By Diana Brement,
JTNews Columnist
Northwest Yeshiva High School graduate Matthew Feldhammer is now doing graduate research in biochemistry at the University of Montreal. Recently he was awarded a first place Prix d’Excellence (Prize of Excellence) in all categories by Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center at the University of Montreal for a presentation on his work identifying protein misfolding as the underlying defect in patients with Sanfilippo Syndrome Type C.
Around the same time, he and his research group published an article in the Journal of Human Mutation for their work identifying new mutations in this rare genetic metabolic disorder, known scientifically as Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIC. (Similar, but not related to Tay Sachs disease, it appears in Dutch, Ashkenazi Jewish and French Canadian populations that share a history of a high rate of intermarriage generations ago.)
“[It] gives me a sense of accomplishment,” says Matthew of the award, and it’s also a nice accolade for “maybe a year’s worth of work. A lot of research ends up not going anywhere, so it’s good that this was published and may be able to help some people.”
He hopes both prize and publication will help secure funding for work he does later in his scientific career.
In the short term, he plans on pursuing a doctorate in cancer research, then hopes to secure a professorship at a university where he could have his own lab.
In addition to school, Matthew and his former roommate have a small catering business called Leftys Catering. You might look for a relationship between biochemistry and cooking, but in truth the roommate went to culinary school and “we were always the ones who ended up working the grill and cooking for everyone” when friends and family gathered, Matthew says. “So we figured, why not turn this semi-professional?”
They stick to occasional small jobs and he says it’s “a nice balance.”
Matthew actually spent his first decade of life in Montreal, moving to Issaquah with his family in 1995, says his mom, Lynn (who works at this paper). She says he didn’t show a strong penchant for science as a teen, but was inspired by a teacher at the yeshiva. He studied Gemara in Israel after high school before returning to Montreal.
“I miss looking out my window and seeing Mt. Rainier,” he says, but plans to stay put for now.
|||
To begin with, Steve Gelb must have had one of the fastest job turnarounds in this lousy economy. Three weeks after a layoff from a local furniture manufacturer, he had a job as interim executive director of a new non-profit, SustainableWorks, which helps people retrofit — or modify — their homes and small businesses to be more energy efficient. SustainableWorks is part of Sound Alliance, a coalition of Puget Sound-area religious and educational institutions, trade unions and non-profits dedicated to “organizing for the common good” (www.soundorganizing.org).
Temple Beth Am in North Seattle is a member of Sound Alliance and it’s there — as a member of the social action committee — that Steve learned about that coalition.
“I was interested in getting more involved in environmental work,” he says, “specifically things to combat global climate change.”
When he started to attend Sound Alliance meetings, he learned about SustainableWorks — and his job.
According to its mission statement, SustainableWorks, “in conjunction with a wide range of city, county, utility, and other organizational partners will retrofit up to 4,800 homes and small businesses in neighborhoods with high concentrations of moderate income residents in Spokane, Pierce, King, Snohomish, Thurston, Kitsap and Clark counties over the next two years.”
A community organizing approach is used, Steve explains (think Saul Alinsky, Barack Obama), by recruiting neighborhood volunteers to host in-home meetings where the retrofitting process is explained.
“Those people in the neighborhood become core organizers,” Steve says, and SustainableWorks becomes the general contractor, loan officer, and government rebate processor.
Right now, Steve is one of two SustainableWorks employees at Sound Alliance’s office. He’s finalizing a business plan while they wait to hear if they will get some of Washington State’s $14.5 million of federal stimulus money earmarked for community-based residential energy efficiency programs and related jobs.
Working his first non-retail or manufacturing job in almost 30 years (although he’s done plenty of business development), Steve says, ” I was in the right place at the right time with the right knowledge,” to get this job, calling it “a path to pursue a passion.
“I told [people] it was luck, but it wasn’t…. The lucky part is that the timing worked out for me.”
And, as a volunteer, Steve had already demonstrated his skills to Sound Alliance in a direct and personal way. When he’s not getting SustainableWorks underway, Steve enjoys riding his bike, “hypermiling,” going to theater and cooking. He’s been a Girl Scout leader and a baseball coach and served on the Northend Stroum Jewish Community Center board (when they had their own board). He’s also been instrumental in starting a “green team” at Temple Beth Am, where they hope to work on recycling and energy efficiency issues for the congregation.
There’s more info on SustainableWorks at the Sound Alliance Web site.