Advisory Board of the
Division of Mathematics
and Natural Sciences
October 29, 2013
In Person
Dr. Barry Zaret (Chair)
Cardiology, Yale University
Dr. Eric Block
SUNY Albany
Dr. Marc Dichter
University of PA
Mr. Jose Murga
Progenics Pharm. Corp
Mr. Philip Schaenman
Systems Planning Corp
Dr. Penny Stern
North Shore LIJ Hospital
Conference
Call
Mr. Russell Artzt
CA, Inc.
Dr. Robert Davidson
Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai
Mr. David Fenster
Bechtel Corp
Dr. Barry Gotlinsky
Pall Corp
Mr. Phillip Harte
US Geological Survey
Queens
College
Dr. James Muyskens
President Queens College
Dr. Elizabeth Hendrey
Provost Queens College
Dr. Larry Liebovitch
Dean Div. Math & Sci.
Dr. Matt Huenerfauth
Assoc. Dean Div. Math & Sci.
Mr. William Keller
VP Finance
Dr. Charles Hennekens
Ms. Laurie Dorf
Florida Atlantic University
AVP Institutional
Advancement
Dr. Ken Pickar
California Institute Technology
Mr. Allan Loren
Dun & Bradstreet Corp
Dr. Howard Moskowitz
i-Novation Corp
Mr. Bruce Jones
Dir. Entrepreneurship Center
Ms. Yassmin Simmonds
Undergraduate Student
Ms. Lauren Blachorsky
Undergraduate Student
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Advisory Board of the
Division of Mathematics
and Natural Sciences
October 29, 2013
Agenda
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Four Divisions
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Art and Humanities
Education
Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Social Sciences
Division of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
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Biology
Chemistry & Biochemistry
Computer Science
Earth & Environmental Sciences
Family, Nutrition, & Exercise Science
Mathematics
Physics
Psychology
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Advisory Board
Self-Introductions
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Advisory Board Self-Introductions
In Person
Dr. Barry Zaret (Chair)
Cardiology, Yale University
Dr. Eric Block
SUNY Albany
Dr. Marc Dichter
University of PA
Mr. Jose Murga
Progenics Pharm. Corp
Mr. Philip Schaenman
Systems Planning Corp
Dr. Penny Stern
North Shore LIJ Hospital
Conference Call
Mr. Russell Artzt
CA, Inc.
Dr. Robert Davidson
Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai
Mr. David Fenster
Bechtel Corp
Dr. Barry Gotlinsky
Pall Corp
Mr. Phillip Harte
US Geological Survey
Dr. Charles Hennekens
Florida Atlantic University
Dr. Ken Pickar
California Institute Technology
Mr. Allan Loren
Dun & Bradstreet Corp
Dr. Howard Moskowitz
i-Novation Corp
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Updates about
Queens College,
Division of Mathematics
and Natural Sciences
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Queens College
US News & World Report Ranking: Regional Universities (North)
• Queens College, CUNY: 43
• City College of New York, CUNY: 43
• (Baruch College: 22, Hunter College: 48, Brooklyn College: 69)
Washington Monthly Magazine: New York Times, October 27, 2013
• Best Bang for the Buck, Master’s Universities: Queens College: 1
• Best Bang for the Buck, All Schools: Queens College: 2
Transition Period:
• July 1, 2014 (?)
• Dec. 31, 2013
• Jan. 1, 2014
• July 1, 2014 (?)
New Chancellor of the City University of New York
President Muyskens leaves as President of Queens College
Evangelos Gizis Interim President of Queens College
New President of Queens College
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Division Update
Brand New Division Brochure “Discover Science”
• 1.5 years and a team of 20 people
Strategic Plan for the Division
• 4 Interdisciplinary Clusters (p. 21 of “Discover Science” brochure)
• Neuroscience, Photonics, Scientific Computation, Urban Ecosystems
New Hires
• Fall 2013: Biology (1*), EES (3), FNES (1), Math (1), Physics (1), Psychology (1)
• Fall 2014: Computer Science (1), Math (1), Psychology (1)
New Scholarships
• Revised Kenneth Kupferberg Memorial Scholarship
• New Pre-Medical Student Scholarships
Pre-Health Professions Program
• Added part-time advisor for pre-Dental students
• New MD – premed student Mentoring Program
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Dean’s Update
• Addresses intractable social
conflict from the new vantage
point of dynamical systems.
• Authored by leading
researchers in the field with
different relevant backgrounds.
• Addresses a broad audience of
researchers in the natural
sciences and humanities.
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Goals of the Advisory Board
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Goals
• What are the GOALS of the Advisory Board?
• What do we want to ACCOMPLISH?
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Alumni Academy
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Alumni Academy
Talented and accomplished alumni - in all fields - teach specially designed
mini-courses to undergraduates at QC.
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Separate from, but enhancements, to the established curriculum
Given during breaks in the Fall, Spring regular schedule:
winter (January)
summer
weekend
Examples
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Dr. Marc Dichter: The Neurobiology of Disease
Mr. Philip Schaenman: Communication Skills
Benefit
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Students - new courses
College - high profile teachers
Alumni – interact with students, give back to the College
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Review of the Department of Family,
Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences
FNES
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FNES
Self-Study
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Replacement/new faculty: Dietetics (1), Exercise Science (3)
Renovated space
Suspend program: food service management
Increased faculty release time from teaching
New staff, lab technicians, equipment
Consultant Report
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Carole Dichter, D.Sc., R.D.: CRD Nutrition LLC
Carl M. Maresh, Ph.D., Dept. Kinesiology, University of Connecticut
“An investment should definitely be made to strengthen and grow the FNES department.
It offers an opportunity to make Queens College a leader in the field of applied health
research.”
Replacement/new faculty: Dietetics (1), Upper Level Nutrition Courses, Exercise Science
(3)
Suspend programs: food service management, textiles?
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Wellness Center
FNES
Dean’s Belief:
• All these replacement/new resources for FNES all fully justified.
College’s Fiscal Reality:
• This year, there will be a TOTAL of 3 faculty hires for all 8 departments in the
Division.
• FNES needs 5 faculty hires + new staff hires, basically immediately.
• Each of the 8 Departments in the Division has similar, fully justified, claims for
hires, based on their individual and separate self-studies.
Dean’s Dilemma:
• How do we prioritize needs between Departments?
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Student Presentations
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Student Presentations
Yassmin Simmonds
Undergraduate Student at Queens College: Pre-Medical Studies
Service: Pre-Med Mentoring Program
Lauren Blachorsky
Undergraduate Student at Queens College: Psychology
Research: Inflammation in the hippocampus after mold exposure.
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CAREERS IN HEALTH ALUMNI
MENTORING PROGRAM
(CHAMP)
By: Yassmin Simmonds
Division of Math and Natural Science at
Queens College
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Help students
develop a
professional
network
Support
Students in their
Professional
Goals
Aid students in
becoming
competitive
applicants to
Professional
schools
Create
opportunities
for students to
be mentored by
Queens College
Alumni
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Launched in 2011
QC-AMP
50+ Students matched
with an Alumnus
Medical Professional
of Queens College
A) 1 year mentor relationship.
B) 1:1 or 1:2
C) Mentors and Mentees meet once a month.
D) Students write reflections about their progress
in the program.
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20 students matched
with 17 QC Alumni
2012-2013
Program
Structure and
goals remained
the same
“Professionals on
Campus” Series
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
Doctor Panel Series
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Students who were not part of
the program would have an
opportunity to ask Alumni
Medical Professionals
questions about their careers.
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
The students have greatly benefited from the
program and have described their mentors as
“warm, dedicated, wise, passionate, caring,
informative, talented, and selfless”
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successfully
Match 50+ students
with mentors
2013-2014
Re-vamp Program
Structure:
Multi-year program
Change name:
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
With a more longitudinal structure, we hope to
use the program as a way to get some
that graduate from Queens
College and
directly following their undergraduate career.
Looking forward, we hope to
for students.
Thank You!
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Yassmin Simmonds
CHAMP Coordinator 2013-2014
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Email: QueenscollegeCHAMP@gmail.com
Inflammation in the Mouse
Hippocampus Following Mold
Exposure
Lauren Blachorsky
Dr. Carolyn Pytte
Department of Psychology, Queens College CUNY
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• Exposure to mold is a significant problem in
the United States.
• People who live/work in moldy buildings often
complain of cognitive problems
• Our goal is to determine the neural basis of
cognitive impairment following exposure to
mold.
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Mold spores increase inflammation
IL1b+ cells per
mm2 CA1
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
VEH
Control
Cells expressing
IL-1 beta:
a proinflammatory
signaling
molecule
EX
Mold
Casing
IN
Complete
Mold spore
Microglia cells
20x
60x
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Mold spores decrease neurogenesis: seen with 2 different markers of new neurons
New Neurons
5
BrdU+
DCX+
4
3
2
1
0
VEH
Control
EX
Mold
Casing
IN
Complete
Mold spore
10 microns
32
BrdU+/ Hu+ cells per mm2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0
50
100
150
Il-1beta expressing cells
R2 = 0.355, P=0.04
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•
Blachorsky,L., Page, K., Manes, G., Harding, C.F., Pytte. C. (2013) Repeated Exposure to
Environmental Mold Increases Cytokine Interleukin-1β Expression in the Mouse Hippocampus.
Poster to be presented at the Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Nov 9-13, San Diego,
CA; and at the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (F.U.N.) Poster Session, San Diego,
CA.
– Received a travel award for this presentation
•
Blachorsky, L., Page-Soto, K., Stalbow, D., Leibowitz, S., Normand, E., Korman, J., Manes, G.,
Morris, D., Harding, C., Pytte, C. (2013, April) Mold Exposure and Subsequent Inflammation in
the Hippocampus. Poster presented at the annual Northeast Regional Honors Council,
Philadelphia, PA.
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Blachorsky, L., Page-Soto, K., Stalbow, D., Leibowitz, S., Normand, E., Korman, J., Manes, G.,
Morris, D., Harding, C., Pytte, C. (2013) Inflammation in the Mouse Hippocampus Following
Mold Exposure. Poster presented at the annual Sigma Xi Undergraduate Research Poster
Session, Flushing, NY (March) and presented at NEURON, Hamden, CT. (April)
•
Blachorsky, L., Page-Soto, K., Harding, C., Pytte, C. (2012, October) Inflammation in the
Mouse Hippocampus Following Mold Exposure. Poster presented at the Undergraduate
Research Day, Queens College, Flushing NY.
•
Page-Soto, K, Blachorsky, L., Harding, C. Pytte, C. (2012, September). Mold-induced
Expression of the Pro-inflammatory Cytokine Interleukin-1beta in the Mouse Hippocampus.
Presentation presented at the annual Neuropsychology Research Day, Flushing NY.
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Division Advisory Board
Thanks!
We very much appreciate that you have
contributed your vaulable time that helps us
and most importantly helps our students here
at Queens College.
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