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Kurtz claims Graduate Studies’ teacher of the year award by Cindy Abole Public Relations Helping students learn the key foundations of biomedical science while guiding graduate students to help tap their research potential is the goal of molecular biologist David Kurtz, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology.   Kurtz was named as the 2006 College of Graduate Studies Outstanding Teacher of the Year. He joins colleagues Michael Kern, Kevin Schey and Craig Beeson who were previously honored for this award designed to encourage teaching excellence in the college.   Kurtz was the college’s top pick selected by 2005-06 first-year graduate students. Kurtz was presented with an engraved plaque by College of Graduate Studies dean Perry Halushka, M.D., Ph.D., at the April 5 first year curriculum student luncheon. In addition to the plaque, Kurtz received a $250 honorarium, plus a year’s free use of a prime parking space in E lot (Parking Garage II).   “David is a dynamic lecturer and teacher,” said Halushka. “He consistently stays on top of his field and is rated among the best teachers in pharmacology. I’m proud to have this opportunity to acknowledge David for his excellence in teaching.”      Kurtz is a unit leader teaching the regulation of gene expression course with Don Menick, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Medicine. He also teaches basic biomedical sciences courses to medical, pharmacy and graduate students. Kurtz serves on the first- year curriculum steering committee charged with evaluating, reviewing and revising the College of Graduate Studies' first-year curriculum.      “David has an exceptional ability to simplify complex information in a way that all students can understand while at the same time bring a cutting edge twist that challenges even the most informed on that topic, enabling students to formulate insightful questions on that topic,” said Ed Krug, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy. “David is one of those renaissance scholars that is knowledgeable on a very broad range of topics, and more importantly can bring them together by a common thread. He is a master story teller in the classroom—his lectures are superb.”   In addition to his work in the classroom, Kurtz conducts research on transcriptional gene regulation and how gene expression affects cell growth, especially among cancer cells.      “I want to help students begin to understand the details of science for themselves so they can know what questions to ask and how to approach challenges,” said Kurtz, who stresses hard work and collegiality. “This is what’s important in beginning to shape a successful scientist and researcher.”   Kurtz began his career at MUSC in 1986 as an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology. He is the recipient of several teaching awards including being nominated for the MUSC/American Medical Student Association’s Golden Apple Award. He was a 2005 nominee for the Health Science Foundation’s Teaching Excellence awards, Educator-Lecturer, for excellence in didactic or classroom teaching. He served on 30 different dissertation committees for doctoral student candidates.   “Teaching has always been one of his strengths,” said Kenneth Tew, Ph.D., professor and chairman, Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. “David has a solid history of working well with students, especially graduate students.”   The son of professional chemists, Kurtz grew up in Ohio with a aptitude towards the natural sciences. He earned his undergraduate degree in 1973 from Princeton and completed his doctorate from Columbia University in 1978. He later worked for eight years at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, a private nonprofit basic research and educational institution where he was co-author, along with John Tooze, Ph.D., and Nobel Prize laureate James Watson, Ph.D., of the textbook, “Recombinant DNA: A Short Course,” published in 1983.   Friday, May 5, 2006 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island papers at 849-1778, ext. 201.