UAHuntsville graduate student receives prestigious GMS award pays entire collegiate education

Perhaps it was fate that graduate student Joy Agee would meet Dr. Adriel Johnson at a national biology conference in San Francisco last year, and decide to attend The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAHuntsville).

But maybe, just maybe, Agee, who had "always been very aware" of the university because she grew up in Birmingham realized that one day she would eventually end up at UAHuntsville.

The honors student who exhibited a "true passion" for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects while attending Hueytown High School was awarded a Gates Millennium Scholarship (GMS) upon graduation in 2004.

The scholarship pays for Agee's entire post-secondary education — including her doctorate degree. The GMS was established in 1999 by a $1 billion grant, and is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. More than 5,000 Gates Millennium Scholars have graduated since the program's inception. Each year the Gates Foundation awards 1,000 scholarships to graduating high students based on outstanding academic accomplishments, leadership skills and community involvement.

"The focus of the scholarship is to fund all educational expenses for a student's bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree in the STEM disciplines. The GMS program allows students the opportunity to attend national conferences to network with other Gates Scholars, to mentor younger scholars, and many career and professional development programs," said Agee.

"At Spelman College, I was a biology student with goals of attending medical school. I attended many conferences, but it was at the American Society for Cell Biology that I considered UAHuntsville for further studies," she said. "During the conference, I met Dr. Johnson. After I completed smy research presentation, he asked about my post-graduation plans …. I didn't have definite plans after graduation, and Dr. Johnson asked me to consider entering the graduate program at UAHuntsville." Johnson is associate professor of biological sciences at UAHuntsville and director of the university's Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Program. He also serves as advisor for the Minority Graduate Student Association (MGSA). Johnson has religiously recruited graduate and doctoral students to attend the university as LSAMP scholars for nearly 20 years.

"He presented information about the university's graduate program and the department of biological sciences. I later visited UAHuntsville and attended a Minority Graduate Student Association (MGSA) meeting and talked with other minority graduates, Kim Hobbs and Tameka Walker. Their insight was very helpful in my decision to attend graduate school at UAHuntsville," she explained.

Immediately after Agee graduated from Spelman College, she visited the UAHuntsville campus again. This time, Johnson introduced Agee to the biological sciences faculty, administration in graduate studies, and university president, Dr. David Williams. "This last trip confirmed my decision to attend UAHuntsville, because I felt like I would be entering an environment where people were genuinely concerned about my success.

"I have just completed my first year of graduate study in biological sciences at UAHuntsville and the LSAMP Program and MGSA has played a major role in my success," Agee said. "My participation in LSAMP has provided me with the opportunity to influence other students by serving in a mentoring capacity to four undergraduate students. I enjoy doing this because I am able to share my experiences as an undergraduate science major as well as provide advice on pursuing a graduate degree and a career in research."

Agee said her experience at UAHuntsville has been very rewarding. "I enjoy being in a smaller classroom setting, because it allows me to gain individual attention from my professors. I look to all of my professors as mentors because I have the opportunity to not only gain insight on how to enhance my master's thesis project, but to share my career goals with my professors and gain their advice on the best route to achieve my goals.

"The exposure to various scientists and careers in research through the partnerships in the research park has been very beneficial to my studies and helping me develop my career interests. I have also had the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities such as serving as secretary for the MGSA and serving as an academic and research mentor to three undergraduate students in my discipline," said Agee.

"One of the students I'm currently assisting as an MGSA mentor is working with me in Dr. Gopi Podila's (department chair and professor of biological sciences) lab, which allows her exposure to research, and to make connections between our lab work and what she learns in her classes," Agee said. "Serving as mentor to the undergraduates challenges me to continue to strive for success in all of my endeavors and encourage others to do the same."

Agee who initially was interested in pursuing a career in medicine, said she was aware of the under-representation of minorities in STEM research, and is still very much considering continuing her studies at UAHuntsville to attain a PhD to increase the numbers of African Americans attaining doctoral degrees.

She plans to pursue a career conducting breast cancer research. "I would like to focus on differences in breast cancer subtypes affecting women of various ethnicities and develop various treatments targeting each subtype. I am interested in participating in translational medicine, which is the application of medical research to a clinical setting and allows the utilization of patient data for medical research."

Agee is a member of Phi Beta Kappa Society, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., a former Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellow and 2009 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program Honorable Mention. She has also conducted summer (2007) undergraduate research at Princeton University in the lab of Dr. David Botstein, renowned researcher of genetics, especially the use of genetic methods to understand biological functions.

Agee is the recipient of numerous other scholarships including The Tylenol Scholarship (2004), which provides funding for undergraduates interested in pursuing careers in science; Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellow (2006-2008), which provides undergraduates with funding to conduct research with the goal of encouraging students to pursue careers in medicine and medical research; Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) fellow (2008); Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Assistantship (2008-present).

As a member of MGSA, Agee said she has been able to build a social network with other African American graduate students at UAHuntsville within, and outside her academic discipline. "This network has been beneficial …. I have had the opportunity to address concerns about how to be successful in my courses, how to address challenges minorities may experience at majority institutions, and how to build a relationship with my research mentor. Most importantly, MGSA allows me to be of service and to interact with other students that have similar goals and interests."

Agee's future academic advancements after establishing her career in science is to study business and eventually start her own research company.

She expects to graduate from UAHuntsville in 2012.