We’d like to hear from you! Share your recent accomplishments to be added to "class notes" in the next BioNews issue.
In the meantime, check out what your fellow alums have been doing.
1960s
In April 2018, Edwin C. Marshall, BA ’68 Zoology, BS ’70 Optometry, OD ’71, MS ’79 Physiological Optics, was recognized as a 50-year service award honoree by the Indiana Optometric Association during the organization’s annual awards luncheon. Marshall, who lives in Bloomington, Ind., received the Indiana Optometric Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. He is former IU vice president for diversity, equity, and multicultural affairs and a longtime faculty member in the IU School of Optometry.
Donald E. Robbins, BA ’68 Zoology, BS ’69 Optometry, OD ’71, received a 50-year service award from the Indiana Optometric Association during the organization’s annual awards luncheon in April 2018. Robbins is an optometrist in Shelbyville, Ind., where he lives.
1970s
“I recently retired after working as a speech pathologist in the Los Angeles area for the past 35 years,” writes Charles F. Becker, BA ’72 Biological Sciences. He adds, “Since retiring, I have had a book of poems and drawings published by World Stage Press, based in Los Angeles. The name of my book is Friends My Poems Gave Me. I am currently working on another book of poems.” Becker lives in West Hollywood, Calif.
In June 2018, the International Federation for Emergency Medicine presented Gary M. Gaddis, BA ’79 Biological Sciences, PhD ’84 Physiology, MD ’86, with the Order of the IFEM at the organization’s 2018 International Congress in Mexico City. The award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated an extensive and continuous commitment to emergency medicine in their own country and has made significant contributions to supporting its development. Gaddis is professor of emergency medicine in the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. He lives in St. Louis.
David H. Goldsmith, BA ’78 Biological Sciences, writes that he is a beverage host for Community Meals Inc., in Traverse City, Mich. He adds that his son, Alexander, married Heidi Nicholas in Traverse City in October 2017.
In October 2017, Mark A. Malangoni, BA ’71 Zoology, MD’75, was inducted into the Cleveland MetroHealth System Medical Hall of Honor for his contributions to MetroHealth and the practice of medicine. Malangoni, a national leader in the care of trauma and surgical infections, joined MetroHealth in 1990, helping to build the hospital’s trauma center and planning the hospital’s present operating room suite. Malangoni left MetroHealth in 2011 after 21 years as chair of the surgery department to became associate executive director of the American Board of Surgery based in Philadelphia. He also is an adjunct professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He lives in Bryn Mawr, PA.
In September, Archway Publishing, a division of Simon and Schuster, published A Surgeon’s Odyssey, the second book by Richard M. Moss, BA ’77 Biological Sciences, MD ’81. In the book, Moss recounts his journey from being a young doctor to his role as a cancer surgeon working in Thailand, Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. Moss is a head and neck surgeon in Jasper, Ind., where he’s lived with his wife, Supit, and their four children for more than 25 years.
Research Associate Kathy A. (Barnes) Sheehan, BA ’77 Biological Sciences, retired in April after 42 years at the bench, 27 of those years spent here in IU Biology. Kathy is an author/co-author of 32 scientific publications, is the primary author of a book published in 2005 describing the microbial life in thermal areas of Yellowstone National Park, and she holds a patent for the use of endophytic fungi to treat plants.
While employed in the Department of Biology at IU, Kathy studied Drosophila in the laboratories of Rollin Richmond, Bill Saxton, Irene Newton, and Jason Tennessen. During her 15 years living in the Western U.S., Kathy spent 10 years in Bozeman, MT, conducting microbiology and fungal genetics research at Montana State University and at the Thermal Biology Institute where she performed many seasons of environmental biology field research to describe eukaryotic hot spring communities in Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. She also taught a summer thermal biology field course in Yellowstone. In Colorado, she worked for 5 years in the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Department at the University of Colorado Boulder with fly geneticist Bob Boswell.
An avid quilter, Sheehan received an honorable mention at the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show, March 2019, for an entry she designed, Silk Snippets, done in glorious shades of teals, blues, and purples. Now that she is retired, Sheehan will have more time for quilting, traveling, and spoiling her granddaughter, Sagan. She is married to Mark C. Sheehan, BA ’70 Plant Sciences, MA ’72 Plant Sciences, PhD ’79 Biology, who works part time during his retirement as a forest technician and field biology specialist here in the department.
Beth (Payne) Ullom, P.G., BA ’73 Biological Sciences, worked nine years in the medical field and in biological research after graduating from IU. She obtained a B.S. in Geosciences (cum laude, geophysics option) from the University of Texas at Dallas, completed one year of graduate studies at UT Dallas, and finished her MS in Geology (specializing in geophysics) at Kent State University, where she was selected as an outstanding geology graduate student at the master’s level during the year of her graduation. She uses all of her degrees in her current role as an environmental consultant.
Ullom is the due diligence lead for Enercon Services, Inc., in Pittsburgh, PA. She has been affiliated with Enercon and associated companies for almost eight years. Ullom is a registered professional geologist in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. An expert in environmental compliance issues, she has managed staffs of professionals performing a variety of environmental assessment and remediation activities for many years. Over the course of a 30-year career with several different companies, Ullom has supervised and reported results of a large number of Phase I through complex Phase II environmental site assessments, geophysical site characterizations, geological site characterizations and hydrogeologic site assessments, geotechnical drilling, wetland determination and delineation, and environmental remediation projects, and has served as an expert witness about many of the same issues. She has also performed geological and geophysical consulting to oil and gas companies throughout her career and currently provides technical support to a number of major oil and gas clients of Enercon on issues ranging from spill prevention, stormwater discharge, waste disposal, and water quality issues related to surface water, groundwater, and wetlands. She regularly interfaces with regulatory agencies at the federal, state, and local level.
1980s
In June 2018, Louis M. Profeta, BS ’86 Biology, MD’90, delivered the baccalaureate address at his alma mater high school, North Central High School in Indianapolis. He recounted how he received a prize in kindergarten for painting Play-Doh black at a science fair but received Fs in high school chemistry and algebra, as well as Cs, and a couple of Ds in other subjects, adding “If I had to apply to college today at Indiana University, I would not get in.” Profeta had planned to be a star athlete in college, but he broke his neck in a fall, and was hospitalized for weeks. He now spends most of his time in the hospital, but as an ER doctor at Saint Vincent Hospital of Indianapolis.
2000s
Cynthia Fierro Giesecke, BA ’01 Biology, of Alexandria Va., received the 2017 Margaret Vinson Hallgren Award from the National Military Family Association. The award, established in 1990, recognizes the contributions to NMFA by a volunteer or board of governors member. Giesecke joined the NMFA Volunteer Corps in January 2007 and is a dedicated member who, in the past year, has logged more than 480 hours of volunteer work and has worked on many unique volunteer projects at NMFA’s headquarters in Alexandria.
In April 2018, Jennifer Moses Kohn, BS ’04 Biology, OD ’08, was named the Indiana Optometric Association’s 2018 Young Optometrist of the Year. The award, also called the President’s Citation, is presented to an IOA member licensed 10 years or less who has demonstrated not only contributions to the profession, but also in service for the benefit of the visual welfare of the public and service to the community at large. Kohn practices at Moses Eye Care Center in Merrillville, Ind., and lives in Chicago.
Maurine B. Neiman, PhD ’04 Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, returned to the Bloomington campus to give a talk on March 22 via our EEB Seminar Series, entitled “Sex in the Wild (and especially in New Zealand).” Nieman is an associate professor in the Department of Biology and the Department of Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Iowa. Her research focuses on the evolutionary maintenance of sex in natural populations using the New Zealand freshwater snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum as her research model.
Jennifer A. Raff, BA ’01 Anthropology, Biology; MA ’08 Anthropology; PhD ’08 MCDB, Anthropology, is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Kansas. She recently signed a major book contract with publisher Twelve Books, a division of Hachette, to write a genetic history of the Americas for the general public. Raff, who is keenly interested in improving public science literacy, blogs for Forbes. An avid martial artist and former Golden Gloves boxer, she lives in Lawrence with husband, Kenneth “Colin” McRoberts, their young son, nicknamed “Ox” (thanks to his first and middle initials), and the family dog, Alu.
Jan Lee Santos, MA ’04 Microbiology, reports that a lot has happened since his time at IU, where he was a James P. Holland Fellow from 2001-2002. He earned his MD from Ross University School of Medicine, doing clinical rotations in the Caribbean, U.S., and U.K. Santos earned a Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, followed by administrative internships and fellowships at UNC School of Medicine, Durham VA Medical Center, and Piedmont Health Services (PHS). He currently is the Clinical Services Trainer for PHS in Chapel Hill, NC. His primary duties include training and certification of all clinical staff and development of in-house training, certification, educational, and professional development programs. Santos enjoys teaching third- and fourth-year UNC medical students healthcare improvement methodologies, data analytics, and serving as their primary mentor on their quality and process improvement projects, overseeing 30 students per year. In addition to his position at PHS, he is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the UNC School of Medicine, an adjunct professor of Healthcare Management at Campbell University School of Business and at Wake Technical Community College’s Department of Life Sciences. Santos hopes to visit IU again one day.
2010s
Alexandra Ambrico, BA ’14 Biology, joined Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory after graduation where she co-authored three papers that appeared in Science, Cell Reports, and Journal of Cell Biology. Her main project “Targeting neutrophil extracellular traps in Rapid CaP model to prevent chronic inflammation from inducing metastatic cancer recurrence” utilized her mouse modeling skills with understanding cancer metastasis and dormancy.
While at Cold Spring Laboratory, Ambrico co-founded CSHL Women in Science and Engineering, a network of scientists working to build a more supportive, collaborative, and equal scientific community for all. She was vice president of the group from 2015 to 2018. Ambrico led an Outreach & Education team of more than 11 members to create events for young girls and underrepresented minorities in STEM. In collaboration with the DNA Learning Center, she spearheaded WiSE Fun with DNA, the first science summer camp for girls on Long Island, NY, which is now an annual event. Other events she designed included a Science Café Initiative with schools across Long Island, Brain Day with the Girl Scouts, "Get WiSE about Neuroscience & Cancer" at the DNALC to allow parents and their children to learn about science through experiments and a panel discussion. Ambrico also worked with A Mighty Lass and Girls Inc. to plan STEM events.
She co-wrote a grant to launch an innovative program to help researchers balance their responsibilities as scientists and parents, allowing allocation of childcare grants to CSHL scientists presenting their work at off-site conferences, as well as scientists from around the world attending the CSHL Meetings & Courses program. Ambrico also co-wrote a $20,000 grant that WiSE was awarded from the Patrina Foundation and CSHL to support the group’s mission. She fostered relationships with faculty, postdocs, students, and research technicians to grow the CSHL WiSE network to almost 100 members. Ambrico participated in professional development workshops and networking with local WiSE groups and scientists, co-developed the McClintock Lectures to ensure diversity in the selection of speakers for the Thursday CSHL Seminar Series, and attended an Alan Alda Women in STEM Pilot Science Communication workshop.
Ambrico interned with the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation where she designed, organized, and ran all of their social media platforms and worked on their #ResearchSavedMe Campaign. Currently, she works as the Special Projects Manager for the International Biomedical Research Alliance, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization comprised of a group of dedicated private citizens with the shared aim of training a new generation of top biomedical researchers. She works collaboratively with the NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program. Her most recent venture with the Alliance has been creating an alumni database and encouraging science education by visiting colleges, such as Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn. Ambrico plans to expand and encourage diversity in STEM by visiting Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Predominantly Black Institutions, and Tribal Colleges, as well as numerous universities across the United States. She is looking forward to visiting Oxford University this summer and attending SACNAS in the fall!
In her free time, Ambrico loves to travel the world, read, and share her passion for science with the public. She also enjoys baking, especially with chocolate, working out at SLT, and is obsessed with fashion.
Shawn Gompa, BS ’17 Psychology, Biology, and Neuroscience, moved to Michigan after graduation. He is an analyst for the Michigan WIC program, a supplemental nutrition assistance and nutrition education program for pregnant women and children up to the age of five. Gompa cites data that shows families enrolled in the program have greatly improved health outcomes in terms of diabetes, obesity, anemia, etc. He spends every workday doing his best to work towards health equity. When he is not at work, he enjoys spending time in nature and reading up on the latest science. Gompa says it is great to have a job that is meaningful and provides work life balance.
Katherine A. Shortt, BS ’11 Biology, graduated with a PhD in Cell Biology and Bioinformatics from the University of Missouri–Kansas City in 2018. She currently works as a bioinformatics scientist for Intermountain Healthcare (Salt Lake City, UT). Shortt married John Ramsey (IU '11, Informatics) last December.
“I just completed my intern year and now starting my first year of diagnostic radiology residency at the University of Minnesota,” writes Nicole C. Sztuk, BS ’11 Biology, MS ’12 Biology, of Minneapolis.
The College of Arts