Chaminade University of Honolulu

Biology

Dr. Frederique Kandel Selected for Fellowship

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Chaminade University Assistant Professor Frederique Kandel, PhD, has been selected for the 2020 Ronald M. Iwamoto Teaching Fellowship in Biology. Kandel is the first faculty member named to the program since its $50,000 endowment was established at the University in 2019.

Frederique Kandel

Kandel will hold the title of Iwamoto Fellow for two years. The endowment was established to honor Faculty Emeritus Ronald Iwamoto, biology faculty member at Chaminade University for 47 years. The Iwamoto Fellowship was aided by over 70 donors, many former students of Iwamoto. The funds from the Iwamoto Fellowship support professional development, including attendance at conferences, workshops, innovative curriculum development, or leadership in education training.

“Professor Emeritus Ron Iwamoto’s reputation as an inspiring and enthusiastic teacher remains much alive in our school,” said Kandel. “I am truly grateful and honored to receive this fellowship and look forward to starting the professional development program by attending the American Society of Microbiology conference for undergraduate educators. Mahalo nui loa to all involved.”

Applicants for the Iwamoto Fellowship must submit a strategic program of professional development with a defined set of goals for the two-year period. Many fellowships at universities across the United States are available for research activities, but it is rare to have a fellowship focused on the development of teaching and pedagogy.

Iwamoto Fellow candidates are nominated by the Dean of Natural Sciences at Chaminade University, and formally selected by a committee comprised of Chaminade University alumni, many of whom are healthcare professionals.

“Dr. Kandel is an extremely talented and dedicated biology professor who strives for excellence in her biology pedagogy and is very popular with our students,” said Gail Grabowsky PhD, Interim Dean of Natural Sciences at Chaminade University. “She strikes the perfect balance between empathy and compassion, and she teaches her students how to become accomplished and disciplined scientists. She was trained as a marine scientist but has such a broad breadth of scientific knowledge and experience that she is also currently the President-Elect of the Hawaii Branch of the American Society of Microbiology. Because of this fellowship Dr. Kandel will be able to do more and new wonderful things for our Chaminade biology students.”

Kandel has committed over 20 years to teaching biology, math, and science at the university and high school levels in diverse cultural and socioeconomic contexts. She teaches a range of topics at Chaminade University, from freshman biotechnology to human anatomy for nurses to a senior microbiology course and laboratory for biology students.

Her strategic program of professional development as an Iwamoto Fellow will be to attend the 2020 ASM Conference for Undergraduate Educators (ASMCUE) in Bellevue, Washington and the 2021 ASM Teaching Undergraduate Biology webinar series. Both events aim to enhance the quality of microbiology education. Upon completion of the webinar, attendees are also invited to participate in sessions at the 2021 ASMCUE and to submit a poster or demonstration. This opportunity will give Kandel the chance to share the innovative teaching techniques and experiences generated during the previous year.

The Iwamoto Fellowship is the first-ever fellowship of any kind at Chaminade University.

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Chaminade University of Honolulu provides a collaborative and innovative learning environment that prepares graduate and undergraduate students for life, service and successful careers. Established in 1955, the university is guided by its Catholic, Marianist and liberal arts educational traditions, which include a commitment to serving the Native Hawaiian population. Chaminade offers an inclusive setting where students, faculty and staff collectively pursue a more just and peaceful society. For more information, visit chaminade.edu.

COVID-19 Data Provides Learning Opportunity for Students

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When COVID-19 (coronavirus) first grabbed big headlines in the US and began to shut down American cities, Chaminade Biology Professor Michael Dohm wanted to give his genomics students an opportunity to put their theoretical knowledge to the test on a very real-world problem. He drew up a series of lessons that would have them studying COVID-19 genome sequences as they became available worldwide.

Dohm’s students had spent the beginning of the term honing their bioinformatics skills, the process of searching and retrieving sequences from databases, looking for similarities, and then building algorithms to represent evolutionary relationships. The point of all that work? To test hypotheses about diseases.

Because his students were studying virus genomes, Dohm decided to have them apply what they’d learned to the novel coronavirus. Peer into the origins of COVID-19, he told them, and try to sleuth out how the virus that triggered a global pandemic is related to other coronaviruses common to humans.

Dohm said the hands-on work wasn’t just relevant to the moment. It was exactly what genomic scientists around the world were doing. “The objective is to provide our students a glimpse into a small part of what Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other experts are doing right now as the spread of the virus continues,” he said.

He kicked off the project after spring break.

At that point, students were learning fully online and communicating with Dohm regularly remotely to talk through their findings. To unpack COVID-19, his students used bioinformatics software, grabbing sequences from publicly available databases. They also used evolutionary models to estimate rates of mutation in the sequences and then follow the rapid spread of coronavirus worldwide.

COVID-19 genome sequences are being collected around the world, as labs collect patient data, and thousands of samples are now publicly available in databases maintained around the world. “The basic idea of the project,” Dohm said, “is that we are utilizing the rapidly growing number of genetic sequences…to explore how experts can use the sequences to trace the virus’ origins.”

But he also wanted students to consider how the virus was evolving.

Such work has been compared to tracking the travel of COVID-19 as if looking at passport stamps.

While the work is challenging, Dohm was there with his students every step of the way, creating worksheets to help his students get unstuck as they pored over the data. He also had them keep their work for a portfolio to represent not only what they found—but the steps they took to get there.

A Doctor in the Making

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Growing up in a big family, Hi‘ilei Ishii-Chaves developed a knack for taking care of people. 

A Doctor in the Making | Hi'ilei Ishii-Chaves

“I’ve had to take care of a lot of my siblings,” says Ishii-Chaves. “And I’m good at taking care of children.”

The fourth-year biology major from Hilo has known for a long time that she wants to become a doctor. And because of her background, she’s most interested in family medicine and pediatrics. 

“Doctors come from the mainland and they serve people in Hawaii, but it’s rare that you find Native Hawaiian doctors in the medical field,” says Ishii-Chaves. “If I can become a doctor, then I can help children and better inform them. I feel like it’s my job to give back by educating my community.”

When her advisor and professor at Chaminade, Dr. Cogbill, sent her a list of summer research projects on the mainland, she jumped at the opportunity. She was quickly partnered with a Jamaican doctor at the Burnham National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, who specializes in pediatric internal medicine. 

Hi‘ilei Ishii-Chaves Summer Research

“I liked that my mentor was working on diabetes in children,” explains Ishii-Chaves. “I’ve always been interested in health disparities. I also really liked that my mentor is of a minority as well.”

Ishii-Chaves is spending the summer researching type 2 diabetes in children. She’s particularly looking at dyslipidemia, or abnormally elevated levels of cholesterol and fats found in the blood, in children with type 2 diabetes to see how it compares to adults with the same disease. Her team hopes the research will lead to early detection, and even prevention of the increasingly common childhood disease. 

But perhaps the most attractive part of the program was the hands-on experience. Several times a week, she shadows her mentor and accompanies her on patient visits. “I take patients to do blood tests, MRI scans and echocardiograms, and I sit in on their evaluations or wait in the waiting room with them,” she says. And every two weeks, they go into the children’s hospital in Washington D.C. to spend a full day visiting patients. 

Ishii-Chaves has found the experience to be particularly timely for her right now. “I’m actually applying to medical school right now for the 2020 cycle through Chaminade’s articulation agreement,” says Ishii-Chavez.

She hopes the invaluable experience and connections she gains this summer will stay with her throughout her journey of becoming a doctor.

Out in the Field At Lyon Arboretum

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Students at the Lyon ArboretumStudents in Dr. Hank Trapido-Rosenthal’s Cellular and Organismal Biology class headed to Lyon Arboretum on Thursday, September 27, 2018. Despite rainy conditions, students learned how to recognize the difference between plants that were endemic (native to the Hawaiian Islands and only found here), indigenous (native to the Hawaiian Islands but also found elsewhere) and canoe plants (brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Polynesian voyageurs).

In addition to learning about the history of the area and the wide variety of plants that call the arboretum home, each student picked and photographed a plant of interest which they will research and write a report about.

Megan Miguel ‘20 at Lyon Arboretum“I picked the ‘ohe plant,” said Megan Miguel ‘20, a biology major from Wailuku, Maui. “I chose it because it’s a type of bamboo, which is a really versatile plant. It can be used for so many different things in society.”

Hands-on learning is part of the Chaminade University experience. “Whether they’re local or from the mainland, most of my students have grown up in the city,” says Dr. Hank Trapido-Rosenthal. “My goal was to get them deep into the valley to see the geology, biology and history of our area. I wanted them to take what they learned in class and see it in context.”

Combining Native Hawaiian Culture with Science and Conservation is Ho`oulu Scholar’s Passion, Purpose

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For Chaminade University student Hulali Kinilau, combining Native Hawaiian cultural practices with science and conservation is her passion and career goal. She also regards this three-pronged approach as key to achieving sustainability in the ecologically fragile Aloha State.

Hulali KinilauKinilau, who’s double majoring in Cellular and Molecular Biology and Environmental Studies, was greatly influenced this past summer by the Hawaii Conservation Conference, which had a theme of “He Waʻa, He Moku – Mālama Honua: Caring for Our Island Earth.”

This 24th annual gathering at the Hawaii Convention Center brought together scientists, educators, students, conservation practitioners and community members with the goal of preserving natural resources in the Pacific region and beyond.

“I was blown away by the people at the conference,” said Kinilau, who’s attending Chaminade through the Ho`oulu STEM Scholarship Program funded by the university and Kamehameha Schools. “It was amazing to hear what what they had to say.

“I especially enjoyed learning about the scientific techniques that were being done in the outer islands within smaller communities,” Kinilau continued. “The scientists were working on establishing a connection with the community and figuring out what the community’s interests, needs and concerns were. Only after determining what could benefit the community did the scientists begin their studies/experiments.”

A declaration by one of the conference speakers that “Hawaiian culture is science” made a particular impact on Kinilau.

“I thought it was the most profound statement I could have heard that day,” she said. “And it was when I decided that – as a Native Hawaiian female in science – I have to do more.”

With that ambition in mind, Kinilau is applying for summer internships and master’s and Ph.D. programs on the Mainland.

“My plan is to focus on getting a higher education that builds on my scientific knowledge and experience,” she said. “Once I’ve done that, I plan on returning home and collaborating with the programs that are present on the Islands.”

Aiding Kinilau in her graduate school preparations are an internship with the Sierra Club and participation in Chaminade’s I Am a Scientist mobile outreach program, which encourages public school children to pursue STEM educations and careers.

“Both the internship and the I Am a Scientist events are helping me develop the communication skills needed when talking to the community on a scientific topic,” Kinilau said. “I’m learning how to gain the interests of the community through social media, while connecting them with knowledgeable individuals who have actively participated in conservation efforts on Oahu.”

Reflecting on her Chaminade education, Kinilau said she appreciates the confidence shown in her by Biology Assistant Professor Jolene Cogbill, Biology Lecturer Chrystie Naeole and Environmental Studies Associate Professor Gail Grabowsky.

“They have been the most supportive and understanding,” Kinilau said. “I’m grateful that they’re in my life.

“The staff at Chaminade University want you to succeed in all walks of life,” Kinilau added, “and they are willing and able to help you achieve your goals. Even if you have no idea what it is that you want to do with your degree, they will help you figure it out.”

Medical School Honors Chaminade Graduate Jacquelynn Pratt with ‘Diversity Excellence Award’

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Jacquelynn PrattChaminade University alumna Jacquelynn Pratt has received the “Diversity Excellence Award” from A.T. Still University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Missouri, where she graduated this spring. The annual award recognizes her commitment to diversity and inclusion in graduate healthcare education.

Born and raised on Oahu, Pratt majored in Biology and English at Chaminade. She earned both bachelor’s degrees in May 2006, while receiving the “Outstanding English Graduate” award.

Pratt participated in numerous research programs at Chaminade in the fields of psychology, cancer biology, ecology and epidemiology. She was also highly involved with campus clubs and organizations, including the Delta Epsilon Sigma and Sigma Tau Delta honor societies.

After graduating from Chaminade, Pratt worked with the Ministry of Health on the Cook Islands to computerize patient data and thereby more accurately calculate the incidence and prevalence of cancer among the native Maori population.

She later returned to Chaminade and served as the Assistant to the Associate Provost in the Office of Health Professions Advising and Undergraduate Research.