School: ENCBW

Subject and Grade Taught: Chemistry, Teaching to in-training students

Years Teaching: 20

Year in Amgen Teach Community: 1

Participation in Amgen Teach Program: National Training

"I participated in Amgen Teach because I wa invited and I found the subject very interesting and important for the students. Amgen Teach has enhanced my confidence and ability to use inquiry-based education in my classroom. I was already sometimes working by inquiry but Amgen Teach give me new ideas, in enzymology for example.

Amgen Scholars hailing from programs across the globe gathered in New York this month for an alumni reunion at Columbia University. There, they got a chance to connect with one another as well as with a few incoming 2016 Amgen Scholars, program leaders and faculty mentors.

In addition, Amgen’s Executive Director of Research Margaret Chu-Moyer spoke about her personal journey and the professional path she took to her current position, telling attendees, "Follow the science; find your passion; fulfill a life of purpose."

In 2009, as a sophomore at Arizona State University in Tempe, Vanessa Gray started what would become a fruitful beginning as a scientist. She began conducting research with Sudhir Kumar, whose group uses genomics data from species ranging from primates to fish to make inferences about human disease.

Although she was new to the lab setting, Gray quickly learned how to make use of computational tools that analyze genomic data with help from Kumar.

Learn how you, as an Amgen Scholar, can make a difference in high school biology classrooms.