About Us | Press Releases | 2007 | September 40

THE BIO IT COALITION ANNOUNCES SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM TO HONOR STUDENTS IN BIOSCIENCE AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

The BIO IT Coalition has announced a new initiative to honor students in fields at the intersection of life science and information technology by offering small cash scholarships in addition to complimentary admission to its annual conference.  This up-and-coming scholarship program is part of an effort to encourage scholarly research and build the Bio/IT workforce in the region.

The BIO IT Coalition currently honors students by inviting them to display their project abstracts and share their accomplishments with scientists, technologists, educators and other experts in attendance at its annual conference.  To coincide with the 2008 conference, the Coalition is seeking to establish a grant program in which students will receive monetary scholarships in addition to the formal recognition and networking opportunities.

"Part of our mission is to support the efforts of schools and universities that deal with the convergence of bioscience and information technology," said Eileen Mandell, program chair.  "We want to give students in these programs an extra opportunity to shine by offering some financial assistance to support their hard work and dedicated research."

Scholarship recipients for 2007, Avigile Baehr, John Carpenter, Maria Lee and Julia Scheerer, represent diverse levels of education, a broad range of pursuits and their academic work aligns with the BIO IT Coalition's aim to improve the future of healthcare.  Each attended the BIO IT Coalition's 6th Annual Conference, "The State of Healthcare and Medical Technology in 2020," on April 17, 2007.

Avigile Baehr, a recent graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, has pursued the sciences through school courses ranging from DNA Science to Biology of the Arts and extracurricular activities including joining an oceanography team and participating in the science fair.  In 2006, Baehr conducted research exploring the role of Wnt family genes in vertebrate cardiogenesis at the Weizmann Institute in Israel.  She plans to continue her study of biological sciences in the pre-med program at Vanderbilt University, where she has already received a full scholarship.

John Carpenter, a Masters of Science in Biotechnology from American University, graduated from Elon University in 2004 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and has worked in researching coliphages with North Carolina State University.  Currently, he is investigating lung cancer causes and trying to visualize them to form adaptive models which can be used for any state to predict cancer rates.  Mr. Carpenter is a member of the Tri-beta biological honor society and a member of the BIO IT Coalition in Washington, DC.

Maria Lee, MD, is a project manager at the Marymount University School of Business Administration.  She is working on her MBA from Marymount, and has an MD from St. Petersburg State Medical University in Russia.  Her goal is to find a field where she can combine medicine and management in order to obtain a managerial position in the healthcare industry.

Julia Scheerer, Ph.D., is a student in the Bioscience Management Master of Science program at George Mason University.  She has a doctoral degree in molecular genetics and microbiology from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Science in immunology from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Her goal is to make the transition from conducting medical research to participating in the application of such research in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.  Her current program has been helpful to her new employment in contract work with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, in a government program for the development of vaccines and therapeutics against biological warfare agents.

Each of these accomplished students will enrich and broaden the Bio/IT industry as they continue their work, and the BIO IT Coalition looks forward to maintaining a working relationship with each of them in the future.

The next annual conference will be held April 23, 2008.  University and high school students in related programs are encouraged to submit nominations for this year's scholarship program beginning in August.  More information will be soon be available at the BIO IT Coalition's Web site, www.bioitcoalition.org.  Businesses and other organizations interested in making a cash donation for the scholarship program should contact Eileen Mandell by calling 220-202-1402 or sending an e-mail to mandelle@bioitcoalition.org.

The BIO IT Coalition bridges the life sciences and information technology industries to promote the growth of the Bio IT industry through interactive, content driven programs which highlight innovation, investment, education, collaboration and partnership.  This industry expansion will result in faster development and delivery of new therapies and diagnostics, better patient care, and other life science related technologies, goods and services.