WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.--Wendy Raymond, assistant professor of biology, has received a three-year, $113,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study cell division regulation in yeast.
This line of research, stemming directly from mutants discovered in Raymond's 1997 winter study class, demonstrates the minimal boundaries that can exist between teaching and research at Williams. Raymond created her winter study class in research on molecular genetics in response to comments from students disappointed about research opportunities during the January term in biology.
"I saw a lot of biology students signing up to do research in chemistry, and thought we should have a similar course offering," Raymond said.
The winter study class consisted of nine students, all sophomores, who spent January 1997 isolating and characterizing suppressers of two genes involved in cell-cycle regulation. The course is purposely designed to give younger students what may be their first laboratory research experience; the findings were serendipitous.
"I intended the course to be a learning experience," Raymond explained. "That the course was also successful scientifically was beyond my wildest dreams."
Raymond studies single cellular organisms to isolate mutant cells which are defective in normal cell-cycle regulation. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, commonly known as baker's yeast, has proven to be the most effective medium for performing these experiments with mutant cells. Her NIH grant will support work that specifically addresses, through genetic and molecular approaches, the role that CDC-14, a cell division cycle gene required for the completion of telophase, plays in exit from mitosis.
Raymond feels that teaching and research are related in more than the very direct student contribution mentioned above. "I am truly convinced that the best teachers are doing research and vice-versa," Raymond asserted. "The types of critical thought that one brings to the classroom as a teacher carry over to research. On the flip side, as researchers, professors bring cutting-edge material to their classes that isn't found in any textbooks."
She also cites the strength of Williams' undergraduate research program as a distinct advantage in the grant process. "The level of proficiency that Williams requires in both research and teaching really pushes us all to high levels."
Raymond was a teaching fellow at Harvard University before coming to Williams. She received her B.A. magna cum laude from Cornell University, where she was a National Scholar, and her Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from Harvard University. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, she has received numerous grants and fellowships, including a postdoctoral fellowship from the American Cancer Society for research at the University of Washington.
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News/Hirschmann
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