UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

Madeleine Nowak

Education

Miami University, 2020, B.A. in Biology
Miami University, 2020, B.A. in Creative Writing

Biography

Originally from the Chicago suburbs, I moved east to complete my undergraduate degrees at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, along with two minors in molecular biology and English literature. I’ve been interested in genetics and the forces which drive phenotypic variation since high school. At Miami, this interest narrowed in particular to epigenetics, and how regulation of our genetic sequences could help inform the ways doctors care for patients, or even be harnessed to develop new therapies for cancer or genetic disorders. In Dr. Koza’s lab, I’m continuing to follow through on this interest, which has now grown into a passion, through our with Mest, an imprinted gene, which is variably expressed in genetically identical mouse populations. Moreover, high Mest expression is predictive of a high susceptibility to dietary obesity. In this lab, we are working to determine the epigenetic source of variable expression, and how this knowledge can be used to help better care for obese patients, particularly those with type 2 diabetes or at high risk for heart disease. In addition to lab work, I also really enjoy teaching, and currently tutor students through UMaine Trio Student Services. Although defense and graduation are not quite in view for me, my long-term goal is to become a professor at a university, teaching molecular biology courses, and running a small genetics-focused lab.

Selected Publications

“Purification of functional mouse skeletal muscle mitochondria using Percoll density gradient centrifugation.” BMC Research Notes. Rea Victoria P. Anunciado-Koza, Anyonya R. Guntur, Calvin Vary, Carlos A. Gartner, Madeleine Nowak, and Robert A. Koza. In Press.

UMaine Alert

Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering

Madeleine Nowak

Education

Biography

Selected Publications