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Dale Brown Emeagwali
Dale Brown Emeagwali (December 24th, 1954 - ) is an American microbiologist, cancer researcher, author, and co-author of several scientific and research journals. Emeagwali's research focused on the bacteria Streptomycetes while her cancer research focused on antisense methodology.

Family
Born in Baltimore, Maryland to Doris Brown, a school teacher, and Leon Brown, a superintendent of an Afro-American magazine production department, Emeagwali was the youngest of three children. As a young girl, she enjoyed learning about math and science and excelled in both at school. However, she mentioned in an interview with the Morgan State University Spokesman that African American people are told they “can’t do math.” Fortunately for Emeagwali, her parents supported her as she grew up, conducting science experiments, stating science facts, and showing their children tricks in mathematics.

Education
Emeagwali attended Alexander Hamilton Elementary School and later graduated from Northwestern High School in 1972. After high school, she enrolled in Coppin State College and earned her bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in chemistry from Coppin State in 1976. She then enrolled in Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. where she earned her Ph.D. in microbiology in 1981. Emeagwali also earned postodoctoral fellowships at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland and the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. After moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1987 with her husband, she worked as a senior research fellow, then as an assistant research associate. Subsequently, they both then worked for the University of Minnesota.

Personal Life
Emeagwali met Philip Emeagwali on a bus trip back from Georgetown in 1981, and not long after the two got married. Together, they have taken the initiative to motivate minority students to pursue careers in science. In Minnesota, they worked with the Science Museum of Minnesota on their Annual African-American Science Day, an event where students from inner-city neighborhoods get an idea of what scientists do. The Emeagwalis also have a son named Ijeoma.

Career and Research
In 1986, Emeagwali and her partners proved that S.parvulus, a strain of Streptomycetes, synthesized isozymes of kynurenin formamidase. Previously, it was thought that only higher level organisms contain this enzyme but Emeagwali’s research changed the field of microbiology and allowed bacteria to be thought of as more complex organisms. It also allows further insight into what causes cancer of the blood, such as leukemia.

Emeagwali also became involved in cancer research, her most prominent contribution involving the ras oncogene. Ras oncogene is a mutated form of the ras gene, which plays an important role in cellular life in regards to cellular signaling and growth. Mutations in this gene can lead to uncontrolled cell growth, or cancer. Emeagwali along with her partners discovered that the ras oncogene can be supressed through antisense methodology. Antisense methodology subdues protein production from the gene, and this research provided a way for cancer to be cured.

In the field of biochemistry, Emeagwali’s research has pointed out flaws in current research and data interpretation involving proteins. She also developed a system to analyze an important cellular protein, which can help advance understanding in how certain proteins work.

In the field of virology, she worked with a DNA virus and found the existence of overlapping genes which can help understand how organisms can possibly use limited genetic material more efficiently.

Awards and Honors
· Biomedical Fellowship Award, Meharry Medical College, 1974,

· Biomedical Research Award, Coppin State College, 1976

· Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, National Science Foundation, 1981

· Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, American Cancer Society, 1981

· Scientist of the Year, National Technical Society, 1996