Advisory Board of theDivision of Mathematics

and Natural SciencesOctober 29, 2013

In Person ConferenceCall

Queens College

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

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

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

Ms. Laurie Dorf AVP Institutional Advancement

Mr. Bruce Jones Dir. Entrepreneurship Center

Ms. Yassmin Simmonds Undergraduate Student

Ms. Lauren Blachorsky Undergraduate Student

1

Advisory Board of theDivision of Mathematics

and Natural SciencesOctober 29, 2013

Agenda

2

Four Divisions• Art and Humanities• Education• Mathematics and Natural Sciences• Social Sciences

Division of Mathematics and Natural Sciences• Biology• Chemistry & Biochemistry• Computer Science• Earth & Environmental Sciences• Family, Nutrition, & Exercise Science• Mathematics• Physics• Psychology

3

Advisory Board

Self-Introductions

4

Advisory Board Self-Introductions

In Person Conference Call

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

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

5

Updates about

Queens College,

Division of Mathematics

and Natural Sciences

6

Queens CollegeUS 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 (?) New Chancellor of the City University of New York• Dec. 31, 2013 President Muyskens leaves as President of Queens College• Jan. 1, 2014 Evangelos Gizis Interim President of Queens College• July 1, 2014 (?) New President of Queens College

7

Division UpdateBrand 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

8

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.

9

Goals of the Advisory Board

10

Goals

• What are the GOALS of the Advisory Board?

• What do we want to ACCOMPLISH?

11

Alumni Academy

13

Alumni AcademyTalented and accomplished alumni - in all fields - teach specially designed mini-courses to undergraduates at QC.• Separate from, but enhancements, to the established curriculum• Given during breaks in the Fall, Spring regular schedule:

winter (January)summerweekend

Examples• Dr. Marc Dichter: The Neurobiology of Disease• Mr. Philip Schaenman: Communication Skills

Benefit• Students - new courses• College - high profile teachers• Alumni – interact with students, give back to the College

14

Review of the Department of Family,

Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences

FNES

15

FNES

Self-Study• 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• 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?• Wellness Center 16

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?

17

Student Presentations

18

Student Presentations

Yassmin SimmondsUndergraduate Student at Queens College: Pre-Medical StudiesService: Pre-Med Mentoring Program

Lauren BlachorskyUndergraduate Student at Queens College: PsychologyResearch: Inflammation in the hippocampus after mold exposure.

19

CAREERS IN HEALTH ALUMNI MENTORING PROGRAM(CHAMP)

By: Yassmin SimmondsDivision of Math and Natural Science

at Queens College

20

CHAMP: Goals

Support Students in

their Professional

Goals

Create opportunities for students to be mentored by

Queens College Alumni

Help students develop a

professional network

Aid students in becoming

competitive applicants to Professional

schools

GOALS

21

CHAMP: The Beginning

YEAR 1. Launched in

2011QC-AMP

50+ Students matched with an Alumnus

Medical Professional of Queens College

PROGRAM STRUCTURE: 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.

22

CHAMP: Year 2

Year 22012-2013

20 students matched with 17 QC Alumni

Program Structure and

goals remained the

same

NEW: “Professionals on Campus” Series

23

Professionals on Campus

Doctor Panel Series Students who were not

part of the program would have an opportunity to ask Alumni Medical Professionals questions about their careers.

24

Feedback and Reflections

The students have greatly benefited from the program and have described their mentors as “warm, dedicated, wise, passionate, caring, informative, talented, and selfless”

25

CHAMP: Looking Forward. YEAR 3

Year 32013-2014 Re-vamp Program

Structure:Multi-year program

Change name: CHAMP

Goal: successfully Match 50+ students with

mentors

26

CHAMP: The importance of mentoring

With a more longitudinal structure, we hope to use the program as a way to get some statistics about students that graduate from Queens College and matriculate into professional school directly following their undergraduate career.

Looking forward, we hope to expand the program to include small internships for students.

27

Thank You!

Yassmin Simmonds CHAMP Coordinator 2013-2014

Email: QueenscollegeCHAMP@gmail.com

28

Inflammation in the Mouse Hippocampus Following Mold Exposure

Lauren BlachorskyDr. Carolyn Pytte

Department of Psychology, Queens College CUNY

29

• 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.

30

VEH EX IN0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

IL1b

+ ce

lls p

er

mm

2 C

A1

Cells expressing IL-1 beta: a pro-inflammatory signaling molecule 20x 60x

Microglia cells

Control Mold Complete Casing Mold spore

Mold spores increase inflammation

31

VEH EX IN0

1

2

3

4

5BrdU+DCX+

New

Neu

rons

Control Mold Complete Casing Mold spore

10 microns

Mold spores decrease neurogenesis: seen with 2 different markers of new neurons

32

10 30 50 70 90 110 130 1500

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

Il-1beta expressing cells R2 = 0.355, P=0.04

BrdU

+/ H

u+ ce

lls p

er m

m2

33

• 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.

• 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.

34

Thanks!

We very much appreciate that you havecontributed your vaulable time that helps usand most importantly helps our students hereat Queens College.

Division Advisory Board

35