News Release

Seven New Graduate School Students Enroll at Scripps Florida

Two Have Connections to Florida Universities

Jupiter, FL, July 27, 2010 – Seven new graduate students have chosen The Scripps Research Institute campus in Florida as the place to pursue their doctoral degrees. Two of the new students have connections to Florida universities

"Of the new students, one is coming to us from Florida State, the other received her undergraduate degree from the University of Miami and was most recently at Rockefeller University in New York," said William R. Roush, associate dean for the Scripps Florida graduate school program, as well as professor in the Department of Chemistry and executive director of medicinal chemistry at Scripps Florida.

The seven entering students (including one transfer student) came from a total of 18 offered slots on the Jupiter campus. "This is a very good acceptance number," Roush said, "nearly 40 percent."

The new students are:

  • Ariadna Amador, Biology, University of Miami (via Rockefeller University)
  • Joel W. Blanchard, Biology, St. Lawrence University and Harvard University
  • Christian Dreyton, Chemical Biology, University of South Carolina
  • Joseph Henry, Chemistry, Florida State University
  • David P. Marciano, Biology, University of California, San Diego
  • Ryan Stowe, Chemistry, Albion College, Michigan
  • Francisco Garcia, Chemical Biology, University of Michigan (transfer)

They start classes at the beginning of August.

The graduate program at Scripps Florida, part of The Scripps Research Institute's Kellogg School of Science and Technology, offers doctoral studies with an emphasis on chemistry, chemical biology, biophysics, or the biological sciences. The program, first established in 1989, currently enrolls approximately 250 students. So far, five students have completed their Ph.D. degrees at Scripps Florida.

The Scripps Research Institute's Kellogg School of Science and Technology continues to be ranked among the best graduate schools in the country, according to the April 15, 2010 edition of U.S. News & World Report. The publication now ranks the Kellogg School seventh overall in chemistry, with a ranking of third in the specialty of organic chemistry and fourth in the specialty of biochemistry. The school is also rated seventh overall in the biological sciences, with a ranking of ninth in the specialty of biochemistry/biophysics/structural biology.

New M.D.-Ph.D. Program Planned

That program will expand in the near future to include a joint M.D.-Ph.D. degree offering with Florida Atlantic University (FAU), thanks to legislation signed by Florida Governor Charlie Crist in May that established a medical school there.

FAU is currently anticipating a class of approximately 60 medical students per year with the expectation that 10 to 15 percent of those students will enroll in the joint program, Roush said. The first medical degree students will begin in fall 2011.

"There have been ongoing discussions about the joint FAU-Scripps Research degree program," Roush said. "Earlier this summer, we agreed on a basic outline. Basically, students will spend three years in the FAU M.D. program with the fourth year being the first of the Ph.D. program. The students will have to finish one year of the Scripps Ph.D. program to complete their M.D."

During the first three years of the M.D. program, Roush added, students will be encouraged to do independent study with members of the Scripps Florida faculty to help them better focus on the type of research they want to do.

The anticipated M.D.-Ph.D program builds on a joint education agreement between Scripps Research and FAU, in which the two institutions promote education and research involving biomedical science and related fields, including collaborations in postdoctoral training, undergraduate education, internships, and community outreach activities.

About The Scripps Research Institute

The Scripps Research Institute is one of the world's largest independent, non-profit biomedical research organizations, at the forefront of basic biomedical science that seeks to comprehend the most fundamental processes of life. Scripps Research is internationally recognized for its discoveries in immunology, molecular and cellular biology, chemistry, neurosciences, autoimmune, cardiovascular, and infectious diseases, and synthetic vaccine development. Established in its current configuration in 1961, it employs approximately 3,000 scientists, postdoctoral fellows, scientific and other technicians, doctoral degree graduate students, and administrative and technical support personnel. Scripps Research is headquartered in La Jolla, California. It also includes Scripps Florida, whose researchers focus on basic biomedical science, drug discovery, and technology development. Scripps Florida is located in Jupiter, Florida.

For more information about The Scripps Research Institute, see www.scripps.edu. For more information about the Kellogg School of Science and Technology, see http://education.scripps.edu/.

 

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