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<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=168 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="104a11c3.gif"> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our mission"><U>Our mission</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bylaws"><U>By-laws</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Founding Members"><U>Founding Members</U></A></div> <div> Events</div> <div> <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="AAU Chemistry Scholarship"><U>AAU Chemistry Scholarship</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Membership"><U>Membership</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U>Links</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#99CC00" FACE="Arial" ><B>Ethiopian Chemical Society in North America (ECSNA)</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFCC99" FACE="Arial" >     </FONT>|   <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ethiopian Chemical Society in North Amer"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our mission"><U>Our mission</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bylaws"><U>By-laws</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Founding Members"><U>Founding Members</U></A>   |   <B>Events</B>   |   <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="AAU Chemistry Scholarship"><U>AAU Chemistry Scholarship</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Membership"><U>Membership</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U>Links</U></A></div> <div> <IMG SRC="061f4010.gif" border=0 width="500" height="1" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Events</div> <bR> <div> <I> <A NAME="proceedings_of_the_first_conference_of"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><B>Program of the First Conference of the Ethiopian Chemical Society in North America (ECSNA)</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>Place:     Howard University, Towers Building auditorium, Howard University Hospital,</I></div> <div> <I>2041 Georgia Ave., NW, Washington DC 20060</I></div> <bR> <div> Date:     August 20, 2000</div> <bR> <div> 8:30-9:30 am          *Registration and breakfast</div> <div> Morning Session:     </div> <div> Moderator:          Dr. Kebede Beshah, Research Fellow and Group Leader, </div> <div>   Rohm and Haas, PA</div> <div> 9:15-9:45           Opening session, Dr. Aberra Furra, Senior Research Investigator,  </div> <div>                             Bristol Myers Squibb, NJ.                            </div> <div> 9.45-10:15        "Drug Discovery and Development in a Nutshell" Dr. Tesfaye Biftu</div> <div>                             Senior Investigator, Basic Chemistry and Head, Chemistry - Animal </div> <div>                             Health Research, Merck Research Laboratories, NJ.                  </div> <div> 10:15-10:45      "2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) transformations in the Rhizosphere", </div> <div>                             Dr. Tessema Chekol, University of Maryland</div> <div> 10:45-11:00       Coffee break</div> <div> 11:00-11:30      "Science and technology: input on crop protection and farming in    </div> <div>                             Ethiopia", Dr. Berhane Tecle, Principal Chemist, BASF agricultural     </div> <div>                             Research, NJ.           </div> <div> 11:30 -12:00      TBA, Dr. Yitbarek Habtemariam, Professor of Chemistry, Clark          </div> <div>                             Atlanta University, GA.</div> <div> 12:00-1:15          Lunch break</div> <bR> <div> Afternoon session:     </div> <div> Moderator:         Dr. Gulilat Gebeyehu, Organic Chemistry Manager, Lifetech Co.         </div> <div>                             Washington DC.         </div> <div> 1:15-1:45          "Drug molecules ultrarapidly transformed biochemically by           </div> <div>                             Ethiopians; genetic polymorphism and its clinical significance", Dr. </div> <div>                             Bisrat Hailemeskel, Assistant Professor, School of Pharmacy, </div> <div>                             Howard University,</div> <div> 1:45-2:15          "African intellectuals in Diaspora: changing brain-drain to brain-gain",        </div> <div>                             Mrs. Melikte Yohannes, Director, Human Resources, RSG Systems, </div> <div>                             NY. </div> <div> 2:15-2:45          "Building a successful organization in a low organizability index </div> <div>                             community", Dr. Brook Lakew, Astrophysicist, NASA, Washington, </div> <div>                             D.C </div> <div> 2:45-3:00           Coffee break</div> <div> 3:00-3:25          "Possible Areas of Collaborations" Dr Tarekegn G.Yesus, Associate       </div> <div>                             Professor of Chemistry, Addis Ababa University, and President of the     </div> <div>                             Chemical Society of Ethiopia(CSE).</div> <div> 3:25-3:45          "Some observations and conversations with researchers and    </div> <div>                              educators during my recent visit to Ethiopia", Dr.Kebede Beshah, </div> <div>                              Research Fellow and Group Leader, Rohm and Haas, PA.     </div> <div> 3:45-4:45              Business meeting</div> <div> 4:50 pm                End</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Drug Discovery and Development in a Nutshell</B></div> <bR> <div> Tesfaye Biftu, Merck Research Laboratories, NJ.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Science and Technology: Input on Crop Protection and Farming</div> <div> <B>Berhane Tecle, BASF Corporation, Agricultural Research Division, P.O.Box 400, Princeton, New Jersey, NJ  08543</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Abstract</B></div> <div> Pesticide science and farming technology will need to make vital contributions to feed the world safely and sustainably.  By 2050, world population is expected to exceed 11 billion, which is more than twice today's population.  It is to be noted that the population of Ethiopia has tripled in our lifetime.   With more people and less land per person, the only way that the population of the world can be fed is to increase productivity per hectare.    This can be achieved only with the use of improved crop protection.   We will not be able to feed the world without the strengths of pesticide science and farming technology and the responsible application of crop protection agents.</div> <bR> <div> The discovery and development of a crop protection chemical is a very complex process.   The synthesis, screening and field evaluations of compounds are expensive and time-consuming activities. The development program is also costly and the correct choices have to be made.  Hence, tests for a potential product consist of looking at formulations, crop selectivity, timing of application, systemicity, spectrum of activity, lowest dose that has an effect, soil persistence, effects on non target crops and beneficial organisms.  On average, only one in 20,000 chemical makes it from chemist's laboratory to the farmer's field.   To ensure that a product, when used properly, will not present any health or environmental concerns, it is subjected to more than 120 separate tests and takes eight to 10 years to develop. </div> <bR> <div> In this presentation, a brief overview of the business of crop protection chemicals will be discussed. Furthermore, a typical example on the applications of radiotracer studies in the discovery and development of crop protection chemicals will be discussed by citing one of the author's research works at BASF Corporation.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) transformations in the rhizosphere</B></div> <bR> <div> Tesema Chekol* and Lester R. Vough, Univ. of Maryland College Park, MD </div> <bR> <div> <B>Abstract</B></div> <div> The primary objective of this study was evaluation of different forage and conservation crops for phytoremediation of TNT contaminated soils. The focus of the first phase was to determine the effectiveness of alfalfa (<I>Medicago sativa</I> L.), crownvetch (<I>Coronilla varia</I> L.), flatpea (<I>Lathyrus sylvestris</I> L.), sericea lespedeza (<I>Lespedeza cuneata </I>(Dum.-Cours.), deertongue (<I>Panicum clandestinum </I>L.), reed canarygrass (<I>Phalaris arundinacea</I> L.), switchgrass (<I>Panicum variegatum</I> L.), and tall fescue (<I>Festuca arundinacea</I> Schreb.) for transformation of TNT in contaminated soils. The objective in the second phase was determining rhizosphere characteristics to optimize TNT phytoremediation. Trinitrotoluene contamination level was 100 mg/kg of soil. The crop species screening study was conducted on two soil types with different organic matter contents. Under high soil organic matter conditions, adsorption or covalent binding to the soil organic matter appeared to be a dominant force of removal limiting TNT availability. In soils with lower organic matter content, all of the plant species treatments showed a significantly higher degree of TNT transformation compared to the unplanted control. Statistically significant differences in TNT transformation were also observed among the crop species in the study. Highest levels of transformation were observed in soils planted with switchgrass, reed canarygrass, alfalfa, tall fescue and deertongue. Less than 50% of the initial TNT level was transformed in sericea lespedeza and flatpea planted pots. Reed canarygrass and switchgrass were the most effective species in enhancing TNT phytoremediation ability of cropped soils. Soil sterilization did not affect TNT transformation, but planting significantly increased TNT transformations in soil. More than 87% of the initial TNT was recovered from the non-planted control soils, while only 32% or less was recovered from planted pots in both the sterilized and nonsterilized soils. Presence of plants significantly increased the biological activity (microbial counts and dehydrogenase and TNT-nitroreductase activities) of both sterilized and nonsterilized soils. Higher soil enzyme activity was closely related to a higher level of TNT transformation. There was an increase in the biomass of the grass species planted in TNT contaminated soils. Root and shoot weights were significantly correlated to TNT transformations and root weight was positively correlated to the number of bacteria in soil. Statistically significant differences in the microbial counts were observed between sterilized and nonsterilized soils in favor of the later. However, these differences did not cause significant differences in TNT transformation between the sterilized and nonsterilized soil. The results indicate that vegetation always resulted in higher level of TNT transformation compared to unplanted controls and forage crops are very effective for phytoremediation of TNT-contaminated soils. Use of plants for remediation of TNT contaminated sites has both economic and ecological advantages.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>DRUG MOLECULES ULTRAPIDELY TRANSFOMRED</B></div> <div> <B>BIOCHEMEICALLY BY EHTIOPIANS; GENETIC POLYMORPHISM AND ITS CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE</B></div> <bR> <div> Bisrat Hailemeskel, School of Pharmacy, Howard University - Washington, DC</div> <bR> <div> Abstract</div> <div> Adverse Drug Reactions resulting in part form variability in individual drug response, rank between the 4<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >th</FONT> and 6<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >th</FONT> leading causes of death in the U.S. Pharmacogenomics is a term that focus on the differences in drug response due to heredity and identified polymorphism. The most common polymorphism or genetic variation occurs with a group of enzymes primarily located in the liver called cytochrome P450 enzyme system. Of these, CYP2D6 is the focus of attention in recent years. CYP2D6, which is also called Debrisoquine-4-hydroxylase, is responsible for metabolism of more than 40 commonly used drugs such as beta-blockers, tricyclic antidepressants, and antipsychotics. About 10% of Caucasians lack CYP2D6 enzyme system. Ethiopians are reported to be a unique population in this regard. Ethiopians have closer association to Arabs than to that of Caucasians or other African decent when it comes to CYP2D6 polymorphism. The frequency of subjects having duplicated CYP2D6*2 genes has been found to be close to 30% in Ethiopians, 20% in Arabs, 1-2% in Swedish populations. This uniqueness reported in Ethiopians has to be considered during drug therapy especially when using the drugs that are metabolized by these enzyme system.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>African Intellectuals in Diaspora: Changing Brain-Drain to Brain-Gain</B></div> <bR> <div> Melikte Yohannes, RSG Systems Inc, NY</div> <bR> <div> Abstract</div> <bR> <div> An important number of nationals from developing countries involved in research and development activities are located outside of their countries of origin. The magnitude of migration of intellectuals from developing to developed countries, more specifically of scientists and engineers is very significant.  For example, partially accurate estimates show that over 70% of non-native scientists in the US were originally born in developing countries. When looking at the level of qualification particularly, the higher the diploma the bigger the portion of foreign-born population in the sciences in North America. For example, 21% of non-native born scientists have bachelor degree as opposed to 40% that have doctorate. </div> <bR> <div> Today in the age of digital technology and global knowledge based economy increasingly relying on science and technology skills and generating an ever increasing international flows, the issue has become even more critical and crucial to the countries that are being drained out of their skilled human resources. It is therefore important to create the links through which these scientists could effectively and productively be connected to the development of their home country without the need for permanent physical presence.</div> <bR> <div> The expatriate scientists have several reasons for leaving their home countries among, which are better working environment, more available and advanced resources, and better scientific networks to enhance their knowledge. But most are also interested and are concerned about the development of their country of origin. Although different immigrant populations from different countries have different strategies and experiences, they all share the goal of systematically tapping the pool of their expertise and channeling the knowledge towards their countries and each other. The rise of intellectual Diaspora networks during the last decade indicates such a trend and several developing nations have already started to take advantage of it.</div> <bR> <div>  For Africa in particular, intellectual Diaspora are indeed strong potential resources. Africa's Diaspora could indeed be the continent's useful source of intellectual, social and investment capital. African countries should thus be trying to pave the way for an efficient use of the Diaspora and work towards changing the brain-drain to brain-gain as a new and promising strategy.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Building a successful Ethiopian organization in a low organizability index community</B></div> <bR> <div> Brook Lakew, Astrophysicist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, MD</div> <bR> <div> Abstract</div> <bR> <div> The paper will discuss the many issues that face Ethiopian professional and other non-political organizations here in the US and also in Ethiopia proper. Ethiopian professionals in science are few and scattered over many States here in America. In Europe they are also very few and scattered over many countries. In Ethiopia, professionals are few and they face an ever increasing population of youngsters who need their guidance and leadership in a nonconducive environment.</div> <bR> <div> The paper will try to tackle the issue of organization in the contexts described above. An individual organizability index (IOI) and a community organizability index (COI) will be defined by the author. New ideas will be forwarded to remedy the longevity and efficiency of Ethiopian professional organizations. Some of the ideas are inspired by the Boy Scouts and the Girls Scouts movements' organization development techniques. Some are inspired by organization development techniques used in Corporate America.</div> <bR> <div> The audience will also be asked to participate in some friendly and fun exercises to test the ideas forwarded. The author will argue that along the YMCA and the YWCA, the scout movement, which is now 25 million strong and over 90 years old, is ideal for increasing the IOI as well as the COI. The paper will also advocate the return of the Boy Scout and Girl scout movements back to Ethiopia after 24 years of interruption. The author will also draw from his experience as a co-founder and member of the Board of the Ethiopian Scientific Society, Inc. and its President between Dec. 1997 and Dec 31, 1999.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Possible Areas of Collaborations" Dr Tarekegn G.Yesus, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Addis Ababa University, and President of the Chemical Society of Ethiopia(CSE).<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#111111" FACE="Arial" >T</FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#111111" FACE="Arial" >arekegn Gebreyesus, Department of </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Possible areas of collaboration with the Department of Chemistry, AAU include research in the different disciplines in chemistry, giving short courses at the graduate level, arranging of short visits for young staff members, provision of chemistry software, audio/video visual aids and current books for teaching, etc.</div> <bR> <div> Collaboration with the Chemical Society of Ethiopia should be aimed at both strengthening the Society's capacity to help its existing members by holding symposia and workshops and to increase the number of chemists through provision of in-country scholarships. Another area of collaboration is to enhance the quality of the Society's journal, <I>Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Ethiopia</I>, by contributing papers and by serving as referees. </div> <bR> <div> These and other possible areas of collaboration will be elaborated upon during the talk.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Some observations and conversations with researchers and educators during my recent visit to Ethiopia, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Times New Roman" >Kebede Beshah, Research Fellow and Group Leader, Rohm and Haas, PA</FONT></div> <bR> <div> I will share my experience of my recent visit to Ethiopia. The focus will be some of the conversations I had with the faculty at The Department of Chemistry, AAU. I also had the opportunity to visit my elementary and high schools in Gojjam. There as well, I had lengthy discussions with teachers and principals about the state of education at these levels. I will highlight some of their needs and ways we could support the</div> <bR> <div> <I>                      </I></div> <div>  <A NAME="lectures_and_seminars_at_aau_by_ecsna"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>Series of lectures, courses and seminars conducted by ECSNA     members at AAU<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >S<B>eries of lectures, courses and seminars conducted by ECSNA members in Ethiopia</B></FONT></div> <div> One of the objectives of ECSNA, as previously discussed is to encourage and support the collaboration and participation of its members and other professionals in Diaspora, in the promotion and development of chemical research and education in Ethiopia. Consequently, we have recently started conducting series of lectures, seminars and short courses in Ethiopia by the members of ECSNA. Dr Kebede Beshah (an NMR spectroscopist) of ECSNA has conducted the very first one of such a series of lectures in June 2000. This week-long course and seminars in the field of NMR technology were organized by Professor Ermias Dagne of the Department of Chemistry and Dr Tarekegn Gebreyesus of the Chemical Society of Ethiopia and cosponsored by the Chemistry Department of AAU and by the Chemical Society of Ethiopia. The lectures were given to graduate students and faculty of the Department of Chemistry, AAU and to other participants recruited from other institution of research and higher learning and from various industries in the country. These events were very well received and acclaimed to be very educational and exemplary by all attendees. We were asked to continue such an effort in the future.</div> <bR> <div> Likewise, Dr Kitaw Negash, secretary of ECSNA, who is currently in Ethiopia is going to give a series of seminars in Addis Ababa in the area of radiosynthesis and organic chemistry as applied to drug development, medical imaging and metabolite identifications in plants and animals. The seminars will be organized by Professor Ermias Dagne and cosponsored by the Chemistry Department and school of pharmacy of AAU, and the Ethiopian Chemical Society. In addition, his seminar is believed to attract people from other institutions like Pasteur (EHNRI), EPHARM, Ethiopian Standards etc. This undertaking by Dr Kitaw is also hoped to help bring different professional organizations and departments closer so that they can share their experiences.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" >ences with each other.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Continuing on that line, Dr Berhane Tecle, Vice President of ECSNA and an Organic Chemist working in the area of pesticide chemistry is also willing to give a series of seminars, symposia and courses next year in Addis Ababa, in the area of pesticide science, that includes topics such as (a) crop protection past and present (b) designing herbicide tolerance based on metabolic alteration: the challenges and the future in pesticide discovery. (c) mechanisms of pesticide resistance. (d) HPLC analytical method developments and separation Sciences.  This undertaking will cover vast areas including topics in biology, biochemistry, soil science, synthetic organic chemistry and analytical chemistry and thus will be beneficial to many people from different disciplines. </div> <bR> <div> <I>                </I></div> <div>  <A NAME="dr_zerihun_s_seminar_at_aau_chem__dept_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>Dr Zerihun's seminar at AAU Chem. Dept.</div> <bR> <div> Dr. Zerihihun Assefa of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, one of ECSNA's founding members, visited the AAU Chemistry department on December 22nd and gave a seminar titled   "Luminescent Gold(I) Compounds: The Correlation Between Structure and Photo-Chemistry".  The seminar was attended by faculty members, and graduate students from the Chemistry and Physics departments.  Some staffs from these departments have showed interest to pursue research collaboration with Dr. Zerihun.</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="the_221st_acs_national_meeting_at_san"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>The 221st ACS National Meeting at San Diego</div> <bR> <div> There were Ethiopian chemists, both members and new ones attending the 221<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" >st</FONT> ACS National Meeting at San Diego.  </div> <bR> <div> Members Present:</div> <bR> <div> Kebede Beshah</div> <div> Ahungena Alemayehu</div> <div> Laykea Tafesse</div> <div> Kitaw Negash</div> <bR> <div> Our new members are:</div> <bR> <div> 1.Tilahun Yimenu, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry</div> <div> 2. Daniel Zewge, Process Chemist, Merck</div> <div> 3. Getahun Mengesha, Graduate student, Physical Organic</div> <div> 4.Girma Biresaw, Ph.D.  Illinois Dept. of Agriculture, Pioria</div> <bR> <div> We had a few informal meetings with the new chemists during Lunch and Dinner and were very cordial.</div> <div> Invariably, all of them expressed strong interest to join ECSNA.  Since then, we have </div> <div> formally entered their names in our member's list so that they will receive and send information </div> <div> pertaining to ECSNA.  Some of them expressed interest in playing a very active role in the society.</div> <div> During our meetings, one can not help but sense an atmosphere of brotherhood and mutual respect  </div> <div> marked with discussions ranging from social to economic and to political situations in Ethiopia.  We </div> <div> visited Ethiopian Restaurant (Red Sea) a few times.  Since the majority was fasting, we all agreed to eat</div> <div> a delicious "Yetsom Megeb".</div> <bR> <div> At another lunch session held at the Marriot, we were joined by Dr. Tarekegn Gebreyesus from AAU Chemistry Dept and President of the Chemical Society of Ethiopia.  He was at the ACS meeting invited by ACS and was very busy attending different official ACS functions.    Our brief discussion with him about CSE and ECSNA, especially the AAU Chem Scholarship Fund, was very cordial and fruitful.  He informed us that he would forward additional proposal to CSE and ECSNA on the administration of the AAU Chem Scholarship.  He looks forward to increasing cooperation between the two societies and indicated that more is expected  in the future from ECSNA to help CSE and AAU Chem in some of their endeavors.  Therefore, he said that it is the interest of CSE and the AAU Chem  Department to see  ECSNA  becoming strong.  He also mentioned that students that are beneficiaries of the scholarship would make direct contacts with ECSNA.   </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>