Science Grants

Lisa Sease wonders now if she would have drifted from major to major--physical therapy to pre-med--if she had met Tona Gilmer four years earlier. "I wasted time looking into these fields, and at the same time, I didn't get a good insight into areas I would have liked, such as research," says Sease, 21, who expects to graduate from Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, N.C., this spring. As it is, she plans to go on to graduate school for advanced study in pharmacology, a subject she hit upon as she cast about in the sea of different biology concentrations. But now she knows that she can call Gilmer, a cell biologist at Glaxo Inc. in Research Triangle Park, N.C., at any time for advice about her career, thanks to Sease's nomination as a Glaxo Women in Science Scholar by the major pharmaceutical firm. Sease may even work in Gilmer's Glaxo lab this summer, soaking up the fundamentals of research to make up for lost time. Gilmer, 39, is a mentor to Sease, who is one of 22 students at 11 North Carolina colleges and universities who were named Glaxo Women in Science Scholars late last year, the first awards to be given in the new initiative by the giant drug company. To get the program under way, Glaxo gave each institution $25,000 to establish an endowed scholarship. The scholarships will provide two undergraduate students from each school a stipend of $1,000 per year until they graduate. In addition, the company pairs each student with a female scientist at Glaxo to form a mentoring relationship. All of the mentors in the program volunteered to help out. "I can share my experiences with Lisa, and show her the camaraderie that exists between women in my lab and at Glaxo," says Gilmer, project leader for a group that is looking for novel chemotherapeutics. "Women in science need other women as role models, or even in a companionship role, helping with such issues as how to balance your professional life as a scientist with your family life. I think this is very progressive on Glaxo's part." The first award winners ranged in age from 18 to 37, and were primarily biology or chemistry majors, although the disciplines of physics, mathematics, geology, and agricultural economics were also represented. Undergraduates who are not seniors will continue receiving the scholarship and will stay with a mentor until they graduate. The program is meant to be permanent, says John S. Thomas, executive director of the Glaxo Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Glaxo Inc., one of the United States' largest research-based pharmaceutical firms and a subsidiary of British drug company Glaxo Holdings PLC. "On a permanent basis, I think this is the kind of thing that can keep women encouraged and on the right track to a career in science," says Thomas. Although Glaxo's scholarship program may eventually produce a new Glaxo scientist or two, Thomas maintains the company isn't out to recruit new employees. Instead, he says, "It's part of our good citizenship and a way to recognize the gifts and talents of our employees." Thomas says he thought about such a program when he came to Glaxo a year ago from Duke University, where he had been a vice chancellor, and saw "the number of women in science working at Glaxo and the impact they were making." Almost half the scientific staff at Glaxo are women, says Thomas, a fact he doesn't think is often matched here. "Looking at industry and business in general, I know we are the exception, not the rule," he says. At the same time, Thomas says he was impressed by the spate of press articles that talked about the "leaking pipeline" and the "50 percent drop-out rate" of women pursuing or studying for science careers. Part of the solution, he believed, was to establish a system of mentors who would encourage younger women, help them define their goals, and serve as examples of scientific achievement. There was no model to follow in setting up the program, Thomas says. "I know of no other scholarship that includes both a stipend and mentoring," he says. "It's unique to the state, and I don't think there's another like it in the country." With just a few guidelines--the scholars were required to demonstrate a strong interest in science and maintain a grade-point average between 3.0 and 4.0--selection of students was left up to the schools, says Thomas. In most cases, the colleges then established a three-person committee--made up of the school's dean, the chairperson of the math and science division, and the director of financial aid--to make their choices. The relationship between the mentors and their students is set by each pair; it can be informal, consisting of occasional telephone calls, or highly structured, with regular visits, says Thomas. "Glaxo needs a pat on the back. It's a unique scholarship in many ways," says Don Sink, dean of arts and sciences at Appalachian State University in Boone, an 11,000-student branch of the University of North Carolina system. "It's the only scholarship in the sciences at the school that's directed to women exclusively," says Sink. "It's also unique because of the company's initiative in coming to the schools. Usually we go begging," he says. "Glaxo has made some unusually heavy commitments in this program." While the stipend amount is less than many other scholarships at the university, "to students, $1,000 is a gold mine," says Sink. But what's more, the mentorship is a "thing that doesn't exist in most cases," he says. The only mentoring program the school has is an informal program between new and seasoned faculty, says Sink. The school felt its way through the first selection. Because a pharmaceutical firm was sponsoring the program, Sink asked for nominees from biology and chemistry department heads, and two students from the upper classes were chosen. Next year, however, the school will try to pick the best and brightest from the incoming freshman class so that they can follow the program for four years, says Sink. Such an incentive may also help the university recruit good students, he points out. Kimberly Curseen, 19, has a good idea of what she wants to be in life--an emergency room physician--but she also says she sometimes feels "strange" at her small school, North Carolina Wesleyan College, because "you just don't see women scientists there." That sense of isolation disappeared, however, after she spent several days at Glaxo, talking with her mentor, Nicole Valvano, a researcher in medicinal chemistry, and other women scientists. "Glaxo seems so alive and full of energy," Curseen says. "Although my mentor and I are in two different areas, she gave me a lot of confidence that I can go for a career in science. She opened my eyes to research." For her part, Valvano, 24, says that it's "good to get out and change the stereotype of scientists as men. I want to motivate women to keep on, and I'll be here for moral support and advice." Curseen is grateful. "Even if I never spoke to [Valvano] again," she says, "I saw someone that I could possibly be one day, and that's meant a lot." For more information about the program, contact John Thomas, Executive Director, Glaxo Foundation, 5 Moore Dr., Research Triangle Park, N.C. 27709; (919) 248-2488. Renee Twombly is a freelance writer based in Durham, N.C.

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Renee Twombly

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April 1994

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