SIGMA XI NEWSLETTER

July, 1998 Edition

Edited by GJI

Banquet Held May 7 to Honor

Winners of Regional Science Fairs

A joint banquet was held with the D.C. section of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine (SEBM) on May 7, 1998, at the Officer's Club at the Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. Sigma Xi honored the First Prize winners at five of the Regional High School Science Fairs. SEBM honored the awardees of their Graduate Student Symposium, and presented awards to their Scientist Emeritus as well as to two individuals for Outstanding Service to the D.C. Section of SEBM.

The winners of the Regional Science Fairs were selected by judges from Sigma Xi in March and April. The names of the winners and their Science Fair projects follow:

District of Columbia

First Prize

Charles Luckett
Gonzaga College High School
"Which Antacid Works the Best"

Honorable Mention

Charles Withers
Benjamin Banneker High School
"The Comparative Activity of Ampicillin-Sulbactam and
Pipracilliin-Tezobactan Against Common Clinical Isolates"

Northern Virginia

First Prize

Lisa Shontell
Yorktown High School
"The Effect of SPF# on UV Protection"

Honorable Mention

Andrea Gousen
Washington/Lee High School
"Can the Harm of Smoking be Reduced?"

Fairfax County

First Prize

Christina Twyman
Thomas Jefferson High School
"The Role of Cyclin D in Raf-mediated Events in Breast Cancer"

Honorable Mention

Kristina Buenafe
Thomas Jefferson High School
"Genetic Regulation of Shigella Pathogenesis by a Novel Negative Regulatory Factor"

Montgomery County

First Prize

Helen Blake
Walt Whitman High School
"Geldanomycin and its Effects on Multi-Drug Resistance (Mdr1) in SW6 Colon Cells"

Honorable Mention

Melanie Peters

Holton Arms School
"Does Antibacterial Soap Really Work?"

Prince Georges County

First Prize

Olivia Shammas
Eleanor Roosevelt High School
"Understanding an EKG Signal"

Honorable Mention

Diane Kang
Eleanor Roosevelt High School
"The Effect of MPP+ on PC12 Cells"

The First Prize winners received a Certificate and a $200 Savings Bond in addition to an invitation and recognition at our Annual Banquet. Winners of Honorable Mention received a Certificate and a $100 Savings Bond.

Sigma Xi thanks all those who served as judges at the regional science fairs.

New Slate of Officers Elected to Start Terms July 1, 1998

The new slate of officers voted in by the membership will be taking over July 1, 1998, and will serve until June 30, 2000. The slate is headed by Howard Cyr, (CDRH) President; Jurgen Von Bredow (CVM), President-elect; Kearby Fugate (CDRH), Secretary, and Tom Collins (CFSAN), Treasurer. The Immediate Past President is George Ikeda (CFSAN); Membership Chairman is Fred Fry (CFSAN), and Science Fair Coordinator is Nathan Appel (CDER). The addresses of the officers are:

Dr. Howard Cyr,
HFZ-114,
12709 Twinbrook Parkway,
Rockville, MD 20857

Dr. Jurgen Von Bredow
HFV-512, 8401 Muirkirk Road
Laurel, MD 20708

Dr. Kearby Fugate
HFZ-443,
2098 Gaither Road
Rockville, MD 20850

Dr. Thomas Collins
HFS-507,
8301 Muirkirk Road
Laurel, MD 20708

Current e-mail Addresses Wanted!

We are in need of your current e-mail address, particularly if you are a retiree, a former FDA'er, or if you want Sigma Xi notices at a non-FDA address. Please send the addresses to: Dr. Fred Fry at frf@vm.cfsan.fda.gov (Internet), call him at (301) 436-1976, or mail the address to Fred at HFS-717, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway College Park, MD 20740-3835. The URL for the web site is:

http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/sxfda.html

Sigma Xi to Sponsor Poster Session at the 1998 FDA Science Forum

Sigma Xi will be sponsoring a Poster Session at the 1998 FDA Science Forum titled: "Biotechnology: Advances, Applications, and Regulatory Challenges" which will be held at the D.C. Convention Center, December 8-9. Details regarding the Forum and Abstracts will appear on the FDA Sigma Xi web site. The deadline for submission of poster abstracts is September 1.