The Biology Program at Pine Manor College has recently partnered with a program at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Studies at Tufts University. This program, funded by money from the NIH is one of only 6 in the country that is committed to the training of biomedical research faculty to teach effectively in undergraduate classrooms, particularly those with a high enrollment of underrepresented minorities.. The program, called TEACRS (Training in Education and Critical Research Skills Program) pairs post-doctoral students from Tufts with faculty at local partner institutions.  These post doctoral students design and implement a course of their choosing, mentored by the faculty at the partner institution.  The program also provides funds for equipment and supplies to support the initiatives of the department in this endeavor.

We feel that the TEACRS will be good role models for our students. And because they are actively doing their post doctoral research, they will be able integrate this research into the classrooms as well.  This will allow our students to get a first hand view of the current research and also learn about the career path of someone who is interested in research and teaching.  We welcome Dr. Jennifer Kowalski and Dr. Jane Liu into the program for academic year 07-08.  They are teaching the Senior Seminar Course, Bi490, entitled Codes, Mixed Messages and Cellular Chaos:  Nucleic Acids in Cancer Progression, Diagnostics, and Treatment.  The website for the course is http://biology490.googlepages.com/.