(mentions CMT) UCA Receives $1.6 Million for Research

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UCA Receives $1.6 Million for Research

Posted in Campus News on June 07, 2010

http://www.uca.edu/news/index.php?itemid=2717#more

The College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Central

Arkansas will receive more than $1.6 million for biomedical research. The grant

is a part of a $14.7 million grant recently awarded to the University of

Arkansas for Medical Sciences by the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Brent Hill, Dr. Kari Naylor, both in the Department of Biology, and Dr.

Kelley, with the Department of Chemistry, will each receive an IDeA

Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) grant valued at $500,000 over

a five-year period to support their research. Hill, Naylor and Kelley are all

project leaders.

Dr. Brent Hill hopes to uncover the cellular mechanisms associated with

menopause induced hypertension. Researchers will look how the absence of

estrogen affects high blood pressure and hypertension. The research is a joint

project between Hill and Dr. Rusch, with the Department of Pharmacology &

Toxicology at UAMS.

" The long-term objective is to be able to see how a certain protein is expressed

from the cell membrane and how the expression of that protein leads to the

development of hypertension, " he said. " The protein can be targeted to alleviate

the development of high blood pressure. "

Dr. Kelley will examine how Vitamin A affects immunity. The study will

contribute to an understanding of the particular molecules responsible for

maintaining proper immunity, she said. Kelley will collaborate with Dr. Lance

Bridges in the Chemistry Department at UCA.

" For a long time, Vitamin A has been known to regulate immunity but we didn't

know how, " Kelley said. " What we will specifically focus on is how Vitamin A

controls immunity. "

These grants will provide an unparalleled research experience for Arkansas

undergraduate students, she added.

" Our projects will serve to enhance the training of UCA undergraduate students

in the field of biochemistry and allow them to disseminate their research

findings at national meetings, " she said. " I think this is an exciting time for

UCA. "

Dr. Kari Naylor's research will look at the structure of the mitochondria, which

produce energy cells need. This research is relevant to public health because

disruption of tubular mitochondrial structure may lead to neurodegenerative

diseases such as Charcot-Marie Tooth, distal muscle degeneration, or Dominant

Optic Atrophy, a form of childhood blindness, she said.

The grant will allow Naylor and other professors more time to conduct research

and less time seeking funding for their projects.

" It is a huge grant for UCA. It means that for the next five years, I get to do

science, " Naylor said. " So, the freedom to just do science is a fantastic

feeling. "

The institute is also funding summer research grants involving other UCA

professors. Dr. Wen Wang, a professor in the Department of Physical Therapy,

received an $18,000 summer research grant to examine wound healing, an issue

very important to patients with diabetes. The research focuses on understanding

the mechanism that affects wound healing and discovering new therapeutic

targets.

" This will help develop new intervention to promote wound healing and help to

reduce the morbidity and mortality of this devastating diabetic complication, "

Wang said.

UCA will receive $178,000 to renovate a gross anatomy lab into two biomedical

research and teaching labs in the Science Center. These labs will help us

increase our biomedical research and get undergraduates and graduates and

opportunity to assist in research, said Dr. Steve Runge, dean of the College of

Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

" It will also enhance our course work for students and help them learn more in

the classroom, " Runge said. " Having a strong biomedical component in our

department will help us in recruiting faculty and intellectual students. "

Visit UCA's YouTube page to hear the professors talk about their research.