October 03, 2005
Queens, N.Y. – An education professor examining the academic
obstacles women face in China and a pharmacy professor researching
a way to administer medication for breast cancer through the skin
are St. John’s University’s newest Fulbright recipients.
The University announced that Mary Ann Maslak, Associate
Professor of Education, and Dr. Senshang Lin, Associate Professor
of Pharmacy and Administrative Sciences, have been awarded
Fulbright Research Awards for 2005-2006.
“For the faculty of St. John’s, a dedication to teaching goes
hand-in-hand with a commitment to research of the highest caliber,”
said Julia A. Upton, RSM, Ph.D., Provost. “Our Fulbright Scholars
testify to our continuing tradition of faculty excellence.”
A New York City resident, Dr. Maslak will study the historic and
continuing educational obstacles confronting women from China’s
ethnic minorities. Through her grant, which extends from January
2006 to August 2006, Dr. Maslak will travel throughout rural China
to conduct her research.
“Even today, issues of gender and ethnic inequities in education
exist throughout our world,” said Dr. Maslak. “Certainly those
issues have parallels to and intersections with related topics in
the United States.”
Dr. Maslak also received a Summer 2006 Fulbright to conduct
research in India.
Dr. Lin, a New Jersey resident, will explore a new way to fight
breast cancer through the topical administration of
gonadotropin-releasing hormone, which suppresses the growth of
cancer cells. Through the technique, a patient would use a safe,
current-generating machine that would allow the skin to absorb
medication from a topical patch.
“When these medications are administered by injection, systemic
side effects often occur,” said Dr. Lin. “If this topical way of
administering the medication proves effective, we will be able to
avoid major side effects by using a smaller dose.”
Through his Fulbright, which lasts from January to August, 2006,
Dr. Lin will conduct his research and teach at Kaohsiung Medical
University in Taiwan.
Professors Maslak and Lin are the latest St. John’s faculty to
be awarded Fulbrights. In 2004, Dr. Jay Nathan, Professor of
Management in The Peter J. Tobin College of Business at St. John’s,
received his fourth Fulbright. In 2003, Dr. Konrad Tuchsherer
received a Fulbright to conduct research in Cameroon.
Following is a list of researchers who were awarded Fulbrights
while at St. John’s University:
Dr. Tony H. Bonaparte
Dr. Frank Coppa
Dr. Jefferson Fish
Dr. Willard Gingerich
Dr. Frederick Lang
Dr. Francis Lees
Dr. Anna Licari-LaGrassa
Dr. Senshang Lin
Dr. Susan Lushing
Dr. Greg Maertz
Dr. Mary Ann Maslak
Dr. Stephen Paul Miller
Dr. Jay Nathan
Dr. Konrad Tuchsherer
Dr. Laura Snyder
Dr. James Vorbach
Dr. Charles Wankel
Dr. Roger V. Wetherington
Dr. Zheng Zhou
The U.S. established the Fulbright Scholar Program in 1946
through legislation by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of
Arkansas. The program supports the research of U.S. faculty and
professionals who travel to a wide variety of countries each
year.
Founded in 1870, St. John’s University is one of America’s
leading Catholic institutions of higher learning. St. John’s has
three residential campuses in New York City, a location in Oakdale,
NY, and a Graduate Center in Rome, Italy. Some 19,813 full- and
part-time students from across the country and around the world
pursue their undergraduate and graduate degrees at St. John’s.