A budding Bajan scientist

by TONY BEST 

It is a case of a young Bajan graduate student up north and her great leap forward in education, health research, plus a firm belief in the Christian faith.

These qualities are among the key elements of the story of 33-year-old Danielle Rouse, who is set to receive a doctorate in pharmacology next week awarded by one of America’s leading Roman Catholic tertiary schools, St John’s University in Queens, New York.

If things go according to Rouse’s chart, the May 15 commencement or graduation ceremony will bring her to a highwater mark in her pursuit of a career as a top-notched science researcher and pharmacologist, whose work can lead to longer lives for cancer survivors.

In addition, it would also trigger smiles on the faces of her Bajan parents, Samuel and Darenda Rouse, siblings and other close relatives, including Dr Edward Alleyne, an uncle in New York. Her father grew up in Cheshire (Smalltown) in St John and her mum in Balls Land, Providence, Christ Church, where Danielle was born.

Just as important, she would be on course to eventually return to Barbados to “give back” to her birthplace.

“Yes, I do plan, with the grace of God, to return home to a country which has given me so much,” Rouse said.

“I am committed to a life in the service of Christ, and I can do that at home (in the Caribbean).”

Pharmacology is routinely defined as “a branch of medicine” which deals with the interaction of medications or therapies in living organisms. It is the study of the behaviour of drugs in biological systems. Few people in the Caribbean have been awarded PhDs in pharmacology.

“She is an excellent student, committed to her work and was always on time in the completion of assignments,” said Dr Saurabh Agarwal, associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at St John’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

“She has an exciting future ahead of her, wherever she goes.”

Agarwal, a scholar from India, was the Bajan’s mentor during her academic pursuit of the doctorate. He told the DAILY NATION that Rouse would “do extremely well at any of the international or national pharmaceutical firms or institutions in the US. She will be an asset wherever she goes”.

A former pupil of Erdiston Primary School, she blazed a trail of strong educational performances in the classrooms of The Ellerslie School where she gained 11 CXCs in 2010, and at the Barbados Community College which awarded her an associate degree in chemistry, biology and mathematics in 2012.

Faced with the choice of pursuing her lifetime dream of being a forensic scientist, she sought and gained admission to the famous John J. College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York, entering the school in 2012 as a 19-yearold. She immediately plunged into studies, academic exercises and other activities, including her Christian commitment.

Four years later, she gained a bachelor of science degree with a concentration in toxicology.

Among other things, she recalled, “John Jay College taught me to be a fierce advocate for justice while Changing Lives Christian Centre, my home church, spiritually supported me then and still does today.”

The next stop on her academic, spiritual and science-based journey was St John’s University, a school with a national reputation for training lawyers, judges, natural scientists and economists for the world outside of university campuses. In addition, its basketball teams have sent elite, highly-recruited players into the professional ranks of National Basketball Association.

Rouse said she “kept my head down” in the books, laboratories and other areas of academic life, graduating with a master of science degree in pharmacology in 2021. “I also honed my leadership skills as a peer ambassador for the college by providing support at prestigious events for the president of John Jay College, Jeremy Travis, and for new and prospective students.”

“I mastered it,” she added.

The Barbadian became such an outstanding student that she was awarded several grants and scholarships from St John’s that enabled her to move onto the doctoral programme. At every step, she explained, her parents back home and extended family members in New York provided essential helping hands.

Her PhD dissertation is entitled Characterising the role of DNA methyltransferase 1 in paediatric cancer neuroblastoma: an epigenetic study using invitro and in-vivo models. It was presented before an audience of over 50 people, including relatives, church and family members, students and a panel of six professors, including Agarwal, she said.

“I continue to dedicate my life to the work of the Lord and look forward to a fruitful future as a senior scientist in research and development at a competent industry-leading pharmaceutical company,” said Rouse, whose home church in Barbados is the Mount of Praise Wesleyan Holiness Church in Tudor Bridge, St Michael.

“My career goal is to be a renowned scientist by discovering cures, including, but not limited to, the oncology field, thereby providing hope, healing and wholeness for patients and their families.”

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