Marguerite W. (Wilton) Coomes

Marguerite Wilton Coomes, Ph.D., Associate Professor Emerita, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine,Howard University, Washington, DC.

Maggie, born in the United Kingdom (England) in 1942, immigrated to the U.S. in

1962, and began a full life of experiences that touched thousands. She began

teaching medical students in 1983. In 1994, she received the Kaiser-Permanente

Award for Teaching from Howard University College of Medicine, and in the same

year, she received the Howard University Health Science Teaching Award. She also

spent some time as a Graduate Records Examination question writer for cell and

molecular biology.

Dr. Coomes received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1980 from The University of Texas

Health Science Center, Dallas, Texas. She received her M.S. in 1975 and B.S. (summa

cum laude) in 1973, both from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. From

1980 to 1982, she was Staff Fellow at the Laboratory of Pharmacology, National

Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in NC. Prior to that, she was a teaching

assistant, Department of Biological Sciences at the University of North Texas in

Denton, Texas.

Dr. Coomes has applied her professional expertise to review activities with the

Minority Biomedical Research Support Program, National Institute of General

Medical Sciences, as well as manuscripts submitted to the Archives of Biochemistry

and Biophysics, various biochemistry and medical journals, the Journal of the

National Medical Association, and others.

She also devoted her talents to various projects and workshops with the American

Association for the Advancement of Science; subcommittees with American

Association for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; ten years as Chief Proctor of

the United States Medical Licensure Examination for Howard University College of

Medicine; and has served on the review panel for graduate and postdoctoral

awards for the Howard Hughes Foundation and the Ford Foundation. She was also

a published author and contributing author of scientific books and papers.

She leaves two sons, Mark Jonathan and Stephen David, and one grandson Zachary

Alban, many close friends in the U.S., cousins and other friends in the U.K.