Research Enterprise Newsletter - October 2008: Faculty News
VUIIS lands $7.5M for new imaging center
John Gore, PhD, director of the Vanderbilt University Institute for Imaging Sciences (VUIIS), recently received a Notice of Grant Award to establish a new Vanderbilt in Vivo Cellular and Molecular Imaging Center. The grant from the NCI provides $7.5 million in funding over 5 years. Gore is principal investigator on the grant, which involves many people from the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and VUIIS.
Ohi receives New Innovator Award
Melanie Ohi, PhD, assistant professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, is among this year's recipients of the NIH New Innovator award. Ohi is one of 31 scientists who will each receive $1.5 million over five years. The program is devoted to supporting new investigators with bold research proposals that could have a great impact on biomedical or behavioral science. Ohi's research focuses on spliceosomes, large macromolecular "machines" that finalize the templates (called mRNA) for building proteins. Her lab is using single particle cryo-electron microscopy, as well as a combination of biophysical and biological approaches to try and unravel how the spliceosome functions as a molecular machine. Ohi earned her PhD in Cell Biology in 2002 from Vanderbilt. She then went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School and returned to Vanderbilt as a faculty member in 2007.
Bernard to deliver lecture to College of Chest Physicians
Gordon R. Bernard, MD, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research, will be delivering the Roger Bone Memorial Lecture at the American College of Chest Physicians national meeting in Philadelphia on Oct 29. Roger Bone was a recognized pioneer in the field of sepsis research, in which Dr. Bernard does much of his work.
Thomson joins Cancer Biology
J. Michael Thomson, PhD, has joined the Department of Cancer Biology as an assistant professor. Thomson received his PhD from the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville. Prior to coming to Vanderbilt, he was a research coordinator at the University of Georgia and a postdoctoral associate in the Hammond Laboratory at the University of North Carolina. Thomson's lab focuses on the biochemistry and physiology of microRNAs. He and his colleagues are characterizing the factors essential to the biogenic regulation of microRNAs and how these small molecules function to regulate genetic pathways.
Urbano, Hodapp examine disparities in Down Syndrome families
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center investigators Richard Urbano, PhD, Research Professor of Pediatrics, and Robert Hodapp, PhD, Professor of Special Education have authored a study comparing ethnic/racial disparities in families of young children with Down syndrome. Their paper, "Demographics of African-American vs. European-Heritage Mothers of Newborns with Down Syndrome," appears in the September 2008 issue of the Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities. The study looks at age, education levels, marital status, and socio-economic status of African-American and European-heritage mothers of children with Down syndrome. Urbano and Hodapp found that a greater percentage of the African-American mothers of children with Down syndrome were younger. They also found that, in both ethnic/racial groups, younger moms were more likely to have not graduated high school and to be unmarried. Younger mothers are less likely to know about, access, and receive social services. Study findings will provide public health officials with an understanding of the numbers and the characteristics of different populations, will aid in the assessment of the effectiveness of prevention services, and will highlight services that may be needed by individual populations.
Brash presents in Russia on plant lipids
Alan R. Brash, PhD, professor of Pharmacology, presented the plenary lecture titled "Novel Oxylipin Synthesis via Lipoxygenase and Hemoprotein Enzymes" at the international conference on Plant Lipids and Oxylipins, held in Kazan, Russia, on September 25-27, 2008. In the course of studying the biosynthesis of lipid mediators derived from polyunsaturated fatty acids ("oxylipins"), Dr. Brash has discovered the involvement of cytochrome P450 and catalase-related enzymes in specific biosynthetic pathways. His lecture focused on comparison of these reactions and the enzymes involved in lipid mediator synthesis in the plant and animal kingdoms.
OOR now offering more Core information
In addition to the list of VUMS cores on the Office of Research web site, OOR has launched another resource and information page that provides news, policies, and user guides related to Vanderbilt core facilities and CORES—the Core Ordering and Reporting Enterprise System. CORES was designed to facilitate the purchase of products and services from a wide variety of VUMC research-related core facilities and shared resources. It also provides detailed information to researchers and administrators about core purchases. Access the site and more information on CORES at mc.vanderbilt.edu/CFUIS.
