's National Council for its successful
new member recruitment. Asst. Prof. Susan Groh serves as the local chapter's
advisor.
| Number 31 | John L. Burmeister, Editor | August 2004 |
|---|
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a five-year, $16.7 million grant to the Delaware IdeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE), a consortium of the state's academic and medical institutions that is led by the University of Delaware and the Delaware Biotechnology Institute. The program, which will be managed by the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, represents a collaborative effort involving UD, Delaware State University, Delaware Technical and Community College, Wesley College and the Christiana Care Health System, according to David Weir, director of DBI, who announced the grant during a press conference on 8/12/04.
"This IdeA Program award provides an unprecedented opportunity for the University of Delaware to enhance its research infrastructure, and to create networks and partnerships throughout Delaware aimed at making scientific discoveries that will help improve our nation's health," Sidney McNairy, director of the Division of Research Infrastructure, National Center for Research Resources, NIH, said. "I am particularly pleased that this network includes Delaware State University, one of our nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as it is so important that we facilitate wider participation of minority students in the biomedical sciences." NIH was represented at the event by Susan R. Kayar, program officer for the Delaware INBRE program.
"This grant is a recognition of Delaware as a leader in biotechnology and will provide a considerable boost to our efforts," Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner said. "I am very proud of the Delaware Biotechnology Institute and these institutions." Minner said Delaware has a higher concentration of bioscience jobs than any other state in the nation, adding the grant "will further bolster the industry in Delaware." She said the research supported by the funding will "help people and make their lives better."
"The University of Delaware is pleased to be a primary partner of the Delaware Biotechnology Institute and most appreciative that the National Institutes of Health has awarded this grant, which will enable many of our most talented faculty members to advance important research in the field of biomedicine, UD President David P. Roselle said. "The INBRE program is also significant for the number of interdisciplinary and cross-institutional research collaborations that have been launched, and for the numbers of graduate and undergraduate students who will be supported." Roselle said UD is especially proud of its role as the founding institution for DBI and grateful to its early financial supporters, as well as to the federal government, which is now the largest such investor. He said the NIH grant, along with other federal grants and the growth of research partnerships, is "clear evidence that the University of Delaware and other initial supporters invested wisely."
The focus of the INBRE program is mentored biomedical research, and the grant provides funding for 15 research projects, support for undergraduate and graduate students and funding for infrastructure improvements. Participants will be involved in projects ranging from how prostate cancer spreads to bone to the development of nanoscale biosensors to monitor nerve activity to the creation of more effective ways to deliver cancer-fighting drugs. The INBRE grant, awarded by NIH through its National Center for Research Resources, is part of a larger Delaware initiative to establish a life sciences research, education and business sector in the state. It is aligned with Minner's New Economy Initiative, which includes a biotechnology and life sciences cluster involving the state's high-technology businesses and research capabilities. The initiative has the strong backing of the state's Congressional delegation, all of whom have supported federal research funding as important to Delaware's future.
The grant, plus a recently completed $8 million NIH Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network grant and a newly submitted $13.5 million proposal to the National Science Foundation, which includes $4.5 million in state matching funds, will provide a solid foundation for sustainable life sciences research, education and economic development initiatives in Delaware, according to Weir.
Each research project will be carried out by a junior faculty member in collaboration with a senior faculty research mentor. The program also will fund undergraduate research interns and graduate students in biomedical research labs. Twelve of the 15 research projects have University of Delaware faculty or staff members as mentors, two of whom are CHEM/BIOC faculty members. /
Prof. Murray Johnston will work with Peter DiMaria, associate professor of chemistry at Delaware State University, to study small nuclear ribonucleic acids (RNAs) in microsporidia, organisms that are responsible for a variety of disease conditions in immune-suppressed patients, including those with AIDS. Prof. Charles Riordan will work with Asst. Prof. Tatyana Polenova, to study the structure and mechanics of certain enzymes using NMR MAS spectroscopy. In addition, Prof. Roberta Colman is the Chair of the INBRE Research Committee and Asst. Prof. Clifford Robinson is a member of the INBRE Undergraduate Research Experiences Committee.
The $16.7 million INBRE grant is one of the largest awarded by NIH to institutions in Delaware, Weir said. Also speaking at the press conference were U. S. Senators Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and Thomas R. Carper, U.S. Representative Michael N. Castle, Robert J. Laskowski, president and chief executive officer of Christiana Care Health System; Allen L. Sessoms, president of Delaware State University; Larry Miller, director of the Stanton-Wilmington campus of Delaware Technical and Community College; and Scott D Miller, president of Wesley College.
- excerpted from UD Daily, 8/19/04
The following faculty and staff were honored with service awards at a dinner hosted by President David P. Roselle at Clayton Hall on 5/13/04 (years of service in square brackets): Mr. George J. Rutynowski (STAFF) [35], Mr. James Cleaver (STAFF) [30], Prof. Roberta F. Colman [30], Prof. Mahendra Jain [30], Ms. Susan M. C. James (STAFF) [30], Prof. Colin Thorpe [25], Ms. Marian T. MacMillan (STAFF) [20].
The Department's Safety Committee, chaired by Prof. Thomas Beebe, and supported by Assistant to the Chair Diane Quig, received well-deserved recognition for its efforts when we were selected to be the Department of the Month for July, 2004 by the Office of Occupational Health and Safety. Special note was given to our responses to recent policy issues pertaining to infectious waste disposal and off-campus shipping of chemicals. Mr. James Farmer (STAFF) and Mr. George Rutynowski (STAFF) were singled out for their efforts to update the liquid nitrogen filling station with important safety features. <http://www.ude1.edu/ohs>
There must be something in the BRL/LDL water! The recent spurt of productivity by our young organic faculty members, while not unprecedented, is certainly worthy of note. Neal and Susan Zondlo started the Hit Parade with the birth of their son, Benjamin Linus Earl (now, there's a name for a future chemist!) on 12/1/02. Joel and Jennifer Schneider followed suit shortly thereafter, greeting their son Jack Allen on 12/22/02. Productivity declined in 2003, but 2004 was another banner year. John and Christine Koh welcomed their son, Alexander McDaniel to the world on 3/20/04. Joe and Jennifer Fox completed the quintessential quartet, breaking the string of boys, with the birth of their daughter Eloise Jacqueline, on 7/6/04. It should also be noted that the male members of the production teams have proved to be just as talented in grantsmanship, graduate student recruitment, publications, and presentations in their other field of endeavour - organic chemistry.
Dr. Karen J. Bush (FAC 72-73) is Vice-President for Anti-bacterial Research at Johnson & Johnson, Raritan, NJ. <kbush@prdus.jnj.com>
Dr. J. J. Ewing (FAC 71-72) is President of Ewing Technology Associates, in Bellevue, WA. <jjewingta@aol.com>
Willis F. Harrington Prof. Emeritus Jean H. Futrell (FAC 86-99) has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Jean is currently a Batelle Fellow and Chair of the Council of Fellows at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Dr. John S. Garavelli (FAC 79-80) is the Principal Scientist/Curator of the RESID Database at the EMBL Outstation of the European Bioinformatics Institute. <john.garavelli@ebi.ac.uk> <jsgaravelli@earthlink.net>
The U of D chapter of the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society for First Year College
Students has received the Silver Award from
's National Council for its successful
new member recruitment. Asst. Prof. Susan Groh serves as the local chapter's
advisor.
Prof. Murray V. Johnston and his students have developed a method called photoionization aerosol mass spectrometry for the real-time analysis of the organic components in particles smaller than 300 nm [Anal. Chem. 76, 253 (2004); C&E News, p. 21, 1/5/04].
Ms. Rebecca (Becky) Lamison (FORMER STAFF) was married to Robert Evans, Jr. on 7/l0/04 in Newark.
Dr. George W. Luther (JOINT FAC), Maxwell P. and Mildred H. Harrington Professor of Marine Studies, has been selected by the Geochemical Society to receive the 2004 Claire C. Patterson Award.
Prof. Burnaby Munson and Willis F. Harrington Prof. Emeritus Jean H. Futrell have been honored for their scientific achievements by the publication of a special issue of the European Journal of Mass Spectrometry. They are the first Americans to be so honored. Burnaby is best known for his work on chemical ionization mass spectrometry, which made it possible to obtain informative mass spectra of high molecular mass and sensitive compounds. Jean is best known for his pioneering work with tandem mass spectrometry. He developed instruments that incorporated mass spectrometers to prepare ion beams to collide with beams of neutral molecules.
Ms. Dorothy (Dolly) M. Piatt (FORMER STAFF) died 8/24/03, at the age of 73.
Dr. George Reilly (FAC 97-00) was the hero referred to in three different newspaper articles headed "Chemist Helps Rescue Owlets!!" in the Scottsdale, AZ area. George rescued two great horned owlets that had jumped out of their nests in a saguaro cactus. He took some remarkable pictures in the process, that were also published. He continues to teach, on a part-time basis, at Arizona State University-West. <greilly@westexl.west.asu.edu>
Prof. and Chair Charles G. Riordan served on the Organizing Committee for the 36th International Conference on Coordination Chemistry, held in Merida, Mexico, July, 2004. His studies, with Post-doctoral Associate Koyu Fujita, of nickel-dioxygen chemistry were featured on the cover of the 5/31/04 issue of Inorganic Chemistry (43, 2004).
Prof. Douglass F. Taber has been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Prof. Klaus H. Theopold is the 2004 Chair of the Organometallic Subdivision of the ACS's Division of Inorganic Chemistry. He has been invited to serve as a volume editor (groups 5-7) for the 3rd edition of Comprehensive Organometallic Chemistry, to be published by Elsevier. Klaus has also been invited to spend 4 weeks in Japan under the 2004 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Invitation Fellowship Program. His host will be Prof. Kazushi Mashima of Osaka University.
Dr. Swiatoslaw (Jerry) Trofimenko (VIS SCHOLAR) was honored with a Special Issue of Polyhedron (23, 195 [2004]) devoted to a particularly important class of ligands - the so-called "Scorpionate Ligands" - that he created. He was invited to write the lead article, "Scorpionates: Genesis, Milestones, Prognosis."
Dr. Judith G. Voet (FAC 78-79) is a Professor of Biochemistry at Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA. <jvoetl@cc.swarthmore.edu>
Prof. Emeritus Robert H. Wood (FAC 57-02) has been selected to be the recipient of the 2004 Gibbs Award by the International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam. He will present his Award Lecture at the 14th International Conference on the Properties of Water and Steam, to be held in Kyoto, Japan, from 8/28-9/3/04.
Prof. Emeritus John C. Wriston, Jr. (FAC 55-85) has published a "History of the Franklin Post Offices" in The Vermont Philatelist (47, 1 [2003]) - The Journal of the Vermont Philatelic Society, thereby extending his reputation as a man of many talents.