications can extend
beyond coursework. This summer, through Wimba software, a
wireless microphone, and two
low cost webcams, Dr. Mundell
and Pete Psarras delivered a
presentation at the Society for
College and University Planning46 conference, outside of Washington , D.C. without leaving the
new freshman lab area.
VOLUME 5, ISSUE 1
Page 3
Clinical Chemistry Seminar in Independence, OH
ing” at the Doubletree Hotel in
Independence, OH on September 15th, 2011.
The Northeast Ohio section of
the American Association for
Clinical Chemistry (AACC)
hosted its annual Fall meeting
entitled “New guidelines & recommendations in diabetes test-
The speaker Andrea M. Rose,
PhD, MBA, presented the latest
on College of American Pathologists (CAP) proficiency testing
requirements and the use of
hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) for
screening and diagnosis of diabetes patients with emphasis on the
methodological differences in
HbA1C testing and their impact.
The event included a complimentary buffet dinner and bar
from 5:30-7:00 pm right before
the presentation that lasted till
8:10 pm.
Attendance was high with a significant number of CSU Chemistry graduate students being
among the medical professionals
who came from all over Ohio.
In a final question at the meeting, Dr. Rose was asked to provide advice to students in the
field who are interested in joining the industry, and she emphasized attending local and national
meetings, presenting posters and
networking.
Dr. Rose works as a senior clinical support consultant for Roche
Diagnostics, IN.
ria, Vibrio fischeri, that could inturn be used to analyze PCB-11
in water. Kate presented the
findings first in the 241st National Meeting of American
Chemical Society held in Anaheim, CA. The team has already
been referenced by Rodenburg,
and has received a request to
share results with an environ-
mental scientist at the San Francisco Estuary Institute. Dr. Klosterhaus at the Institute has also
found that PCB-11 "is now the
dominant congener in the waste
water". Since PCBs bioaccumulate, and some with dioxin-like
properties are toxic, there is a
need for investigation.
Xiaohan (picture not available), a
graduate student in Dr.
Baochuan Guo’s lab, defended
her thesis entitled “Development
of bioanalytical methods for
clinical applications and drug
screening” on August 23rd, 2011.
Saleem Bani-Hani
Saleem, a graduate student in Dr.
Mekki Bayachou’s lab, defended
241st National
Meeting of
American
Chemical
Society held in
Anaheim, CA“
Congratulations!
Congratulations to our most
recent PhD graduates, Xiaohan
Cai and Saleem Bani-Hani, who
successfully defended their dissertation.
the findings
first in the
REEL Program Update
Kate Gibbons, an undergraduate
research student of Research
Experience for Enhanced Learning (REEL) program working
with Dr. Anne O'Connor, Dr.
Donald Lindmark and Bhagya
Gunasekera recently completed
preliminary trials testing the
hypothesis that PCB -11 would
inhibit the growth of the bacte-
“Kate presented
his project thesis entitled
“Semen quality in assisted reproduction: methods for monitoring
oxidative stress and exploration
of potential supplements for
remediation” on July 29th, 2011.
Warm congratulations to the
new PhDs and their advisers and
we wish them a long and fruitful
career.
The Scientist
Department of Chemistry
Cleveland State University
2121 Euclid Ave
Cleveland, OH
Clinical Chemistry Molecule of the Month*: Can you guess it?
September 2011
Email: j.elkhoury@csuohio.edu
Email your
news at
j.elkhoury@
csuohio.edu
Last month, a federal judge ruled against a generic version of this molecule, one of the fastest-selling drugs
in medical history. Can you guess what it is? (Answer next month)
*Retrieved from AACC online website (www.aacc.org)
If you want your lab
news to be in next
month’s issue, e-mail
your
news
and
announcements! We
are also recruiting
writers
and
proofreaders
for
the newsletter. All
help is welcome!
Contact
Joe
at
J.elkhoury@csuohio.
edu
Job Center
HR@hiram.edu
All interested Cleveland State
Graduate Students expecting to
complete their program of study
by August 2012 and current
alumni are encouraged to apply.
This month, we have received
notifications for 3 job openings
from the department:
1)
2)
Graduate Student
Interdisciplinary Research
Club (GSIRC)
Tenure-track position in
Organic Chemistry at California State University,
Fresno, CA. Check announcement and online
a ppl ic a ti on form a t ::
http://jobs.csufresno.edu/
PhD Scientist position conducting enzyme immunoassay and/or mass spectrometry method development at
Cleveland Heart Lab, Cleveland, OH. Resumes to be
e m a i l e d
t o :
kbotta@clevelandheartlab.c
om
3)
Tenure-track position in
Inorganic or Analytical
Chemistry at Hiram College,
Hiram, OH. Applications
which include: vitae, cover
letter, statement of teaching
philosophy, and a list of
three references should be
submitted electronically to