MAS President Elect 2007-2008.

Dr. Joseph A. Cameron

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Department of Biology, Jackson State University 

Professor and Director of Graduate Program

Former Director of Minority Institutional Research Training Program

Former Director of Community Mobilization, Jackson Heart Study

Director of the Bridges to the Baccalaureate Degree Program

Coordinator of the Bridges to the Doctorate Program with Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis

President Elect, Mississippi Academv of Sciences

Dr. Joseph A. Cameron received the Ph.D degree from Michigan State University in 1973. He currently holds the position of Professor of Biology at Jackson State University and has held this position since 1978. During his tenure at Jackson State University, Dr. Cameron has developed many graduate and undergraduate courses and has served as coordinator of the graduate program since 1979. He has also served as Interim Dean, School of Science and Technology. Dr. Cameron's greatest contribution to Jackson State University is his desire to enhance and generate an interest in science throughout the educational pipeline, i.e. high school, junior college, college and doctoral degree levels. The Department of Education and the NIH have funded Dr. Cameron since 1979 to encourage students at these various levels. He served as Director of the Biomedical Sciences Program and the Minority Institutional Research Training Program at Jackson State University for 5 and 15 years, respectively. The programs were sponsored by the Education Department and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute with annual average budgets of 200,000 dollars each. The Biomedical Sciences Program was a collaborative educational training program for junor and senior high students in Jackson and surrounding communities. The Minority Institutional Research Training Program was a cooperative research-training project between Jackson State University and the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The primary purpose of the program was to identify, motivate, and train talented minority institutional pre-doctoral students. Dr. Cameron is also the former Director and Chief Administrator for the Community Mobilization component of the Jackson Heart Study. The program is sponsored by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute in conjunction with the National Center for Minority Health Disparities. The program is a cooperative, interinstitiutional, epidemiological study of cardiovascular disease between Jackson State University, Tougaloo College and the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Dr. Cameron also currently serves as Coordinator of the Bridges to the Doctorate Degree Program with Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis and Director of the Baccalaureate Degree Program at Jackson State University. The programs are sponsored by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and have annual budgets of 200,000 dollars. The program is a cooperative research-training project between Jackson State University and Hinds Community College involving the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, and Mathematics. The program encourages Community College minority students to seek B. S and higher degrees. These are just a few of the many federally funded programs for which Dr. Cameron has served as director. Dr. Cameron is well respected at NIH and has served as Chair/Member of many Special Emphasis Panels at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, as well as Member of many Special Emphasis Panels at the National Center for Minority Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health. Dr. Cameron was recently appointed to serve on the membership committee of the Endocrine Society and reelected as President to the Bridges Program Directors Organization. Dr. Cameron has also found time to publish as well as mentor students. He is well published and has directed or served on over 40 Master level students thesis research projects. Dr. Cameron's goal is to serve his community through education.

Journal of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences