​Under the direction of biology professor Dr. Reza Marvdashti, students at San Jacinto College (SJC) in Texas will spend six weeks this fall at the University of Texas (UT) MD Anderson Cancer Center studying genetics.

Through Marvdashti's genetics course, the students will attend their lab and lecture at the center to participate in projects such as analyzing their own chromosomes. Some of the student will be working toward completion of prerequisites for entry into medical school.

"I've had several graduate students from the University of Houston, Louisiana State University and UT who wanted to take this course. When I told them about spending time at MD Anderson, they couldn't believe it," said Marvdashti, whose areas of expertise include clinical cytogenetics and molecular genetics, microbiology, immunology, and anatomy and physiology. "They were very impressed, so much so that they took pictures of their own chromosomes and talked about them during their entry interviews with their schools."

Marvdashti said teaching his undergraduate and graduate students the SJC genetics course at MD Anderson elevates the quality of education offered at community colleges.

"This increases our visibility within the medical community," Marvdashti said. "It opens doors for our students to find opportunities to make a difference."

A great opportunity

Jennifer Newton, a 28-year-old single mother, at one time didn’t know what career to pursue. She now finds herself studying molecular genetic technology at the cancer center in hopes of one day working in genetic counseling.

"I had no idea that this type of opportunity would come out of a community-college class," said Newton, who will complete her associate degree program this fall at SJC, while also starting the MD Anderson molecular program. “It's intimidating to some degree because a chance like this doesn't happen to a lot of people."

For Naghmana Sherazi, 50, a chance to study at one of the world's premier cancer research centers provides a fresh start in life. The single mother from Pakistan came to the U.S. three years ago, having already earned her bachelor's and master's degrees.

With 14 years of experience working as an international flight attendant, Sherazi decided to return to college to find her second career. She said she immediately wanted to pursue the cytogenetics program at MD Anderson after taking Marvdashti's genetics course last year.

"This class opened my eyes and reaffirmed everything I wanted to do," said Naghmana. "I was nervous at first because I'm an English major at heart, and here I was venturing into chemistry and biology.”

Sherazi, who teaches English part time at SJC, entered MD Anderson as a senior this fall, made possible with her higher education degrees and completion of prerequisites at SJC.

As more students are encouraged to pursue career options in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, Marvdashti said community colleges continue to break down barriers to create paths for students from all walks of life.

"As a community college, we have completely changed," he said. "We're inside these students' communities, with an easy commute, affordable tuition and quality instruction. The paradigm has shifted tremendously. With programs like these, more students will have a chance at earning bachelor's degrees and enter into careers in science."