Monday, 5/5/97 Talley awarded prize for academic excellence in
research Fourth-year medical student becomes first to receive
honor
By Kathryn Combs Daily Bruin Contributor While many students
come to UCLA to pursue the hallowed prize of a college education,
and while academic achievement is not foreign to the UCLA
community, many of her colleagues agree that Jeaniene Talley, a
fourth-year medical student, personifies academic excellence. In
recognition of her academic achievement in research, Talley, 26,
received the $500 inaugural David E. Rogers Memorial Prize last
month at the National Medical Fellowships, Inc./Bristol Myers
Squibb research symposium. The first recipient ever of this award,
Talley was judged on her ability to present her research material
clearly, how well she demonstrated her understanding of the
research’s importance, and how well she was able to answer
questions about her project. The award is given in the name of
David E. Rogers, the founding chairman of the Program Development
Committee of the Fellowship Program in Academic Medicine for
Minority Students. The national award was established in 1994 after
Rogers’ death. It recognizes the academic medicine fellow who makes
the best presentation at the annual research symposium. "Jeaniene
is a very gifted student," said Dr. Alexis Thompson, an assistant
professor of pediatrics and mentor to Talley through the Short-Term
Training Program (STTP). Of the research that Tally has
participated in, most of her work was done under the supervision of
Thompson. "Jeaniene is a wonderful example of the excellence among
many students at UCLA. She is not only an accomplished researcher,
but is looking to become an equally accomplished clinician." Talley
and Thompson researched a variation found in a gene involved with
the proliferation of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), one of the
most prevalent forms of leukemia. "We were looking at the white
blood cell samples of persons diagnosed with CLL," Talley said. "We
found mutations in the B29 gene that could be responsible for the
decreased production of an antibody," she added. Specifically,
Talley and Thompson were looking at the mechanism by which the
mutations occurred and found that pieces of RNA were clipped out
during the cell’s life cycle. This led to the decreased presence of
the antibody on the surface of the cell. Generally, the presence of
these antibodies characterize whether or not a cell is mature and
ready to die. This is important because cells that are not mature
can be killed off by chemotherapy, hindering the effects of such
therapy and rendering the patient unaffected. "Our hypothesis is
that this mutated B29 gene is not responsible for the impaired
immunoglobin surface expression in CLL. If it were possible to
characterize a gene abnormality that characterizes the antibody,
maybe we could do something," Talley said. Her mentors at UCLA have
taken note of her commitment. "We regularly have medical students
and graduate students that rotate through the lab, and Jeaniene is
probably one of the best medical students we’ve had," said Dr.
Randolph Wall, a professor in the department of microbiology and
immunology with the school of medicine. "She’s been a really strong
contributor to our research. She commits herself to a lot of extra
work to keep her projects going. Her awards are well deserved,"
Wall concluded. Talley reflected on both the award and the man who
established it. "It’s wonderful to be recognized in the name of
someone who did so much in general for minority students who want
to pursue a career in academic medicine and research," Talley said.
"Unfortunately, I never met Dr. Rogers," she added. "From what I
learned of him, he sounded like he pretty much spearheaded a
program specifically aimed at minority students, to give them an
introduction to academic medicine," Talley said. "He saw a need,
underrepresentation in academic medicine of minority students, and
started to establish this fellowship," Talley commented. Talley
will be the first in her family to become a medical doctor and says
that if it weren’t for her family’s support, she might not have
made it this far. "I feel a great sense of accomplishment and
pride. I couldn’t have done it without the support of my family,"
Talley said. "I think with their support, it makes only that more
important that I succeed." Talley, who graduated from UCLA in 1993
with a bachelor’s degree in physiological science, was not always
interested in pursuing a career in medicine. In fact, she did not
even decide to major in physiology until her junior year. "I really
wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but I knew that I was interested
in teaching," said Talley, who, in March, was matched for residency
at Long Beach Memorial Hospital. "(However) the thought of going
into medicine was appealing on many levels. One was that I could
help heal people. The other was that I could educate people too,"
continued Talley, who aims to extend her lesson as a clinician into
the classroom as a professor. Due to graduate May 30, Talley will
begin her residency July 1 at Long Beach Memorial Hospital, where
she will specialize in family medicine. WYNN
RUJIRAVIRIYAPINYO/Daily Bruin Jeaniene Talley won the first David
E. Rogers Memorial Prize in medicine. Previous Daily Bruin stories
UCLA medical student wins top national award, November 21, 1995