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Two TWU Chancellor’s Research Fellows receive Advanced
Research Program funding from THECB
08/10/06
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DENTON — Two Texas Woman’s University Chancellor’s
Research Fellows have been selected to receive funding under
the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Advanced
Research Program for their research into developing more effective
anticancer drugs.
Dr. Michael Bergel,
assistant professor of biology, and Dr. James Johnson, professor
of chemistry, were awarded $100,000 for their research project
titled “Synthesis of New Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors
and Analysis of their Antiproliferative Capacities.”
Dr. Johnson and Dr. Bergel are both 2005-2006 and 2006-2007
TWU Chancellor’s Research Fellows, with Dr. Johnson
serving as a mentor to Dr. Bergel.
Their research
project was one of only 88 projects that received funding
from the Coordinating Board, out of 454 submitted proposals.
“The objective
of our research project is to develop new anticancer drugs
that will selectively inhibit and kill malignant cells without
killing healthy cells,” Dr. Johnson said.
The drugs that
Dr. Bergel and Dr. Johnson will study belong to a newly explored
type of compounds named histone deacetylase inhibitors. Histone
deacetylases are major regulators of the transcription process
— the process of constructing a messenger RNA molecule
using a DNA molecule as a template, resulting in the transfer
of genetic information to the messenger RNA. Since many of
the histone deacetylase inhibitors have a low efficiency and
can cause severe side effects, Dr. Bergel and Dr. Johnson
will synthesize a new series of compounds that includes modifications
of known inhibitors.
Dr. Johnson will
synthesize the new compounds, while Dr. Bergel will analyze
their effectiveness on isolated cancer cells.
“We are at
the very beginning of this research, which involves testing
the new compounds’ effectiveness on cancer cells in
the lab,” Dr. Bergel said. “If this proves successful,
we can then move on to expanded lab trials and eventually
to clinical trials.”
The Advanced Research
Program, administered by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board, was created by the Texas Legislature in 1987 as a competitive,
peer-reviewed grants program to fund scientific and engineering
research projects of faculty members at Texas higher education
institutions. The program supports research designed to attract
and retain the best students and researchers and help provide
the knowledge base needed for innovation. For more information,
visit www.arpatp.com.
The TWU Chancellor’s
Research Fellows program was started in 2002 and pairs faculty
who have strong potential for gaining external research funding
with mentors who have been successful at obtaining funds from
federal agencies or other sources and at publishing their
research. For more information, visit www.twu.edu/research.
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For Further
Information Contact:
Amanda McKeen Simpson
Director of News and Information
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: asimpson1@twu.edu |
