Advisory Board of the Division of Mathematics and Natural Sciences October 29, 2013

1. Advisory Board of the Division of Mathematics and Natural Sciences October 29, 2013

2. Advisory Board of the Division of Mathematics and Natural Sciences October 29, 2013 Agenda

3. Four Divisions • Art and Humanities • Education • Mathematics and Natural Sciences • Social Sciences • Division of Mathematics and Natural Sciences • Biology • Chemistry & Biochemistry • Computer Science • Earth & Environmental Sciences • Family, Nutrition, & Exercise Science • Mathematics • Physics • Psychology

4. Advisory Board Self-Introductions

5. Advisory Board Self-Introductions

6. Updates about Queens College, Division of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

7. Queens College • US News & World Report Ranking: Regional Universities (North) • Queens College, CUNY: 43 • City College of New York, CUNY: 43 • (Baruch College: 22, Hunter College: 48, Brooklyn College: 69) • Washington Monthly Magazine: New York Times, October 27, 2013 • Best Bang for the Buck, Master’s Universities: Queens College: 1 • Best Bang for the Buck, All Schools: Queens College: 2 • Transition Period: • July 1, 2014 (?) New Chancellor of the City University of New York • Dec. 31, 2013 President Muyskensleaves as President of Queens College • Jan. 1, 2014 EvangelosGizis Interim President of Queens College • July 1, 2014 (?) New President of Queens College

8. Division Update • Brand New Division Brochure “Discover Science” • 1.5 years and a team of 20 people • Strategic Plan for the Division • 4 Interdisciplinary Clusters (p. 21 of “Discover Science” brochure) • Neuroscience, Photonics, Scientific Computation, Urban Ecosystems • New Hires • Fall 2013: Biology (1*), EES (3), FNES (1), Math (1), Physics (1), Psychology (1) • Fall 2014: Computer Science (1), Math (1), Psychology (1) • New Scholarships • Revised Kenneth Kupferberg Memorial Scholarship • New Pre-Medical Student Scholarships • Pre-Health Professions Program • Added part-time advisor for pre-Dental students • New MD – premed student Mentoring Program

9. Dean’s Update • Addresses intractable social conflict from the new vantage point of dynamical systems. • Authored by leading researchers in the field with different relevant backgrounds. • Addresses a broad audience of researchers in the natural sciences and humanities.

10. Goals of the Advisory Board

11. Goals • What are the GOALS of the Advisory Board? • What do we want to ACCOMPLISH?

12. Alumni Academy

13. Alumni Academy • Talented and accomplished alumni - in all fields - teach specially designed mini-courses to undergraduates at QC. • Separate from, but enhancements, to the established curriculum • Given during breaks in the Fall, Spring regular schedule: • winter (January) • summer • weekend • Examples • Dr. Marc Dichter: The Neurobiology of Disease • Mr. Philip Schaenman: Communication Skills • Benefit • Students - new courses • College - high profile teachers • Alumni – interact with students, give back to the College

14. Review of the Department of Family, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences FNES

15. FNES • Self-Study • Replacement/new faculty: Dietetics (1), Exercise Science (3) • Renovated space • Suspend program: food service management • Increased faculty release time from teaching • New staff, lab technicians, equipment • Consultant Report • Carole Dichter, D.Sc., R.D.: CRD Nutrition LLC • Carl M. Maresh, Ph.D., Dept. Kinesiology, University of Connecticut • “An investment should definitely be made to strengthen and grow the FNES department. It offers an opportunity to make Queens College a leader in the field of applied health research.” • Replacement/new faculty: Dietetics (1), Upper Level Nutrition Courses, Exercise Science (3) • Suspend programs: food service management, textiles? • Wellness Center

16. FNES • Dean’s Belief: • All these replacement/new resources for FNES all fully justified. • College’s Fiscal Reality: • This year, there will be a TOTAL of 3faculty hires for all 8 departments in the Division. • FNES needs 5 faculty hires + new staff hires, basically immediately. • Each of the 8 Departments in the Division has similar, fully justified, claims for hires, based on their individual and separate self-studies. • Dean’s Dilemma: • How do we prioritize needs between Departments?

17. Student Presentations

18. Student Presentations Yassmin Simmonds Undergraduate Student at Queens College: Pre-Medical Studies Service: Pre-Med Mentoring Program Lauren Blachorsky Undergraduate Student at Queens College: Psychology Research: Inflammation in the hippocampus after mold exposure.

19. Careers in Health Alumni Mentoring Program(CHAMP) By: Yassmin Simmonds Division of Math and Natural Science at Queens College

20. CHAMP: Goals Help students develop a professional network Aid students in becoming competitive applicants to Professional schools GOALS Create opportunities for students to be mentored by Queens College Alumni Support Students in their Professional Goals

21. CHAMP: The Beginning YEAR 1. Launched in 2011 QC-AMP 50+ Students matched with an Alumnus Medical Professional of Queens College PROGRAM STRUCTURE: A) 1 year mentor relationship. B) 1:1 or 1:2 C) Mentors and Mentees meet once a month. D) Students write reflections about their progress in the program.

22. CHAMP: Year 2 20 students matched with 17 QC Alumni Year 2 2012-2013 Program Structure and goals remained the same NEW: “Professionals on Campus” Series

23. Professionals on Campus • Doctor Panel Series • Students who were not part of the program would have an opportunity to ask Alumni Medical Professionals questions about their careers.

24. Feedback and Reflections • The students have greatly benefited from the program and have described their mentors as “warm, dedicated, wise, passionate, caring, informative, talented, and selfless”

25. CHAMP: Looking Forward. YEAR 3 Goal: successfully Match 50+ students with mentors Year 3 2013-2014 Re-vamp Program Structure: Multi-year program Change name: CHAMP

26. CHAMP: The importance of mentoring • With a more longitudinal structure, we hope to use the program as a way to get some statistics about students that graduate from Queens College and matriculate into professional school directly following their undergraduate career. • Looking forward, we hope to expand the program to include small internships for students.

27. Thank You! • Yassmin Simmonds • CHAMP Coordinator 2013-2014 • Email: QueenscollegeCHAMP@gmail.com

28. Inflammation in the Mouse Hippocampus Following Mold Exposure Lauren Blachorsky Dr. Carolyn Pytte Department of Psychology, Queens College CUNY

29. Exposure to mold is a significant problem in the United States. • People who live/work in moldy buildings often complain of cognitive problems • Our goal is to determine the neural basis of cognitive impairment following exposure to mold.

30. Mold spores increase inflammation Control Mold Complete Casing Mold spore Cells expressing IL-1 beta: a pro-inflammatory signaling molecule Microglia cells 20x 60x

31. Mold spores decrease neurogenesis: seen with 2 different markers of new neurons Control Mold Complete Casing Mold spore 10 microns

33. Blachorsky,L., Page, K., Manes, G., Harding, C.F., Pytte.C. (2013) Repeated Exposure to Environmental Mold Increases Cytokine Interleukin-1β Expression in the Mouse Hippocampus. Poster to be presented at the Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Nov 9-13, San Diego, CA; and at the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (F.U.N.) Poster Session, San Diego, CA. • Received a travel award for this presentation • Blachorsky, L., Page-Soto, K., Stalbow, D., Leibowitz, S., Normand, E., Korman, J., Manes, G., Morris, D., Harding, C., Pytte, C. (2013, April) Mold Exposure and Subsequent Inflammation in the Hippocampus. Poster presented at the annual Northeast Regional Honors Council, Philadelphia, PA. • Blachorsky, L., Page-Soto, K., Stalbow, D., Leibowitz, S., Normand, E., Korman, J., Manes, G., Morris, D., Harding, C., Pytte, C. (2013) Inflammation in the Mouse Hippocampus Following Mold Exposure. Poster presented at the annual Sigma Xi Undergraduate Research Poster Session, Flushing, NY (March) and presented at NEURON, Hamden, CT. (April) • Blachorsky, L., Page-Soto, K., Harding, C., Pytte, C. (2012, October) Inflammation in the Mouse Hippocampus Following Mold Exposure. Poster presented at the Undergraduate Research Day, Queens College, Flushing NY. • Page-Soto, K, Blachorsky, L., Harding, C. Pytte, C. (2012, September). Mold-induced Expression of the Pro-inflammatory Cytokine Interleukin-1beta in the Mouse Hippocampus. Presentation presented at the annual Neuropsychology Research Day, Flushing NY.

34. Division Advisory Board Thanks! We very much appreciate that you have contributed your vaulable time that helps us and most importantly helps our students here at Queens College.