This has been a very busy first year for Dr. Leah Chase.  She moved from St. Paul, MN to Zeeland, MI with her husband, Brad Wallar, and then, 18 month old daughter, Abigail, during the middle of July.  Work began at the end of July as she participated in the Teaching Enhancement Workshop and began preparing for fall classes.

During the fall semester, Dr. Chase taught one section of Biochemistry and one General Chemistry Lab. She also spent time pouring through catalogs and ordering equipment/supplies to fill her research lab. In her copious amount of free time (HAH!), Dr. Chase completed a manuscript from her doctoral work that was later accepted with revisions by Neuroscience and submitted two grant proposals, one to the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation and the other to Research Corporation. Dr. Chase also kept busy by mentoring an undergraduate (via e-mail) at the University of Minnesota who was continuing her postdoctoral research and presenting two papers at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA.

During the winter break, Dr. Chase submitted a third research proposal to the Campbell Foundation. She was thrilled when she was informed a month later that it would be funded!! She also spent the winter break preparing for the transition from chemist to biologist as she continued to develop an upper-level Neuroscience course that would be offered for the first time at Hope College in the spring semester.

In addition to her Neuroscience course, Dr. Chase taught a Cells and Genetics lab and co-taught one section of the Cells and Genetics lecture course with Dr. Donald Cronkite (Biology) during the spring semester. The highlight of Neuroscience class was participation in the West Michigan Science Festival, sponsoring two events entitled “Mind and Matter.” Dr. Chase also began to set up her research lab with the help of three research students, Elizabeth Jungst (’01, chem), Emily Schwartz (’02, chem./bio) and Katie Markan (’01, bio). Together, they got the cell culture system operational and began cloning the human isoform of a cystine/glutamate exchange carrier, called System xc¯, Dr. Chase’s favorite biological transport system. Thanks to these dedicated students, Dr. Chase’s lab will be off to a good start this summer.

This summer, Dr. Chase will participate in the Biology and Chemistry REU programs, mentoring 4 students in her research lab, Emily Schwartz (see above), Beauregard Mason (’03-chem), Dan Hansen (’01, Grand Valley) and Erika Burket (’02, Saint Mary’s College). With such a great crew, Dr. Chase is looking forward to a very productive summer in the lab. During the summer months, she also plans on developing a First Year Seminar Course on the biological/chemical basis of consciousness, writing a CCLI-AI grant with Dr. Chris Barney (Biology) to obtain funding to develop a Neuroscience Lab to accompany the new course, and finishing two more manuscripts from her graduate career. Of course, Dr. Chase and her husband are determined to spend as much time as possible at the beach teaching Abby to swim and the art of sand-castle building!