Position
Academic Background
Sample Courses   
Teaching Philosophy
Research & Interests   
Notable Academic Appointments & Awards
Publication Highlights   
Selected Scholarly Presentations

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• Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Academic Background        

• Cornell University, Ithaca, NY - Ph.D. in Nutritional Biochemistry, 1989
• Indiana University, Bloomington, IN - M.S. in Biochemistry, 1984
• Bowling Green State University - B.S. in Chemistry, 1981

Sample Courses Taught at Providence College

• Biochemistry I
• Biochemistry II
• Special topics in Biochemistry:  Nutritional Biochemistry
• Biochemistry Laboratory
• General Chemistry
• General Chemistry Laboratory

Teaching Philosophy

In the general biochemistry course, I think that it is important that I give my students a good foundation of the biochemical principles so that they will be able to succeed in their biochemistry courses in medical school and graduate school.  For all my students, including those who will not pursue post-baccalaureate study, I hope to give the tools to understand biological processes on a molecular level.  In order to meet this goal, I strive to emphasize important biochemical principles rather than have the students memorize a large amount of information.   These concepts are reinforced in the exams and problem assignments through "higher order" types of questions.  However, although I have never asked a student to reproduce an entire pathway on an exam, I have found that students find it much easier to commit the material to memory instead of tackling the intellectual challenge necessary to understand "the big picture", and it was difficult for me to dissuade some students from approaching the course in this way.  Thus, I found it necessary to modify my own approach to the course.

I have done this by introducing the case study method of problem-solving to the course.  At the beginning of the semester, students form study groups in which they will work for the entire semester.  The students solve a total of eight case studies throughout the semester-four outside of class, and four as part of a class discussion.   In some case studies, the students are presented with experimental data which they interpret using the biochemical principles learned in class.  In other cases, the students are given the symptoms of a patient with a metabolic disease and it is their task to diagnose the patient and describe the biochemical basis for the patient's symptoms. 

Student response to the case study method has been overwhelmingly positive.  The in-class case study discussion has proven to be a welcome change from the traditional lecture format.  I have found that during the class discussion that a couple of interesting things happen.  One is that everyone participates-the average students as well as the brighter students.  I have also found that my students are quite creative and often come up with solutions to a problem that I had not considered.  But the most important outcome is that the students have a much more firm grasp on the important biochemical principles that the course is designed to teach them (as noted by their improved performance on exams).

Research & Interests

I have supervised several students who have worked with me on a project involving the characterization of a "flippase" protein from red blood cell membranes that is a putative aminophospholipid translocase involved in membrane asymmetry. My students have demonstrated the essential roles of lysine and arginine residues in the hydrolysis of ATP, which the flippase uses as an energy source when translocating membrane phospholipids.  Each of my students has presented the results of their research at the Eastern Colleges Science Conference.  Several of my students have won awards at this conference for their presentations.

I have been interested in the case study method of teaching for the past ten years or so.  I began by using case study exercises written by others, but I now write my own cases.  I have had several manuscripts and one book published on this subject.  My students have demonstrated an increased competence in learning the complex material in my biochemistry course since I introduced the case study method. They have also learned valuable analytical and deductive reasoning skills.

Notable Academic Appointments and Awards

• Biochemical and Molecular Biology Education Editorial Board, 1999-present
• Eastern Colleges Science Conference, 1995-present (Secretary 1998-present)
• Project Kaleidoscope "F21" Faculty for the 21st century, elected as a member of the class of 2001
• Providence College Student Affiliates-American Chemical Society advisor, 1993-1998
• Research Assistant, Harvard University Medical School, summer of 1996
• Outstanding Young Women of America, elected in 1985

Publication Highlights

• "Identification and Characterization of a Candidate Phospholipid-Transporting ATPase" Daleke, D. L., Cornely-Moss, K. A., Lyles, J., Smith, C. M. (1992)  Annals of the NY Academy of Sciences 671, 468-470.
• "Hepatic Lipase Treatment of Chylomicron Remnants Increases the Exposure of Apolipoprotein E"  Brasaemle, D.L., Cornely-Moss, K., and Bensadoun, A. (1993) J. Lipid Res., 34, 455-465.
• “The Use of Case Studies in an Undergraduate Biochemistry Course” Cornely, K (1998) J. Chem. Educ., 75, 475-478.
• Cornely, K. (1999) Cases in Biochemistry, John Wiley and Sons, NY.
• “Journal Articles as Source Material for Case Studies: The New England Journal of Medicine on Lactose Intolerance” Cornely, K. (Nov 1999) Journal of College Science Teaching, 24, 114-119.
• “Thalidomide Makes a Comeback: A Case Study Exercise that Integrates Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry” Bennett, N. S. and Cornely, K.(2001) J. Chem. Educ., 78, 759-761.
• Cornely, K. “Content and Conflict: The Use of Current Events to Teach Content in a Biochemistry Course” Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, May 2003, 31, 173-176.
• Pratt, C. W., and Cornely, K. (2004) Essential Biochemistry, John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY.

Selected Scholarly Presentations and Activities

• "Phospholipid Regulation and Physical Characteristics of a Partially Purified, Candidate Aminophospholipid Transporter"  Daleke, D. L., Cornely-Moss, K. A., and Smith, C. M. (1991) FASEB Journal 5, A839.
• "Purification of a Candidate Aminophospholipid Transport Mg²⁺-ATPase" Smith, C. M., Cornely-Moss, K. A. and Daleke, D. L. Biophysical Journal 61 (1992), A235.
• "Journal Articles as Source Material for Case Studies" Cornely, K. (1998) FASEB Journal, 12,  A1335.
• "Thalidomide Makes a Comeback: A Case Study Exercise that Integrates Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry" Cornely, K. A.  and Bennet, N. S. (2000) FASEB Journal, 14, A1512.
• "Content and Conflict: The Use of Current Events as Topics for Case Study Exercises in a Biochemistry Lecture Course", K. Cornely and K. Palamara, presented at PBL 2002, an international meeting on Problem-Based Learning sponsored by the University of Delaware, held in Baltimore, MD, June 16-June 20, 2002.
• "The Use of Case Studies in a Biochemistry Lecture Course" Cornely, K. A., presented at the American Chemical Society meeting in San Diego, March, 2005.

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