125 Schaefer Hall
240-895-4373 office
240-895-4996 fax
rmyerowitz@smcm.edu

Education:
B.S., Simmons College
Ph.D., University of Michigan
Postdoctoral work, Genetics and Biochemistry Branch, NIDDK, NIH

Rachel Myerowitz

Molecular Geneticist~ Associate Professor

Joined St. Mary's College of Maryland: 1993

I am often tempted to hypothesize the existence of a "teaching gene" because of the following observations. My mother was a teacher, my only sib is a teacher, and two of my children are teachers ( the other two are not yet old enough to have chosen a career). In addition ( albeit irrelevant to my hypothesis), I am married to a teacher. We all share a passion for teaching. I must disclose however that I have not always been a teacher. My first career which spanned 14 years was as a research scientist at the NIH. I came to St. Mary's in 1993 to allow for expression of my "teaching gene". I teach Genetics, Molecular Biology, and Biology for non-majors. My research focuses on the molecular genetics of two inherited disorders, Tay-Sachs and Gaucher. Students work with me in my laboratory at St. Mary's during the academic year and have opportunities to accompany me to NIH, the location where I carry out my research during the summer months. If you are interested in finding out more about the kinds of research projects that we do just go to www.pubmed.gov and place Myerowitz R in the search box and my publications will pop up. My special interests include bioethics, scientific literacy for the non-science major, learning anything and discovering the genetic diversity exemplified by my most interesting students.