Friday, May 3, 2013

Faculty Highlight- Dr. Rosemarie Booze


After interviewing Dr. Rose Booze in December, the thought of cleanly and clearly describing all of her accomplishments and interesting background was daunting. On paper and in person she conveys a history of passion and success in studying neurodevelopmental disorders, and it is exciting to get to share some of that history here.
Dr. Booze described gaining her initial biological perspective, scientific curiosity, and general grit while growing up in rural Oregon on a sheep farm. She went to a 200-child, 2-room school house from kindergarten to 8th grade, and sold cows to pay for her undergraduate education at Oregon State University. As a burgeoning young scientist, she worked for Libby’s, a cannery where she ran the machine that mixed the peas and carrots. Of this she said “I know there’s cans out there that had only peas and only carrots!”… I’m sure the consumers of her unexpectedly monochrome cans of food would think their sacrifice in preserving her mental energies was worth it.

From OSU, Dr. Booze obtained a dual degree in zoology and psychology, and then went to work for a lab for the Environmental Protection Agency in Corvalis. This work experience first sparked her conscious interest in science, and specifically in toxicology and the effects of pesticides. About this she said, “Well I always loved the brain, and so then I asked ‘what do I do?’” Her trusted mentors suggested that she pursue the study of neurotoxicology; she applied to graduate school and got into a number of programs, but ended up taking a less traditional path to admission whereby Johns Hopkins University actually pursued her and requested that she apply and accept their admission offer to their Neurobiology program [she did]. Interesting side-note: She had never been to the east coast before and intended to visit the campus before accepting the offer, but Mount St. Helens erupted and foiled those plans! Thus, Dr. Booze moved from Corvalis, Oregon to inner city Baltimore without ever having met the people or city she was to work with. If you’re wondering when Dr. Charlie Mactutus factors in, this is it. She met Charlie on her first day of graduate school when he came in to talk to the graduate students as a post doctoral fellow. “I thought who is this guy? I don’t understand a word he’s saying... he was a New Yorker and he talked really fast and was talking about an unfamiliar area… he was talking about neurochemistry…”

During graduate school, Dr. Booze worked with David Olton, a scientist who was so influential that the Johns Hopkins program in behavioral biology is named for him (http://krieger.jhu.edu/behavioralbiology/about/). Dr. Olton invented the radial arm maze for rats, which I have not had the pleasure of using but hear is very important. Dr. Booze said that she really enjoyed graduate school, and this was certainly evident by the way that she talked about it. She then went on to do her post doctoral fellowship at Duke University in Neuropharmacology and published the first paper that mapped the receptors of the neuroadrenergic part of the brain, as well as 6 more papers after that (and in the middle of all of this she married Charlie). She then accepted her first faculty position at Wake Forest University as an Assistant Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology, and in 1991 she went to the University of Kentucky where she rose through the ranks to Full Professor, and had her two sons with Charlie.

The Booze-Mactutus family moved to Columbia in 2002 (and I’m pretty sure I heard them talking about boxes that they still hadn’t unpacked as recently as 2010) to accept positions in, you guessed it, the Department of Psychology. She also holds an adjunct appointment as Professor of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neuroscience in the USC School of Medicine, and served as the interim Vice President for Research for a few years around 2010, after initially serving as Associate Vice President of Research. She reported these dual roles to be “very intense”, include a lot of administrative work, and provide a broad perspective of science and other fields of study. Dr. Booze eventually switched back to focusing solely on her own program of research, and of this she said, “At some point you have to choose between wanting to continue your own program of research and administrative roles.” Since I am always interested in life lessons from those who’ve “gone before”, I asked Rose if she had any particularly important piece of advice for students, to which she said “Persistence, you have to be flexible… and you have to be good at managing stress!” Dr. Booze sets an example in this realm by making sure that she stays active through yoga classes, running, and strength training, to keep the pressures of academia at bay. I must note here that she always seems happy and excited about her work, always, and so it seems that she has surely solved this part of the life's puzzle.  

Currently Dr. Booze is collaborating with Dr. Mactutus on a grant from the National Institutes of Health (R01) that investigates relations among phytoestrogens and attention. She is also collaborating with faculty throughout the University to understand potential developmental trajectories of obesity by studying MCR4 knock-out mice (and these animals are very impressive, and very expensive transgenic feats of science). She will get to present some data from her work on phytoestrogens in Ireland this summer, and her lab’s recent trip to Puerto Rico is making my next conference in Atlanta seem a little pale!

Dr. Booze can be contacted through the Department of Psychology at the University of South Carolina, and the time that she took to talk with the PGSA is greatly appreciated! http://www.psych.sc.edu/faculty/Rosemarie_Booze

Monday, April 15, 2013

Nickelodeon Theater - Psychology Profs Teach Science from the Screen


https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=fc32ab7026&view=att&th=13e0dec214902a3c&attid=0.1&disp=inline&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P84Y7N8SG4eB3oKkWh-iN0F&sadet=1366034267871&sads=ZksDYm8V-AGPcVLcr84MpYUTtkADrs. Jane Roberts and Steven Harrod are  translating their skills from the lab and university to the big screen by accepting invitations to participate in the Science on Screen program at the Nick. The Nickelodeon Theatre is South Carolina's oh-so-wonderful non-profit cinema (since 1979), located on the 1600 block of Main St. in what was the historic Fox Theater.


Taken from the Nick's website... 

Science on Screen is the Nickelodeon Theatre's new Community Film Forum series. Each month the series pairs a scientist with a classic film which relates to his/her field of study. Before each screening, a scientist will present on their work and how it is portrayed in the film. This fun series aims to provide new insights into the movies, and give new insight into the science behind them. We are partnering with the University of South Carolina's College of Arts & Sciences to bring you this series. Science on Screen is an initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre with major support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

In February Dr. Jane Roberts selected and introduced the movie Gattaca with a quick education on phenotypes and genotypes, and followed it's credits with a discussion on themes around perceptions of genetic determinism and the fantastic symbolism in the movie... there is no gene for the human spirit, right?

This June, Dr. Steven Harrod will present The Man with the Golden Arm (June 10th).

Here is a complete list of showings, both past and future (from http://www.nickelodeon.org/programs/index.php?programID=86):

1/28 - The Birds paired with Loren W. Knapp, PhD - Associate Professor Department of Biological Sciences and Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Student Affairs, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences, University of South Carolina

2/18 - Gattaca paired with Jane E. Roberts, PhD - Jane E. Roberts, PhD. Associate Professor Department of Psychology, College of Arts & Sciences, University of South Carolina

3/25 - The Perfect Storm paired with Claudia Benitez-Nelson, PhD - Director, Marine Science Program, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences, University of South Carolina

4/29 - There Will Be Blood paired with Camelia C. Knapp, PhD - Associate Professor Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences, University of South Carolina

5/13 - Blade Runner paired with Richard Vogt, PhD- Professor Department of Biological Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences, University of South Carolina

6/10 - The Man with the Golden Arm paired with Steven Harrod, PhD - Associate Professor Department of Psychology, College of Arts & Sciences, University of South Carolina

11/14 - Robot & Frank paired with Jason O'Kane, PhD - Associate Professor, College of Engineering and Computing, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of South Carolina

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Student Highlight: Congrats to Landhing!

Landhing Moran, a 6th year student in the experimental psychology doctoral program, was awarded one of ten 2012-2013 dissertation fellowships that are given by USC’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), a huge accomplishment. The fellowship fully funds her stipend and provides a little extra to complete research for her dissertation… congrats Landhing! The fellowship is awarded annually: http://www.artsandsciences.sc.edu/handbook/sites/default/files/pdf/fellowship_diss_memo_8-21-12.pdf
I sat down with Landhing at Immaculate Consumption to have coffee/lunch and she told me a bit about her work and the paths she’s taken before and during graduate school to end up doing what she’s doing today. Before talking with her, the research world within the experimental program was largely a mystery to me. Well, really a complete mystery. Where are these animals being kept that must be used in the animal research?For that matter, where are the students and faculty working with them? [Answer: the basement of Barnwell is apparently home to a truly diverse array of life forms.]

Landhing studies the cognitive abilities of HIV-infected rats, including what they can they learn and remember, and whether phytoestrogens protect neurological cells against the harmful effects of the HIV virus. [From Wikipedia: phytoestrogens are plant-derived xenoestrogens functioning as the primary femalesex hormone not generated within the endocrine system but consumed by eating phytoestrogenic plants… so female sex-hormones derived from plants rather than endogenously.] Landhing’s particular interests lie in the cognitive piece of the puzzle, and her primary mentor is Dr. Charlie Mactutus.

To start more at her beginning, Landhing grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and told me that her first name is Chinese. Interesting fact: Landhing’s mother is also named “Landhing”, and Landhing’s father and brother also share the same first name. “This is particularly problematic at doctor appointments,” said Landhing with the matter-of-fact tone that you’d expect from a training scientist who spends her days controlling, observing, and quantifying. Landhing said she always liked science and enjoyed biology in high school. When she learned that her undergraduate alma mater, the College of Notre Dame in Maryland, had a biopsychology program, she majored in it and then began working for NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse). She interviewed people about drug use as part of a methadone treatment study; she ended up wanting to work with animals after accepting that human confounds could not be well-enough controlled to meet the needs of her substantive interests (e.g. humans can lie about drug use, lab animals can’t).

Landhing started the experimental psychology doctoral program at USC during the fall season of 2007; she has been building a strong foundation for her research ever since, which made her competitive in winning the CAS dissertation fellowship. So, what does she do day-to-day now that she has this great award and the increased how-you-choose-to-spend-your-graduate-time freedom that can come with it? Well, you might have guessed that she works really really hard and is therefore on track to finish her dissertation work in the spring of 2013, and will start applying for postdocs in the meantime . Down in the basement for her dissertation work, she has 24 operant chambers that she uses for experimentation with her sample of 84 rattusnorvegicus subjects. [If you recently took Learning and Motivation with Steven Harrod, this should be easier to visualize.] She’s on her feet a lot and does nearly all of the work herself, sometimes all day, 7 days a week for weeks on end. She sorts through the data and listens to music while she waits for the animals to learn and react, with Band of Horses being one of her staples over the last few months.In her free time she also likes to draw, particularly drawing people; the last thing she attempted was an anatomically accurate hand [Landhing let’s see it when you’re happy with it!]. She is also a fan of http://whatshouldwecallgradschool.tumblr.com/… sincerest thanks for adding this to my life.

In terms of the Dissertation Fellowship logistics, Landhing applied in April 2012 and was notified that she’d been chosen for the award in May 2012. This is an amazingly quick turnaround by any standards. Students within each department typically talk to their primary mentors and program director or department chair about their desire to apply. There is no limit on how many students can be nominated from a department or program, but nominations are ranked if there is more than one. Students basically apply to the department first, the department then ranks nominations, and those students’ applications are then forwarded to CAS. “It was less work than I thought it would be,” said Landhing. She said it was only a few pages that needed to be submitted. After winning the fellowship she quickly received a lump sum for the year to fund her stipend. In terms of getting the award, “it’s important that you show that you will be working on your dissertation during the period that you’re going to be awarded,” she said. Within the past year, she’s also gotten to travel to Honolulu and New Orleans for conferences. Those neuroscientists sure know how to pick em’.

Landhing is happy to talk to any students who are considering applying for the award- do not hesitate to contact her at moranl[at]email[dot]sc[dot]edu.

[Interview and article compiled by Sandra Coulon]

Friday, November 2, 2012

Grad Student Event Today! Promises Ice Cream & Beautiful Weather

From the President of the GSA:

Graduate and Professional Students,

Don’t forget to join us today anytime from 4:30-7:00 PM for Grad Student Outdoor Day at the Triangle Plaza at USC! There will be complimentary Marble Slab Ice Cream, good music, and the infamous USC high ropes/challenge course will be open to all students who dare to try it out (please note, the high ropes/challenge course is available to USC students only). We encourage you to bring your spouses, special guests, family, and friends for what is always a great event!

Please see the attached map for directions to the Triangle Plaza (behind the Blatt P.E. Center).

Like us on Facebook (facebook.com/uscgsa) and follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/uscgsa)!

Sincerely,
Andrew Dorsey

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Student Forum with Mark Weist

Students in the Clinical-Community program met with Program Director, Dr. Mark Weist on October 16 during a student forum. It was a well-attended event, filled with great dialouge between Mark and the present students. Mark left the forum open to any updates, recommendations or questions from the students. He also presented several updates from the faculty side. Here are a few highlights:
  • A team of faculty and clinical leaders ared focusing on enhancing the Psychological Services Center. This includes hiring a new PSC director and restructuring the PSC to include more outreach opportunities. Hiring of the PSC director should be announced within coming weeks.
  • Both Mark and present students discussed strategies for navigating what was referred to as "the fork in the road", or times when students need to make decisions about how to structure their education with their career goals in mind. Some recommendations included earlier guidance on how to structure classes depending on whether the student is more clinical or community oriented as well as whether the student is more research or practice focused.
  • It was noted that faculty were tremendously responsive to requests for class scheduling changes. Mark stated that this will continue to happen in future semesters, and that the faculty are working on ways to enhance the structure of course scheduling.
  • It is possible that developmental psych. could be extended from a 2 credit module to a 3 credit course.
  • There was a recommendation for enhanced clarity around course waivers (e.g., waivers for students who came into school with graduate training).
Questions? Comments? Feel free to post on the blog or contact your PGSA reps!

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Student Athletes

On a beautiful Autumn afternoon in South Carolina, a group of psychology graduate students decided to take a break from the reading, writing, and grading that is graduate school to play some wiffle ball!!

Sandra crushes the ball to center field. 
On October 13th psychology grad students Alycia Roberts, Bryn Schiele, and Matthew Facciani ran the Ray Tanner 12K Home Run race :) Cory Tonnsen, the husband of school psychology student, Bridgette Tonnsen, also ran! Bryn and Matthew placed 2nd and 3rd respectively for their age groups!

Bryn, Matt, and Alycia sport their racing medals. 

Friday, September 7, 2012

See you tonight!

Looking forward to seeing you tonight at Jillian's, 800 Gervais Street (corner of Gervais and Gadsen, about 8 blocks from Barnwell), 6pm-til. So that means that sadly Vista Commons is no longer feasible, but maybe some other time it will work out.

Jillian's has games (pool, ping pong, air hockey, maybe others?) so bring some $1s or quarters to play. They also have $3.99 appetizers until 7pm- PGSA will be buying some to share- and happy hour specials. See the menu here: http://jillianscolumbia.com/

Parking may be a bit of pain but you can usually find something within 4 blocks or so (sometimes parking on Assembly and just walking down Gervais is easiest). Arriving earlier rather than later will make things easier too.

Please text/call your friends to tell them about the location change in case they don't check their email. So sorry for any inconvenience, maybe this will be the break you needed from having to prepare a potluck dish :). We will also put a sign up at Vista Commons re-directing people in case they don't get this message.

---- PGSA