ACADEMICS MEET AMBITION
TWO FULBRIGHT SCHOLARS: Research With Impact
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Two FAMU researchers were Fulbright scholars during the 2014-15 academic year. The coveted Fulbright scholarship is an international education exchange program that awards grants to students, faculty, or professionals to study, teach, and conduct research abroad. With one researcher’s work centered on alternative, renewable fuel and the other’s on a cure for diabetes—which is the No. 7 leading cause of death in this nation—both researchers’ work have the potential for significant impacts on creating a healthier future for our nation and the world.
Renee Gordon
A mechanical engineer in the College of Engineering, Gordon was a doctoral candidate when she was named a Fulbright scholar. She is the first student in the FAMUFSU Engineering school to receive the award. Her research focused on Nigeria’s cassava leaves as a green alternative to case-hardening steel. “It’s about using sustainable materials and resources that don’t take away from our fossil fuels, and using materials that can be regenerated and regrown,” said Gordon.
Ngozi Ugochukwu
2014-2015 PRES IDENT ’ S A NNU AL R E PO R T
A FAMU biochemistry professor since 1998, Ugochukwu is an expert in using biochemical and gene-technology techniques to determine the underlying mechanisms in chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, congestive heart failure, and colon cancer. She used her Fulbright award to focus on ethnopharmacology, the study of ethnic groups and their use of drugs. In addition, she conducted research on bioactive compounds and their role as leads for drug discovery, and on the uses of traditional medicine in diabetes therapy. “Diabetes is considered by the World Health Organization and International Diabetes Foundation as one of the major threats to human health in the 21st century,” said Ugochukwu. “The Fulbright grant gave me the opportunity to collaborate with researchers at the FUT Minna Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology and the Global Institute for Bio-exploration to scientifically screen and identify anti-diabetic bioactive phytonutrients in indigenous Nigerian plants.”
WOMEN PH.D.s IN PHYSICS: A Potent Combination Black and female plus physics and doctorates. Not many universities experience such a potent, rare combination—but FAMU has. Twice.
Edward’s dissertation centered on the search for a correlation between bone lead concentration caused by lead poisoning and hypertension in African Americans. Her research in health physics will save lives.
Alumni Staci Brown and Patrice Edwards are the only two AfricanAmerican women in the pool of 1,600 people nationwide who earned a Ph.D. in physics in 2015.
Brown’s dissertation focused on stand-off detection of explosive devices. She is currently working on a fellowship with the U.S. Department of Energy to use lasers to harness the power of the sun, duplicate it, and control it.