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WHEN LAB WORK MEETS THE REAL WORLD
VOLUME 121 ISSUE 45
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
Third-year medicinal chemistry doctoral student Alison Donnelly has received a $26,000 fellowship to research cancer. Donnelly is one of 11 graduate researchers nationwide to receive this American Chemical Society fellowship.
Researcher's dedication pays off
Cancer studies hit close to home for medicinal chemist
BY MEGAN HEACOCK mheacock@kansan.com
Alison Donnelly has never had cancer. She's never had to recover from chemotherapy or undergo biopsies. But for the past three years, she has been at war with the disease, working to expose its weakness and bring it down for good.
Millions of Americans deal with cancer each year, forced to face it when they're physically weak, forced to fight it with conviction they never knew they had.
A third-year medicinal
Follow Megan Heacock at twitter com/meheacock.
chemistry doctoral student from Grand Island, N.Y., Donnelly is being rewarded for wreaking havoc upon the second-deadliest disease in the world. She is one of 11 graduate researchers nationwide to receive a $26,000 fellowship from the American Chemical Society to research cancer.
For three years, Donnelly's battle against cancer stayed within the lab. But last fall, it became personal. Donnelly's 18-year-old sister, Becky, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Within a few weeks, the doctors had to remove one of her ovaries, as well
as a tumor estimated to weigh between nine and 10 pounds. Alison's vast knowledge of the disease had perhaps never been more needed on a personal level.
"I think a lot of my family came to me just because I'd been working on it for so long," she said. "So, the doctors would tell them something, and I would try to help translate."
Her father, Thomas, would call her with questions about the information given to him by doctors. Becky said she wanted Alison there more for emotional support.
"I did my own crazy, independent research online, finding out about my own condition," Becky said. "But she was definitely a resource for the family, in terms of 'What were the doctors actually saying?'"
Donnelly never had a trace of cancer in her family. A healthy and active 25-year-old, she studied cancer because it had been an interest in her undergraduate studies at Case Western Reserve University. While at Case Western, in Cleveland, Alison majored in chemistry and modern languages and literatures. It was there she focused her ambitions on medicinal chemistry.
"I was always interested in organic chemistry," she said. "It's only so much that you can make molecules. But for what? The idea of medicinal chemistry was a draw for me because it's making molecules with a purpose."
assignment given to her daughter when she was in middle school. The assignment was one most people have experienced in one form or another: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Donnelly's interest in cancer preceded her little sister's illness. Early on, Donnelly's family knew she would dominate a chemistry lab some day. Her mother, Martha, said she could recall an
Donnelly, a seventh grader at the time, wrote that she wanted to be a clinical pharmacologist.
"One of her brothers might've said he wanted to be an astronaut or a physicist or something," Martha said. "But here she's in the same field. She's in pharmacology and medicinal chemistry. So, it's pretty incredible that she knew that back then."
Donnelly said she credited a lot of her success to her boss and mentor, Brian Blagg, associate professor of medicinal chemistry. For three years, Donnelly has been one of 20 students working
SEE CANCER ON PAGE 3A
CONFERENCE
Campus meeting examines economy
BY JESSE BROWN jbrown@kansan.com
Kansas policymakers and business leaders discussed topics ranging from bioscience to transportation as they pondered the future of the Kansas economy at a conference yesterday.
The Institute for Policy & Social Research held its annual Kansas Economic Policy Conference, "The Kansas Economy: 2015," yesterday in the Big 12 Room of the Kansas Union. Participants discussed the future of the state's economy following the recent economic decline. Last year, the conference focused on health care reform.
"We address issues that relate to policymakers, academic and the business community in Kansas," Donna Ginther, director of the Center for Economic and Business Analysis, said.
Ginther, who is also a professor of economics, spoke about the changes in population, employment and education and, more specifically, how those changes have affected and will affect the job market in Kansas.
Caryn Woods, Lake Winnebago, Mo., is a second-year graduate student in urban planning who attended the conference with a particular interest.
"I study two different things in urban planning — sustainable development and housing development — so this kind of centers on both my interests," Woods said. "One is the housing crisis we've been having, particularly in interest to the economy of Kansas and what that's going to do to housing and low-income families."
Woods also said she was very interested in housing that used sustainable energy.
"I think it would be really neat to work with the Department of
SEE ECONOMICS ON PAGE 3A
CAMPUS
Follow Jesse
Brown at twitter.
com/jessebrownthe1.
Ecumenical Christian Ministries building considered historic place
BY JESSE RANGEL jrangel@kansan.com
Two years ago, Tom Harper, concerned about the future of Ecumenical Christian Ministries, wrote a proposal to preserve it. Now the building is one of the newest additions to the National Register of Historic Places.
Harper attended Sufi dance classes at the ECM when he was at the University in the early 1990s working towards a graduate degree in
The ECM was built in 1959 and houses events such as weekly vegetarian lunches, a University- community forum, a fair trade market and planning for alternative spring breaks.
Follow Jesse Rangel at twitter.
com/igglephile.
social work. He first became aware of the possible sale of the building to the developers of the Oread Inn in 2007 and decided to do what he could to try to save it.
He had previously put a Lawrence house on the register and decided to do the same for the ECM in order to make sure it would be preserved.
"The ECM has always had events that had felt comfortable and familiar to me," Harper said. "I've always appreciated the building, of what it represents."
Thad Holcombe, campus minister for ECM, said the ECM local board has owned the building for about a year and
a half. Previously, it had been owned by the United Presbyterian Center. Holcombe said he was at a downtown hardware store when he was approached by Harper to begin the process of putting the building on the register.
"I just think it's a beautiful and important building that represents that era in a significant way."
ting the building on the register.
TOM HARPER Lawrence Modern
"That is a momentous job to do that." Holcombe said.
with Leslie Tuttle, professor of history, to research the history of the building from both an architectural
and sociopolitical standpoint. Holcombe said the social and political aspect of the building's history fascinated him because he knew that it was a safe place for groups to organize in the '60s and '70s.
Holcombe said Harper worked
ect, when he had some downtime in 2008. Harper, who is the president
Harper said he worked on the pro- nce and his work.
The Ecumenical Christian Ministries building is a new addition to the National Register of Historic Places. The ECM has been a safe place for groups to meet since 1959.
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
SEE ECM ON PAGE 3A
index
Classifieds...6A Opinion...5A
Crossword...4A Sports...10A
Horoscopes...4A Sudoku...4A
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2009 The University Daily Kansan
ASSOCIATED PRESS
U. S. arrests 300 in drug cartel
The strike in 38 cities is the largest ever against Mexican drug operations. CPRME 12A
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