Distinguished Alumna of the Year Award
Jane Eichten Gunther, Ph.D., DABT, Med Tech ’83 u
Pacifica, Calif.
Jane Gunther might have been a ballerina instead of a board-certified toxicologist. As a freshman at Marquette, she took ballet classes at a downtown Milwaukee studio. The studio owner told Jane he thought she could have a career in dance. When Jane told him she was a Marquette student, he replied, “If you are smart enough to go to Marquette, you should get your degree!” Jane knew then that she was at the right school, one that had achieved an impressive reputation within the community.
Jane currently works at the pharmaceutical company, Exelixis, as a director in the Discovery Biotherapeutics department. She designs and directs testing of new drugs to ensure they are safe before being evaluated in clinical trials. Jane credits her undergraduate degree in medical technology from Marquette with providing her with an excellent background in clinical pathology, which she routinely uses in her work.
Jane recently served as president of cureCADASIL, a rare disease nonprofit organization. She worked to grow cureCADASIL to the next stage of organizational development with infrastructure and research collaborations. Working with cureCADASIL’s board of trustees, Jane has tripled the volunteer force, developed a 5-year strategic plan, and co-founded/co-leads the first-ever collaborative network of US-based CADASIL researchers and clinicians. These efforts culminated in Jane’s team being one of 10 patient-partnered research teams (out of 297 applicants) chosen to receive a $1M Chan Zuckerberg Initiative grant, in order to accelerate the rate of research toward finding therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases.
Jane also served as a mentor for the Marquette Mentors program for six years. She says that helping undergraduates achieve their goals by following Marquette’s mission taught her how to achieve her goals for cureCADASIL through excellence, faith, leadership, and service.
For Jane, even more than being an award for cumulative achievements, this award is a symbol that there are more first-time successes to come.
Name someone (past or present) with whom you'd like to have dinner.
I would enjoy a dinner conversation with Marie Curie. She delayed attending university to support her sister during her medical training, but she kept to her dream and eventually went back for a degree. This encouraged me to go back for my advanced degree after gaining work experience. Madame Curie achieved many firsts at a time when women in science were surely at a disadvantage: the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. More than the prizes, I admire that she realized the practical use of her pioneering work in radioactivity and developed mobile radiography machines to supply field hospitals with X-ray capabilities during World War I. Her achievements would be fantastic in the 21st century, let alone in the 19th century!
Name a Marquette faculty or staff member who had an impact on you, and how.
Kaye Cullen was head of the medical technology training program at St. Mary's Hospital. She was assisted by her co-instructor, Toni. I did my senior year training in the medical technology program at St. Mary's Hospital under the tutelage of Kaye and Toni, who were passionate about training us to be knowledgeable medical technologists and to think like scientists — to be curious, dig in and troubleshoot challenging problems. Skills I use regularly and that have made for an exciting career as a drug development scientist.
Leave a congratulatory message for Jane!
u Celebrating a Marquette Reunion