BIOCHEM SCAN

SUMMER 2007

VOLUME 20, NO. 1

As promised, here is an attempt at a last newsletter from your recently retired newsletter writer. Now that the scabs and bruises all associated with moving a house full of period antiques (Louis XIV, circa 1980) and books have sufficiently healed, we have time to sit and contemplate BCH, MSU, and, most fun, alumni news.

When last seen in a rearview mirror, MSU was still thriving. The pace of construction seemed to be slowing. The new Agricultural and Biological Engineering building, Dorman's new neighbor to the east was nearing completion. The complete renovation of the Union had at least proceeded as far as putting up new walls. (At one point it was impressive to be able to look completely through the building from one side to the other.) There is talk of renovating Harned Hall in 2008. As many of your classes were there, you know that it will be wise to stay far away (or approach only in a moon suit) so that when the toxic spores left over from the 40's, 50's, 60's, etc. are released, no harm will be done. It might be cleaner just to nuke Harned from orbit and rebuild when the dust clears. Dear old Dorman is on no one's renovation list but we have heard disquieting rumors that the Departmental office suite housing the secretaries and Department Head have been refurbished. We wonder what happened to the period antiques located there (Louis I, circa 1950) that were cherished for so long.

Speaking of Department Head, we need to introduce the new Interim Head of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Dr. Scott Willard has moved over from Animal and Dairy Sciences to try his hand at herding biochemists. Scot got both his MS and PhD at Texas A&M University and did a Post-Doc at the Medical University of South Carolina. Despite the Animal Science affiliation, he is actually a closet molecular biologist. He also needs to tread carefully since the last interim head lasted six years in that role.

As usual our students are outstanding. Marion Harris received the Gamma Sigma Delta Junior Scholarship Award. Grant Ramsey and Cassandra Man-Bourdon received Gamma Sigma Delta Junior Scholarship Runners Up Awards (this was a clean sweep for BCH juniors). Jana Price received a Gamma Sigma Delta Senior Scholarship Runners Up Award. We don't have Jana's graduation picture because she had a 4.00 and so was able to go through a secret door and kept away from the usual crush at graduation. The Dean's Office is constantly astounded at the quality of our graduates. In May there were 18 Biochemistry BS students and their average GPA was 3.49. We share your disappointment at this value but please realize that our junior and senior-level courses are DIFFICULT.

Thinking of good students leads to concept of good genes. Our students must certainly have good genes because they produce REALLY cute babies. Check out this season's crop in the Alumni listings below and you'll agree. We would like to claim some credit for the babies (their looks!) but that would be too Lamarckian.

On the medical front, Dr. Jim Heitz has proven to be a medical marvel. When we last reported his colon cancer, things were not so upbeat. But through a combination of chemotherapy, surgery, and a severe cruise regime (eight at last count in this calendar year) that would leave a mere mortal exhausted and huge (Jim doesn't sound exhausted at all), his doctors are quite optimistic about his condition. There is some consideration that the telling factor was either the new type of chemo that was used or his perfect body. Clearly, it must be the chemo.

NEW GRADUATES

Undergraduates

Stephanie Bryant (BS May 07) poplarbear@aol.com will be spending her next joyful years back in school in Memphis (some students can't get enough schooling!). She'll be in pharmacy school at UT. Her interview was apparently a big hit; they offered her the slot before she even got back to town.

Michael Cunningham (BS May 07) mjc69@msstate.edu, despite his years of undergrad research, still wants to go to graduate school. However, he wants to find a job first to build up cash reserves and review his options. Here Mike contemplates the future.

Dustin Gentry (BS May 07) jdg83@msstate.edu is on his way to UMC medical school in Jackson this fall. Beware of people trying to sell bodies so that you can get an advanced start on gross anatomy. Dustin looks happy at graduation.

Aaron Graham (BS May 07) alg152@msstate.edu is yet another student who has decided he was taught enough by us. He'll be continuing his education but it may be a regression since he's going over to the engineering side. He'll be in chemical engineering at MSU but at least he'll be working on bio things. Aaron is the tall guy with the graduation grin.

Amanda Harrell (BS May 07) alh205@msstate.edu is another student on her way to medical school in Jackson. Amanda used to work in the BCH office and the mere association with brilliant faculty obviously helped her to get in. Amanda is the blond but we don't mean that as an insult.

Michelle Hatch (BS May 07) meh83@msstate.edu graduated with a double major. Her dark side was psychology. We haven't heard for sure, but rumor was that Michelle also was planning on graduate school.

Leslie Koneig (BS May 08 predicting the future) lezz171986@yahoo.com has not quite graduated yet but we've done all we can with her. She's moving over to CVM and she'll receive her BS in biochemistry next year since she was in our 3+1 program.

Ryan Looney (BS May 07) rrl18@msstate.edu is a stealth graduate. We've already lost track of him and so we can't report on his activities or whereabouts. Ryan, if you're out there, let us know what's going on. Ryan needs to fix his collar!

Meagan Mahoney (BS May 07) mem180@msstate.edu we're sorry to report has become a Yankee; she's moved to the far north. She may actually hunt us down for that comment since she's now in Boston where they have a thing about the Yankees. Meagan is working at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute for a while. She's then planning on going to medical school. Meagan is between the two towers.

Kelly Napier (BS May 07) kellybethnapier@hotmail.com can clearly see her future since she's going to optometry school in Memphis. We can taste that good barbeque already! Kelly's ready for graduation, camera in hand!

Katie Necaise (BS May 07) ken18@msstate.edu has decided that we taught her all she cares to know and so is going directly into a job. She will be doing lab work for the CVM poultry diagnostic lab near Jackson. Katie gives graduation a thumbs up but it deserves a two-thumbs up!

Erica Nix (BS May 08 (no mistake!)) eln21@msstate.edu is another not quite graduated graduate. We're done with her but she needs a further year of seasoning (or cooking??) before she's done since she was a 3+1 student. She's going to vet school at the University of Tennessee.

Anna Oberhofer (BS May 07) alo35@msstate.edu joins our burgeoning class of pre-meds at UMC this fall. Anna is also joining the Navy so she will be doing training cruises on the Reservoir in her spare time. Here, Anna shares towering duties with Matt Smith.

Jana Price (BS May 07) jep185@msstate.edu is taking a circuitous route to her career. She's first going to get an MBA at MSU and then plans to get a job in the area of forensics. Forensics is big business on TV these days so that seems to fit.

Rob Reid (BS May 07) rdr62@msstate.edu has also been seduced by the lure of forensics. He's skipping the big business aspects and going directly into the job market. Here Rob has the Mafia look with the dark shirt.

Matt Smith (BS May 07) ms267@msstate.edu is another transplant to the pre-med class in Jackson. Knowing Matt, this fall he'll be pumping iron as well as textbooks. Here, Matt is grinning because he's hiding Meagan's cap.

Rachel Stockstill (BS May 07) rachel4msu@yahoo.com is going to work in a lab in the Physiology Dept. at UMC for a while and then consider going to medical school. She'll have plenty of company from her fellow BCH grads down there this year. Rachel models her daringly open graduation robe.

Stephanie Taylor (BS May 07) steffjoy14@gmail.com has decided that she needs a year off. (We retirees shouldn't criticize.) Then she plans to enter dental school either in Jackson or Memphis. Stephanie seems to approve of graduation.

Antonio Ward (BS May 07) abw80@msstate.edu is going to medical school but FAR away from Jackson. Antonio is moving to Curacao in the Netherlands, West Indies to attend St. Martinus University. We'll stop by on a cruise! Antonio, on the left, shares his grin with Aaron.

Zane Wofford (BS May 07) zdw4@msstate.edu is another stealth student. We do have some uncorroborated information that he is headed to grad school. Just another in a long line of students who can't get enough! Zane is the most colorful of our group!

Graduate Students

Brahmananda Chitteti (PhD Aug 07) bc122@msstate.edu is moving to a post-doc position in Indianapolis at Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis - the oddly abbreviated IUPUI. He is moving from the world of plants into the world of mammals, but he'll still be working in the general area of stem cells, dedifferentiation, and tissue regeneration. Maybe he can score us some tickets for the Saints victory over the Colts in the next Super Bowl.

ALUMNI NEWS

Keri Barksdale (BS 04) kayaybee@uab.edu is decades away from finishing her PhD in neurobiology at UAB. Okay, maybe it just seems that way. It's going to take longer now that she has started training for a marathon. She's also found time to take a cruise with her guy, Robert. Here they are.

Daniel Barnes (BS 05) djb70@msstate.edu couldn't bear to leave MSU and BCH so he's in the PhD program in the Department. Daniel is also engaged to be married. We've met Angela and she seems really nice and really smart. It's not that Daniel is a bad choice, he's just an odd choice! At least his hair is no longer multi-colored.

Erin Bassford (BS 04, MS 06) erb5@msstate.edu is now a wage slave in the Plant and Soil Sciences Department at MSU. She's doing research in soil microbiology and she still has visitation rights in BCH. We keep hoping she'll return to the fold.

Joel Berry (BS 03) has finished med school in Jackson. We have this second hand from our optometry spy, Allison Norwood.

Jason Black (BS 02) jasonleeblack@wildmail.com is going into his 4th year of med school at UMC and contemplating ER, radiology, or anesthesia. Just like our advice to Keith below, go old young man, go old.

Keith Box (BS 02) kbox1@bellsouth.net is now a 4th year medical student at Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine and will be graduating in May of 08. He hasn't picked a specialty yet but we encourage gerontology because we are all getting up there. On a personal note, some of our first graduate students are REALLY getting old. No names, please.

Alan Boyle (BS 05) <aboyle@gmail.com> is gearing up for his qualifying exams in Computational Biology at Duke. This is why he is taking so long to build my server - but that's a side issue. He's settled in a lab that does computational analysis of DNA hypersensitive sites. There will be a quiz at the end of this newsletter.

Charles Brasfeild (BS 95) chuckb@cfcbsa.org and his lovely wife Katie had their 3rd child, William "Will" Waite Brasfeild, on May 29th. Chuck is Director of Field Service for the Central Florida Council of the Boy Scouts. He gets to cook hot dogs on a stick for a living.

Randle Bynum (BS 03) has gone to the dark side and finished law school this past May. We again have to thank Allison Norwood for keeping us in touch with hidden classmates.

Melissa Chambers (BS 05) mgc14@MsState.edu, after completing her MS in the Biology Department at MSU, is moving on to Vandy where she'll be a research assistant in Cell and Developmental Biology. But she's actually working on the structure of spliceosomes so we'll count that as a return to biochemistry. She'll be just down the hall from her old classmate Eric Shows (BS 05) so they can get together and gossip about us.

Sophie Chen (BS 00) sophiechen78@hotmail.com is leaving Vandy just as Melissa is moving in. She's moving to Memphis to go to Law School. It's sad when they go to the dark side. It's even worse than that: she's now learning to shoot rifles and pistols. Of course, that could be a useful skill in Memphis. Sophie's too nice for us to consider her on the dark side (she's still single, guys- she could do the pre-nup cheap since she'll be a lawyer)! Check out her photo skills here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildamoeba

Eva Clark (BS 04) EHCLARK@uasom.uab.edu is starring in the latest alumni magazine (all you dues paying alumni should have your own copy; but if you don't here it is: http://msuinfo.ur.msstate.edu/alumnus/spring07/Alumnus_spring07.pdf . Eva goes off o the deepest jungles of Peru for her work on malaria and just ignores those flesh eating sand flies. She is the MD/PhD program at UAB.

Ken Coker (BS 88) KCoker@lexpharma.com is Senior Scientific Group Leader at Lexicon Genetics in The Woodlands, TX, north of Houston. Ken, wife Susan, and sons Jesse and Phillip are thriving in that wet, hot south Texas weather. Ken was one of the first students to survive our Biochemical Methods boot camp. That was in the old days before it was broken into two far easier courses.

Shelli Coleman (BS 03) coleman_shelli@hotmail.com is in her last year of medical school in Kansas City but was actually working in Tupelo. She'll be going into a family practice residency eventually. When Shelli first came for a visit, we had to advise her in Dorman basement because of the insistent tornado sirens going off.

Tracey Colyer (BS 83 MS 84) <tcolyer@keller.edu> is Manager for Course Development for DeVry University and has managed to live in Illinois for nine years. We're just hoping that she doesn't turn into a Yankee (or a Cubbie??).

Jennifer Cox (BS 93) jenn1270@swbell.net is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas doing clinical medicine. Jenn loves teaching and practices in the area of pediatric stem cell transplantation and oncology. We know she's a great doc but was recently in hot water for using "Don't fear the reaper" as ringtone on her phone. We'd like to claim our influence in there somewhere!

Shae Dedmon (BS 06) ksd18@msstate.edu got married and decided to go to medical school in order to support her husband. That sounds romantic to us anyway and might be partially true. At least she's going to medical school.

Lydia Jemison Dennis (BS 97) ldennisdo@hotmail.com and husband Greg have just moved to Tuttle, OK in order to work at a family practice clinic in Mustang, OK. People in Starkville should not be critical of someplace called Mustang but then we're not in Starkville anymore! Did we mention the cute picture of baby J.R?

Edward Eldred (BS 01) edeldred@hotmail.com has started a family medicine residency in Jackson after graduating from Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences College of Osteopathic Medicine. Since medical school was so easy for him after the preparation we gave him, he also picked up an MBA from Rockhurst University in his spare time. He and his wife are looking forward to that Jackson humidity.

Laurel Elliott (BS 05) lpe2@msstate.edu has been hiding out at CVM but has decided to reemerge! Laurel is completing her DVM in May 2008. We fondly remember Laurel and her cute dog in class. The dog did better than some graduate students (non-BCH students of course).

Jaclyn Evans (BS 05) jse20@msstate.edu is progressing with her MS in BCH while working full time. And we wonder why Jaclyn always looks stressed. We knew it couldn't be our classes.

Dana Farmer (BS 04) dfarmer70@juno.com is now in Tennessee working at St Jude's in the immunology department and raising three boys. We imagine she is busy! She works in a lab with an MSU biology graduate so they get to share the joys of MSU sports.

Chris Floyd (BS 86 MS 88) cfloyd@alaska.net is still trying to keep warm in Anchorage but to quote Chris has "stopped pretending to be an environmental chemist, and is now pretending to be a field biologist, doing biological surveys and writing Environmental Assessments." While we know that Chris is good scientist (product of BCH isn't he!), he is also a fantastic artist. Check out his work at http://www.snowcitycafe.com/index.php/art/archives/chris-floyd/ or http://web.mac.com/akwriter/iWeb/Site%2010/fish.html.

Lorilei Ford (BS 01) ford@cvm.msstate.edu was spotted biking to CVM where she is a Research Associate these days. She's been trying to recruit another lab person and prefers them to be smart. So she clearly wants a biochemist.

Weifan Gao (PhD 04) wxg16@psu.edu is a post-doc at Penn State. With soaring temperatures these days, it's hard to believe that winter must be only weeks away in the far north in places like Pennsylvania.

John Guarisco (BS 95) toxicdog@gmail.com has surfaced for air after these long years of hiding out in Utah. In typical John fashion he reports, "I passed my dissertation defense and am taking a post-doc at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland to evaluate anti-convulsants for nerve agent poisoning. Other than that, nothing new to report." Good job, John! Just be careful about mouth pipetting.

Jennifer Guimbellot (BS 00) and Eva Clark (BS 04) are both highlighted in the MSU alumni magazinehttp://msuinfo.ur.msstate.edu/alumnus/spring07/Alumnus_spring07.pdf. They are in the MD/PhD program at UAB. Actually, Jennifer is now only in the MD part since she just completed the PhD. Good deal! Now it's back to the grind of med school. We were delighted to visit with Jennifer and Eva when they returned to campus last year to speak to the Honors Forum students. We were well behaved and did not pass out their old Molecular Biology exams.

Chris Gunter (BS 02) chris.gunter@stjude.org was reported by Dana Farmer to still be working at St. Jude's. They pass in the halls on occasion but are smart enough not to mention MSU sports.

Anny Guthrie (BS 06) alg145@msstate.edu has finished her MSU MS in Health Promotion. She has moved to Birmingham and is starting the Masters of Physician Assistant Studies Program at UAB. She also reports that she is getting married on March 8, 2008 to Jacob Dykes. (May 2008 MSU civil engineering grad) on March 8, 2008. Anny got her guy and her puppy, Layla. Jacob should take note that she sent us a picture of the dog but not him.

Karen Hauer (BS 01) karenhauer@cox.net is still practicing veterinary medicine at a small animal hospital in Virginia Beach (http://www.owlcreekveterinaryhospital.com/site/view/69995_OurDoctors.pml). We must quote Karen: "I always sound extra smart when I tell people I also have a degree in biochemistry and molecular biology! So I guess that semester in biochemical methods was worth something." Biochemical Methods was an experience for all involved (the instructor became more gray (or was it balder?) every time it was taught).

Mimi Gardner Huizinga (BS 98) mimi.huizinga@vanderbilt.edu has joined the faculty at Vanderbilt in General Internal Medicine (as she puts - a REAL job!). She's piled on degrees by completing her Masters of Public Health in May and her research area has virtually no limit for this country: weight gain prevention. Her clinical practice is naturally in bariatric medicine. She and hubby Phillip send us proof that they have two SUPER boys, Will 4 and Jake 3.

Joe Kaplan (MS 85) jkaplanmd@aol.com sent us a wonderful note remembering his old mentor Bob Koch. Many of you may not remember Bob, but he was a grizzled old gray beard who really inspired his students. He would also occasional forget his tennis shoes on the roof of his car as he drove off. Joe is an MD and earned a Bronze Star for his efforts in Iraq.

Sanchayita Kar (Post-doc in Luthe lab) sanchayita.kar@proteora.com after working for five years as Senior R&D scientist at Promega has started her own biotech start-up in Madison, Wisconsin in a 600 square foot biotech incubator facility (what more natural use for an incubator!). She plans to produce proteomics kits for protein profiling and drug discovery research.

Kim Keating (PhD Food Sci 91) <kkeating@purina.com> promised us a Christmas letter detailing her world travels but she must have meant Christmas 07 (or 08) because we are still waiting a copy. Kim claims to work for Purina in St. Louis but in reality she travels around the world to top dive sites.

Terra Kendrick (BS 04) terrakendrick@hotmail.com has just moved to Nashville and is working at Vandy in the Cytopathology dept. as a Cytotechnologist. We have quite a collection in Nashville except that Sophie Chen just left. This is Terra's first real job and it's been exhausting her. That's why we left

Ben Ladner (BS 03) and wife Emily Watson Ladner (BS 03) benladner@hotmail.com are starting their 4th and final year at Creighton University School of Medicine in windy, icy Nebraska. Ben plans on going into Anesthesiology and Emily plans on doing Pediatrics, but they really would like to do their residencies in the same place. We suspect they would prefer some place south of the permafrost line.

Trey LaRussa (BS 05) ricosuave427@hotmail.com finished his first year of pharmacy school at Auburn, with better grades than he had at MSU. Hmmmm? Did Trey party too much at MSU?? This summer he and wife, Jessica are living in Panama City Beach, soaking up the sun, and serving tables. At least the partying there is not on school time!

Jessica Sparks Lilley (BS 03) jessica.sparks@vanderbilt.edu has had big changes in her life. As seen by the name change (not a Witness Protection thing), she got married to Smith Lilley (we have pictures to prove it!); she's finished her MD at Vandy; and she's moved to Philly to do a residency at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia at U. Penn. She says she's doing easy hours right now but just wait….Here is Jessica with her proud dad at the wedding.

Dawn Luthe (retired faculty member) dsl14@psu.edu is getting into the faculty groove at Penn State. She's had her NSF grant funded, she has graduate students, but most importantly, she's been put on committees. As all academics know, committees are essential to university life. Without them, there could actually be progress. We complain about deer eating plants in NC but she has gypsy moth and ground hog problems in Penn. Ah, the circle of life.

Tara Mann (BS 96) tara_mann2002@yahoo.com received her PhD from UAB in Cell Biology. To quote her: "worked on the cytoskeleton of a really cool parasite, Toxoplasma gondii." Guess you kind of had to be there to appreciate the parasite. She then did a post-doc at Harvard Med and is now a Preceptor in Cell Biology at Harvard University and really enjoys teaching. She reports that a preceptor helps run the large undergraduate courses, designing labs, writing problem sets, exams, runs the staff of teaching fellows, runs reviews; she does everything but actually lecture (and probably doesn't get paid much for all this). This fall she'll be teaching Biochemistry at the Extension School to about 200 students. She's married to another scientist who sold out and went to the dark side and is a crystallographer for a pharma company, EMD-Serono. They have found time to procreate and have a new baby, Ian, who is just past 9 months old. Here's the happy family.

Elizabeth Martin (BS 06) eap24@msstate.edu is breezing through the MBA program at MSU without having to study at all. At least that's what she tells us. She's also keeping her hand in biochemistry by working in Jeff Wilkinson's lab.

Cameron May (BS 01) dcmay@anesthesia.umsmed.edu graduated with his MD this past May from UMC in Jackson. He is now doing a residency in anesthesiology there. He decided life would be easier if he married a doctor so he married Bri. She has just started her pediatric residency at Jackson. (And we thought med school was work, work, work!)

Brenna McGruder (BS 05) bmm66@msstate.edu is an MS student in both BCH and Poultry Science and has taught her first real class. She has asked that we publish this confession: "I am now TRULY sorry for all the hell I may have put my teachers through- as I have gotten it back in just this short summer session. I had students attempt a coup, yell at me, tell me my tests were too hard and that I was trying to intentionally fail everyone, and I even had one curse at me. But I stood my ground through all of it and smiled as I pondered 'If they think I'm bad they need to take a Dr. Boyle Molecular test!!!'" Thank you for that vote of confidence. We had to include a picture of Brenna!

Sarah McMillen (BS 04) sarjmcm@hotmail.com is starting her 4th year of med school in Jackson. She's another of those med students who has found time to get married and at Disney World of all places. It only makes sense since Sarah was actually Cinderella there for a while.

Chelsea Miller (BS 04) millerchelsea@yahoo.com has graduated from nursing school at UAB. She'll be working in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Princeton Hospital in Birmingham until next summer and then moves to the Virgin Islands for something called travel nursing. All that rum and beaches and sun can be hazardous!

Allison Norwood (BS 03) allisonbn@yahoo.com insults us by saying that the optometry clinics that she is doing are way scarier than any biochem class she ever took. Well!! She'll be finished in two years. She reports on her classmates for us: Joel Berry (BS 03) has finished med school in Jackson and Randle Bynum (BS 03) has gone to the dark side and finished law school this past May.

Alicia Battaya Olivier (BS 02) alicia_dvm@yahoo.com is still in corn country (Iowa) where she had to suffer through a harsh, bitterly cold winter but is now rewarded with a hot and humid summer. To get away from all this, she and her husband are planning a vacation to temperate Starkville. They'll be bringing along a little baggage: Andrew Joseph, who arrived March 28, 2007. Alicia is still working on her PhD and pathology residency at the vet school in Iowa.

Jenny Davis Piacentini (BS 04) jpdavis3@olemiss.edu should be doing her rotations now in her last year at Ole Miss Pharmacy School. We think she tolerates Ole Miss but is not really in love with the place. Duh! As we reported last time, Jenny found time to get married.

Charles Patterson (BS 98) charles_e_patterson@baylor.edu has forsaken his science training and has become the Assistant Director of Sponsored Programs at Baylor. He seemed like such a nice guy. Now as an administrator, he forces faculty to follow rules about grant submissions. We'll wear a black arm band in his memory. He and Colleen have been married for 12 years and their son is now 5. Charles wants him to become a lawyer to support his old age. Isn't that like child abuse? They look happy enough here!

Cindy Phillips (retired secretary) capcap@netdoor.com is probably still putting her makeup as she drives around Starkville. But not to worry since she won't be going over 25 mph. Cindy and hubby Charles' purpose in life to keep their menagerie of dogs happy and well fed.

Melinda Poole (BS 94) ponydocpoole@hotmail.com now lives in Indianapolis working for Eli Lilly Veterinary Pharmaceutical Company in Regulatory Affairs as a Regulatory Scientist. She uses southern charm and her DVM degree to negotiate with the FDA for animal drug approvals. She also is inspired by the locals to try her hand at driving like she was in the Indy 500 (note: not IN the Indy 500 just LIKE she was in the Indy 500 - a nuance of difference).

Samina Qureshi (PhD Dec 05) Samina.N.Qureshi@dartmouth.edu is headed back home to Pakistan as an Assistant Professor in biochemistry. She needs to read the notes from Brenna about teaching!

Will Reid (BS 86, MS 88) wsreid2002@yahoo.com is a sales representative for a chromatography company out of Atlanta. He decided that he could do at least as good a job as the people that used to come to his labs to try to sell him things. But it was the expense account that really closed the deal!

Wash Respess (BS 98) Wash.Respess@SouthsideCleaners.com is still running a cleaning business in Lakeland, FL. He tells us that he still uses his education everyday at work - all those enzymes in detergents! With a nickname like "Wash" his future career had to be preordained.

Derek Ricketson (BS 02) derekricketson@hotmail.com is still grinding towards his PhD at University of Oregon. His big news is that he's marrying Erin. She's getting a PhD in physics there. Derrick obviously is not spending all his hours in the lab like a good biochemist should.

Hernan Rossi (MS 80) handp@earthlink.net has been off our screen for a LONG time. It was great to hear from him (as well as all of the rest of you)!. Our retirement removes the last personal link he had with MSU. On the other hand, he still has recurrent dreams of being on campus. He didn't specify if he woke up in cold sweat or was panicked at wondering where the exam was. Hernan has been a medical technologist for the last 17 years and living in Seattle for the last 13. He says he might drag his wife to Starkville to show her where he picked up his bad habits.

Bethany Sabatino (BS 03) bethanysabatino@hotmail.com graduated from MSU veterinary school this past may. She hopes to specialize in pathology and/or internal medicine and maybe teach at CVM at some point in the future. She's addicted to Oktibbeha County water.

Marvin Salin (retired professor) msalin@mail.nih.gov is still doling out our tax dollars to winners of the Golden Fleece Awards (does anyone except old retired faculty remember those things?) while working at the NIH. He and wife Delmy and daughter Gilda took a Baltic cruise recently, and Delmy and Gilda contributed heavily to the European economy.

Shane Sanders (BS 03) wss2@MsState.Edu is toiling as a PhD student in Molecular Biology at MSU but with a twist. His major professor is Dr. Susan Bridges from Computer Science (she is actually a member of the dept. graduate faculty). He may be the first of a new breed of computationally trained molecular biologists. We always knew Shane was a different breed.

Ingeborg Schmidt-Krey (BS 91) ischmidt3@mail.gatech.edu is enjoying living in Atlanta as an Assistant Professor at Georgia Tech doing electron crystallography and teaching biophysics (http://www.biology.gatech.edu/faculty/ingeborg-schmidtkrey/). She likes Atlanta (she actually walks to work) but dislikes the traffic. And we remember her when she was put-putting around MSU on a tiny little motor scooter. We hope she has something more substantial there.

Renuka Shivagi (MS 89) renuka@ra.msstate.edu is running Jeff Wilkinson's lab in the department as a Research Associate and, if Jeff is smart (he must be- we hired him!), he will do what she tells him (we always did). Renuka's daughter is a grad student in biology and, if she is smart (she is - she got an A in Mol Bio), she'll do what her mom tells her. But there is little chance of that!

Rita Nahlik Silin (BS 96) rsilin@gmail.com has finished law school. Ordinarily we wouldn't relate bad things about our alumni, but she told us to tell you. She's planning on opening a law firm in Saucier. That's by the Gulf. That's where they have hurricanes. Enough said.

Eric Shows (BS 05) eric_shows@yahoo.com still has had no celebrity sightings in Nashville. But he's a grad student and they're never supposed to leave the building. That's what vending machines are for. Eric has passed his qualifying exam and so now is an official PhD candidate. Congrats!

Grant Smith (BS 03) iukachieftain@yahoo.com tells us that he dislikes Ole Miss (duh!) where he is in pharmacy school. One more year to go then the real world awaits. Speaking of the real world, Grant is now married to Cindy and she is a nurse in Jackson. Fortunately, he has been spending the summer in Jackson at the medical center doing research on obesity and even has his name on a paper.

Stan Smith (BS 87) svsmith@pharmacology.umsmed.edu says he is still living the carefree bachelor life in Jackson trying to make tenure as an Assistant Professor in Pharmacology at the med school. His wild times include using all his spare time in the lab. Bob Koch taught him well!

Ann Smithson (former secretary) absbaking@yahoo.com and hubby John have been living in Chattanooga for over a year now and really like it. John's congregation is ¼ the size of the one in the big city of Starkville and he enjoys the difference. He's back to running long distances! Of course this is after knee surgery and with a brace. We think John's big Boss is trying to tell send him a message!

Hong Tan (MS 95) tan_hong@allergan.com and wife Jingzhen Yuan have been living in Los Angeles for a long time. He is now working at Allergan, Inc. making Botox. He claims it's for small molecule screening but we wonder if he is selling it on the side to those Hollywood types!

Yang Tan (BS 98) tanv@purdue.edu should be finishing his MS at Purdue around this time. Then he can seek gainful employment! On the other hand, it's not so bad being a student. You get told what to do and when to do it by higher authority, but they take care of you. Kind of like having a wife. (If I should run into foul play after my wife reads this, please don't suspect her.)

Heather Tanner (BS 05) heather_tanner514@yahoo.com is another of our Vandy contingent. She is working in neurology there. We wonder if our large group there is really singing at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge at night waiting to be discovered. (We served our time in Nashville so we know all the dives.)

Helga Vamenta (BS 06) helga.vamenta@gmail.com is gearing up for second year of medical school in Jackson. She spent four weeks this past summer in Iquitos, Peru, with Eva Clark. Eva was doing her malaria research and Helga did medical shadowing and practicing Spanish. Eva thinks Helga is a wimp because she didn't go into the Amazon jungle. Helga claims that she's not really outdoorsy anyway and didn't want to bring leishmaniasis back to Jackson.

Chad Waldrop (BS 04) cwaldrop@ikon.com is an account executive at Ikon in Tupelo where he'll be selling office equipment. His other big news is that he's engaged! Chad accuses us of spending all our retired time brewing beer and playing golf. We don't play golf. We include Chad's picture for promotional purposes.

Patricia Weathers (retired dept. business manager) pjweathers@bellsouth.net is enjoying her retired life and her grand kids. She and hubby Jerry are boating a lot the last we heard. They are big into fishing. But if you don't catch anything, you're disappointed. If you do catch something, you've got to clean it. Fish stores are much better.

Tammy Sullivan Weaver (BS 91) TWeaver1@sc.rr.com is currently living in Florence, SC and is using her deep knowledge of biochemistry selling real estate. At least you people anchored to the lab bench don't get commission checks! There is the possibility of a future move for her, hubby Rodney, and daughter Isabella to Cincinnati. Tammy has moved five times in the past years what's one more time.

Jessica Web (BS 02) msstatebulldog@hotmail.com is still dodging bullets with the Tenn. Bureau of Investigation in Memphis. They are still training her for DNA/Serology work and will be sending her to FL and CA for courses. We thought we taught her all there is to know. Jessica and her husband and celebrated their 2 year anniversary by having a baby! Not a better gift than that.

Mac Willson (BS 97) mac_willson@yahoo.com has been singing in bands and doing solo work for the past ten years but to quote Mac, "…met a great gal and we have a baby girl now." This has caused a reevaluation of the Bohemian lifestyle and Mac has now retreated to biochemistry. He's working in a peptide synthesis lab at Tulane Medical Center. But he can always sing in Jackson Square on weekends!

Bob Wilson (BS 81) bob.wilson@honeywell.com is down in Tiger land (Baton Rouge for those fortunate enough not to have heard of LSU) working for Honeywell. Bob was our first undergraduate student worker and we hope we didn't lead him too astray. Considering our current ages, he must have been six at the time because we could not have been older than ten.

Lifeng Zhang (Peng Post-doc) Lzhang@MEDNET.UCLA.EDU and his wife sent us a picture of their new baby girl Gianna born on June 22. They're still out west keeping alert for earthquakes.

SCHOLARSHIP

Even on our way out the door (actually well past the door), we have to remind you about the two Departmental scholarships and the fact they can always use more money. When you're feeling generous or have hit the lottery, go to <http://www.msufoundation.com/> to send the big (or even small) bucks. Be sure to tell them it's for Biochemistry!

STAY IN TOUCH

Alas, this is the last Boyle edited Newsletter. We hope some hardy Departmental soul will see the need to keep in contact with alumni (hint, hint). Charles Patterson has indicated a willingness to assist since he's now a university administrator and, by definition, has little to do. We might be able to work something out. In any case, you are still MY alumni and my friends. I know the bulk of you personally; I advised you; I know your foibles; and I have the pictures to prove it. You can't imagine how geeky you all look in freshmen photos! I've already bribed Stan Smith and Inga Schmidt-Krey with their pictures! Please keep me updated on significant (and trivial) events in your life.

Many thanks to Mary and especially Marie for the wonderful graduation party (that's what retirement is!) that I really didn't want but really enjoyed. Thanks to all that came and to all that signed the great picture for me (even if some of the pictures showed me with lots of hair and WAY too long sideburns). Especial thanks to you guys that sent nice letters and wonderful email compliments. I honestly hope that half of what you all said is true.

College teachers are blessed because we have the chance to impact so many great people near the beginnings of their real lives. I am truly honored to have had the chance to try to impact an unbelievable group of students. Many of you (likely most) had to work during college, for many, you were the first in your family to go to college. But you are a group that is second to none (a few of you are second or third - sorry can't resist!). You've made me PROUD! Keep up the great work!

The old email should still work:

E-mail: jab@ra.msstate.edu

But just in case MSU decides to cut me off, I've got a new one:

E-mail: johnaboylejr@gmail.com

Homepage: http://www.msstate.edu/dept/biochemistry/