The Pulse Newsletter - Fall 2014

THE PULSE Fall 2014/Winter 2015

THE NEW INNOVATION AND DISCOVERY CENTER

Building project for the sciences also honors legacy of late President Bobby Fong One of the things that makes Ursinus unique among its liberal arts peers is its historical strength in the sciences. The College has long provided students ample opportunities to explore the sciences, including through intensive coursework and hands-on research. And yet, Ursinus has also remained true to its core mission, integrating the values of the liberal arts within even its most scientific curricula.

The College’s late president, Bobby Fong, recognized that Ursinus’s past and future are rooted in its science programs, including biology, chemistry, neuroscience, environmental studies, physics, health and exercise physiology, and the pre-health professions. He therefore made it a priority to undertake a construction project that would create a new interdisciplinary learning space for the sciences at Ursinus—The Innovation and Discovery Center.

With a projected cost of $25 million, the Center will bridge the physical divide between Thomas and Pfahler halls, adding 34,000 square feet of usable space, including a Commons, lecture hall, and flexible “smart” labs and classrooms. The new areas are meant to foster interdisciplinary study, as well as enhanced student-faculty collaboration. The College also envisions the Commons serving as a central hub on campus, Gifts to Ursinus in memory of Dr. Bobby Fong are being directed toward the Innovation and Discovery Center. Please consider honoring the legacy of our late president with a contribution toward this exciting construction project.

Contributions can be mailed to: Ursinus College; Attn: Advancement Office; 601 E. Main Street; Collegeville, PA 19426 Please make checks payable to “Ursinus College” and note tribute to Bobby.

You may also make a memorial gift online at www.ursinus.edu/makegift.

engaging non-science majors and providing a vibrant place for students from a variety of academic interests to convene. Most importantly, the cross-disciplinary nature of the new facility will better promote the integration of the sciences within a framework of the liberal arts.

On a more technical level, biology majors will benefit from the creation of four new research labs, instrument prep space, a shared study room, and seven faculty offices. Likewise, the Environmental Studies Department will expand with three new labs, instrument and prep spaces, a shared study room, and five faculty offices. These new, technologically advanced spaces for experiential science learning will be particularly important to students pursuing pre-health studies at the College.

With President Fong’s unexpected passing, the College lost a remarkable leader. However, Ursinus remains committed to making his vision for the Innovation and Discovery Center a reality. We are currently in the process of securing the necessary funding for this historic undertaking. The Center will be essential to keeping Ursinus at the forefront of education in the sciences for many years to come.

COME CELEBRATE WITH US!

Second annual gathering for BAPS and MAPS students and alumni to be held March 19, 2015 Alumni, students, faculty, and friends, please join us on Thursday, March 19, 2015, for the second annual Celebration of the Brownback-Anders Pre-Health Society and Minority Association of Pre-medical Students. The evening will feature dinner and a plenary session, with student and alumni speakers. Don’t miss this opportunity to mingle with peers and engage in discussion centered on topics of relevance within today’s health professions.

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A PERSONAL JOURNEY DOWN THE MANY ROADS OF MEDICINE Reflections from alumnus Robert J. Broselow, M.D., FACOG ’62

decided I was done. I hitched a ride home and told my dad I wanted to transfer to the University of Pennsylvania and study architecture.

His response was, “Fine, go ahead, but don’t expect to get one penny of financial assistance unless you continue in medicine.” So, with my tail between my legs, I returned to Ursinus in time to study for my Monday Histology test.

“You can tell you’re going to be a doctor, Bobby,” my fourth grade teacher, Miss Reutter, told me with a smile. “It’s almost impossible to read your writing!”

I grew up in a small town in South Jersey where my father was the only doctor. His brother practiced in Philadelphia, and another uncle was a pioneer pulmonologist.

“But I don’t want to,” I responded. “I want to design cars!”

Time went by, and I found myself a premed-er at Ursinus in the fall of 1958. Every weekend night my roommate and I did our chemical calculation problems until we were two months ahead. Social life? Fuh-get about it!

Our class began with about 100 in the premed curriculum. By June 1959, we had 21 remaining. Somehow I was still among them. I found the studies especially difficult because I still wanted to design cars or be an architect.

One day in the beginning of my junior year, I

When I received my acceptance to medical school, I considered turning it down. Instead, I plugged on. About halfway through, my father stopped providing for tuition, so I got loans for the last two years.

After a rotating internship, I began a psychiatry residency at the Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital. However, after two years, I switched to OB/GYN. After my residency, I moved to West Texas and practiced obstetrics for about 35 years. I delivered over 7,000 babies. I loved it! My son joined me in practice. When we were bought by our hospital, I left. I was offered a job as medical director of a nearby privately run federal prison for male illegal aliens. There were 1,950 of them, and most were from Mexico and South America. I was the only doctor, and took care of their medical and psychiatric needs.

Several of my patients were drug lords from Colombia who had been extradited to the U.S. To my surprise one was Jewish, like me. Another, who was about to return to Colombia, asked me to go with him and be his personal physician. “Oh Doctor, you will have a huge home, and oh, the women!” he exclaimed.

“Thank you for asking,” I replied,” but I don’t

think my wife would like that idea.”

I really enjoyed that job and learned a lot— everything from what tattoos identified which Mexican mafia gangs to how to successfully treat TB and leprosy.

Then the company that operated the prison merged with another firm, and I was left without a job. I was hired by the University of Texas Medical Branch, which ran the health services at the Mountainview and Hilltop Units in Gatesville, Texas. These were home to the only death row for women in the state.

My time there was both interesting and bizarre. Imagine seeing one of your more regular patients. She presents for a rash. During the visit you both laugh and joke, as do the attending correctional officers. And less than a week later she is executed. I began that position with ambivalent feelings toward capital punishment. I ended the job as an opponent.

After two years in Gatesville, I returned to our ranch near Lubbock due to my wife’s health concerns.

Since I am not a believer in retirement, and since I love being a doctor, I still work. I now work several days a week in urgent care. After almost a year, I am becoming quite comfortable in treating the varied problems of our patients who literally range in age from six months to 100 years.

Robert Frost referred to the road not taken.

Medicine offers many roads, and the opportunity to explore them during a lifetime. Even to someone who has serious qualms about starting the journey in the first place.

CSCG HOSTS 2014-15 SPEAKER SERIES ON CAMPUS The Center for Science and the Common Good is sponsoring a speaker series throughout the duration of the 2014-15 academic year. The series has already brought five science experts to campus during the fall semester, who shared insights on topics ranging from the intersections of art and science, to the effects of herbicides on amphibians, to controversy in science.

Ursinus will be welcoming two more speakers in the coming months. Lance A. Waller, Ph.D., Professor of Biostatistics at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University, will present Mapping Mysteries: Science Through Cartographic Visualization and Spatial Statistics on Monday, February 23. That will be followed on Monday, March 23, by a presentation from Kathleen K. Sulik, Ph.D., Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology at the University of North Carolina, titled Embryos and Ethanol: Basic Research to Birth Defects Prevention. Both seminars will be held in Lenfest Theater within the Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center, and begin at 7:00 p.m.

Speakers usually spend much of the day on campus, joining students and faculty for lunch and making classroom visits. The speaker series is organized by CSCG Fellows and Robert Dawley, Ph.D., Professor of Biology at Ursinus and Co-Director of the Center for Science and the Common Good.

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FEBRUARY 23, 2015: Lance A. Waller, Ph.D.

Professor of Biostatistics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University

MARCH 23, 2015: Kathleen K. Sulik, Ph.D. Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina

WHO WAS DR. JAMES M. ANDERS?

A Brief History Lesson About One of the Brownback-Anders Pre-Health Society’s Namesakes In our first issue of The Pulse we discussed the origins of the Brownback-Anders PreHealth Society. Building upon that, we’d like to provide further information about one of the two men whom the organization was named after, Dr. James M. Anders, a physician, philanthropist, and former volunteer leader at the College.

Dr. Anders was born locally in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania on July 22, 1854. He was descended from a group of Schwenkfeldian exiles who arrived in Philadelphia in the early 1730s. The son of farmers, the young Dr. Anders became the only member of his family to receive a college education.

He attended The Mennonite Theological Seminary in Wadsworth, Ohio, and went on to medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1877. He received a Doctorate of Philosophy from the same school.

An impassioned scholar, Dr. Anders continued researching biology even after his formal education had ended. In addition to his expertise of the human body, he also extensively studied the natural sciences, with a focus on plants and forestry. Furthermore, he was involved as a leader and philanthro-

pist, becoming president of the Philadelphia County Medical Society and supporting its growth through charitable giving. He was also a fellow of the College of Physicians in Philadelphia, and through that role enacted initiatives that advanced work in preventative medicine and public health.

In 1892, Dr. Anders was made a member of the Board of Directors of Ursinus College.

He served continuously in that role for the next 42 years, until his death in 1936. A true believer in the mission of the College, he was deeply devoted to its governance and the practical education of its students.

He was hands-on with students, serving as a mentor and impassioned teacher. In fact, his service to the College earned him three honorary degrees from Ursinus over his lifetime—a Doctorate of Philosophy (1890), a Doctorate of Laws (1896), and a Doctorate of Science (1927).

The James M. Anders Pre-Medical Society was formed in 1932. The group simultaneously recognized Dr. Anders’ influence on the College while also serving to inspire junior and senior students to deepen their interest in pre-medical research.

While the James M. Anders Pre-Medical Society evolved through the years, eventually settling as the Brownback-Anders Pre-Health Society that we know today, it is important to understand why the group carries Dr. Anders’ name. Even now, nearly 80 years after his death, the College continues to feel his influence, particularly as the sciences thrive at Ursinus.

A special thank-you to Dr. William L. Walls ’51, who provided the research upon which this article was based.

Dr. James M. Anders

RESEARCH FOR THE FUTURE: INSIDE PROFESSOR CARLITA FAVERO’S LAB cells that guide these connections to their final destination. The lab is also moving into working with zebrafish, which will enable them to look at the behavioral implications of ethanol exposure during the development of sensory connections. This research, while not on human subjects, has very real applications for people.

At Ursinus, science students do not simply learn from books—they engage in an experiential education that has them working in labs and in the field, often side-by-side with faculty members.

Professor Carlita Favero has been running a lab at the College that studies fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) using a mammalian mouse model. In particular, she is interested in the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying sensory processing defects in humans with FASD. With the help of current students, Professor Favero works with mice that were exposed to ethanol during gestation to analyze the development of brain connections and the

Several current students have been working with Professor Favero in her laboratory, with some even joining her pre-matriculation as part of the FUTURE program funded through a Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant and administered through the College’s Center for Science and the Common Good.

“I think the most valuable part of research is the opportunity to work with scientific professionals who have so much experience on a one-on-one basis,” says Samantha White, a sophomore student who has been working with Professor Favero since the summer before her freshman year.

Junior, Brian Henstenburg, adds, “It has been so valuable to be a part of the working process to perfect new techniques, and share in the excitement of procedures that have gone right.”

The opportunity to engage in undergraduate research provides students with a strong foundation of knowledge from which to draw upon for their futures. It also enables students to develop a clearer picture of their academic interests and career aspirations.

For Professor Favero, she finds researching with students both exciting and gratifying.

“I love to see students’ reactions in my lab or my inquiry-based lab courses when they see the cell they stained for the first time,” she says, “or when they quantify their data and find there is a difference between treatment groups.” She continues, “The feeling you get when you are discovering something never gets old, and I love when students go on in the sciences and ‘join the club.’”

All science faculty members at the College run labs that engage students in research opportunities, and many receive funding through grants from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. Additionally, some students choose to explore different research experiences within multiple labs during their undergraduate years at Ursinus.

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THE PULSE

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! The Pulse is your publication, and so we welcome your feedback and story ideas. Tell us about your own experience as a pre-health student at Ursinus; nominate individuals to be featured in our recurring “Alumni in the Spotlight” column; or maybe you would even like to write an article for the newsletter.

To share your thoughts, email Jacqueline D’Ercole, Director of Advancement Communications and Donor Relations at jdercole@ursinus.edu.

ALUMNI IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Elsa M. Janle, Ph.D. ’63 – Associate Research Professor at Purdue University As an undergraduate at Ursinus, Elsa M. Janle, Ph.D. ’63 could not have imagined where her career would lead her.

“I was a chemistry major,” she says, “although I also enjoyed my classes in physics and biology.”

The young Dr. Janle took an interest in organic chemistry in particular, and notes that Ursinus enabled her to complete independent research in synthetic organic chemistry. That background led her to receive an M.S. in organic chemistry from Purdue University. But her career path was forever altered after her oldest daughter developed diabetes at age three.

“I went back to graduate school and enrolled in a Ph.D. program in physiology,” says Dr. Janle. “I did my thesis research on beta cell transplants and implantable glucose sensors.”

Dr. Janle pursued a dual path in academia and industry, establishing the glucose sensor research area at a small start-up through SBIR grants and helping create an NIH Botanical Research Centers partnership with Purdue University that lasted eight years. She has since moved entirely into academia and is a member of Purdue’s Nutrition Science Department. Dr. Janle continues to investigate the potential of botanicals in the prevention of diseases, including diabetes.

MEET A RISING STAR

Class of 2015 Student, Steve Medeiros, Leads Ursinus College Emergency Medical Services Steven A. Medeiros ’15 is helping to save lives. For this Biology and Neuroscience double-major, opportunities for hands-on experience cannot become more real than leading UC Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and serving as a First Responder.

involved with the group has been truly valuable for Medeiros, helping prepare him for a future career as a physician.

“Being in service 24/7 during the semester, we get called out of bed, the shower, class, and work to respond to everything from paper cuts to car accidents,” says Medeiros.

“The critical thinking and time management abilities I’ve developed at Ursinus mesh well with the stress management and adaptability I’ve learned through EMS,” says Medeiros. “As a result, I feel very well prepared for medical school and entering the field in general.”

He is often the first on arrival in a medical emergency, providing care and coordinating with paramedics, if necessary. As Chief of UC EMS, he is also acquiring useful leadership skills. Being

In addition to his work with UC EMS, Medeiros works for College Tech Support, is a Spanish tutor, co-hosts a campus radio show, and is President of Phi Kappa Sigma.

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