Shawana Wilson
From Santa Fe Institute Events Wiki
| Complex Systems Summer School 2012 |
Shawana A. Wilson
B.S., Johnson C. Smith University, June, 2012 Shawana A. Wilson, a Biology Major, was one of two lead student interns on an applied research project titled: Targeting Sickled Hemoglobin: Quantitative Stability-Flexibility Relationships (QFSR) in Sickled and Normal Hemoglobin. This investigation is the centerpiece of a research collaborative between UNC Charlotte, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, and Johnson C. Smith University. The project utilizes computational modeling and simulation to explore and construct important possibilities for sickle cell analysis and treatment. Mentored by Dr. Timothy Champion, Johnson C. Smith University Chair of Natural Science and Mathematics, Shawana contributed numerous presentations on computational modeling and simulation in biological molecules, for VIP visitors on-site at the JCSU MACMAS (Multidisciplinary Applied Computational Modeling and Simulation) Lab. These visitors included the Congressional Black Caucus and NASA’s exploratory applied research conference committee. Shawana’s emphasis is always on putting a human face and touch on the most cutting edge scientific practice, and encouraging exploration of the “profound issues of human existence.” She is the founding vice president of the JCSU chapter of the American Medical Students’ Association, which works to prepare students to incorporate computational modeling and simulation into diagnosis and treatment across clinical professions. She is also a member of Kappa Mu Epsilon, Mathematics Honor Society. The JCSU MACMAS Lab was designed with the assistance of Santa Fe Institute Vice President Ginger Richardson and her MIT colleagues. (Photo courtesy of Jeff Cravotta, Inc.)