Snezna Rogelj Named Biology Professor

by George Zamora

SOCORRO, N.M., Nov. 24, 1998 -- Snezna Rogelj recently was named to the full-time, tenure-track position of assistant professor of biology with New Mexico Tech's biology department.

Rogelj assumes her new position after having worked the past five years as a researcher with the University of New Mexico School of Medicine (UNM-SOM), first as a research associate with the medical school's department of pathology, and, most recently, as a research assistant professor of pathology at UNM-SOM Cancer Center. She earned her bachelor of science degree in physics at Ohio State University and her doctoral degree in biochemistry from the Boston University School of Medicine.

This fall semester, Rogelj is teaching an undergraduate-level cell biology course at New Mexico Tech.

"I'm not interested in getting my students to memorize things--that's what books and computers are for," she says. "I am, however, interested in getting them to understand how biological systems operate and how these biological systems interact as they make up a complex organism, such as a human.

"I want the students to think how the observations and the interpretations might fit together, that is, to think creatively, yet comfortably, about the biological world around us," Rogelj explains.

"It is important to realize that cell biology is a critical part of our daily life" Rogelj adds. "For example, if you like chocolate, we can talk about how chocolate impacts an organism at a cellular and biochemical level . . . or maybe what alcohol does . . . or sunbathing . . . or psychoactive drugs . . . or carcinogens."

Rogelj says that many of the students in her class are environmental engineering majors, and as such, "It is particularly important for these students to realize that there is a very fine balance between the inner working of a cell and its environment," she says. "So when you change something in an ecosystem, think about it. You may fatally perturb the organism's building blocks, the cells--and life is not a reversible process!

"For example, if you are a farmer given an opportunity to use a new pesticide, think about that . . . very, very carefully," she cautions.

"The students seem to be interested in this stuff," Rogelj says. "And, they're all wonderful students, so I'm really enjoying the bio-world that we are exploring together."

Outside of the classroom, Rogelj's main research interests center on the molecular mechanisms of leukocyte target recognition in the human immune and inflammatory responses. Leukocytes are more commonly known as white blood cells.

"My research on white blood cells is geared toward learning how they turn into 'soldiers' to battle infection, literally spewing out counter-toxins against the infection," Rogelj explains. "At the same time, I'm looking at the interactions between white blood cells and inflamed cells, specifically the sticky adhesion molecules that mediate these processes. . . . If we can identify those specific molecules that recognize the inflamed tissue, then we can hope to help over 100,000 people who die each year from several different kinds of inflammatory diseases."

The work that Rogelj and her research colleagues have done in these areas has resulted in several publications, as well as a number of patent disclosures for drugs that interfere with the inflammation associated with diseases such as septic shock, reperfusion injury (severe complications that follow heart attacks and strokes), and autoimmune demyelinating disorders.

"These discoveries are not something that you chance upon," she points out, "you make connections in separate fields, and then you follow a thread which may or may not lead to discovery. . . . Even prepared minds find failure most of the time."

Most recently, Rogelj has discovered that an enzyme present on the surface of white blood cells, which controls the stickiness for inflamed tissue, may be the same enzyme that is required for the entry of the Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus (HIV) into white blood cells. This discovery holds promise for blocking a key step in HIV transmission from person to person, as well as the spread of HIV from one cell to another inside the already infected individual--the very process which eventually leads to the development of AIDS.

Rogelj's extensive background includes stints as a postdoctoral fellow at MIT's Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, where she studied the molecular and cell biology of growth factors in cancer cells and participated in the cloning of the first anti-oncogene; as a lecturer at the Harvard Medical School Children's Hospital; and, as a scientist at ASTRA Biomedical Research Center in Bangalore, India, where she studied human brain parasites.

"I didn't go into science thinking that all my various studies would come into conjunction, but the ideas eventually started to come together," Rogelj remarks. "Now my research, happening at the interfaces of various established fields, is really fun. . . . And, it's also fun--and humbling--to be teaching at a broader spectrum."

After having worked at MIT, Harvard, and UNM, it would seem likely that Rogelj would experience a sort of "cultural shock" coming to work in the smaller environs of New Mexico Tech, but that isn't the case: "I knew what I was getting into when I applied," she says, referring to her prior connection as an adjunct research faculty member with Tech's biology department.

"There's certainly a lot to be said for working in a small place like this," she adds. "Yes, there's not too much money to go around--or ego, for that matter--but what you do have is supportive colleagues and an environment that is conducive to creativity. Also, there are no pressures to confirm to expectations to pursue 'sexy' topics." Nevertheless, applying for external research funding will be Rogelj's major focus in the coming months.

During her leisure time, Rogelj says she enjoys cooking, thrift shops, music, and travel, when she can find the time to do so, that is.

"Lately, much of my spare time has been devoted to transporting my daughter to karate and back and my son to soccer and back," she relates. "My 'fun time' has evolved into our children's exploration of the world."

Rogelj and her husband, Vivek Dhawan, a scientist at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, are the parents of two children: ten-year-old Adriana and seven-year-old Siddhartha.

"Most recently, we moved here from Bangalore, India, so it was quite a switch coming from a city of six million people to a town with less than ten thousand," Rogelj says, "but we've adjusted, and six years later, we love it here!"