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were also on hand offering free health screenings.

Six women, including Jashonda Dupree, of the Mind and Body’s 100-plus club, were recognized for losing a total of more than 600 pounds.

Dupree chose to take control of her weight. At her heaviest, she weighed nearly 300 pounds. Her doctor prescribed three different blood pressure medications, and she grew “tired” of taking pills, she said. Dupree lost a total of 113 pounds within a year. Dupree encouraged women who need that extra push to get healthy.

“You have to pray about it,” Dupree said.

The Bible is one go-to source for your health-related

needs, Ringo said.“What would Jesus eat?”

Ringo asked rhetorically.The answer, she said, is

simple: food as God prepared it, fresh out of the earth and into our bodies. She said the Bible mentions that Jesus ate “whole foods” and walked everywhere He went. The body is meant to be in motion, she said.

Ringo gained momentum in her health care routine after a visit with her doctor. In 2010, Ringo became the primary caregiver for her husband after he suffered a stroke. Her doctor warned her to take better care of herself to prevent an onslaught of illnesses that might

prevent her from taking care of her husband, Ringo said.

That same year, members of the Christ Deliverance Ministry congregation, led by Ringo, made it their mission to help one another achieve

their goals of losing weight and getting healthy. To accomplish this, Ringo held seminars and workshops, and the group

participated in boot camp classes led by Mitchell.

“Encourage yourself every day about what you can do,”

Ringo said. “All things are possible to him that believes.”

KSDK NewsChannel 5’s Nichole Berlie hosted a

Healthy Living seminar at the Mind and Body event featuring keynote speaker Dr. Edgar Everett III, a St. Louis-area chiropractor and Logan University graduate. Dr. Everett presented “Creating a Reality of Oneness in the Hearts and Souls of the Black Community.”

The African-American community is full of excuses when it comes to taking care of their health, he said.

“I don’t have the money to buy organic or fresh,” he gave as an example of an excuse. “I don’t have the money to spend for a work out class. I don’t have the money to go see a nutritionist to learn more about my health.”

He asked if others noticed the vast number of dialysis centers popping up each year in urban communities. The audience murmured in agreement.

“Guess where there aren’t dialysis centers?” he said. “West County. They don’t need them.”

Follow this reporter on Twitter: @BridjesONeil.

n Pastor Cynthia Ringo said the Bible mentions that Jesus ate “whole foods” and walked everywhere He went.

working alongside potential entrepreneurs in biosciences.”

As part of the initiative, BioSTL is also partnering with Prosper (an entrepreneur support organization for women), St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, Washington University Office of Technology Management, CORTEX and Women Entrepreneurs of St. Louis (WEST).

The initiative’s kick-off event is a networking and business forum at 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 19 at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 N. Warson Rd.

The forum will look at what’s happening in the bioscience marketplace locally, as well as introduce some

of the region’s resources and funders for startups and entrepreneurs. Then attendees will get a chance to meet and network with funders and “the players” in the market, she said.

On July 17, BioSTL will host a panel discussion with entrepreneurs who have started businesses in the bioscience field without having research or science backgrounds. The event will be held 6-8:30 p.m. at the Third Degree Glass Factory, 5200 Delmar Blvd.

“Once you raise the awareness, what’s next?” Watkins-Moore said. “Training.”

Next, BioSTL will host a 10-week boot camp for those who are ready to start creating a business plan. The sessions will feature experts in business strategy and development, legal matters, federal regulations and other areas. At the end of the 10 weeks, participants can

enter their business plans in a competition for seed money to help fund their businesses.

The boot camp will be part of Cortex’s Center for Emerging Technologies Square One (SQ1) program. SQ1 is an “on-ramp” entrepreneurial training aimed at developing technology and bioscience entrepreneurs. Details on the training are still being finalized, she said.

Currently, Walker-Moore is doing exactly what she’s encouraging other people to do – creating her own startup company.

Moore is the founder and CEO of a young start-up, UPstart Innovations, LLC, a medical technology

development organization. “I’ve always loved the

startup community,” she said. “St. Louis is really primed with the excitement in the

entrepreneurial community. It really has inspired me. And if I’m not doing it myself, how can I tell someone else to do it?”

As an Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) with the BioSTL, Walker-Moore led and mentored early startup organizations and provided business expertise

to founders and/or their management teams in order for them to become successful, viable entities. Watkins-Moore will now be shifting her focus towards the Blackstone

Charitable Foundation grant. It’s no secret that the

numbers minorities and women in the bioscience field are low, she said.

“You can look at strictly at how many people are graduating out of science programs and staying here,” she said. “Those numbers are dismal.”

Pushing for more diversity and inclusion in the bioscience industry is a must, she said.

“When you are missing pieces of your community that can be represented, you are missing areas of innovation,” she said. “Ideas and innovation come from various backgrounds.”

That’s why the initiative is also trying to engage children in bioscience early on, as well as talk with high school students about non-traditional careers in bioscience, such as computer programming.

“There is a strong need to

provide motivated African Americans the opportunity to acquire higher education that will support entrepreneurial outcomes,” said entrepreneur and philanthropist Brenda Newberry.

William Tate, professor and director, Center for the Study of Regional Competiveness in Science and Technology at Washington University, agreed.

“Pathways from discovery to biotechnology entrepreneurship are challenging and exciting,” he said. “The opportunity to generate value added in terms of the conception of business ideas is increased by including collaborators with different life experiences.”

To register for the upcoming BioSTL events, visit biostl.org/about/inclusion. For more information, contact Dr. Cheryl Watkins-Moore at cwatkinsmoore@biostl.org or 314-880-8868.

n “When you are missing pieces of your community that can be represented, you are missing areas of innovation.”

– Cheryl Watkins-Moore

Pastor Cynthia Ringo and Briant K. Mitchell of BKM Boot Camp flank Jashonda Dupree at Christ Deliverance Ministry’s third annual Mind and Body 5K health and fitness event held recently at Cardinal Ritter High School.

Photo by Tom Paule/Lifetime Media