2024 BMCC Annual Research Symposium (BARS)
2024 BMCC Annual Research Symposium (BARS)
AACR (American Association for Cancer Research) 2024 Annual Meeting Recap
This year the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting was held Apr 5-12, 2024 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, CA. Attendance is approaching pre-pandemic levels again as 22,500 people attended. The theme was “Inspiring Science – Fueling Progress – Revolutionizing Care”. As usual, you needed to plan out your schedule in advance as the exhibit space and conference space was massive. One also needed good walking shoes, as the steps kept coming and coming and coming. That being said, the recap will highlight 4 areas of the meeting.
Dr. Monique Mendes
Dr. Monique Mendes is a Jamaican born neuroscientist whose research currently focuses on the self-renewal process of microglial brain cells and their response to injury.
Dr. Ruth Ella Moore
Dr. Ruth Ella Moore was a bacteriologist whose research led to a better understanding of tuberculosis, gut microbiome, tooth decay, and blood types.
Dr. Lloyd Noel Ferguson
Dr. Lloyd Noel Ferguson born in Oakland in 1918, was a chemist, entrepreneur, mentor, and STEM literacy advocate. Despite growing up in poverty, he had a strong interest in chemistry during his childhood. He created his first lab in his backyard and made several inventions, some of which he sold. After high school he worked in construction and as a porter for a railroad company to save money for college. He received a BS (1936) with honors and PhD (1940) in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, becoming the first person in his family to attend college and the first African American to obtain a Chemistry PhD at Berkeley.
Dr. Edgar Julian Duncan (Julian)
Dr. Julian Duncan was a Caribbean botanist whose tissue culture technique allowed for the mass production of plant products in the Islands. Born on the island of St. Vincent, he always had a fascination with plants while growing up. He obtained a BS in Botany and Zoology from the University of the West Indies in Jamaica and his PhD in Fungal Genetics and Cytology at University of St. Andrew’s in Scotland.
Samuel Proctor Massie Jr.
Dr. Samuel Proctor Massie Jr. was an African-American chemist who worked on the Manhattan Project, antibiotics, environment, and infectious diseases.
Mary Elliot Hill, MS
Mary Elliott Hill was an organic and analytical chemist who researched ultraviolet light and used it to develop more precise analytical methods.
Dr. Charles Henry Turner
Dr. Charles Henry Turner was an African-American zoologist, civil rights activist, and educator whose work provided insight into certain behaviors of vertebrates in the19th century.
Dr. Marie Maynard Daly
Dr. Marie Maynard Daly was a biochemist and advocate for minorities in STEM. Originally from Queens, New York, she always showed an interest in science modeled after her father, an immigrant from the West Indies.