The Heart of Science
The American Heart Association donated about
$1.23 million to fund University projects
BY JOE BAILEY
NEWS REPORTER
Grant money from the Ameri
can Heart Association helped
Sandra Greive launch her sci
entific career by providing her with
the resources to study how ribo
somes are made in bacteria.
Greive, a post-doctoral research
assistant at the University, is part
of a group of University scientists
who have received grants from the
AHA. As of September, the AHA
provided about $1.23 million in ac
tive grants to University scientists.
AHA grants are currently being
used to fund a range of projects at
the University, including Bruce
Branchaud’s study of antioxidants,
Rodger Voelker’s study of the hu
man genome and Nathan Tliblitz’s
study of the origin of nerve cells.
Starting a career
The AHA awarded Greive almost
$45,000 to pursue her study of ri
bosome creation in bacteria. Ribo
somes make the proteins that bac
teria need to survive.
Greive’s research interested the
AHA because infectious bacteria
can lead to inflammation of the ar
teries, a risk factor for heart dis
ease, she said.
Money from the AHA allowed
Greive to buy supplies and attend
conferences with other molecular
biologists. Although Greive’s grant
expired last summer, she said the
grant’s impact on her career will
endure.
. “For me personally, it makes me
more confident in my ideas that
someone would think they were
useful,” she said. “It’s helping
young scientists grow. ”
Refining nature
Branchaud, a chemistry profes
sor, received $198,000 to study
antioxidants.
The body ingests antioxidants
through food. Antioxidants are
needed to neutralize free radicals
that cause oxidative damage, lead
ing to, among other things, aging,
cancer and heart disease.
Branchaud said his research is
novel because it applies the princi
ples and methods of medicinal
chemistry to make better antioxi
dants. Usually, medicinal chem
istry attempts to make drugs to
treat disease; Branchaud’s research
looks to prevent disease.
“We’re looking at nature’s imper
fect response to an imperfect world,
and we’re trying to make it a little
better,” he said. “That’s the whole
goal of medicinal chemistry, we
want to make someone healthier.”
Breaking the code
Voelker, a post-doctoral research
associate, is using a $99,000 grant
from the AHA to investigate the
human genome.
Genes represent only a small
portion of the human genome, the
rest is
made up of
non-essen
tial materi
als that
some refer
to as “junk
D N A , ”
Vo e 1 ke r
said.
Voelker’s
research builds on the Human
Genome Project, which in 2003 an
nounced that it had successfully
mapped out the human genome.
“We now have the entire sequence.
We know how to read parts of it,
and there are a lot of implications
that the rest of it — the bulk of it —
is important, but we don’t know
how to read it,” he said.
Voelker said the human genome
has lots of useless information
sandwiched between useful infor
mation. The body separates the
good information from the bad in
formation. He is conducting re
search to decipher how the body
carries out the splicing process.
“A large number of genetic dis
eases are the results of mistakes in
splicing,” he said. “There’s a mis
take in recognition of what’s junk
and what’s not.”
By collaborating with people
from other disciplines such as
mathematics and computer sci
ence, Voelker is hoping to deter
mine how the body reads its own
genetic code.
“Ultimately, the idea is that once
we figure out what the error is, we
can use some of these methods to
go in and repair the mistake,” he
said. “I have no doubt that in time
humans will figure out how to cor
rect these mistakes.”
Tm very appreciative of not just
the Heart Association but of the
people who donate to the Heart
Association. ”
Nathan Tublitz | Biology professor
Examining nerve cells
Tliblitz’s study of the origin of
nerve cells earned a $198,000 grant
from the AHA.
In order to better understand
how and why nerve cells disinte
grate prematurely, Tliblitz, a biolo
gy professor, examines how nerve
cells are formed.
He studies nerve cells in fruit
flies. After understanding how
nerve cells develop in fruit flies,
scientists can apply that knowl
edge to more complex systems,
such as humans.
There are 4,000 known diseases
of the human body and 1,600 are
based in the nervous system, includ
ing diseases like Parkinson’s and
Alzheimer’s. Eventually, scientists
might be
able to re
place faulty
nerve cells
with better
functioning
ones.
“Under
standing
more about
how nerve
cells arise will give us the tools to
be able to understand how one can
make those new nerve cells,”
TUblitz said.
TUblitz uses his grant money to
pay for research aides as well as
equipment and supplies.
“I’m very appreciative of not just
the Heart Association but of the peo
ple who donate to the Heart Associ
ation,” he said. “They’re giving their
hard-earned money to do some very
difficult but essential things.”
jbailey® daily emerald, com
RRC: Thirty-six programs
will be reviewed this year
Continued from page 1
reviewed groups contingent on the
groups updating or revising their by
laws in accordance with an ASUO
rules template. Remaining groups
will be heard this or the following
week. Thirty-six total programs are
scheduled for review this year.
The RRC decides whether the
Executive will recognize student
groups by
ensuring
services
aren’t dupli
cated and
that they are
beneficial to
students.
Only groups
that are
recognized
by the Executive are allowed
entrance to the Programs Finance
Committee process, where inciden
tal fees are allocated.
McCown said Tliesday he looked
into whether approval of the tem
plate itself by the court is necessary.
Justice Charlotte Nisser asked why
the committee decided to create by
laws if it believes it’s not required.
Goward said the committee should
be consistent with other ASUO pro
grams and governing bodies.
“To work better with student
groups and to respond to not only to
this court, but to program concerns,
we have drafted these bylaws to
clearer state our position,” he said.
Goward told the court that he re
vised the by-laws to ease concerns
voiced while the Executive was ere
“To work better with student groups
and to respond to not only to this
court, but to program concerns, we
have drafted these bylaws to clearer
state our position. ”
David Goward | ASUO Programs Administrator
ating the committee. He said he also
allotted 72 hours starting last Friday
for programs to give feedback and
suggest changes to the committee’s
bylaws. Only minor wording
changes were made after a sugges
tions from Student Senate Ombuds
man Jared Axelrod.
ASUO President Adam Walsh and
the RRC approved the bylaws on
Monday.
Goward
said the
ASUO is
looking
into fully
incorpo
rating the
RRC into
the Green
Tape Note
book, the official rules and regula
tions guide for student government.
Also at the hearing, the Constitu
tion Court heard a petition from Ax
elrod, who represented the entire
Senate. Rahmat Rahmat, who was
elected by the student body in the
spring, has not yet attended any of
the five Senate meetings or made it
to his office hours. The Green Tape
Notebook states that two absences
constitute non-fullfillment of duties,
which is punishable by removal of
elected position.
All Constitution Court decisions will
be publicized in the next seven days.
Contact the campus and
federal politics reporter at
nwilbur@ daily emerald, com
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