A List
9/12/05

SLU BIOLOGY PROF AWARDED NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION GRANT

CANTON - The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded St. Lawrence University Associate Professor of Biology Joseph S. Erlichman a $315,000 grant to conduct research, assisted by undergraduate students, on studying glial cells in the brain. The grant has been made through the NSF's program for research at undergraduate institutions.

Specifically, Erlichman and two undergraduate students will study the role of medullary glial cells in the regulation of pH levels, beginning in June of 2006 and continuing for four years. The central nervous system consists of neurons and glial cells. Glial cells, which in the past have been little studied, provide metabolic support to neurons and modulate their activity.

According to Erlichman, "Undergraduate students participating in the research will be fully immersed in all aspects of experimental design, data collection, analysis and interpretation, thereby providing opportunities for the students to explore their own ingenuity and creativity within the context of a scientifically relevant problem. One of the primary goals of this faculty-initiated, student-driven research is to establish a mentoring partnership between the student and faculty member that fosters the student's understanding of the process of scientific inquiry and the refinement of scientific questions through experimentation. The students will gain a clear understanding of the process of doing science and consequently hone many life skills - critical thinking, plus oral, visual and written communication - that will serve them well throughout their careers."

A faculty member at St. Lawrence since 1999, Erlichman earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the Ph.D. from Dartmouth Medical School. He has been a postdoctoral fellow at Dartmouth Medical School as well as a research associate there and at Wright State School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio. Erlichman's work has been published in a variety of academic journals, including The American Journal of Physiology, Neuroscience Methods, Journal of Applied Physiology and Respiration Physiology and Neurobiology.

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