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A List
3/19/07
SLU AWARDED GRANT FOR BIOLOGY/CHEMISTRY RESEARCH
CANTON - St. Lawrence University is one of 15 colleges and universities across the
nation that have been granted 2007 awards through the Merck/AAAS Undergraduate
Science Research Program (USRP), sponsored by the Merck Institute for Science
Education (MISE) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science
(AAAS). Each award provides up to $60,000, paid over three years, for joint
use by the biology and chemistry departments at each recipient institution.
The award to St. Lawrence University's biology and chemistry departments will
support interdisciplinary research engaging teams of faculty and students from
the two departments in collaborative investigations. All projects supported by
this award include stipends for student collaborators. The award will support
the following projects:
- Assistant Professor of Biology Aswini Pai, Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Matthew Skeels and their students will investigate the levels of medicinal
compounds in the North American plant Coptis trifolia (three-leaf goldthread)
to determine if this species could be used by the pharmaceutical industry
instead of similar species from Asia that are currently being threatened by
over-harvesting.
- Assistant Professor of Biology Ana Estevez, Baker Professor of Chemistry
Larry French and their student collaborators will undertake a project to
synthesize a series of novel compounds targeting TRPV-1 vanilloid receptors
and possessing potential analgesic activity and designing assays for activity
based on nematode physiology.
- Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biology Emily Dixon, Associate Professor
of Biology Michael Temkin and their student researchers will characterize
homeobox genes in bryozoans, a group of common marine invertebrates that form
colonies of asexually budded individuals. Homeobox gene expression has been
demonstrated to be important for the patterning of structures along body axes
(e.g., head to toe) in many solitary organisms, such as flies, mice and humans,
but remains relatively unstudied among colonial organisms.
Other institutions awarded 2007 grants are Augustana College, Rock Island, IL.;
Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI; Davidson College, NC; Lawrence University,
Appleton, WI; Pomona College, Claremont, CA.; Rhodes College, Memphis,TN; The
College of New Jersey, Ewing; Truman State University, Kirksville, MO;
University of Dayton, OH; University of Evansville, IN.; University of Richmond,
VA; University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN; University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh;
and Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA.
USRP is a competitive program available in all 50 states, the District of
Columbia and Puerto Rico. Up to 15 awards are made annually. Launched in
2000 as a national competition, the 10-year, $9-million initiative is funded
by MISE and administered by AAAS. The program is open to qualified institutions
in the United States and Puerto Rico that offer an American Chemical
Society-approved program in chemistry and confer ten or fewer graduate degrees
annually in biology and chemistry combined.
Its goals are to enhance undergraduate education through research experiences
that emphasize the interrelationship between chemistry and biology; encourage
students to pursue graduate education in chemistry and life sciences; and foster
undergraduate programs and activities that bridge chemistry and biology.
St. Lawrence also received the award in 1997 and in 2001.
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More information: Science at St. Lawrence
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