Annemarie Bettica, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Professor Annemarie Bettica began teaching at Manhattanville College in 1982 as an adjunct professor and became a full-time faculty member in the fall of 1987. Prior to her arrival, she had completed a post-doctoral fellowship in neuroscience at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and had taught undergraduate and graduate biology courses at Fordham and Adelphi University.

Dr. Bettica received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Biology from Fordham University in 1976, 1978, and 1986, respectively. Although not a traditional Manhattanville College alumna, she completed a Manhattanville B.F.A. (1994) and M.A.W. (1999), and currently serves on the Alumni Board of Directors at the college.

Her broad educational background has provided the expertise to teach courses in her major and minor disciplines such as Histology, Molecular Cell Biology, Introduction to Neuroscience, Molecular Neurobiology, Biology of Cancer, Forensic Biology, Recombinant DNA Technology, Bioethics, Cell Culture Techniques, and Electron Microscopy. In her roles as educator, advisor, and research mentor, she has been awarded many honors including Faculty of the Year, Club Advisor of the Year, Chapter Advisor of the Year, and several Faculty Honor Awards for her faculty-student research. Her years at Manhattanvile College have afforded her the opportunity to work with a diverse population of student learners. In order to approach successful facilitation in her courses, laboratories, and seminars, Dr. Bettica selectively utilizes problem-based learning, reflective and scientific journal writing, concept mapping, portfolio, computer-assisted instruction, bioinformatics, and various other assessment tools and strategies.

Dr. Bettica's major scholarly focus is on the bioavailability and efficacies of various natural antioxidants for her two lines of research inquiry: cancer pathology and neurodegenerative diseases in vitro. Many Chinese, Native American. and globally-traditional plant extracts, along with some currently isolated constituents, including lycopene, ginkgo biloba, ginseng, curcumin, gingerol, silymarin, and the eight isomeric vitamin E forms are tested for growth rate inhibition and induction of apoptosis on pancreatic and reproductive cancers, such as mammary, endometrial, prostate, and ovarian cell lines. Her work on neuodegenerative diseases features those that develop from extreme oxidative stress, including her recent focus on Parkinson's disease. It would be a rare find to discover a molecule which works equally well at cancer prevention and neuroprotection, but she and her students may be getting closer. These faculty directed-student associations have provided many opportunities for grant writing, presentations at the national and international level, awards in regional and national forums, and joint publications in peer-reviewed journals. In addition, she is currently working on a blog to discern and disseminate information about the use and misuse of natural and synthetic bioantioxidants and supplements for the maintenance of health and prevention of disease.

Her personal interests include her long-term pursuits in creative writing with several outside readings of her poetry, one-woman shows for her painting and photographic efforts, and her love of the martial aspects of t'ai chi, for which she recently earned her fourth degree black sash.