Society of Self Fellows Personal Updates

Diana Acevedo, Ph.D. (2017-2021) successfully defended her dissertation and graduated with a Ph.D. in Pathology on May 2021. She accepted a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the Department of Developmental Neurobiology and her research focus will be treatments for neuroblastoma in pediatric patients. She and her family moved to Memphis, TN for the position and are expecting a baby girl in October. Amy Blackmarr, Ph.D. (1996-2000) is in semi-retirement from professional nature writing. Blackmarr has become an advocate gardener, specifically promoting the use of native plants in both public and private spaces. Among her current projects is the design, installation, and maintenance of the first native gardens in the South Georgia downtown area near where she lives, and for the past year she has been redesigning the landscape at an apartment complex to replace its original exotics with plants and trees of the Coastal Plains region. She is a member and volunteer of the Georgia Native Plant Society and has written for its newsletter. She is on course to be certified by the local University of Georgia extension as a master gardener this fall. Alyssa (Rollando) Burke, Ph.D. (2014-2018) moved to Evanston, IL this summer with her husband and dog, Jack. She will continue working remotely for Stryker as a Senior Regulatory Affairs Specialist. In her free time, she is an active member of Women In Bio's Board of Directors. Adam Duerfeldt, Ph.D. (2006-2010) moved from the University of Oklahoma to the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Minneapolis as an Associate Professor. Camille Delavaux, Ph.D. (2017-2021) and husband Dan moved to Zurich Switzerland as she started a post doctoral position at ETH Zurich in the Crowther lab. Max Fairlamb (2017-2021) just published a paper describing the construction of the TIRF microscope he built at KUMC. https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/10/7/571 Danny Griffin, Ph.D. (2016-2020) started a position at BioGenerator Labs in St. Louis, MO. BioGenerator serves three functions in the St. Louis region including investor, incubator, and accelerator for startups in the life sciences. His function deals with the “accelerator” portion of that mission. His role entails coaching founders (usually academics) through the Fundamentals program, that equips them with the knowledge, resources, and connections to translate science from the lab bench to bedside. He also manages the grants winning program, Grants-2-Business, that helps startups win nondilutive SBIR/STTR awards. G2B currently runs at a success rate that exceeds the national average by roughly 3-fold. As a personal update, he got married to Sari on June 4, 2021. Brittany Hartwell, Ph.D. (2011-2015) is wrapping up her postdoc at MIT this summer and will be starting as a Professor in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota this fall. She is expecting second baby girl this fall. Stephanie Krogmeier, Ph.D. (1999-2003) was featured in the Boston Globe. http://sponsored.bostonglobe. /vertex com /three-women-drug-discovery-trailblazers/ Brian Miller, Ph.D. (1994-1998) is currently working for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture as a Quality Assurance Officer. Part of his responsibilities include hosting EPA Region 5 QA meetings where they discuss soup to nuts challenges being faced by member laboratories and strategies for success. Additionally, he’s working as a pharmaceutical good manufacturing practices (GMP) consultant through his company, Miller cGMP LLC. Part of his responsibilities is to help clients understand and improve chemistry manufacturing and analytical practices. He also picked up a fun side gig during COVID lock down. Being away from people was hard on him so he also loads packages onto air worthy cannisters at the local FedEx. It is a lot of fun and he has managed to burn off a bunch of flab in the process. Finally, he started mentoring a current Self Graduate Fellow (hopefully more help then harm!). Peter Schillig, Ph.D. (2007-2011) is currently working as a Senior Hydrogeologist with RSI EnTech - Contractor to the U.S. Dept of Energy Office of Legacy Management in Grand Junction, Colorado. Justin Williams, Ph.D. (2016-2020) defended his thesis on May 14 with honors and moved to Maryland to start his job at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, working in the National Security Space sector as a Senior Professional Staff.

In Memoriam: Dr. Karen Beckman Pace

Dr. Karen Beckman Pace, age 69 of Fort Myers, FL passed away peacefully on Monday, March 1, 2021, after an 18-year battle with cancer. She was born in St. Louis, MO and was preceded in death by her parents Robert and Frances Beckman and sister Linda Beckman. She is survived by her husband of 39 years, Richard Larry Pace, and sisters, Ann Kuhn Jones (Ken), Barbara Perrone (Bruce), and Joan Saeger (Ron). She began her career in 1974 at Southern Illinois University earning a BSN in Nursing followed by a MSN in Nursing, Biology, and Psychology from St. Louis University in 1978. At the University of Kansas, Karen was part of the Self Graduate Fellowship from 1998 to 2002, receiving her Ph.D. in Nursing/Health Policy & Management. Karen was the Senior Scientist at the Delmarva Foundation, Easton, MD; Vice President for Research Regulatory, and Clinical Affairs, National Association for Home Care and Hospice, Washington, D.C.; and Senior Director of Performance Measures National Quality Forum, Washington, D.C. In 2016 she retired as the Senor Scientist for The Health Services Advisory Group, Phoenix, AZ.