Alumnae Stay Connected to Northwestern University
The Alumnae of Northwestern University honor scholarship and support research at the
Feinberg School of Medicine
From outreach programs designed to interest local high school students in science careers to workshops in cross-cultural communication, generous support from the Alumnae of Northwestern University is advancing diverse efforts at the medical school in 2008 and 2009. The board of the volunteer organization voted to award more than $23,000 to the Feinberg School of Medicine in gifts, grants, and academic enrichment awards for faculty members.
The board awarded research support to Ann Harris, PhD, professor of pediatrics, and graduate student, Christopher Ott, for their proposal to determine the structural characteristics of chromatin within and around the cystic fibrosis gene. Also awarded support was Science in Society, the new website from the Office for Research and the Center for Genetic Medicine, dedicated to science outreach at Northwestern.
Three programs that received support will help interest high school and undergraduate students in careers in health and science, including the Northwestern University and Heartland Alliance High School Health Mentoring Program, in which medical students will be matched with local high school students as year-long one-on-one mentors; the First Step Initiative, which offers a summer clinical research opportunity to an interested undergraduate student; and the Center for Reproductive Sciences University, which provides high school girls an opportunity to learn more about science through didactic lectures, hands-on lab experiments, and professional development sessions.
In addition, the board elected to support workshops in cross-cultural communication in genetic counseling for faculty members and graduate students in the medical school’s Genetic Counseling Graduate Program.
The primary source of funding for the alumnae board is its Continuing Education program, beginning its 40th academic year in fall 2008. The 60-member volunteer board plans, schedules, and proctors the classes attended by more than 3,000 community residents annually. With the net profits from this program, the alumnae group has been able to give more than $2.7 million in grants to the University. The board’s Gifts and Grants Committee for 2008 was co-chaired by Jane Knight Dampts (GSESP ’81) and Carolyn Krulee (GSESP ’69). Chair of the Academic Enrichment Committee was Holly Sunshine (WCAS ’71).
