Browdy creates another doctor in the houseWhen Angeleah Browdy picked up her doctorate in food science and nutrition in May, she became the second Ph.D. in the family as well as the second URI alum. Browdy’s husband, Oscar Liburd, earned his Ph.D. at URI in 1997 and is an assistant professor in entomology at the University of Florida.
Browdy can get more excited about yeast than the Pillsbury doughboy. Former URI food science professor and her advisor Tony Fischl turned her on to it. “His research was so intriguing and his classes were so exciting,” the newest Dr. Browdy said.
Although Fischl left URI for Eli Lilly Pharmaceutical in Indianapolis, he has continued to mentor and collaborate with Browdy. In fact, the two spent time together while Browdy completed a six-month internship at Lilly. When Browdy defended her doctoral work, Fischl flew in for the defense.
Browdy’s research focused on an enzyme, IPC synthase, unique and essential to fungi. She contributed to the purification, conducted the kinetic analysis and explored potential regulatory factors for this enzyme. The nature of this enzyme makes it a primary antifungal target. Her research was the first basic step in a long road to the possible creation of natural anti-fungal therapy for people with suppressed immune systems, such as those with cancer or AIDS.
Browdy earned her degree with the help of two fellowships - a competitive grant from the National Institutes of Health and a Minority Doctoral Scholar fellowship supported equally by the New England Board of Higher Education and the University of Rhode Island. The fellowship is designed to increase minorities in science and support scholarly research. Browdy is the first African American woman at URI to graduate under that program. She also received a Northeast Institute of Food Technology scholarship for her academic efforts and leadership in URI’s food science department.
Browdy and Liburd met at Florida A&M University. The couple married last September 30. “We were supposed to get married earlier that month, but all flights were cancelled because of the terrorist attacks. It’s hard to elope if you can’t fly off someplace,” said the scientist who is currently working in a research lab at the University of Florida.
By Jan Wenzel
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