Ian P. Whitehead, PhD, associate professor, GSBS and NJMS Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. "This department prides itself on having extremely rigorous courses and Nike has handled them with ease," he says. Whitehead conducts basic research into the genetic signaling responsible for disorders like leukemia, developmental disorders and breast cancer. "Nike has been remarkably productive in a short period of time," he adds. With one paper accepted in Cancer Research, among the highest impact journals, she has also co-authored three other manuscripts. Winning two possible post-doctoral fellowships, she chose the more prestigious NIH award. Even her first departmental seminar in 2005 was judged to be "of the highest quality. Overall, she's on track for an outstanding research career."

Winner of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences’ 2006 Morris Schaffer Endowed Scholar Award, she received her BS in 1994 from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria and immigrated to America in 1999. Pursuing her passion for cancer biology, she earned a 3.7 cumulative average in course work, is in the top 5 percent of her class, publishing in key cancer journals, researching in the lab, presenting at departmental seminars, and mothering a new baby boy at the same time.

My Degree: A PhD candidate in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. I’ve been in the New Jersey Medical School’s Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics researching cancer since the fall of 2002 in a specially funded National Institutes of Health (NIH) program designed to identify talented minority students. I got word about this UMDNJ program when I was a grad student at Montclair State through the NIH Bridges to the PhD incentive, which promotes transition from the master’s degree to the PhD.

Why Medical Research: I was working on my undergraduate thesis in Nigeria studying the effect of a chemotherapeutic agent on reproduction when my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer. In spite of medical interventions — a colorectomy and chemotherapy — he died a year later. Watching the process of this devastating disease gave me the desire to contribute to a cure.

Most Memorable UMDNJ Educational Experience: Taking core courses, like Advanced Microbial Genetics, which exposed us to all the microbiology department’s graduate faculty. Those anonymous names on web pages and office doors became real people with actual personalities, great insights, expertise, and a passion for their research fields you could sense in their presentations.

Inspiration: My mum was a teacher who decided to follow her dreams at age 40, after having six children, to pursue a PhD in psychology at the University of Cardiff in Wales. After her return to Nigeria, she rose to become department chair at a prestigious university in a country where educating women was generally not acceptable. Growing up, I’d listen to her stories of not being allowed to attend elementary school. A first child with several brothers and a younger sister, she would finish her chores, sneak off to school and from outside the open window take notes while listening to the teacher. She made me appreciate that you can be a terrific mum and achieve your personal dreams even in the face of opposition.

Proudest Achievement: My son. He was only six months old when I started this graduate program. I have so many memories of being up at night nursing him while I studied for exams. He’s been through this program as much as I have.

Unforgettable Professional Challenge: The qualifying exams to become a doctoral candidate. T’was several months of preparation leading to a harrowing number of hours spent before a panel of professors who bombarded me with questions to which I had to respond instantly.

On My Wish List: An end to cancer.

 My story. Our university.