For 25 years, Base Pair has strengthened science education for Mississippi students both on an individual basis and in classrooms around the state.

Base Pair began as a biomedical research mentorship program that paired faculty from the University of Mississippi Medical Center with high school students and educators from the Jackson Public School District.

It started in 1992, thanks to Tim Medley, a Jackson CPA who was very active on the JPS school board.

Medley had read an article in The New York Times about the Bronx School for Science and Math's mentorship program that paired students with faculty at Rockefeller University and presented the idea to Dr. Ben Canada, JPS superintendent at the time, and then to Dr. Norman Nelson, who was UMMC's vice chancellor and dean of the School of Medicine.

Dorothy Grady Scarbrough is a planter of seeds.

Some, she hand-places in the Delta soil, hoping her enthusiasm for their promise of fresh fruits and veggies catches on in communities where dinner might be cookies and a Coke.

Others, she delivers to children who plant Swiss chard, kale and spinach in their school gardens - not just to produce healthy food, but to use the growing process as a springboard for lessons in history, math and science.

Her mission is to convince backyard gardeners and local farmers to grow nutritionally sound and sustainable crops, and to get that food to members of the community whose diets contribute to high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease and other health issues rampant in the region.

The Medical Center is proud to announce the following addition to its faculty and leadership staff.