Research Enterprise Newsletter - August 2009: Faculty News
El-Rifai to serve on NCI steering committee
Wael El-Rifai, MD, PhD, Professor, Surgery & Cancer Biology and Director, Surgical Oncology Research, has been selected to serve on the Esophago-Gastric Task Force of the Gastrointestinal Steering Committee at NCI. The task force is focused on national clinical trials and translational research. Dr. El-Rifai will serve on the translational research component of the task force. In addition, he has received a new R01 to study the role of Aurora kinase A in upper gastrointestinal adenocarcinomas.
Ritchie receives challenge grant
Marylyn Ritchie, PhD, Associate Professor in Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and an investigator with the CHGR, has received a challenge grant entitled Analysis Tool for Heritable and Environmental Network Associations (ATHENA). The goal of this project is to maximize the ability to extract information from very large genomic and phenotypic datasets, which has previously been limited by current analytic strategies. The methodology for this grant will offer a powerful new approach to maximize the information learned from large datasets to improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases of public health interest.
Guengerich named American Chemical Society fellow
Fred Guengerich, PhD, has been named to the first class of American Chemical Society Fellows in recognition of excellence in science and the profession, and outstanding service to the ACS. Guengerich, the director of the Vanderbilt Center in Molecular Toxicology, was honored with 161 other fellows on Aug. 17 at the ACS national meeting in Washington, D.C.
VUIIS investigators land training grant
Co-Principal Investigators John Gore, PhD, and Tom Yankeelov, PhD, in the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science (VUIIS) have been awarded a new predoctoral training grant ($2,403,460 over 5 years) titled "Training in Cellular and Molecular Imaging of Cancer." The grant will support 10 graduate students each year in this area.
Center for Structural Biology receives NSF grant
Investigators in the Center for Structural Biology were recently awarded a $4M grant from the National Science Foundation to purchase a ultra-high field 900 MHz NMR spectrometer. This will enable a substantial advance in analyzing the structure, dynamics and function of large membrane and soluble proteins, multi-protein cellular machinery and DNA damaged by environmental toxins. The PI on the grant was Charles Sanders (Biochemistry). The primary faculty included Walter Chazin (CSB Director), Michael Stone (Chair of Chemistry) and Andrzej Krezel (Biological Sciences). Additional faculty Brandt Eichman (Biological Sciences) and Jens Meiler (Chemistry, Pharmacology). All are core faculty of the Center for Structural Biology.
