Biology Professors Receive NIH Grants for Life-Altering Research Study

Biology Professors Receive NIH Grants for Life-Altering Research Study

Despite the fact that more that 325,000 researchers apply for 50,000 highly competitive grants each year from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), two faculty members at St. John’s University were recently awarded separate research grants to continue their scientific research.

Ales Vancura, Ph.D and Rachel Zufferey, Ph.D, both Biological Sciences professors in St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, were selected based on their grant applications, scientific qualifications, and the health relevance of their research.

Their grants, made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), are part of the 84 percent of NIH’s annual budget that is distributed to researchers at more than 3,000 universities, medical schools, and other research institutions around the world. They intend to use their grant money to continue that research, and enhance new medical discoveries, improve the health of society, prevent diseases and ultimately save lives.

It’s All in the Genes
Dr. Vancura’s research project, “The Role of Phospholipase C in Transcriptional Regulation,” focuses on the regulation of chromatin structure that affects diverse cellular functions such as gene expression, DNA replication and repair cell proliferation. Throughout his career and with continuous funding by NIH, he has taught at the University for more than a decade and has dedicated his career to researching the regulation of cell growth.

His $245,000 NIH grant will allow him to employ three doctoral students and one graduate student to engage in data collection and experiments and attend conferences and seminars.

“Research is inherently a competitive, international activity,” the Biological Sciences professor explains. “Research in biomedical sciences, with its ultimate goal of improving the living conditions of humankind, is a worthy activity for our students to be engaged in.”

Sub-Tropical Research
Dr. Zufferey received a two-year, $100,000 preliminary grant to support the study of a human parasite known as Leishmania, a unicellular parasite found in sub-tropical countries that causes skin lesions and affects the liver, spleen, ears, nose and throat in humans. Her research will attempt to determine the mechanisms of the drug miltefosine, a clinical trial medicine, against the diseases that this parasite causes.

“The objective of this ARRA NIH grant is to identify at least two enzymes that are inhibited by the drug,” she explains. “This parasite affects many sub-tropical Third World countries. There is no market for drug companies so most of this type of research is done by universities.”  

Dr. Zufferey hopes the research conducted through the NIH grant will aid in helping the economically disadvantaged in underdeveloped countries. “By understanding the how this drug inhibits the parasite, we can then begin to market to other countries,” she continues.

She also points out that assisting the poor is at the heart of the St. John’s mission. “If we can better understand how this drug kills the parasite, we can develop better, in expensive drugs and hopefully market to poor countries,” she notes.