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Eye on CDI
The Committee on Diversity Initiatives (CDI) is pleased to spotlight
the following outstanding toxicologists. Selected from a national applicant
pool to attend the Undergraduate Education Program at one of the past
SOT Annual Meetings, these scientists share more about their lives since
their introduction to toxicology at SOT.
| Antonio Baines | Tenea
Nelson | Jennifer Rayner | Vanessa
Silva |
Other participants in the SOT Undergraduate Education Program are encouraged
to touch base with Betty Eidemiller
at SOT Headquarters to share your career path.
Featured in the 2006 Spring Communiqué
Eye on CDI
Over the past decades the annual SOT Undergraduate Education Program,
organized by the Committee on Diversity Initiatives, has had a meaningful
impact on the careers of many members of our Society. Dr. Tenea
Nelson is a great example of an individual who took advantage
of this Program and continues to contribute to its success.
Name: Dr. Tenea M. Nelson
CDI Undergraduate Education Program for Minority Students Honoree:
1998
Education/Experience:
BS in Chemistry, Mary Baldwin College, Program for the Exceptionally Gifted
MS in Toxicology, University of Rochester
Ph.D. in Toxicology, University
of Rochester
Associate Scientist, Genentech, Inc.
Research Scientist,
Gilead Sciences, Inc.
Married to Zonda Nelson, Jr. and step-mom to Davyen, age 12.
During her sophomore year of college, at age 15, Tenea Watson decided
upon Chemistry major. Through the recommendation of her advisor, Dr. Elizabeth
Hairfield, Tenea applied to several summer internships and was
accepted to work in a molecular biology laboratory under the tutelage
of Janet DiPasquale at the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA). After two summers at the USDA determining the genetic similarities
between viral isolates from cucumber plants, Tenea recognized graduate
school as the next step to achieve her educational and professional goals.
Tenea decided to pursue a Ph.D. in Toxicology after Dr. Hairfield gave
her the SOT book The
Resource Guide to Careers in Toxicology (now on-line). She also had
candid conversations with her mother, Aremita Watson, who described her
own experiences as an African American female in the sciences.
Tenea then applied to and was invited to attend the 1998 SOT-SCMI Undergraduate
Education Program for Minority Students in Seattle, Washington, which
confirmed her desire to pursue a Ph.D. in toxicology. As a direct result
of this program, Tenea participated in yet another summer internship in
the genetic toxicology lab of Warren Ku at Pfizer, studying
the induction of cytochrome P450 isoforms by candidate pharmaceuticals.
A few weeks later Tenea enrolled in the Toxicology Training Program at
the University of Rochester. During her time in graduate school, she studied
the immunomodulatory effects of Clara Cell Secretory Protein under Drs.
Barry Stripp and Jacob Finkelstein.
She was able to network at the SOT Annual Meetings and meet her future
manager, who offered her an associate scientist position in the Safety
Assessment Department at Genentech. Tenea evaluated the safety of candidate
pharmaceuticals to combat cancer and autoimmune disease while employed
there. Continuing on the path of drug development, Tenea is currently
a toxicologist at Gilead Sciences, in Foster City, CA, where she evaluates
the safety of pharmaceuticals for the treatment and management of HIV/AIDS.
During school, Tenea was regularly involved in the student recruitment
efforts and in affinity groups for underrepresented minorities. At Gententech
she was a co-chair of African Americans in Biotechnology. She continues
to give back to the community through science education and health awareness.
Dr. Nelson encourages underrepresented minorities in the sciences to find
a mentor to help them navigate the nuances of higher education and careers.
Featured in the 2006 Special Issue Communiqué
Eye on CDI
Name: Jennifer L. Rayner
Current Position: Pre-Doctoral
candidate in the Department of Environmental Sciences & Engineering
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Committee on Diversity Initiatives (CDI) Undergraduate Education
Program for Minority Students Honoree: 2001
Education: 2001: BS in Biology, BS in Environmental Science, North Carolina
Central University 2001-Present: Doctoral Student in Environmental Health
Since her Anatomy and Physiology class at the North Carolina School of
Science and Mathematics, Jennifer has known that she would eventually
go into the field of science. During the semester-long cat dissection,
her interests were piqued in learning how all the little parts come together
to create the big picture. This led her to actively pursue research during
her undergraduate years at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). The
summer before her freshman year in 1997, she participated in the Research
Engineering and Apprenticeship Program in the laboratory of Dr.
Goldie Byrd at NCCU. She learned molecular biology techniques
using Enterobacter agglomerans and Bdellovibrio St. Johns bacterial strains
and gained the skills necessary for conducting sound research. During
that summer, she also became interested in environmental issues and how
they relate to humans, and she decided to major in both biology and environmental
science under Dr. Yolanda Banks Anderson.
In addition to classes, Jennifer continued to work in Dr. Byrd’s
laboratory and was able to present her work in poster format at the National
Minority Research Symposium (NMRS) in New Orleans, Louisiana. The following
summer, Jennifer worked in Dr. Jonathan Ladapo’s laboratory
(NCCU) purifying and characterizing microorganisms from a recreational
lake.
She presented a poster of this work at the 1998 NMRS meeting in New York
City. The summer of 1999 found Jennifer in Massachusetts in the MIT Summer
Research Program. While there she worked with Dr. Leila Bradley
under Dr. Hazel Sive at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical
Research to examine morphological changes in Xenopus laevis injected with
Xfrb RNA and Xwnt8 RNA and DNA. That experience showed her how to combine
her previous biological research with environmental science and led her
to consider the effects of environmental pollutants on embryonic development.
Jennifer was able to give a seminar in Cambridge and a poster presentation
(NMRS, 1999) of her work.
The next summer she participated in the Summer Pre-Graduate Research
Experience Program (SPGRE) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill (UNC-CH) in Dr. Marc Peifer’s laboratory.
There she used Drosophila melanogaster as a model to study the effects
of the tumor suppressor adenomatous polyposis coli on muscle and nervous
system development in embryos. Through her SPGRE mentor, Dr. LaMont
Bryant, Jennifer was able to talk to faculty at UNC as well as
the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where LaMont was conducting
his doctoral research. These discussions led to Jennifer volunteering
the final semester of her senior year at the EPA with Dr. Suzanne
Fenton. Jennifer was selected during this time to participate
in the SCMI Undergraduate Education Program for Minority Students. This
program was crucial to influencing Jennifer’s goals as she entered
graduate school at UNC-CH. Once again, and with permission of her graduate
advisor Dr. Louise Ball, Jennifer began research the
summer before starting classes. She chose to remain at the EPA working
with Dr. Fenton on examining how atrazine, a widely used herbicide, affects
mammary gland development in offspring exposed during gestation. In 2002,
Jennifer presented her work at the North Carolina SOT and Triangle Consortium
for Reproductive Biology. She was also asked to serve as a Peer Mentor
for the Undergraduate Education Program for Minority Students at the SOT
Annual Meeting and gladly accepted.
Since 2002 Jennifer has served as a Peer Mentor for the program and has
loved being able to share her experiences with the students. She has also
continued to present her work at the Annual Meeting. Through working with
the program, Jennifer has made many contacts, one of whom, Charles
Azuka, introduced her to the summer intern program at The Proctor
& Gamble Company. She participated during the summer of 2005 and worked
in the laboratory of George Daston and Jorge
Naciff. The summer program, in addition to doing research using
in vitro techniques, introduced her to an area of toxicological work different
from what she had experienced in academia and government. Jennifer is
currently finishing her dissertation for her May 2006 graduation and looking
to extend her interests in the field of reproductive and developmental
toxicology.
Featured in the 2005 Summer/Fall Communiqué
Eye on CDI
Name: Dr. Antonio T. Baines
Current Position: SPIRE Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill
SCMI Undergraduate Education Program for Minority Students Honoree:
1993
Education:
1995 B.S. in Biology, Norfolk State University
2001 Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Arizona
2001- present Post-Doctoral Fellowship, University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill
Science was always one area of study that Antonio Baines
enjoyed and excelled in throughout high school. It was this love for science
that led him to major in biology as an honors student at Norfolk State
University in 1991. Ultimately, this path would lead him to pursue an
education that focused on toxicology. Dr. Baines’ first experience
with toxicology occurred in his sophomore year of college. One day a senior
biology professor asked him if he would be interested in attending an
Annual Society of Toxicology (SOT) Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Dr. Baines accepted the invitation and successfully applied for a Minority
Travel Award from SOT. Two important events occurred at this meeting that
significantly influenced Dr. Baines’ decision to work towards a
scientific career. First, he was paired with Ed Sargent,
an experienced toxicologist who worked for the pharmaceutical company
Merck. Dr. Sargent was responsible for taking Dr. Baines “under
his wing” at the conference. He demonstrated how to evaluate posters
and ask the right types of questions to researchers. This was an eye-opening
experience for Dr. Baines that has stayed with him even to this day. Secondly,
he was awarded the opportunity to meet Dwayne Hill, one
of the minority speakers of the Educational Program at SOT who spoke about
his research. At this time, Dr. Hill was a senior-level graduate student
at the University of Arizona (U of AZ) and worked in the laboratory of
I. Glenn Sipes, a former department chair of pharmacology
and toxicology and a former President of SOT. This meeting resulted in
the opportunity to conduct research in toxicology for 2 summers in Dr.
Sipes’ lab as an undergraduate student. These two summer research
experiences led to an authorship on two publications and a research poster
that Dr. Baines presented at the 1995 SOT meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
In the fall of 1995, Dr. Baines entered the graduate program in pharmacology
and toxicology at the U of AZ and worked in the laboratory of Dr. Mark
A. Nelson. His dissertation research focusing on the mechanism of action
of the anticancer effects of selenomethionine (organic derivative of selenium)
was presented at several national SOT meetings and a regional Mountain
West SOT meeting. While in graduate school, Dr. Baines participated in
different capacities for SOT as a guest speaker for the Undergraduate
Education program and as a peer mentor. After receiving his Ph.D. in May
2001, becoming the second African-American to graduate with a doctorate
from the pharmacology and toxicology graduate program at the U of AZ,
Dr. Baines entered a teaching/research post-doctoral fellowship program
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Departments
of Pharmacology and Radiation Oncology. Currently, his research focuses
on trying to find novel molecular targets for potential treatments of
pancreatic cancer. Dr. Baines continues to work with the Educational program
of SOT from time to time. Recently, Dr. Baines served as a guest speaker
at the 2005 SOT meeting where he discussed “Mentoring Diverse Undergraduates”
with professors and administrators. His career goal is to become a faculty
member at an undergraduate institution where he can teach and get students
involved and excited about cancer research.
Featured in the 2005 Spring Communiqué
Eye on SCMI Success
Since 1989, the annual SOT Undergraduate Education Program for Minority
Students, sponsored by the Education Subcommittee for Minority Initiatives
(SCMI) has had a meaningful impact on the careers of many members of our
Society. Vanessa M. Silva is a great example of an individual
who took advantage of this program and continues to contribute to its
success.
Name: Vanessa M. Silva
Current Position: Toxicologist at Procter and Gamble
SCMI Undergraduate Education Program for Minority Students Honoree:
1995
Education:
1996: B.S., Pharmacy, University of Puerto Rico School of Pharmacy
2002: Ph.D., Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Connecticut
2002-2004: Post-Doctorate Position, University of Rochester
2004: Procter and Gamble
Married to Dr. Daniel Conde and proud mother of Christian, 6, and Nicholas,
2.
While obtaining her B.S. in Pharmacy at the University of Puerto Rico
School of Pharmacy, Dr. Silva knew that she wanted to attend graduate
school. In order to strengthen her graduate application, she understood
that research experience was necessary. In 1994, she joined Braulio
Jimenez’s toxicology laboratory at the University of Puerto
Rico, School of Pharmacy. Dr. Jimenez quickly noticed Dr. Silva’s
potential as a scientist and encouraged her to apply for research internships
and awards. In 1995 Dr. Silva had the honor of being selected to participate
in the 1995 SOT-SCMI Undergraduate Education Program for Minority Students
Program in Baltimore, Maryland. This program turned out to be a crucial
experience in Dr. Silva’s professional career as it was there that
she met her Ph.D. advisor, Jose Manautou and discovered
the many opportunities that toxicology has to offer. After working in
Dr. Manautou’s laboratory at the University of Connecticut that
summer, she was able to write her first abstract for the 1996 SOT in Anaheim,
California and subsequently joined the University of Connecticut Graduate
Program in 1997. From 1998–2002, she wrote other abstracts focusing
on her graduate research: the effects of organic anion in acetaminophen
hepatotoxicity. While in graduate school, Dr. Silva took on a different
role within the SCMI Program by participating as a peer mentor to other
minority undergraduates selected under the same Program she once attended.
After receiving her Ph.D. in October 2002, she started her post-doctoral
appointment in November 2002, and in July 2003, she received a U.S. EPA
pilot project grant to conduct studies on the effects of ultrafine particles
in the cardiovascular system. Through these years she continued to participate
as a peer mentor and subsequently as a host or well-established toxicologist.
As a peer mentor and host in this program, she has been able to encourage
many other minorities like herself to pursue graduate studies. In addition,
Dr. Silva adds a unique perspective as she is able to share her own personal
experiences as an undergraduate student honoree of SCMI, a graduate student
and peer mentor of SCMI, and as a newly established toxicologist in the
consumer product industry. In her position she is in charge of assessing
the safety of raw ingredients in feminine hygiene products as well as
safety for new products.
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