NEWS

Komen foundation awards two grants
to professor for research on gene

Dr. Channing J. Der, professor of pharmacology and radiation oncology at UNC’s School of Medicine, has been awarded two grants totaling $395,000 from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

The principal investigator grant is for $250,000 over two years, and the postdoctoral training grant is for $145,000 over three years.

Der’s research will focus on a gene called Rerg, which is lost in advanced metastatic breast cancers, and may act as a clinical marker for metastatic breast cancers and a potential target for gene replacement therapy.

Der, a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, joined the UNC faculty in 1995.

The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, founded in 1982 in memory of a breast cancer victim, spends more than $80 million a year on initiatives related to breast cancer. It focuses on research projects with potential for high impact that may not be considered by other agencies.

Photo link: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/der_channing.jpg

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Biology major receives prestigious summer
undergraduate research fellowship

Zafia Anklesaria, a biology major at UNC, recently received an American Society of Plant Biologists Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

Anklesaria, an international student from India, was sponsored by Dr. Jeff Dangl, John N. Couch professor of biology at UNC and a member of the organization.

The fellowship program gives students opportunities to pursue plant biology research at their home institutions early in their college years. Recipients receive a $3,000 student stipend for 10 weeks of laboratory research, $500 in supply money to the mentor’s lab and a one-year free membership in the society.

Recipients are expected to present their results before plant scientists at the society’s national meeting the following summer. Anklesaria’s project is titled "Genetic Dissection of Signaling Hierarchy in Arabidopsis Disease Resistance."

The American Society of Plant Biologists has a membership of nearly 6,000 plant scientists nationwide and in more than 50 other countries.

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N.C. Division of Public Health gives special
appreciation awards to UNC faculty members

Drs. Peter Leone and Christopher Pilcher from the UNC School of Medicine’s division of infectious diseases recently received special appreciation awards from the N.C. Division of Public Health.

Leone is medical director of the HIV-STD Prevention and Care Branch in the N.C. Division of Public Health and is associate professor of medicine. He also is adjunct associate professor of epidemiology in UNC’s School of Public Health.

He was recognized for the design and implementation of the Screening and Tracing Active Transmission (STAT) program and for using the program to recently identify an outbreak of HIV infection among N.C. college students.

Pilcher, assistant professor of medicine, was recognized for developing the laboratory methodology to detect acute HIV infection that led to the implementation of the STAT program.

The N.C. Division of Public Health also presented certificates of appreciation to postdoctoral researcher Dr. Lisa Hightow and graduate student Trang Nguyen for contributions to public health through their work with the STAT project.

Acute or primary HIV infection is the first stage of HIV disease after an individual contracts the virus. During the acute phase of HIV, the routine antibody test for HIV infection does not detect the HIV virus. If an individual is tested during this time period, from exposure up to six weeks, the antibody test will be negative.

Using the new STAT testing protocols, the individual’s blood is tested for HIV genetic material (RNA). If HIV genetic material is detected, additional tests will be performed to determine if the individual is HIV infected.

Preliminary results of the STAT program suggest that as many as 5 percent of patients may go undetected by conventional testing.

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Botanical garden director to receive
organization’s highest achievement award

Dr. Peter White, director of UNC’s N.C. Botanical Garden, will receive the National Garden Clubs Inc.’s highest achievement award, the Award of Excellence, on Tuesday at the organization’s annual convention.

The Award of Excellence is given to individuals or organizations that have made contributions of national or worldwide significance in fields related to the NCG’s goals and interests. White will be honored for his leadership in native wildflower conservation in the Southeast, among other accomplishments.

The N.C. Botanical Garden is raising funds to build a "green" building providing space for expanded educational and horticultural therapy programs and public service outreach. Features of the Visitor Education Center are expected to make this the first building statewide eligible for the U.S. Green Building Council’s platinum designation.

The NGC, whose membership totals more than 200,000 and includes 9,000 member clubs, is dedicated to advancing gardening and horticulture and helping to protect and conserve natural resources.

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News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415 or deborah_saine@unc.edu