Pernell Jones: McNair Scholar to Visit Africa for
Penn State/NIH Research Program

Junior Pernell Jones (Health Sciences) will be spending three months this summer in Africa as a participant in the Penn State University Minorities in International Research Training Program (PSU-MIRT), funded by a grant from the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). At press time, Jones will be conducting research on HIV/AIDS in either Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, or Cape Town, South Africa.

A member of the McNair Scholars cohort, which helps students from low-income, first-generation college backgrounds, or students from groups underrepresented in fields of graduate study, Jones was encouraged by several of his mentors on campus.  He credits Jennifer Vega LaSerna, director, McNair Scholars Program, Sofia Pappatheodorou, associate professor of chemistry, and Fang Sun, assistant professor of health sciences as instrumental to the success of his application for the program.

“With their letters of recommendation and their support, I was able to put together an excellent letter of application and statement of purpose, and was selected,” he says.
“In Dr. Sun’s Health Sciences 201 class, I was able to do HIV/AIDS research, and while talking to him about it, I brought up the topic of doing research abroad. He was more than willing to write me a letter of recommendation.”

The PSU-MIRT focuses on giving underrepresented students the opportunity to do tobacco or HIV/AIDS research in Africa, Europe, or Latin America. Jones, who is exploring earning his advanced degrees at UC Irvine, USC, or UCLA, emphasizes the advantage that this experience holds for future graduate students.

“With this training, the NIH and Penn State want to encourage more underrepresented groups to enter the field of research, and give them more of a competitive edge with an experience outside of the country,” he says.

With all travel and housing expenses paid for by PSU-MIRT, Jones notes, “All I have to do is bring my mind and myself.”

After four days of training in Paris, Jones and his fellow students will be dispersed to their locations of research from May to August. His two choices of location reflect “a certain connection to these areas, which are densely populated with infected individuals. To serve them, to try to make a difference, and bring that knowledge back here, means a lot to me.”

The mainstay of Jones’ work will be doing data analysis on surveys that are issued to the community. He says, “basically crunching numbers and seeing the different relationships between factors that affect infected individuals or people who are not infected. After that, the focus is intervention, trying to figure out what factors play into the increase of the virus and to limit those factors.”

While Jones is no stranger to gathering hard data, having assisted Dr. Shin Lin, professor of developmental and cell biology/biomedical engineering at UCI, on a project titled “Measurements of Physiological and Bioenergetic Markers Affected by Tai Chi Practice.” He emphasizes the human element necessary to make HIV/AIDS research applicable, not just clinical.

“People who are infected feel a sense of otherness,” he states. “People treat them differently, and they even treat themselves differently. That’s the stigma of AIDS, period.

“Wherever you find AIDS, there isn’t always 100 percent support for the infected. In Africa, it’s relatively low. Money is put into Africa, but where is the accountability? What is the outcome, where are the results? The infected population still grows, and people are still being infected by not being aware. Some infected individuals believe that if they have sex with a virgin, that they will lose the disease, but in actuality, they are only spreading it. There needs to be more education. I hope to play a part in lowering the trend of the virus and how it affects people.”

While preparing for his journey this summer and his senior year next fall, Jones is hosting “Tha’ Show with DJ P. Jones” on the Dominguez Hills online radio station, KDHR.

“I have a ball on the show, inviting musical guests, community activists, and students for discussions on different things,” he says. “For example, we had MySpace Tuesday last semester, Motown Tuesday, or Ms.(Jane) Garrett’s retirement.

“That was a very emotional interview,” says Jones of the show he did with his former advisor in the Educational Opportunities Program. “She retired last semester, and certain songs I chose to play were very sentimental to her. She’s helped me out since I started here, so to have her on the show really meant a lot to me. I think that was one of my best shows.”

Passionate about music, Jones is also spearheading a project to release an album of CSUDH musical talent, to be launched later this spring. Depending on response, the work may be available for wide release.

“I love playing music, I love listening to music, I love talking about music,” he enthuses. “I have several friends in the campus community who are musicians as well. This compilation is dedicated to talent and creativity.”

After what promises to be a busy academic year, Jones, who recently was initiated into the Phi Kappa Phi honors society, looks forward to his senior status next fall, making a decision between a graduate degree in exercise physiology or public health, and maintaining his 3.8 GPA. He continues to work with Dr. Lin at UCI, and with “growing as an individual and a student.

“This is my home campus,” he says. “I have a lot of love for Dominguez Hills faculty, staff, and the students. Wherever I will go after my undergraduate studies, I plan to represent Dominguez Hills to the fullest.”

To learn more about the McNair Scholars Program, visit http://www.csudh.edu/mcnair/; for information on the EOP Program, visit http://www.csudh.edu/stuaffs/eop.htm.

For the story on Jones’ Tai Chi research at UCI, visit http://www.csudh.edu/univadv/dateline/archives/
20051010/studentnews/pernelljones.htm

For more information on the PSU-MIRT Program, visit http://bbh.hhdev.psu.edu/mirt/.

-Joanie Harmon