Biotech: Teachers Key in Setting Student on Biotech Path

"I don't think you're smart enough to be a doctor."

Bernadette Tansey:

People sometimes look at Teresa Ramirez with wide eyes when they find out she comes from Compton.

The city south of Los Angeles is not the hometown that many expect to turn out a biotechnology fellowship winner who's doing research at the National Cancer Institute before applying to medical school.

In Compton, Ramirez was grazed with a bullet when a junior high school classmate dropped a gun he had brought on campus. Some of her classmates joined gangs, and some have already died. She faced skepticism when she said she wanted to be a doctor.

"I came across people, even the priest at my church, who said, 'I don't think you're smart enough to be a doctor.' ''

Many are counting on biotech to drive Wisconsin's economy (and provide the tax base for growing education demands...).

Posted by Jim Zellmer at March 14, 2005 11:48 AM
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