Pueblo -- Professors in the biology department at the University of Southern
Colorado have set out to change the world one gene at a time.
Their study of life-threatening diseases has earned them a $600,000 grant from
the National Cancer Institute (NCI). This is the second significant grant to the
USC biology department in the last month. The National Institute of Health
recently awarded $1.2 million to the USC Minority Biomedical Research Support
Program.
"The biology department, like many departments in the College of Science
and Mathematics, has done an excellent job in attracting external grants which
support minority student research," said Kristina Proctor, dean of Science
and Math.
USC was one of four colleges and universities across the nation to receive the
NCI grant, according to Carolyn Glaubensklee, a professor of biology and
administrator of the grant.
"It is the first time this particular grant has come to campus," she
said.
As an Hispanic serving institution with a minority student population of 38
percent, USC will use the grant to help increase Hispanic cancer research and
education, Glaubensklee said. The grant also will address the low number of
minorities in biomedical research and will educate minority groups of increasing
cancer risks, she said.
As part of the grant, USC and community college students will be recruited to
participate in the Bridges program, a five-week summer program in which students
work closely to conduct research at the University of Colorado's Comprehensive
Cancer Center in Denver. Glaubensklee said the grant also will fund a
pre-collegiate program this summer, which will enable high school students to do
research at USC and CU's Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Glaubensklee will use part of the grant to study the P53 mutation, a genetic
site on a cell, which allows cancer to grow. Site P53 acts as guardian piece in
a person's DNA. Once the P53 is mutated, cancer begins to grow, according to
Glaubensklee. She will examine breast and lung cancer tissue samples of people
in southeastern Colorado. She hopes to form partnerships with Parkview and St.
Mary Corwin Hospitals oncology doctors in order to obtain these tissue samples.
She also will investigate whether environmental factors affect those who have
cancer.
"It used to be that one out of every four persons had cancer,"
Glaubensklee said. "Now it is one out of three."
Another portion of the grant will be used by USC Biology Professor Moussa
Diawara to research environmental epidemiology. Diawara will Investigate the
potential link between environmental hazards and health within the community.
His study will focus on relationship "between lead, cadmium, and mercury
found in samples of air, soil and water and the Concentration of these heavy
metals in the target tissue of individuals."
He said certain 'hot spots' exist around Pueblo and Pueblo West that will be
studied for extended periods of time. Health hazards to be investigated may
include cancer, asthma, respiratory problems, or "anything linked to
pollution," Diawara said. He indicated that large-scale studies are missing
between environmental hazards and health.
"It may be that there is no link or, there may be a link," Diawara
said. "It is important for us to determine what we are being exposed to in
order to develop preventative measures."
Dan Caprioglio, professor of biology, will use the grant to study the changes in
aminopeptidase genes, which have been linked to cancers and are involved with
the development of cancers at the gene regulation level.
This mutation of cells is the cause of all cancer. This study will aid the
medical field in finding more effective chemotherapy treatments, Caprioglio
said.
The University of Southern Colorado is a regional, comprehensive university
emphasizing professional, career-oriented, and applied programs. Displaying
excellence in teaching, celebrating diversity, and engaging in service and
outreach, USC is distinguished by access, opportunity, and the overall quality
of services provided to its students.
