Research Bio
Community Outreach and Education
As Director of Community Outreach & Education Programs of the Department of Environmental Medicine and the Environmental Health Sciences Center, as well as Director of the University of Rochester's Center for Science Education and Outreach,I am responsible for developing and coordinating a wide variety of programs for students (elementary through high school), teachers, and the general community. These include hands-on science programs for local schools, summer science camps, and science teacher workshops, run through our Life Sciences Learning Center. Our community outreach programs coordinated through the Environmental Health Sciences Center include childhood lead poisoning prevention initiatives, a community advisory board, newsletters and community forums.
My science education experiences have included adjunct faculty positions at several colleges and universities in the Philadelphia area. My pre-college science outreach experience included the development of molecular genetics programs through the University of Pennsylvania's successful Penn Summer Science Academy. I have been at the University of Rochester since 1995, first developing science education programs in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology (1995-1998) and, since 1998, in Environmental Medicine.
My research experience includes graduate and postdoctoral work on retroviral gene transfer and gene therapy. While a graduate student at Columbia University, I developed two novel retroviral packaging cell lines that have subsequently been used by hundreds of laboratories worldwide. These two cell lines, GP+E86 and GP+EnvAm12, are currently being licensed through Genetix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. I also completed two postdoctoral fellowships--at the Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and at GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Corporation.
| Provisional Patent application 61057002 | UR Office of Technology Transfer | for "Science Take-Out Kits" |
2008 |
| UR Medical Center License Agreement #AGR-0253 | with Neo/SCI for worldwide distribution of four | Life Sciences Learning Center curriculum modules |
2006 |
| Children's Environmental Health Recognition Award | US EPA, Office of Children's Health Protection | for the "My Environment, My Health, My Choices" program |
2005 |
| Retroviral Packaging Cell Lines | United States Patent 5,278,056 | with Drs. Arthur Bank and Stephen Goff |
1994 |
| Sigma XI Scientific Research Honor Society | Columbia University Kappa Chapter |
1988 |
2009
Martina, C.; Hursh, D.; Markowitz, D. "Contradictions in educational policy: Implementing integrated problem-based curriculum in a high stakes environment." Environmental Education Research. 2009; 15(3): 279-281. |
2008
Markowitz, D.; DuPre, M.; Holt, S.; Chen, S.; Wischnowski, M. "BEGIN Partnership: Using Problem-Based Learning to Teach Genetics and Bioethics." American Biology Teacher. 2008; 70(7): 421-425. |
2007
Luehmann, A.; Markowitz, D. "Science Teachers' Perceived Benefits of an Out-of-School Enrichment Programme: Identity Needs and University Affordances." International Journal of Science Education. 2007; 29(9): 1133-1161. |
2007
Markowitz DG, DuPré MJ. "Graduate Experience in Science Education: the development of a science education course for biomedical science graduate students." CBE life sciences education. 2007 6(3):233-42. |
2006
Markowitz, D.; DuPre, M.; Holt, S.; Chen, S.; Wischnowski, M. "Family Secrets: The Bioethics of Genetic Testing." The Science Teacher. 2006; 73(8): 28-32. |
