Professor of
Biology at The U Awarded $1.8 Million Grant for
Groundbreaking
Evolution Research |
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VERMILLION, S.D. -- A professor
of biology at The University of South Dakota has received
funding which will aid in her attempts to “evolve” the
science of evolution. |
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| The National Science Foundation
awarded Dr. Paula Mabee, professor of biology at The
University of South Dakota, a highly competitive grant
to pursue research in evolutionary biology.
Mabee
will use the grant, scheduled for $1.8 million over
three years, to try to answer important questions regarding
the development of organisms over time. Her goal is
to discover previously unknown connections between evolutionary
change, genes and the developmental processes in which
the genes play a role.
“It
represents a new and forward-looking move for evolutionary
studies, and I am really excited by the opportunity,”
said Mabee.
To
accomplish this, Mabee intends to enlist the help of
scientists from a variety of fields within biology and
computer science. Through these collaborations,
she hopes to begin to standardize the language with
which scientists describe evolutionary phenomena, and
later develop the world's largest online database and
new query tools through which researchers can combine
and compare their research on what they term “model
organisms,” or simple animals that share many of the
same genetic features as more complex creatures. Mabee
noted that through understanding the means by which
these model organisms evolve over time, we can apply
the findings to more complex organisms and better understand
the processes by which human beings evolve.
The
level of interdisciplinary cooperation Mabee is working
to achieve is unheard of in the field of evolutionary
research, and will build upon the strengths of all participants.
The computational work will be done in association with
the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent)
in Durham, NC. The model organism—evolutionary
approach will be prototyped by connecting the existing
zebrafish database (ZFIN.org), which was built by some
of her collaborators, to a new “Tree of Life” database
that Mabee and other colleagues are developing for zebrafish
and related fishes.
Ultimately,
Mabee hopes her work will help to create a more unified
understanding of some of the most fascinating and controversial
biological processes currently under study.
For
more information, please contact Dr. Paula Mabee at
pmabee@usd.edu .
A photograph of Mabee is available for download at www.usd.edu/urelations/images/PaulaMabee.jpg
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Professor
From The U Receives $1.2 Million Research Grant From NIH
VERMILLION, S.D. -- Indranil Biswas, Ph.D.,
assistant professor of basic biomedical sciences at the Sanford
School of Medicine of The University of South Dakota, received
an R01 grant of $1.2 million from the National Institutes
of Health (NIH) for his research project involving mechanisms
of virulence gene regulation in Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans)
in dental caries. This grant will help to support Dr. Biswas's
research for the next five years. The NIH awarded the grant
to Dr. Biswas from a very competitive pool of applicants –
fewer than ten percent grant applications are considered each
year.
S. mutans is one of the most common bacterial infectious agents
in humans. If left untreated, the bacterium primarily causes
tooth decay. Research has shown that cavities are the most
common chronic disease in childhood, one that costs Americans
billions of dollars annually. In some instances, this bacterium
can cause other serious health problems which include heart
disease and premature births.
S. mutans produces
many harmful substances known as virulence factors that allow
them to grow inside the human host and cause diseases. Dr.
Biswas's laboratory is interested in the mechanisms by which
these bacteria regulate its virulence repertoire in response
to host signals encountered during infection. Specifically,
they have focused their studies on the regulatory networks
required for the expression of these virulence factors. Dr.
Biswas, his lab staff and students are also studying to identify
novel proteins that can be used as vaccine candidates for
the prevention of the diseases caused by this bacterium. This
funding will provide opportunities for the development of
new approaches to the prevention and treatment of dental caries.
The
NIH, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting
medical research in the US. NIH is the steward of medical
behavioral research for the nation. Its mission is science
in pursuit of fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior
of living systems and the application of that knowledge to
extend healthy life and reduce the burdens of illness and
disability. Helping lead the way toward important medical
discoveries that improve people's health and save lives, NIH
scientists investigate ways to prevent disease as well as
find the causes, treatments and even cures for common and
rare diseases.
For
more information, please contact Dr. Biswas at Indra.Biswas@usd.edu
.
A photograph
of Dr. Biswas is available for download at
www.usd.edu/urelations/images/IndranilBiswas.jpg
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Cyberinfrastructure
for Comparative Plant Genome Research through Plant Genome Database
(GDB)
The
Bioinformatics Core at the University of South Dakota has been awarded
a four year, $1 million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation.
The
grant, TRPGT: Cyberinfrastructure for comparative Plant Genome
Research through Plant Genome Database (GDB) will be used to
provide a network infrastructure for plant genomics and build the
components necessary for defining and accessing plant gene space.
Professor Carol Lushbouogh, Co-Director of the Bioinformatics Core
was awarded the grant, which is part of a larger $3.5 million dollar
grant in collaboration with Dr. Volker Brendel, Bergdahl Professor
of Bioinformatics at Iowa State University 's Department of Genetics,
Development, and Cell Biology and the Department of Statistics.
“The
new grant is actually a continuation of a 2-year grant titled “Plant
Genome”, Lushbough explained. “Support from the South Dakota BRIN
[Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network] program allowed us
to expand and enhance the plant genome project beyond its initial
phase. “
Lushbough's
team is primarily responsible for the development of the BioExact
Server tool ( www.bioexact.org
) which provides simultaneous access to the Plat GDB database
and other remote data sets. It has the ability to query and apply
analytic tools to the data as well as create user-defined work flows.
Extensive development of Web services will integrate PlantGDB as
a node in the emerging network of plant databases and resources.
The Bio-Extract server is available to anyone conducting research
in Genomics or Proteomics.
“Our
overall goal is to provide cyberinfrastructure for plant genomics,”
Lushbough explained. “By that we mean conceptual and technical solutions
to problems of efficiently connecting data, computers, and people
in order to derive novel scientific theories and knowledge.”
The
PLANT GDB resource is widely used and will continue to provide valuable
data and analysis capabilities to the plant research community.
A number of collaborative projects rely on PlantGDB for large-scale
analysis and display of their data. For more information about the
Plant Genome Database, visit http://plantgdb.org
.
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Translational
Regulation of p53 Induction in Breast Cancer
With
a new grant from the Department of Defense's Breast Cancer Research
Program, Da-Qing Yang, assistant professor of basic biomedical sciences
in the Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota
, will examine how breast cancer cells respond to a tumor suppressing
gene that affects all cancers. The three-year, $414,685 grant, “Translational
Regulation of p53 Induction in Breast Cancer” began in April and
is one part of a larger cancer research project in Yang's lab, which
focuses on the regulation of p53 gene in both breast and prostate
cancer cells.
“Dr.
Yang's success in garnering this grant highlights the importance
of his work in breast cancer research. The Department of Defense
Research Program in Breast Cancer is very competitive, and only
those projects deemed to be highly innovative and attacking vital
questions in breast cancer are considered for funding. USD is very
proud to accept this award on behalf of Dr. Yang,” said Laura Jenski,
vice-president of research at USD.
Yang's
research helps to reveal the way cancer cells form and helps clinicians
to develop methods of detecting and treating cancer. “We call the
p53 gene the guardian of the genome. The gene p53 is expressed in
all cells, but only when the cell receives DNA damage will the levels
of p53 go up and let the affected cell fix its DNA or let the cell
die. Either way, it will prevent the cell from becoming a cancer
cell. Our research studies the synthesis of p53 following DNA damaging
signals caused by such things as chemical carcinogens or chemotherapeutic
agents,” Yang said.
He
explains that p53 acts differently in breast cancer than in most
other cancers, “My hypothesis is that many breast or prostate cancer
cells don't have a normal response to p53 and then the p53 levels
don't increase following DNA damage. If we find this mutation, it
could be a novel marker for early detection and diagnosis of breast
or prostate cancer.”
An
article on Yang's research on the p53 gene and DNA damage, with
graduate students Marie-Jo Halaby and Ying Zhang as co-authors,
was accepted for publication in Oncogene, one of the world's
leading cancer research journals.
Yang's
project also has received growing notice from outside the academic
community. U.S. Senator Tim Johnson (D –SD) , who was successfully
treated after a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2004 said, “I'm pleased
that this important cancer research received a federal grant. This
research may help people around the globe and I'm proud it's being
conducted in my home town by Dr. Yang.”
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Oral
History Transcription Project for Effigy Mounds National Monument
Faculty
from the University of South Dakota's Department of American Indian
Studies will play a key role in helping the National Park Service
better understand the cultural values and meaning that American
Indians from the Midwest ascribe to the Effigy Mounds National Monument
and its surrounding landscape.
Effigy
Mounds National Monument is located in
extreme northeastern Iowa , near the Wisconsin border. The Effigy
Mounds are of great scientific interest because of the variety of
their forms, which include animal effigy, bird effigy, conical,
and linear types, illustrative of a significant phase of the mound-building
culture of the prehistoric American Indians. Legislation in1961
added land to the monument and mandated preservation of the mounds,
wildlife, and other natural resources.
The
landscape of the monuments reveal evidence of a continuum of mound-building
cultures and their relationships to the environment over a span
of at least 1,800 years. Varied landforms and habitats, characteristic
of the non-glaciated “Driftless Area,” provide exceptional diversity
of plant and animal species. These natural resources are important
both for understanding past lifeways, which depended on them, and
monitoring the health of present ecosystems.
Active
resource management at Effigy Mounds National Monument began by
addressing many issues which included mound erosion, old field management,
archeological site stabilization, and the development of a unified
approach to the management of natural and cultural resources. This
represented a shift from the general management approach of protecting
the resource to one of actively managing the resource to mitigate
European cultural disturbance and interrupted environmental processes.
The prehistoric moundbuilders and their environment were inextricably
linked.
A
recently awarded grant from the National Park Service will develop
a documented
basis
of knowledge from which park managers can anticipate resource management
issues, possible interpretive material, and educational information
that can be presented to the public. The study's main source of
information will be oral history interviews conducted with American
Indians who live in nearby areas. Participating groups will include
the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin (formerly the Wisconsin Winnebago
Tribe), Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
, Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma, Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in
Iowa , Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska , and
Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma.
Oral
history interviews will be gathered from these groups under the
direction of cultural anthropologist Michelle L. Watson. Mark Daniels
and Meg Quintal from USD's Department of American Indian Studies
will oversee the transcription of these interviews into written
documents.
“These
stories have simply never been recorded in any form,” said Daniels.
“This type of information is critical to a balanced educational
and interpretive story for the park. It's an important component
of culturally sensitive resource management.”
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