NOTES ON PEOPLE (10/19/97)

NOTES ON PEOPLE

Awarded $160,000 research fellowship

BOSTON - Mary Didiuk, Ph.D., was awarded a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. The two-year, $160,000 fellowship supports Dr. Didiuk's postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Prof. Gregory Verdine of Harvard University, a leader in nucleic acid and protein chemistry.

Dr. Didiuk, who completed her doctorate at Boston College in 1996, is working to isolate and characterize enzymes that repair cancer-causing DNA and to develop new techniques to improve their chances for successful isolation. Her work is expected to play an important role in the scientific community's ongoing pursuit of a cure for cancer.

Dr. Didiuk, who declined both the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society Postdoctoral fellowships to accept the National Science Foundation award, is one of 20 chemists nationwide to receive the honor. She was one of only four organic chemists to be selected, based on her impressive accomplishments as a doctoral student and the strong likelihood that her research will have a significant impact on the future of chemistry.

Dr. Didiuk completed her undergraduate studies at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Conn., in 1991. Her father, John Didiuk, is the organizer of the Ukrainian Fraternal Credit Union in Boston, and an active member of the Ukrainian American community there. Dr. Didiuk is a member of UNA Branch 307 in Boston.

Receives dentistry fellowship award

CHICAGO - Silvia Bilobron, DMD, received the Academy of General Dentistry's (AGD) prestigious fellowship award during the convocation ceremony at the academy's 45th annual meeting held here on August 2.

The Academy of General Dentistry is an international organization of 35,000 general dentists committed to continuing dental education in order to provide the best possible care to their patients. To earn the award, AGD dentists must complete more than 500 hours of continuing education courses within 10 years and pass a rigorous exam.

Dr. Bilobron graduated from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 1991, and completed a general practice residency at Jersey City Medical Center in 1992. She practices in Upper Montclair and Hackensack, N.J.; is associate director of the general practice residency at New Jersey Dental School in Newark, N.J.; and also serves as an attending at Jersey City Medical Center, serving patients with special needs.

Dr. Bilobron is a member of the Academy of General Dentistry, the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America and the New Jersey Dental School Alumni Association. She is actively involved with the Special Child Dental Services, the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund, and serves as choir director of St. Mary Protectress Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Clifton, N.J.

Dr. Bilobron is a member of UNA Branch 182.

Wife promotes husband in Army

FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii - Steven Stuban was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army on January 31 by his wife, Lt. Col. Sandra Stuban.

Lt. Col. Stuban graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1980 as an officer in the Army Corps of Engineers. He is currently assigned to the headquarters for the U.S. Army, Pacific, in Hawaii, where he serves as chief of the Military Engineering Division.

His wife is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and is assigned to Tripler Army Medical Center. The Stubans have one son, Nicholas.

Lt. Col. Stuban is the son of Frank and Helen Stuban of Seymour, Conn. He is a member of UNA Branch 67.

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