INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

Michael Blaber, Ph.D., professor of biomedical sciences, will receive the E.K.Frey - E. Werle Gold Medal at the 2009 International Symposium on Kallikreins in Munich, Germany in August. The internationally recognized award is in recognition of Blaber’s research into human kallikrein-related peptidases.

GRANT SUCCESS

In spite of a difficult climate for funding, College of Medicine researchers continue to find success with grant applications for work holding great promise in the way it will impact lives. The latest to receive funding support include:

Kathryn Rost, Ph.D., Elizabeth Freed Professor in Mental Health in the department of medical humanities and social sciences, was awarded a four-year, $2.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for her comprehensive study regarding employer benefit purchasing behavior. Her study addresses one of the most pivotal problems in the translation of evidence-based care to real world settings: how purchasers can be influenced to buy health care products on the basis of value rather than cost. Look for more details about Rost’s dynamic research project soon at http://med.fsu.edu.

Branko Stefanovic, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical sciences, received a four-year, $1.5 million grant from the NIH following his discovery of a protein involved in the life-threatening mechanism of liver fibrosis. Stefanovic made the discovery during work on a previous NIH grant. He hopes his discovery will lead to treatment methods that may stem the process of liver fibrosis, significantly extending life expectancy for people who suffer from it. Cirrhosis, the terminal phase of the disease, kills 26,000 Americans each year - the ninth leading cause of death in the United States.

Jamila Horabin, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical sciences, received a $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for research with the potential to one day help scientists learn how to stop cancer and other diseases in the tissue where they are forming. Read more about Horabin’s study and the role the fruit fly plays in her work here: Gene regulation grant

Amy Wetherby, Ph.D., director of the Autism Institute at the College of Medicine, successfully applied for the Autism Institute to become one of five programs in the United States chosen for The Autism Intervention Research Network on Behavioral Health. FSU joins lead institution UCLA along with Michigan, the University of Washington and the Kennedy Krieger Institute as part of a team of investigators considered to be at the forefront in their respective areas of autism intervention research. The network will test evidence-based practices and validate meaningful outcome measures, while developing evidence-based intervention guidelines and disseminating information to health professionals and families using innovative approaches. FSU would receive $670,000 over three years.

Sanjay Kumar, Ph.D., assistant professor of biomedical sciences, received a two-year, $50,000 grant from the Epilepsy Foundation for his research on temporal lobe epilepsy, the most common form of epilepsy in humans. Kumar will seek to better explain the role a region of the brain known as the presubiculum plays in temporal lobe epilepsy.