Gossell-Williams
Shelly-Ann Thompson, Freelance Writer
MAXINE GOSSELL-WILLIAMS may be petite, but she packs a punch. At five feet two inches tall and 118 pounds, she is breaking down barriers in the scientific world.
The 36-year-old mother of two and pharmacology lecturer/researcher at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) was named young scientist for 2003 by the Scientific Research Council (SRC) for her research on pumpkin seed oil.
She has also been awarded one of this year's three Fulbright scholarships for her research into choline and pregnancy. Fulbright Grants are made to United States citizens, and nationals of other countries for a variety of educational activities, primarily university lecturing, advanced research, graduate study and teaching in elementary and secondary schools.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS MADE HER
After graduating from the Convent of Mercy Academy, Alpha, in Kingston, Gossell-Williams did a double major in Chemistry and Biochemistry at UWI and a Masters in Pharmacology.
Subsequent to that she worked for a year at the Bureau of Standards in Kingston then returned to UWI in 1994. This time she completed a PhD in pharmacology while working as a teaching assistant, then assistant lecturer and then part-time lecturer in pharmacology. Currently she is a full-time lecturer in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences, and a part-time lecturer at the University of Technology (UTech).
Research pharmacology, she explained, is the key to developing drugs, determining dosages as well as the mechanisms and side effects of the drugs.
FAMILY LIFE
She grew up in Bay View, Bull Bay, St. Andrew, with three brothers and sisters. Her father was a salesman for Dairy Farmers and her mother a housewife. Being the eldest, Gossell-Williams has been the one to shine academically. She started her education at St. Benedict's School and continued at Alpha before heading to UWI. Catholic schools are what made me, the discipline has pushed her to success, she said.
Married for eight years to her college sweetheart, Glenroy Williams, assistant director of information systems at Bank of Jamaica, Gossell-Williams has a five-year-old daughter and a two-year-old son.
Her many roles keep her busy, running from the office to school meetings or assisting her daughter from the office over the phone with homework. At her daughter's school, Sts. Peter and Paul Preparatory, she has served as secretary of the home school association (similar to Parent Teachers' Association), and last year she was voted the most valuable parent by the kindergarten section of the school.
"It's great. I really love being a mother. I enjoy motherhood. It can be trying and challenging but overall it's a wonderful experience."
She also relishes her role as a wife, noting that recently, for her birthday, her husband took her for brunch at the luxurious Strawberry Hill in Irish Town, St. Andrew.
RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENTS
Specifically, she works in the pharmacology unit at UWI, looking at medicinal benefits from plants.
In 1995 she spent a month in Turkey on a United Nations Development Programme learning chemical methods of extraction from plants.
For her PhD Gossell-Williams looked at choline, a type B vitamin important for proper liver and memory function.
As well, she is concentrating on pumpkin seed oil and its treatment for diseases with prostate enlargement. For this research she copped the SRC Young Scientist of the year award.
SRC presents this award to scientists under 40 whose research is indigenous and of economic value to Jamaica. She is supervising two postgraduate students to continue the work she has started with the pumpkin seed oil.
Beyond pumpkin seed oil, Gossell-Williams has noted that Jamaicans love to use their 'bush' teas as cures for illnesses like hypertension. She is therefore conducting research to find out whether these teas (because the research is incomplete she wishes not to say which plants are being researched) actually have an impact on our blood vessels.
THE FULBRIGHT SCHOLARSHIP
Her research into choline and pregnancy has won her the Fulbright Researchers' Grant for 2004, along with two other applicants (Dr. Wayne McLaughlin and Dr. Lisa Lindo, both of the department of Basic Medical Sciences at UWI). Fulbright Grants are made to United States citizens, and nationals of other countries for a variety of educational activities, primarily university lecturing, advanced research, graduate study and teaching in elementary and secondary schools.
Gossell-Williams will be fulfilling the grant at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, working with Professor Steven Zeisel, who has pioneered a lot of work with choline.
"It's an opportunity of opening doors to make contacts for collaborative research," said Gossell-Williams, who leaves this Friday, June 25 for three months to take up the Grant valued at US$2009 per month.
Gossell-Williams said in high school she had her sights set on becoming a medical doctor. However, while doing her first degree she became fascinated with the research area of medicine. "I want to motivate drug companies to go into manufacturing local products rather than just distributing," she said of her hopes for the future.
WHAT HER RESEARCH MEANS
She noted that the liver produces choline but that many women develop high cholesterol by the third trimester of pregnancy, which may be linked to insufficient choline in the diet. Her theory is that the body may not be getting enough choline and so the liver has to overwork to make more choline and by doing so is forced to produce more bad cholesterol.
"If this theory is correct then giving choline in pregnancies means it may prevent the high cholesterol level in pregnancy."
SERVICE LIFE
Beyond the world of science, motherhood and being a wife, Gossell-Williams wears yet another hat. She is also a humanitarian and has been a member of the Optimist Club of North St. Andrew for four years.
As a member she has assisted the club in establishing programmes geared toward youth development and is one of two vice presidents of the Club, having previously served as secretary and community chairperson. In 2001 she was named the outstanding club member and received the president appreciation award.
There's more. She's also vice president for public relations of the Alpha alumnae.
THE ONE THING SHE WANTS TO DO
Outside of that, like many women, Gossell-Williams said she loves to shop and travel. There is, however one little thing that she is unable to work into her busy schedule. "I'm missing the gym and want to go back so bad but I don't have time".
