The College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Central Arkansas will receive more than $1.6 million for biomedical research. The grant is a part of a $14.7 million grant recently awarded to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences by the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Brent Hill, Dr. Kari Naylor, both in the Department of Biology, and Dr. Melissa Kelley, with the Department of Chemistry, will each receive an IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) grant valued at $500,000 over a five-year period to support their research. Hill, Naylor and Kelley are all project leaders.Dr. Brent Hill hopes to uncover the cellular mechanisms associated with menopause induced hypertension. Researchers will look how the absence of estrogen affects high blood pressure and hypertension. The research is a joint project between Hill and Dr. Nancy Rusch, with the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology at UAMS.
“The long-term objective is to be able to see how a certain protein is expressed from the cell membrane and how the expression of that protein leads to the development of hypertension,” he said. “The protein can be targeted to alleviate the development of high blood pressure.”
Dr. Melissa Kelley will examine how Vitamin A affects immunity. The study will contribute to an understanding of the particular molecules responsible for maintaining proper immunity, she said. Kelley will collaborate with Dr. Lance Bridges in the Chemistry Department at UCA.
“For a long time, Vitamin A has been known to regulate immunity but we didn’t know how,” Kelley said. “What we will specifically focus on is how Vitamin A controls immunity.”
These grants will provide an unparalleled research experience for Arkansas undergraduate students, she added.
“Our projects will serve to enhance the training of UCA undergraduate students in the field of biochemistry and allow them to disseminate their research findings at national meetings,” she said. “I think this is an exciting time for UCA.”
Dr. Kari Naylor’s research will look at the structure of the mitochondria, which produce energy cells need. This research is relevant to public health because disruption of tubular mitochondrial structure may lead to neurodegenerative diseases such as Charcot-Marie Tooth, distal muscle degeneration, or Dominant Optic Atrophy, a form of childhood blindness, she said.
The grant will allow Naylor and other professors more time to conduct research and less time seeking funding for their projects.
“It is a huge grant for UCA. It means that for the next five years, I get to do science,” Naylor said. “So, the freedom to just do science is a fantastic feeling.”
The institute is also funding summer research grants involving other UCA professors. Dr. Wen Wang, a professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, received an $18,000 summer research grant to examine wound healing, an issue very important to patients with diabetes. The research focuses on understanding the mechanism that affects wound healing and discovering new therapeutic targets.
“This will help develop new intervention to promote wound healing and help to reduce the morbidity and mortality of this devastating diabetic complication,” Wang said.
UCA will receive $178,000 to renovate a gross anatomy lab into two biomedical research and teaching labs in the Lewis Science Center. These labs will help the university increase its biomedical research and give undergraduates and graduates an opportunity to assist in research, said Dr. Steve Runge,a project leader for the renovations and dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
“It will also enhance our course work for students and help them learn more in the classroom,” Runge said. “Having a strong biomedical component in our department will help us in recruiting faculty and outstanding students.”
Visit UCA’s YouTube page to hear the professors talk about their research.
