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Briefs

	Shine receives grant for spinal cord injury research
	Department of Defense grant aids prostate cancer research
	Zoghbi receives teaching award

Shine receives grant for spinal cord injury research

The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation has awarded a $140,679 research grant to Harold David Shine, PhD, an associate professor of neurosurgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. The two-year grant will help fund Shine’s research, which focuses on the surviving nerve cells of spinal cord injuries.

“To have the CRPF's Scientific Advisory Council choose our laboratory's work for support from a field of over a 100 proposals is gratifying,” said Shine, who is also a member of the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at BCM. “It validates our ideas of why the nervous system does not regenerate after injury that are somewhat different from the popular notions in the field. If our ideas are correct and we are successful in identifying injury-associated co-factors, we may be able to design a treatment for spinal cord injury based upon gene therapy technology.”

The foundation funds science that is targeted at developing effective therapies for paralysis and dysfunctions caused by spinal cord injury and other central nervous system disorders.

Shine is one of 15 neuroscientists funded by the foundation’s first grant cycle of 2004. His work is also supported by Mission Connect, a collaborative research effort led by The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research Foundation.

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Department of Defense grant aids prostate cancer research

Six Baylor College of Medicine researchers received over $1.2 million from the U.S. Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program to further their efforts to prevent, detect, and treat prostate cancer.

Four researchers received Idea Development Awards, which allows investigators to pursue under-investigated areas of prostate cancer research.

Among those who received this awards are:

• Nancy Weigel, PhD, a professor of molecular and cellular biology, $564,374 to investigate how prostate tumors are inhibited by vitamin D receptors
• David Rowley, PhD, an associate professor of molecular and cellular biology, $523,126 to investigate how the prostate’s connective tissue contributes to prostate cancer progression in mice
• Xue Huang, PhD, an assistant professor for the pediatrics section of hematology-oncology, $564,375 to produce a systematic prostate cancer therapy that will destroy tumor cells
• Estela Medrano, PhD, an associate professor of molecular and cellular biology and dermatology, $564,375 to investigate how the SKI protein affects prostate cancer progression

Sukyeong Lee, PhD, an instructor of biochemistry, received a $338,625 New Investigator Award to fund research that aims at uncovering the molecular basis of androgen-independent prostate cancer.

John McGary, PhD, an assistant professor of radiology, received a $112,828 Exploration-Hypothesis award for research aimed at locating prostate tumors with radio frequency implants.

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Zoghbi receives teaching award

The American Society of Echocardiography has selected Dr. William A. Zoghbi as the 2004 recipient of the Richard Popp Excellence in Teaching Award.

Zoghbi is the director of echocardiology research at Baylor College of Medicine and the medical director of the echocardiography laboratory of The Methodist Hospital. He is a BCM professor of medicine, and a general cardiologist at the Baylor Heart Clinic.

Zoghbi is an international authority in the field of cardiac ultrasound, and serves on the board of directors of the American College of Cardiology and the American Society of Echocardiography.

The Richard Popp Excellence in Teaching Award honors physicians who exemplify the ideal qualities of mentor and role model.

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