The FDA just approved cedazuridine, the cancer drug Chemistry professor Dana Ferraris invented more than a decade ago when he worked in the biotech industry as a medicinal chemist. In its approval announcement, the agency says the combination of cedazuridine with the cancer drug decitabine in pill form is “an important advance in treatment options for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a type of blood cancer, who previously needed to visit a health care facility to receive intravenous treatment.”
In the face of the deadly global coronavirus pandemic, pharmaceutical data vaults have been unlocked and shared – an unprecedented move in research that McDaniel Chemistry professor Dana Ferraris seized to give his students the opportunity this summer to discover drugs to fight COVID-19.
Now on their way to doctorate programs, medical school, high school classrooms and careers that span wildlife preservation, agriculture production and forensics, McDaniel’s 2020 Biology graduates all learned valuable skills and life lessons while immersing in the capstone research that is the culmination of their studies in their major.
The Forest Online course at McDaniel College is not only about researching wildlife, forest protection, ecotourism and community in the Peruvian Amazon but also has the purpose to teach students to become great storytellers and turn what they have learned into high-impact stories. The three-part course is taught in the fall semester, during McDaniel’s January Term and in the spring semester.
Sixteen Biology, Chemistry and Chemistry-Kinesiology majors collaborated with a team of Chemistry professors on summer research aimed at antiviral, antibacterial and cancer drug development, pollution clean-up, cell and tissue imaging, and ways to invigorate general chemistry lab.
Kelly Novak teamed up with Physics professor Jeff Marx to design her major in Meteorology, a concentration of physics and math courses enriched with chemistry and environmental studies, which earned the Honors student a competitive summer research experience in atmospheric science and offers of funded graduate studies.
Sophomore Elva Joya seizes every opportunity to explore a future in medicine from her double major in Biomedical Sciences and Psychology to her internship in Spain shadowing surgeons and learning about the country’s free public healthcare system.
Students represented McDaniel College at the Maryland Collegiate Honors Conference, “Leadership in a Time of Change,” held at Harford Community College, Feb. 28-29.
Dressed as a wizard, an elf, a king and an elf princess from “Lord of the Rings,” three students and Psychology professor Paul Mazeroff enchanted the Baltimore Jungian Working Group with their analyses of different elements of Tolkien’s classic in terms of the psychology of Carl Jung.
Jade Enright, a senior Molecular Biology major with a strong Chemistry minor, conducted research at Yale University after being named an Amgen Scholar. Enright worked in a graduate molecular biology lab overseen by a Yale professor and staffed with four post-doctoral fellows, four Ph.D. students and a lab manager.
News, experts, trends, research, interesting classes and fascinating people. It’s all here at McDaniel College – let us help you find what you’re looking for.
For media requests, contact the Office of Communications and Marketing:
Cheryl Knauer
Director of Public Relations cknauer@mcdaniel.edu Office: 410-857-2294 Cell: 443-487-1645
External Filming/Photography Policy
McDaniel College will consider requests from individuals and organizations who want to film or photograph any of the college’s properties and main campus.
Please complete the McDaniel College Filming/Photography request.
