Calvin Senior Accepted Into New Van Andel Institute Program

May 2, 2007 == MEDIA ADVISORY

Summary: A Calvin senior is one of two students accepted into a new Ph.D.
program connected to the Van Andel Institute.

Full story see http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2006-07/vanderhart.htm

A Calvin senior is one of only two students to be accepted into the first PhD
program offered through Van Andel Institute (VAI), the cancer research center
based in Grand Rapids.

The goal of the new Van Andel Institute (VAI ) Graduate School is to train
Ph.D. scientists as leading scholars in cell, molecular and genetic biology
relevant to human diseases.

Brent VanderHart, 25, a biotechnology major graduating Calvin in May, was
chosen from a field of 20 applicants for the opportunity to study at the
graduate school beginning in August 2007. The other student, Natalie Wolters,
is a 2005 graduate of the University of Michigan.

“I’ve always been interested in research and disease in general,” says
VanderHart, a Grand Rapids native and graduate of Grand Rapids Christian High
School. “I’m also interested in signaling pathways.” Several Van Andel
Research Institute investigators, he adds, work on some form of signaling --
the means by which cells communicate -- in their cancer research.

The graduate students will work in teams, rather than individually, to solve
the research problems, he says, and the institute will engage faculty from
local colleges and universities to teach courses in the graduate program.

The program’s approach suits VanderHart, says Calvin biotechnology professor
Dave Koetje, who recommended the senior for the program.

“Brent is a good team player, and he’s really a good troubleshooter,”
Koetje says. “The non-traditional coursework might intimidate a lot of
people, but not him. He’s up for the challenge. He doesn’t want to do the
traditional thing. That’s Brent all around.”

-end-
Received on Wed May 2 09:06:58 2007