Cameron D. Bess

B.S., University of California, Santa Cruz
Analysis of Cellular Factors Involved in Adeno-associated Virus Type 2 Entry
presented by Sanford M. Simon

As an undergraduate at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he studied yeast genetics, Cameron Bess was the first in his family to attend a university. We were fortunate to have Cameron Bess join the Rockefeller University graduate program and I was fortunate to have Cameron join my lab. Cameron is bright, thoughtful and has an incredible amount of energy. When Cameron joined my lab, we were not doing any work on viruses. Building on his experience in a lab rotation in Paul Bieniasz’s lab, Cameron initiated what has become a very productive and enjoyable collaboration with Paul Bieniasz and Nolwenn Jouvenet studying the cell biology of viruses.

Without missing a beat in the lab, Cameron kept moving to a strong beat outside the lab. He has been a key figure in raising the knowledge and concern of all of us on campus about the consequences of the scientific pursuit on the world around us. I am a better person for having Cameron as a student and colleague and Rockefeller is a better place. Cameron is currently at the National Institutes of Health studying malaria.

You might never guess it from Cameron’s shy, reserved style. But in college, he would sing and dance in musicals. Thus, in fitting tribute to a show he performed in, West Side Story:

To the tune of “Jet Song”

To the tune of “Gee, Officer Krupke”