campus walk
Lehman College Welcomes Davina Porock,
Stefan Becker As Vice Provosts
Dr. Davina Porock
This fall, Lehman College
welcomed two new vice
provosts. Professor Davina Porock,
a registered nurse with over 30
years experience, is the new
vice provost for Academic
Personnel; and Professor Stefan
Becker of the Department of Earth,
Environmental, and Geospatial
Sciences is now the vice provost
for Academic Programs.
Porock’s most recent appointment was at the University of Buffalo
where she was professor and associate dean for research and
scholarship, as well as director of the Center for Nursing Research.
In her new role at Lehman she will oversee several aspects of faculty development to support the scholarship of teaching and learning. This includes assisting deans, chairs, and faculty in recruitment
and retention, development of tenure and promotion portfolios, and
advancing the honorific recognition of faculty.
“It’s a win-win situation for everyone,” explained Eva Sofianos, a
Lehman alumna (’04, ’06) and IBM IT Specialist, who co-ran the
summer pilot program. “Here are businesses in need of IT solutions
and students in need of opportunities to build their experience.
The training this program provides is rigorous, but at the end the
students are ready to move to the next level in their careers.”
National Cancer Institute Awards
$1 Million Grant to Biology Professor
for Killing Cancer Research
Professor Moira Sauane, who teaches in the Biological Sciences
department, received a four-year, $1 million grant from the National
Cancer Institute to support her groundbreaking research. Her work
is focused on understanding how different proteins behave at the
cellular and molecular level for the purpose of developing cancer
therapies that kill cancerous tumors, while sparing healthy cells.
In 2013, Sauane and her team, which included several
undergraduate students, identified the molecule that plays a
pivotal role in killing human cancer cells. The discovery centered
As Vice Provost for Academic Programs, Professor Becker will
continue to participate in advancing larger, strategic initiatives for
the College, providing leadership and support for departments and
schools in preparation and submission of courses and curricula,
developing educational opportunities, and offering institutional
oversight in the planning, development, and implementation of review and accreditation of self-studies. “Ever since joining academia,
it has been one of my most rewarding experiences to help students
realize their goals and succeed in their lives,” he said.
New Innovation Lab at Lehman Grooms
IT Professionals, Businesses
Lehman College’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on August 19 for its new
Information Technology Innovation Lab, located at CUNY on the
Concourse. The lab, which offers intense programming and web
development training for budding computer engineers, is the latest
initiative by the College to groom the next wave of professionals in
the field of information systems.
Earlier in the summer, 24 students participated in the Lab’s pilot
program, Traincube. There they learned to build professional web
applications for existing businesses. Traincube received funding
through a generous grant from New York City Council Member
James Vacca of District 13 in the Bronx. Traincube partnered
with the one-year-old Bronx Business Bridge Incubator, which
receives support from the New York City Economic Development
Corporation, to select four businesses with IT needs.
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Lehman Today/Spring 2015
Dr. Moira Sauane and students in her lab.
on the interaction of two proteins (Interleukin-24 and Sigma
1 Receptor) that promote the death of cancerous cells, and
makes tumors more sensitive to radiation and chemotherapy.
Their research was published in the journal Biochemical and
Biophysical Research Communication, and later resulted in a
patent. “It is information that we are now using to produce a
better therapy for patients,” she said. Indeed, the U.S. patent that
she and her team were responsible for is already in its second
phase of clinical trials.
Sauane is now collaborating with researchers from Harvard
Medical School. Once again, she is working with undergraduate
students, many of whom benefit greatly from the experience.
“The level of cancer research, and in biological sciences in general,
at Lehman College to a great extent depends on our students on