New Scientists Being Encouraged by Grant from Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Young scientists at 12 universities will have the change to study viral genetics beginning in the fall 2008 due to a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The grants are the first in a series in the Institute's newly created Science Education Alliance (SEA Program), which seeks to enhance the teaching of science and inspire new generations of scientists.

Twenty students at each selected institution will take part in a year-long study in phage (bacterial virus) genomics, gathering samples of viruses from local soil and sequencing the DNA and RNA from the phages, then working in concert with the other participating institutions in comparing their data and drawing conclusions.

The goal of the SEA Program is to immerse young scientists in true research at the outset of their education, rather than teach them using a standard cookbook, and giving them access to research tools usually reserved for PhD candidates. The funding will be spread over three years to each institution, and HHMI has committed $4 million to the effort over the next four years, with plans to add a dozen more institutions each year during that time.

Institutions were split evenly between smaller academic institutions and institutions with an intensive research focus, to give a broader perspective to the program. One of those recipient institutions was

"The grant is rather unique, in that they will be providing the training, reagents, and supplies to conduct the research," said Dr. Cynthia Bauerle, Professor and Chair of Spelman College's Biology Department in Atlanta, Georgia in a telephone interview.

"Spelman is unique in the education landscape as a small liberal arts college, teaching African American women. We're delighted that we were selected as the only historically black institution chosen." Twenty-four students will be participating in the program at Spelman. Latanya Hammonds-Odie, assistant professor of biology as well as Bauerle will be teaching the course. "We will be adding a faculty member (Charles Hardnett) from computer science in the spring, to develop the bioinformatics end of this."

"We've been seeking ways to engage more of our students in research and inquiry-directed learning experiences," said Kit J. Pogliano, a professor of biology at the University of California, San Diego, who will teach the phage genomics course with her husband and fellow faculty member, Joseph A. Pogliano..

"This sort of an experiment - having a big group of students doing research over the course of a year in a formalized lab course, rather than in individual faculty labs - is something we've thought about doing. But like many state schools, we just didn't have the finances to put together a big project like that ourselves. This was a great way to jump-start the process," Pogliano said.

The full list of institutions participating in the first phase of the program are:

The institutions that will participate in the SEA phage genomics research initiative in academic year 2008-2009 are:

Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, Virginia

Hope College
Holland, Michigan

James Madison University
Harrisonburg, Virginia

OregonState University
Corvallis, Oregon

Spelman College
Atlanta, Georgia

University of California, San Diego
San Diego, California

University of California, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California

University of Louisiana at Monroe
Monroe, Louisiana

University of Mary Washington
Fredericksburg, Virginia

University of Maryland-Baltimore County
Baltimore, Maryland

Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri