Starting in the fall of 2011, the first year students in the BBS program are required to enroll in the new course BIOAP 6100: By Scientific Design: Skill Building for a Career in the Life Sciences. As a part of this course, students apply for an extremely competitive NSF fellowship (1 in 10 national success rate). At the end of course, 4 of the 9 students who applied for this fellowship were awarded the fellowship. 3 of those who received the fellowship are currently rotating/have rotated in the department.

Chavez Carter is a product of his environment, knowing best what he has been exposed to. Growing up, he looked forward to a career as a physical education teacher, a choice that would have allowed him to follow in his father’s footsteps. Like many in his Mississippi hometown, Carter’s professional options seemed limited to teaching, healthcare, and a few service-related industries. Today, with new experiences under his Cornell lab coat and coaching from mentor Dr. Avery August, Carter is contemplating a career in industrial research and development, with aspirations to develop life-saving drugs that will help those suffering from asthma and other conditions caused by inflamed airways. (to read the full story on the CVM web site, click here)

Dr. David Russell has been named the William Kaplan Professor of Infection Biology. The endowment was made possible through the estate of veterinarian Dr. William Kaplan, who was a 1946 graduate of Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine and had a distinguished career as a medical mycologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. ...... he aims to discover drugs to treat disease in people with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), sometimes in conjunction with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). ..... (to read the full story on the CVM web site, click here)

Dr. Dwight Bowman, with Dr. William Hornbuckle, aonther faculty in the College, led a group of veterinary students to New York City to hold a one-day pet clinic in a lower-income area in the Bronx. The students, along with volunteer alumni, performed wellness visits on pets that may not otherwise have access to veterinary care. Dr. Bowman used his $5,000 award for being selected a Kaplan Family Distinguished Faculty Fellows in Service-Learning to fund the clinic. The award recognizes the importance of the national movement in higher education for greater involvement in civic engagement. (to read the full story on the CVM web site, click here)

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Bynoe Lab researchers find way to open the blood-brain barrier using adenosine

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a protective feature of the microvasculature within the central nervous system (CNS) that prevents nearly all blood-borne substances from gaining access to the brain. While this is beneficial in regards to shielding the brain from toxins and viral/bacterial infections, it also poses the greatest impediment in the treatment of many CNS diseases because it commonly blocks entry of therapeutic compounds. Researchers in the Bynoe lab have found that extracellular adenosine is an endogenous modulator of BBB permeability and can be used to open the BBB to facilitate the entry of intravenously injected compounds. By activating adenosine receptors on the endothelial cells within the CNS, large molecules, such a fluorescently labeled dextrans and antibodies injected into mice and which typically cannot cross the BBB, were able to gain access to the brain. These effects were mediated by adenosine induced cellular changes within brain endothelial cells, such as decreased transendothelial electrical resistance, increased stress fiber formation, and alterations in tight junction molecules. Adenosine signaling at brain endothelial cells represents a novel endogenous mechanism of modulating BBB permeability. These results will aid in drug delivery and treatment options for neurological diseases.

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Dr. Joel Baines and Dr. Kui Yang, Research Associate in the Baines lab, discoverd how herpesviruses determine which progeny to release to invade cells. (to read the full story on the CVM web site, click here).
The discovery was featured in media: