2010 Assembly of Delegates:
Southeast Regional Associate Director

2010 Sigma Xi Annual Meeting & International Research Conference

November 11-14, 2010
Raleigh Convention Center
Raleigh, North Carolina

Name: Samir Aleryani

Chapter Affiliation: Vanderbilt University

Name: Brian Hart

Present Position: Physicist, Concepts Analysis Lab
Organization: U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command / Army Forces Strategic Command

Chapter Affiliation: University of Alabama in Huntsville

Name: Julio Turrens

Present Position: Associate Dean, College of Allied Health Professions
Organization: University of South Alabama

Address: College of Allied Health Professions
Dean's Office, HAHN 3042
University of South Alabama
Mobile, AL 36688-0002
United States

Chapter Affiliation: University of South Alabama

Candidate's Statement: The interdisciplinary nature of Sigma Xi provides the perfect environment for the free exchange of ideas across disciplines. As a member of Sigma Xi I believe our duty is to promote the importance of this exchange among our peers, in order to keep alive the desire of learning beyond the narrow scope of our disciplines. Unfortunately, many scientists do not take advantage of this by only joining their own professional societies. Over the years I have worked very hard at our campus to keep our chapter viable. If elected Associate Director of the Comprehensive Colleges & Universities Constituency, I use my experience to assist the Director as needed and I will work towards promoting the relevance of scientific endeavors both in all our campuses and in the community at large.

Sigma Xi and Other Activities:
1986-96 Member of the Committee on Symposia, International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB).
1989-94 Member of the International Cell Research Organization (ICRO).
1995-96 President-Elect of the Mobile Chapter of the Scientific Honor Society Sigma Xi.
1996-97 President of the Mobile Chapter of the Scientific Honor Society Sigma Xi.
2001-02 President Elect of the University of South Alabama chapter of Phi Kappa Phi
2002-04 President of the University of South Alabama chapter of Phi Kappa Phi
2004-06 Councilor, Biology Division, Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR).
2006-07 President of the Mobile Chapter of the Scientific Honor Society Sigma Xi
2008-10 Councilor, At Large Division, Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR).
2009- Treasurer, University of South Alabama chapter of Phi Kappa Phi
2010-11 President of the Mobile Chapter of the Scientific Honor Society Sigma Xi
2010- Member of the National Nominations Committee of Scientific Honor Society Sigma

Biographical Information: Dr. Julio F. Turrens received his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. His is currently professor of Biomedical Sciences and Associate Dean in the College of Allied Health Professions at the University of South Alabama.

His research has been focused in two areas including free radical metabolism in mammalian cells, and intermediate metabolism of parasitic protozoa. His has identified several intracellular sources of ROS and developed methods to detect their formation. The second area of interest focuses on the intermediate metabolism of Trypanosoma cruzi.

In 1998 he designed a campus-wide program for undergraduate research which since then has received funding from NASA and the National Science Foundation. In addition to his interest in basic science, Dr. Turrens has developed undergraduate and graduate courses to train students in the areas of Bioethics and Responsible Conduct of Research.

Dr. Turrens has published almost 100 peer reviewed articles and book chapters.

Name: John Williamson

Present Position:Professor
Organization:University of Mississippi

Address:Department of Medicinal Chemistry
School of Pharmacy
University of Mississippi
University, Mississippi 38677
United States

Chapter Affiliation: University of Mississippi

Candidate's Statement: I sincerely believe that Sigma Xi is the "only international, multidisciplinary research society whose programs and activities promote the health of the scientific enterprise and honor scientific achievement".

I have been a member of Sigma Xi for 20 years, served as Chair of my local section twice, and currently hold a life membership in the Society.

My major accomplishments during these two leadership terms were increasing membership, increasing visibility, instituting a yearly banquet with a speaker, hosting a mixer each semester, and reinstituting a graduate student poster section.

My research interests are in drug design and discovery using green biotechnologies. My research enterprises have been funded by NIH, NSF, DoD, CDC, and several private research foundations. For the past decade, my research has focused on the development of an inexpensive anti-malarial treatment.

My mentor and first department chair, Dr. Frank Gilmore currently Chancellor of Montana Tech University has always been a staunch supporter of Sigma Xi as well as a previous National President. He instilled in me the importance of Sigma Xi and how much of an honor it is to be selected for membership into the Society. My interest in the position of Southeast Region Associate Director is to help promote Sigma Xi by encouraging local chapters to enhance their commitment to Sigma Xi. I have a strong interest in collecting and sharing ideas about how to strengthen local Chapters, increase visibility and membership, and emphasize the high honor of being a member in Sigma Xi.

If provided with the opportunity to serve as the Southeast Regional Associate Director, I will work diligently to represent the members of the Southeastern District.

Biographical Information: Current position: Professor of Medicinal Chemistry & Research Professor of the National Center for the Development of Natural Products & Research Professor of the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi. Education: B.S. (1982) Pharmacy, University of Mississippi; Ph.D. (1987) Medicinal Chemistry & Natural Products Chemistry, University of Iowa; Postdoctoral Fellow (1987-89) Evolutionary Prokaryotic Biology/Enzyme Chemistry/Molecular Microbiology, Yale University. Professional experience: (1997-03) Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry & Research Associate Professor of the National Center for the Development of Natural Products & Research Associate Professor of the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi; (1989-95) Assistant Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi; (1982) Registered Pharmacist, Southwest Drugs, Jackson, Mississippi. More than $10 million in external research and training support and has served on more than 25 NIH and NSF review panels. Editorial positions: Associate Editor, Pharmaceutical Biology; Associate Editor, Journal of Environmental Protection; Honorary Editorial Board Member, Perspectives in Medicinal Chemistry; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Current Organic Chemistry; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Letters in Drug Design and Discovery; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Drug Design Reviews; Editorial Board Member, The Open Medicinal Chemistry Journal; Book Review Editor, Society of Industrial Microbiology News. Professional societies: American Chemical Society, American Society for Microbiology, American Association. of Colleges of Pharmacy, American Society of Pharmacognosy, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Society of Industrial Microbiology, Rho Chi, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Delta Chi, Phi Lambda Sigma. Awards: 2009 University of Mississippi Award for Inclusiveness, 2006 UM School of Pharmacy Researcher of the Year Award, 1998 UM School of Pharmacy Faculty Service Award, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Young Investigator Award, American Society of Pharmacognosy Young Investigator Award, Phi Delta Chi 1996 Outstanding Alumni Award.

Name: Qing Ye

Address: 2112 Addenbrock Drive
Morrisville, NC 27560
United States

Chapter Affiliation:Research Triangle Park

Biographical Information: Education: M.S. Automation Engineering (2002), Tsinghua University, Beijing, China; Ph.D. Computer Engineering (2007), Lehigh University. Awards/Honors: Nominated for best paper award of the 28th International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS 2008); Nominated for the 2007 Graduate Student Merit Award, Lehigh University; 2005 Best Graduate Student Award, Lehigh University Graduate Student Life; Best Student Paper/Poster Award, 2006 IEEE Sarnoff Symposium; Excellent Students Award of Tsinghua University, first prize. Research interests: Dynamic Multicast in Wireless Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networks, Network Protocol/Algorithm Design, Network Time Synchronization, Large-scale Wireless Sensor Networks, Collaboration Systems in Wireless Networks. Research Experience: Research Assistant: Enhanced Disruption/Fault Tolerant Bundle Delivery (EDIFY) System, sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (2005–2006); Research Assistant: Embedded Systems and their Applications, sponsored by Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance. (2003–2005); Research Assistant: Network Processing and Network Processors, sponsored by National Science Foundation (2003–2005); Research Assistant: SCI: NMI DEVELOPMENT: Middleware for Adaptive Robust Collaborations across Heterogeneous Environments and Systems (MARCHES), sponsored by National Science Foundation (2005).