Brown University News Bureau

The Brown University News Bureau

1997-1998 index

Distributed December 3, 1997
Revised December 5, 1997
Contact: Linda Mahdesian

Federico Peña to give keynote at Leadership Alliance symposium

The Leadership Alliance will present a two-day symposium Dec. 11-12, 1997, in Washington, D.C., in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology. U.S. Secretary of Energy Federico Peña will deliver the keynote address 1:15 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11, in Carmichael Auditorium at The National Museum of American History.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- U.S. Secretary of Energy Federico Peña will give the keynote address during the Leadership Alliance's national symposium on biomedical research Dec. 11 - 12, in Washington, D.C. The symposium, to be held at The National Museum of American History on Dec. 11 and at The National Academy of Sciences on Dec. 12., will run in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology.

Peña's address, "Science and Society," is currently scheduled for 1:15 p.m. Thursday, Dec., 11, in Carmichael Auditorium at The National Museum of American History. He will be introduced by Mina Bissell, president of the American Society for Cell Biology.

The Leadership Alliance is a consortium of 24 institutions, including historically black colleges and universities and Ivy League schools, working together to increase the number of under-represented minority students in graduate schools. Formed in 1992 at the request of former Brown University President Vartan Gregorian, the Alliance identifies the most academically talented students regardless of economic background and encourages them to compete in the most rigorous environments without special considerations. To date, more than 600 Alliance students have matriculated in undergraduate and graduate programs at some of the most competitive institutions in the United States. James Wyche, professor of medical sciences and associate provost of Brown, has served as executive director of the Leadership Alliance since its inception.

Alliance students and faculty also will be part of the American Society for Cell Biology annual meeting. The Society, a professional association of eminent scientists, including Nobel laureates and members of the National Academy of Sciences, also includes science students, some of whom are Alliance alumni.

This symposium is designed to connect Alliance scholars with the best scientists, nationally and internationally. Two hundred of the country's top minority students headed for or attending graduate school and conducting graduate-level research in the sciences and other fields will be participating in the event. Also in attendance will be college and university presidents and faculty from both elite research universities, historically black colleges and universities, and other schools that serve under-represented Americans in graduate education, including the University of Puerto Rico and Montana State University's American Indian Research Opportunities Program.

Symposium Schedule (as of 12/5/97)

Thursday, Dec. 11 - The National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C.

8:45 - 9 a.m. Welcoming Remarks

James Wyche, executive director, Leadership Alliance
Mina Bissell, president, American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB)
Marvin Cassman, director, National Institute for General Medical Sciences

9 - 10 I. The Leadership Alliance: Developing Future Underrepresented Scholars

Undergraduate Research Programs - Jocelyn Spragg, Harvard Medical School
Graduate Workshop Initiative - Joel Oppenheim, NYU Medical School
Graduate Programs - Laurel Southard, Cornell University
International and Faculty Programs - George Langford, Dartmouth College

10:30 - 11:15 II. Educational Diversity: A Continuing Need for Opportunities

Susan Gerbi, Brown; president-elect, The GREAT Committee, AAMC; past-president, ASCB
J. K. Haynes, Morehouse College, chair, ASCB Minority Affairs Committee

11:20 - noon III. Support for Our Nation's Scientific Enterprise: Current and Future Issues

Tom Pollard, director, The Salk Institute
Mina Bissell, president, ASCB
Ursula Goodenough, Washington University

1:15 - 2 Keynote: "Science and Society"

Federico Peña, U.S. Secretary of Energy
Introduction: Mina Bissell, president, ASCB

2:15 - 3:15 IV. Research Progress Report

Tuskegee Syphilis Study: Implications for Today's Researchers
Bill Jenkins, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; program manager, Tuskegee Health Benefit Program

The Status of Minority Health: Is it Better?
Lovell Jones, director, National Minority Health Program, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Dallas

3:20 - 3:50 V. Future Research Scientists

Freeman Hrabowski, president, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; director emeritus, The Meyerhoff Program

4 Adjournment

James Wyche, executive director, Leadership Alliance

Friday, Dec. 12 - The National Academy of Sciences - Washington, D.C.

8:45 - 9 a.m. Opening Remarks

James Wyche, executive director, Leadership Alliance
J. K. Haynes, chair, Minority Affairs Committee, ASCB

9 - 10:30 Graduate Student Panel: What to do, When and What to Expect

Session Co-Chairs: Janice Madden, University of Pennsylvania; Joel Oppenheim, New York University Medical School

Panelists: Nicole Baptiste, Columbia University; Christine Cain, Biology Ph.D. Program, Columbia University; Ross Johnson, Immunology Ph.D. Program, University of Pennsylvania; Elizabeth Hopper, Biochemistry Ph.D. Program, University of Pennsylvania; Marcus McFerren, Division of Biological Sciences Ph.D. Program, Cornell University; Latasha Wright, New York University

10:45 - 11:30 Opportunities in the Academic Community

Panelists: Jan Primus, Spellman College; Andrew Campbell, Brown University; J. K. Haynes, Morehouse College; Joan Robinson, Morgan State University; Jocelyn Spragg, Harvard Medical School

11:30 - noon Jobs in the Private Sector for Life Scientists

Matthew R. Weinberg, The Weinberg Group Inc.

Noon Adjournment

James Wyche, executive director, Leadership Alliance

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