VCU news

By Mike Frontiero and Catherine Dahl

A Virginia Commonwealth University professor who won the 2002 Nobel prize for chemistry, a VCU emergency medicine professor who headed a triage unit after the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, and the Virginia Chief Medical Examiner - who is considered the inspiration for Dr. Kay Scarpetta in books by crime novelist Patricia Cornwell - will share their experiences at a meeting of nearly 800 middle and high school students at VCU May 25-27.

Dr. John B. Fenn, Dr. Joseph P. Ornato and Dr. Marcella F. Fierro will speak to the 63rd annual meeting of the Virginia Junior Academy of Science (VJAS). Students attending the meeting are considered some of Virginia's best and brightest upcoming scientists. They are selected by their teachers to present science projects to their peers and for judging. The students also will have the opportunity to speak to more than 300 senior scientists attending the 82nd annual meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science (VAS), which will be held concurrently at VCU.

"The purpose of the meetings is to increase interaction between scientists and junior scientists, and to increase the visibility of the sciences in Virginia," said Dr. Robert W. Fisher, VAS vice president and an associate professor in VCU's Department of Biology.

Fenn's presentation, "Why Elephants Fly: Electrospray Wings for Molecular Elephants," will cover his work in the field of mass spectrometry and electrospray ionization - a technique for weighing and analyzing the structure of proteins. Fenn's ingenuity launched the field of proteomics. His mass spectrometry is used in almost every chemistry laboratory in the world and, according to the Nobel Foundation, has revolutionized the development of new pharmaceuticals and promises to advance disease diagnosis. Fenn's lecture at the VCU Siegel Center on Tuesday, May 25 at 8 p.m. will outline the process for which he received the Nobel award.

Dr. Ornato was in charge of the triage unit at Greenwich and Church Streets in New York City for the first 12 hours after the World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11, 2001. He will give an audio-visual presentation of his perspective, titled "A View from Ground Zero" at the Siegel Center Wednesday, May 26 at 7 p.m. Ornato is professor and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the VCU Medical Center and medical director of the Richmond Ambulance Authority - the prehospital paramedic system serving the city.

Dr. Fierro is chief medical examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia and professor and chair of the Department of Legal Medicine at VCU. She oversees the medical examiner investigation of all violent, suspicious and unnatural deaths in Virginia. She also teaches forensic pathology to medical schools, law enforcement agencies and commonwealth's attorneys. Fierro serves as a consultant to the FBI on the National Crime Information Center Unidentified and Missing Persons Files, as well as on a panel studying gunshot wound injuries. The need for recognition of specific types of injury and the interpretation of wounds for the instrument of origin in living patients has led her, in recent years, to emphasize training in clinical forensic medicine. Her presentation, "Death Investigation; Crossing Jordan and CSI in Virginia," will take place at the VCU Student Commons, Commonwealth Ballrooms A and B, Thursday, May 27 at 4:30 p.m.

VCU will offer a scholarship to a high school senior who has written an outstanding research paper for the VJAS meeting and who plans to attend VCU. The scholarship will cover in-state tuition and fees and is renewable for three additional years, provided the appropriate GPA is maintained. More than 200 papers will be presented.

"Since VCU last hosted these events in 1996, a stunning revolution in the Life Sciences has occurred and VCU has been part of this wave of discovery," said Dr. Thomas F. Huff, vice provost for VCU Life Sciences. "Achievements like the mapping of the human genome have opened the doors to places we did not even know existed. So this is an exciting time for students to engage their minds."

For more information about the meetings go to http://www.vcu.edu/lifesci/welcome.html.