Alumni/Friends

Maytag Student Center, Boat/Moore/Weller Room

Noon – Lunch   12:30 p.m. – Presentation

Cost: $10

Nyla Heerema graduated from Central College in 1963, with a major in chemistry.  She received her doctorate from the University of Iowa in 1963, with a major in Genetics.  She completed a post-doctoral Fellowship Medical Cytogenetics at Indiana University College of Medicine in 1981, where she continued as faculty until 1998, when she moved to the Wayne Hughes Institute in St. Paul, MN.  She is currently a professor at The Ohio State University, where she has been since 2001.  There, she directs a large clinical laboratory, as well as conducts research.  Her research is on the cytogenetics of leukemia, focusing on adult chronic lymphocytic leukemia and pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).  The latter is through the Children’s Oncology Group.  This is a clinical study group funded by the National Cancer Institute and through which children with cancer are treated on clinical trials.  Cytogenetics is a major factor in determining treatment for these children.  Dr. Heerema has numerous publications and has given presentations throughout the world.  She will discuss how cytogenetics impacts treatment of pediatric ALL and the amazing advances that have been made in the treatment of these children.

To learn more or become a Central RED member, check out our website.