Greenville College Fulbright Scholar Dr. Gene Dunkley Off to Africa

Published: April 13, 2021

On August 18, 2009, GC Biology Professor Dr. Gene Dunkley, along with his wife, Jennifer, and daughter, Camille a 2008 GC grad, left Greenville, IL to begin a year-long sabbatical teaching, studying and exploring in Blantyre, Malawi.

"I have wanted to go to Malawi for a long time," explains Dunkley, "a friend of mine went there to work with an orphanage years ago and I've been interested ever since. Then, I read that Malawi was one of the options for a Fulbright Scholarship so I applied and got accepted."

During the year, Dr. Dunkley will be teaching a three week medical microbiology module, assisting with some basic micro biology in the lab there and working on a joint research project with microbiologists from Blantyre and Washington University in St. Louis, MO. The project is researching a type of malnutrition that is specific to the people in Malawi. Past researchers found a rare form of dysentery in children and a certain kind of bacterial flora that actually causes malnutrition. Dunkley will be part of a team visiting villages to collect stool samples so they can analyze this flora and figure out how to cure this malnourishment by working with other nutrients. Many of the children are malnourished because their bodies are not processing food correctly and making the essential nutrients they need.

"Part of the excitement of this upcoming year is the unknown." says Dunkley. He plans to plug in where needed, travel and read a lot, rest and enjoy the journey.

GC will keep you up to date with Dr. Dunkley in Africa via a link to his blog once he is in Malawi and settled. Check www.greenville.edu for more information coming soon!

Contact: Annie Zeller, Assistant Director of Public Relations