People, Places and Things: 6-20-15

Phelan-Brown honored as lawyer of the yearLynn attorney Kathryn Phelan-Brown was honored by the North Shore Women’s Lawyers Association with its Lawyer of the Year Award, which was presented at the organization’s annual meeting and dinner June 17 at the Beverly Depot.Phelan-Brown, who has been practicing law since 1994, specializes in estate planning, probate, family and juvenile law. She works at the Phelan Law Office.Phelan-Brown was joined at the awards dinner by her husband, Todd, and son, Patrick.Barrasso accepted into Ph.D. programKelsey Barrasso, granddaughter of Thomas F. Quinn, president of Quinn of Lynn Insurance, and daughter of Kerry Quinn Barrasso, vice president/account executive, is one of three biology majors and microbial research/genetic lab (MRGE) members from Emmanuel College to be accepted into Ph.D. programs for the fall.Barrasso was a biology major with a concentration in health sciences. She will pursue a Ph.D. in molecular biology at Tufts University. Last year, she took a microbiology class and became intrigued by how small, seemingly insignificant things can have such a huge impact on human health. Soon after, she joined Assistant Professor of Biology Padraig Deighan’s lab team to pursue her newfound interest.”I never thought of research as a career, but that class opened the door,” Barrasso said. “The summer research program is awesome because you do your own research and you get together, shoot ideas off each other and collaborate.””Research is challenging, but I think that’s the fun part about it,” she said, “Science isn’t just this basic thing; it has a lot of details that still need to be worked out and research is needed for that.”Barrasso says her lab time has given her a leg up for getting into the Ph.D. program, since research experience is essential. At Tufts, she will work on research focusing on the development of medications and vaccines. After graduate school, she plans to do postdoctoral work.”In the biology department, everyone knows who you are and what you’re doing. They keep up with my progress. I’m going to miss the close knit community of people supporting me here,” she said.