Collection: Rose Mary Stiffin, PhD

I was raised and educated in Indianola, Mississippi, notably the Delta hometown of the late blues legend, BB King. I received my Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry from Mississippi Valley State University (1974), my Master of Science degree in Organic Chemistry from Mississippi State University (1981), and my PhD (Biochemistry) from the University of Tennessee in Memphis (1995). I did my post-doctoral work at the world-famous hospital, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, in Memphis, Tennessee (virology and immunology). As part of my master’s and PhD, I helped in the development of research that earned two patents, one in insecticide chemistry, and the other in the potential of developing a drug to treat diabetes at the molecular level. Currently, I am the Chair of the Division of Health and Natural Sciences at Florida Memorial University. As part of our ongoing research, we have synthesized a plethora of compounds that have shown wide biological activity as antimicrobials and anticancer agents. I have collaborated with researchers at Pennsylvania State University, the University of Oregon, Spelman College, the National Cancer Institute, Scripps Research Institute, and the University of Miami, to name a few.

I have written several short stories and had some of them published in the Imagine literary magazine. I have also been published in the Algonquin Quarterly (“The Water Buffalo and Pink Flamingo”) and in an anthology For Your Eyes Only (“Casino Blues”). Walk in Bethel is my first novel. This novel won an international competition in General Fiction (June, 2015), in which I traveled to Paris to receive the award. I have published five additional novels, Reflections, Groovin’ on the Half Shell, A Winter Friend, Casino Blues, and Five Secrets 6 Stethoscopes.

I am the Chair of Health and Natural Sciences at Florida Memorial University.