Winter 2009

01/01/2009: Dr. Aleister Saunders recieved a one-year, $100,000 grant from the CUre Alzheimer's Fund

01/01/2009: Dr. Daniel Marenda recieved the prestigious PA Department of Public Health GRID award entitled, "Characterization and application of a novel Drosophila model for CHARGE Syndrome". This 1 year $105,159 award will study the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster which has been tremendously important and influential in furthering our understanding of the mechanisms of a variety of human diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases, and forms of hereditary mental retardation (MR). Thus, he has created the first Drosophila model for CHARGE Syndrome, a rare autosomal dominant form of mental retardation. Using this new model, he will determine what genes functionally contribute to CHARGE Syndrome in flies, with the hope that the research proposed will lead to novel diagnostic tools and/or therapuetic targets for patients with CHARGE Syndrome.

Fall 2008

11/02/2008: Dr. Barry Ritz was awarded $196,374 by LaBelle, Inc. for a 3 year project entitled, "Bovine Colostrum and Influenza Virus."

11/01/2008: Dr. James Spotila was awarded $563,000 by Pew Charitable Trusts for a 1 year project entitled, "Interactions Between Leatherback Turtles..."

10/03/2008: Dr. Jennifer Nasser was awarded $25,000 by The Obesity Institute for a 1 year project entitled, "The Effect of Chewing Gum on Antips..."

10/01/2008: Dr. Karen Drummond was awarded $1,536,123 by Philadelphia School District for a 1 year project entitled, "Nutritional Outreach in the Philadelphia Public School District." This project is a multi-faceted initiative of the School District of Philadelphia. It is funded by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service and administered by PENNSYLVANIA NUTRITION EDUCATION TRACKS. This program is designed to provide comprehensive nutrition education in the classroom as well as after school. The program settings are flexible in nature to control for differences in audiences and group size. This diverse and multi-tiered program provides nutrition education on various levels for children, parents/caregivers, teachers, school nurses, athletic directors, and coaches. Drexel University is one of five subcontractors, and is responsible for the nutrition education programs in 68 schools within the School District. This is the seventh consecutive year of this award.

10/01/2008: Dr. Kreeger was awarded $25,000 by the Partnership for Deleware Estuary for a 1 year project entitled, "Restoration of Extirpated Freshwater..."

09/30/2008: Dr. Felice Elefant was awarded $1,271,175 by NIH as an NIH RO1 grant for a 5 year project entitled, "TIP60 and APP in Neural Development..."

09/18/2008: Dr. Nianli Sang was awarded $1,570,901 by the National Cancer Institute as an NIH RO1 grant for a 5 year project entitled, "Repressing HIF-1: Targets abd Mechanical..." The project studies the quality and functional regulation of two important transcritption factors (HIF-1,2) that govern the supply of oxygen and nutrients to tumors and normal body parts, aiming to gain new knowledge that may eventually facilitate the development of novel, safe and efficient therapies for various tumors and disorders caused by insufficient blood supply, such as heart diseases and strokes.

Summer 2008

09/15/2008: Dr. Jennifer Nasser was awarded $442,213 by NIH for a 2 year project entitled, "Methylphenidate and Binge Eating."

09/01/2008: Dr. Susan Kilham was awarded $25,000 by Dupont Compant for a 1 year project entitled, "Dupont Clear into the Future Graduate..."

09/01/2008: Dr. Daniel Marenda was awarded $224,823 by NIH and the National Eye Institute for a 3 year project entitled, "Retina: Lilliputian and the control of retinal neurogenesis." The process of initiating retinal development is very well conserved throughout species. As Lilliputian is the only member of the AF4/FMR2 family of proteins in Drosophila, a deeper understanding of how Drosophila Lilliputian is involved in initiating retinal development will likely be of very broad relevance to their understanding of the process of mammalian retinal development, and may lead to new diagnistic and/or therapeutic startegies for patients with inherited retinal degeneration or damage.

08/01/2008: Dr. Aleister Saunders was awarded $1,611,959 by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders as an NIH RO1 grant for a 5 year project entitled, "Identification and Characterization of APP Processing Regulators." This proposal is aimed at identifying and characterizing genes that regulate beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP) metabolism. Abnormal APP metabolism is a central event in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Specifically, proteolytic processing of APP to generate the amyloidogenic Beta-amyloid (ABeta) peptide is a fundamental process in AD pathogenesis. How this APP metabolism is regulated is not fully understood and a complete understanding could yield promising therapeutic avenues and insight into the genetic basis of AD.

07/02/2008: Dr. Walter Bien was awarded $48,662 by the US Army Medical Research Acq. Activity for a 1 year project entitled, "Bog Turtle Survey." The laboratory of Pinelands Research conducts studies on community ecology, resource management, restoration ecology, fire ecology, and conservation biology in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Much of this research is centered at the New Jersey Air National Guard Warren Grove Gunnery Range. Recent projects have focused on rare plant monitoring, threatened and endangered animal surveys, and post wildfire effects on the Pine Barrens ecosystem.

Spring 2008

Winter 2008

01/01/2008: Dr. Gail Hearn was awarded $600,000 by ExxonMobil Foundation for a 2 year project entitled, "Teach and Learn-Equatorial Guinea..."