Next Stop: Neurology

Dr. Sylvia Saunders was a science professor at BMCC for many years before retiring in the 90s. Now residing in Florida, she continues to greatly impact the lives of students at BMCC.

Saunders is the founder of Cleo and Zack Project, a science scholarship she endowed in the 90s and named after her own parents. The scholarship was created to raise awareness of scientific or health-oriented issues.

Assistant science professor Manita Pavel is the current coordinator of Cleo and Zack Project, and has mentored and advised science major Gary Waiyaki, the current Cleo and Zack scholar, for the past two semesters. And even though Saunders no longer teaches at BMCC, she still contributes to the scholarship.

“Cleo and Zack was started to encourage minority students to increase their science knowledge, and teach them about various biotechnology techniques and how these techniques impact their lives and their communities,” says Pavel.

A focus on science surveys

Under the Cleo and Zack scholarship, physical research isn’t conducted in a lab. The scholarship operates as more of a survey conducted amongst minority communities to gauge how scientifically literate they are about a particular scientific issue.

Pavel previously mentored three Cleo and Zack students, but due to funding changes, this semester she is only mentoring Waiyaki.

When Waiyaki, who grew up in Kenya, graduates this spring, Pavel will work with a new Cleo and Zack scholar for the 2010-2011 academic year.

What are the requirements?

“Gary has a real interest in science and research, so I asked if he wanted to participate in the Cleo and Zack program,” says Pavel, who was one of his science advisors.  “He seemed very eager and motivated.”

In order to conduct paid research as a Cleo and Zack scholar, a student must complete the course Bio 210, maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher, have a minimum of six course credits and possess a willingness to “come on board” and do research with Professor Pavel two to three days a week.

A focus on the impact of modified foods

Last year, Pavel mentored Waiyaki while he researched hypertension. This academic year, Waiyaki decided to research genetically modified foods—foods that have had specific changes introduced into their DNA via genetic engineering.

Pavel says that the Cleo and Zack Project, “does not go into the practical research of science. It aims more on researching how well people understand a certain science-related issue.”

Waiyaki wanted to explore how much New Yorkers knew about the impact of genetically modified foods. Thus, he surveyed people of various ethnicities throughout Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.

“Modified foods interest me. Growing up in a third-world country, there are food shortages because of famine or drugs. And one of the proposed remedies on how to deal with hunger is with the use of genetically modified foods,” says Waiyaki, explaining his personal interest in this research topic. “Many people don’t know about the detrimental impacts of genetically modified foods, only the benefits.”

Waiyaki created a poster that outlined his findings, and presented this poster at Honors Committee Day and at BMCC’s recent science poster presentation event. Pavel helped him analyze and chart his survey.

“Nowadays, with advances in science, we have children who grew up with certain allergies to food substances such as tomatoes or peanuts—they can be life-threatening,” says Waiyaki about his Cleo and Zack project. “That’s one of the reasons why this caught my attention for the topic.”

Mentoring is a ‘capstone experience’

Not surprisingly, Gary Waiyaki’s next step after BMCC is medical school, where he hopes to study neurology. In fact, Pavel is helping him with his applications to 4-year schools.

“All of the programs at BMCC, including Cleo and Zack, are a stepping stone to get me into medical school,” he says. “A program like Cleo and Zack, especially at a community college like BMCC, provides a capstone experience for students who actually want to participate in it—and I strongly encourage BMCC students to be engaged in such programs.”

As for working one on one with a faculty mentor, sometimes even three days a week, Waiyaki is grateful for everything he learned, both about science and about himself.

“With a mentor, you work with someone who actually believes in you and wants you to fulfill your full academic potential, especially in the sciences,” he says. “I think for minority students one of the problems we experience, especially in an academic setting, is a lack of mentors; people who actually push us. So, working with Professor Pavel was really motivating.”

Pavel says working directly with students on research, “allows them to make the transition into a 4-year college, so when they go out into the world, they take the knowledge they learned at BMCC and know how to apply it.”