Dr. Audrey (Goguen) Painchaud '82
Doctor, establishing a
clinical practice
Audrey was one of two "secret
students." Frequently, a published cartoon with an S.S.
penned in one corner would appear in my mail. Later, I learned
that Audrey and her classmate, Dr. Dan Ouellette, D.D.S., were
my mystery students. I should have guessed as Audrey's sense of
humor is obvious. This quality and her compassion suited her desire
to become a physician, a goal that was achieved years later.
After graduation, Audrey married her college beau, Jim,
and worked as a counselor in human services. In 1986, Jim accepted
a position in Dallas. Audrey found work as a research associate
at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Con-currently,
she completed a Master's degree in Neuroscience. She discovered
that her undergraduate major in Biology was excellent preparation
for these endeavors. Her desire to study medicine was realized
when she was accepted by the University
of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. In 1994, Audrey
and Jim re-turned to Worcester, where she completed a residency
in Neurology at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.
The Painchauds live locally with their toddler, Olivia, and Audrey
is establishing a clinical practice.
The cartoons? Most are stored, but one remains on my office door
to remind me of a student who possessed the determination to turn
a dream into reality.
By Dr. Allan E. Barnitt,
Professor of Biology
Jean Silveri, Esq. '88
Patent Counsel, Millennium Pharmaceuticals
In 1989, Harvard University, recognizing the high quality of Assumption's
Natural Sciences program, accepted Jean Silveri, an Assumption
graduate with a Biology major and Chemistry minor, for study towards
a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Physiology.
During her graduate studies, Jean became interested in patent
law and its importance for new discoveries in the field of biotechnology.
She decided to combine her two interests. She received a master's
degree from Harvard and enrolled in Suffolk Law School.
Jean became associated with the Boston patent law firm of LaHive
and Cockfield in 1994. She became a member of the Massachusetts
Bar and the Federal Patent Bar, the latter a prerequisite for
practicing before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
She specialized in the preparation and prosecution of United States
and foreign patent applications in the biotechnology field.
In 1998,Jean became patent counsel for Millennium Pharmaceuticals,
a Cambridge genomics company engaged in a variety of research
projects.
In addition to crediting Assumption's Natural Sciences program
with giving her a solid scientific foundation, Jean believes that
the various internships available to her at local hospitals and
research centers during her years at Assumption were both highly
educational and demonstrated, both to the graduate and law school
admissions committees, an early and serious commitment to a career
involving science.
by Dr. Louis D. Silveri,
Professor Emeritus
of History
Chris Adams '80
Chair, Mosaic Technologies
After graduating from Assumption, Chris Adams '80 did graduate
work in molecular immunology at the University of Massachusetts.
He was inspired by the success of early biotechnology companies
like Genentech. While working at MIT
as a senior technical associate in the Human Genome Center, Chris
co-invented Mosaic's Bridge technology in collaboration with Steve
Kron, M.D., at the Whitehead Institute. This new technology is
a solid-state modification of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
used in many laboratories the world over to amplify minute amounts
of DNA. The Mosaic Bridge process is faster, easier, less prone
to contamination, and more versatile than conventional liquid
PCR. It has many potential applications, one of which is testing
the human blood supply for possible bacterial and viral contaminants.
Chris' duties have included building a management and scientific
team capable of developing products for the clinical diagnostic
and molecular biology research markets. He has also been engaged
in raising financial backing (the company has raised more than
$10 million in venture capital), negotiating technology licensing
agreements and patents, and establishing collaborative research
relationships. The company, founded in 1994, is now marketing
and selling its first technology products. Visit Mosaic Technologies'
Web site at mostek.com.
by Dr. Paul J. Mahon,
Professor of Biology
Kevin Mancini
Orthodontist candidate
Kevin Mancini has hardly been idle since graduating from Assumption
in 1995 with a B.A. in Biology. For graduate study, Kevin chose
Tufts University School of Dental Medicine to pursue his dream
of becoming a dentist. Kevin, who has consistently ranked number
one in his class, is about to realize that dream when he receives
his D.M.D. this May. As if a challenging four years of dental
school is not enough for this highly motivated individual, Kevin
has since decided to specialize and was recently accepted into
a post-graduate orthodontic program.
Kevin's pursuit of excellence has won him the following honors
and scholarships: four-year recipient of the Tufts University
Merit Scholarship; Dean's List for high performance on the National
Board Dental Exam; Tufts Dental Alumni Association Award for excellence
in the basic sciences; Tufts Omicron Kappa Upsilon National Honor
Society basic science award.
Receiving the Kane-Tesini Research Fellowship in October 1997
allowed Kevin to produce and present a research paper, "The
Rationale for Man-agement of Unilateral Functional Posterior Crossbites
in the Primary Dentition," for Tufts Bates-Andrews Day, the
Massachusetts Dental Society's Yankee Dental Congress, and for
the University of Tennessee, Memphis, College of Dentistry's Hinman
Student Research Symposium.
Kevin, a young man who has not forgotten his roots, feels a great
sense of warmth and gratitude toward Assumption College and credits
the strong foundation he received from the Department of Natural
Sciences for his tremendous success.
By Nancy Mancini
Pamela Chatis '77
Senior Research Associate, New England Nuclear Life Science
Products; Lecturer, Harvard Medical School/
Beth Israel Hospital, Boston
Issues surrounding women's health formulate the research undertaken
by Dr. Chatis. Trained as a molecular virologist, the current
focus of her research is examining better ways to detect human
papilloma virus and its role in cervical cancer development.
I remember Pam as a bright, highly motivated student, one of
only two students to earn an A in Microbiology in the spring of
1977. She loved learning and enjoyed a challenge both in the classroom
and on the women's sports fields. Her achievements since graduating
from Assumption reflect the qualities she exhibited as an outstanding
student.
Dr. Chatis received her Bachelor's Degree from Assumption College
in 1977, her Master's Degree in Microbiology from the University
of Connecticut in 1979, and her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from
Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1982. She was then awarded
a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Cancer Research, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, followed in 1983 by a research fellowship
at the Division of Infectious Diseases, Beth Israel Hospital,
Boston. During her postdoctoral studies, Pam was also awarded
the Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Fund Fellowship (198283),
a National Institute of Health Post-doctoral Fellowship (198384),
a Merck, Sharpe and Dohme Research Fellowship (198486), and
in 199091, the National Foundation of Infectious Diseases-Burroughs
Wellcome Young Investigator Award.
From 1988 to 1993, Pam was the director of the Retrovirology
Research Laboratory, AIDS Clinical Treatment Group at Beth Israel
Hospital, and she has been a member of the Harvard Medical School
faculty since 1986.
She is the author of 23 original scientific reports, and has
made presentations of her work at more than 20 national and international
meetings. Pam will present a seminar on her research to Assumption
faculty and students on Monday, May 3, at 4:00 p.m. in Kennedy
122.
By Dr. Patricia S. Reisert,
Professor of Biology
Dr. Richard Evans
Chief Medical Examiner,
Massachusetts
Perhaps your image of a medical examiner has been shaped by movies
of Hitchcock vintage: An avuncular old gent in rumpled tweed hunches
over a body vainly searching for some sign of life. If so, this
caricature is the antithesis of our chief medical examiner in
Massachusetts, Dr. Richard Evans. With a staff of 50 and a multimillion
dollar budget, Rick oversees the investigation of unnatural and
suspicious deaths and related pathologic and forensic activities
throughout the state. After taking his degree from the University
of Massachusetts Medical School in 1982, followed by seven years
of specialized training in anatomic, neurologic, and forensic
pathology, Rick joined the staff of the medical examiner's office
in Massachusetts in 1989, where he remained for two years, then
he moved to the helm in Rhode Island, where he was chief medical
examiner, before returning to Massachusetts to take up his present
post in 1993.
As we chatted over a Friday lunch, the College was the topic
of much of our conversation, some reminiscent and some current,
particularly the anticipated construction of a new science facility.
Rick has nurtured a keen academic interest in forensic medicine
and presently directs four research projects supported by substantial
federal funding. This February, he will deliver three papers at
the annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences
and is co-author of another eight. His expertise will be summarized
in a book, The Modern Forensic Autopsy, to be published this year
by Oxford University Press. Presently, some of his research is
done at facilities at Harvard, where he holds the position of
lecturer in Pathology. Rick also has a faculty appointment, assistant
professor of Pathology, at Boston University and another, instructor
of Pathology, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Could some of his research be done at Assumption, he inquired?
A most seductive prospect I thought, contemplating the infusion
of the science and the funding.
We parted to meet again in the spring when Rick is a scheduled
speaker in the Department's seminar series.
by Dr. Hubert G. Meunier,
Professor of Physics and Chemistry