Sexual and Reproductive Health in the Developing World
Using Computers to Explore the Universe
Cities in an Environmental Context
Fostering Innovations in Math and Science Teaching
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Al Dorof, Editor
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©2007
High Honor
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Susan Band Horwitz '58 |
Susan Band Horwitz '58, Distinguished Professor and co-chair of the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and the Falkenstein Professor of Cancer Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, was elected to the Institute of Medicine in October. According to IOM President Harvey V. Wineberg, "Members are elected through a highly selective process that recognizes people who have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care and public health. Election is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of medicine and health."
Horwitz is world-renowned for her pioneering work in elucidating the mechanisms of action of anti-tumor agents. Her pivotal research in the 1980s eventually led to the development of Taxol, one of the most important anti-cancer agents ever developed. In recent years, she has focused on the mechanisms of drug resistance, an increasingly serious problem in cancer treatment.
Horwitz was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences in 2005 and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1994. Her many honors and awards include the Cain Memorial Award of the American Association for Cancer Research in 1992, the ASPET Award for Experimental Therapeutics in 1994, the C. Chester Stock Award from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in 1996, the Barnard College Medal of Distinction in 2003, the New York City Mayor's Award for Excellence in Science & Technology in 2004 and the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize from Harvard Medical School in 2005. She was profiled in the July 2001 issue of Bryn Mawr S&T .
Double Honors
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Jennifer L. Hunt '93 |
Jennifer L. Hunt '93, head of the surgical pathology section of the Cleveland Clinic and associate professor of pathology at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, was appointed to the board of directors of the College of American Pathologists Foundation in October. She also received the CAPF Lansky Award in September, which honors pathologists who have demonstrated leadership and have made significant contributions in the field.
Hunt is the author of numerous professional articles and book chapters and has presented at numerous professional societies and institutions nationally and internationally. She serves on both the education committee and the abstract review board of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology. Her pathology practice specializes in head-and-neck and endocrine pathology as well as molecular anatomic pathology.
Radicalization Theories
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Clark R. McCauley |
Professor of Psychology Clark R. McCauley was awarded a two-year grant of $199,813 from the National Science Foundation to develop public opinion surveys that will test theories of political radicalization and the potential for radicalization.
As McCauley explains in his grant proposal, "Terrorists are the apex of a pyramid of supporters and sympathizers of anti-government activities, and the threat of terrorism can be measured in terms of expansions and contractions in the number of sympathizers and supporters in the base of the pyramid. Group-dynamics psychology posits that as threats from an out-group increase, in-group cohesion — with resulting increased support for in-group norms and values, and support for in-group leaders and increased sanctions directed at deviates from in-group norms — also increases. When external threats decline or are perceived to decline, in-group cohesion declines and radical groups emerge.
"Public opinions surveys can be used to gauge and track shifts in attitudes reflective of political radicalization. Thus, the longer-term goal of the proposed research is to develop a system of public opinion polling that tracks changes in the feelings, beliefs and behavioral tendencies — i.e., sympathy and support for terrorism — of groups. This in turn provides a data resource that can be used to further test existing theoretical developments regarding group-psychology dynamics."
McCauley's work on the psychology of terrorism was featured in the May 2004 issue of Bryn Mawr S&T.
Bioarchaeology of Conquest
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Melissa Scott Murphy |
Lecturer in Anthropology Melissa Scott Murphy received a $22,235 grant from the National Science Foundation to study the bio-cultural impact of the 16th-century Spanish conquest in Andean South America by examining human skeletal remains and mummies from a provincial Inca cemetery.
The Puruchuco-Huaquerones cemetery, located outside of Lima, Peru, contains more than 1,700 burials dating from 1450 to 1570. Since 1999, an international team of Peruvian and North American scholars have worked to excavate, study and conserve the burials from the site. Members of the Puruchuco-Huaquerones Archaeological Project have investigated population dynamics, ethnicity, diet, health and disease, growth and development, mortuary practices and other aspects of Inca social organization. With the help of Bryn Mawr undergraduates, Murphy will use the NSF grant to examine a subsample of burials to determine whether these individuals experienced epidemic diseases, warfare and social rupture of Spanish conquest.
"The inclusion of Bryn Mawr students will promote original undergraduate research and education in biological anthropology and contribute to a scientific foundation for careers in anthropology, biology and medicine," Murphy notes.