Local Scientists Share Their Expertise
Grace Kinsman, staff writer
On Wednesday, Nov. 8, from 12-1 p.m., room 201 in the Keats Science Building was the setting of the most recent science club discussion. This discussion feature two local scientists, Dr. Justin S. Perry and Behnam Keshavarz.
The discussion started as club Advisor Anne Allison quickly welcomed the guest speakers and members for coming. Allison is a professor of biology at PVCC and said she was “very grateful” for all the attendees. Thomas Stewart, the club president, formally introduced the guest speakers and shared their achievements with the audience.
Perry was the first to present to the club. He had prepared a presentation on “cell volume regulation during apoptotic cell clearance” to share with the club. Perry is an adjunct assistant professor of biology at PVCC. He also has worked in UVA research labs and had advice to share with the club members.
Perry said, “I fully hope to have my own laboratory, but I also have been involved with trying to get people who may not know much about scientific pathways, but introduce them to that route.” He had a lot advice to share to those thinking about pursuing a career in research. He invited anyone to email him with any questions regarding his specific field. His PVCC email is JPerry@pvcc.edu.
Behnam Keshavarz took the stage after Perry to share his presentation on allergens. Keshavarz is a student at PVCC and is in the process of applying to medical school. He already has experience in labs from undergraduate work. Keshavarz started off by saying, “you have a lot of options and you are not limited to anything.” He reminded the students that they could do anything. He explained some of the experiments he helped with. One study he worked on was to determine if a fish was the fish that a restaurant was marketing it as. He did this by using allergens and antibodies to indicate which fish it really was. Keshavarz also quickly mentioned the importance of staying organized in the lab and said, “Experiments are expensive, so planning is essential.”
The science club discussion was informative and informal. The meeting was like a conversation, students asked questions for clarification and explanations as the presentations were going on.
