Front row: Student award recipients Yanyang Cao and Lydia Richardson. Back row: Char Kopchick, assistant dean of students; student award recipients Sarah Benner, Nikki Meyer, Nathan Arnett and Austin Stevens; Distinguished Professor John Kopchick; student award recipients Samuel Kirkeng and Benjamin Colvin; faculty award recipient Amir Farnoud. Photo by: Kaitlin Owens/Ohio University
From Research staff reports Nov. 29, 2016
Seven undergraduate students, three graduate students and one Ohio University faculty member received funding for their health and medical research from the 2016 John J. Kopchick Awards.
The program provided a total of $54,863 in grants and fellowships to advance research on topics such as cancer and infectious disease treatments and novel biotechnology techniques. The recipients were recognized at a ceremony during the Molecular and Cellular Biology Faculty and Student Retreat on Nov. 19 in Nelson Commons.
“These awards reflect the diversity of translational biomedical research conducted by our faculty and students and reinforce the significance of applying new knowledge to clinically relevant and unmet needs,” said Joseph Shields, vice president for research and creative activity and dean of the Graduate College.
The John J. Kopchick Molecular and Cellular Biology/Translational Biomedical Sciences Faculty Support Fund, Research Fellowship Award and Undergraduate Student Support Fund were created as a result of a $2 million gift commitment from John Kopchick, Goll-Ohio Eminent Scholar and Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology, and Char Kopchick, assistant dean of students at Ohio University.
In addition, the deans of the Russ College of Engineering and Technology, College of Arts & Sciences, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine and College of Health Sciences and Professions, as well as the vice president for research and creative activity, are providing a total of $1.9 million in match support.
The John J. Kopchick Awards support undergraduate and graduate students and faculty affiliated with Ohio University’s Molecular and Cellular Biology program and Translational Biomedical Sciences program. Both programs take an interdisciplinary approach to solving complex research questions in the science and medical fields.
John Kopchick, Goll-Ohio Eminent Scholar and Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology, speaks at the awards ceremony Nov. 19 in Nelson Commons. Photo credit: Kaitlin Owens/Ohio University
2016 Award Recipients
John J. Kopchick Molecular and Cellular Biology/Translational Biomedical Sciences Faculty Support Fund (up to $10,000 for MCB/TBS faculty for research activities and conference travel)
Recipient: Amir Farnoud, Assistant Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Project Title: “Surface-engineered Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery in Fungal Infections”
Amount: $9,383
John J. Kopchick Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB)/Translational Biomedical Sciences (TBS) Research Fellowship Award (up to $10,000 for PhD and DO/PhD students in the MCB or TBS programs to support translational biomedical research, with an additional $5,000 for an off-campus internship).
Recipient: Alison Brittain, Graduate Student MCB/DO Ph.D.
Faculty Mentor: John Kopchick
Project Title: “Mechanisms of Glomerular Damage Induced by Growth Hormone Action in Podocytes”
Amount: $10,000
Recipient: Yanyang Cao, Graduate Student MCB
Faculty Mentors: Xiazhuo Chen
Project Title: “ATP as a Contributor and a Therapeutic Target in Cancer Cell Invasion and Metastasis”
Amount: $10,000
Recipient: Sarah Benner, Graduate Student MCB
Faculty Mentor: Kelly McCall
Project Title: “Inflammatory Profile in the Pancreas of NOD and TLR3 Knockout NOD Mice before and after Coxsackievirus B4 Infection”
Amount: $15,000
John J. Kopchick Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB)/Translational Biomedical Sciences (TBS) Undergraduate Student Support Fund ( up to $1,500 for undergraduate students working with MCB/TBS faculty and conducting translational medical research and scholarly activities)
Recipient: Nathan Arnett, Undergraduate Student Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentors: John Kopchick
Project Title: “Effect of Reduced Growth Hormone Action on Mouse Melanoma Cell Line Growth”
Amount: $1,500
Recipient: Benjamin Colvin, Undergraduate Student, Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Nathan Weyland
Project Title: “Identification of Shared Gene Expression Sets between N. gonorrhoeae and N. musculi”
Amount: $1,480
Recipient: Samuel Kirkeng, Undergraduate Student, Environmental and Plant Biology
Faculty Mentor: Ahmed Faik
Project Title: “Adapting NAPPA Technology to Investigate Biochemical Functions of Glycosyltransferases”
Amount: $1,500
Recipient: Nikki Meyer, Undergraduate Student, Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Ronan Carroll
Project Title: “Investigating the Biological Effect of Jugalone on the Staphylococcus aureus chaperone PrsA”
Amount: $1,500
Recipient: Neena McIlwaine, Undergraduate Student, Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Sonsoles de Lacalle
Project Title: “Molecular Analysis in a Myostatin Cre/Lox mouse Model”
Amount: $1,500
Recipient: Lydia Richardson, Undergraduate Student, Chemistry & Biochemistry
Faculty Mentor: Shiyong Wu
Project Title: “The Role of Nitric Oxide Synthase upon Low Dose UVB Radiation”
Amount: $1,500
Recipient: Austin Stevens, Undergraduate Student, Biological Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Edward List
Project Title: “Determining the Chemoresistance Effects of Growth Hormone (GH) and Growth Hormone Receptor (GHR) Action in Human Pancreatic Cancer and Hepatocellular Carcinoma”
Amount: $1,500
More information about the John J. Kopchick Awards is available on the Research Division funding page and the Molecular and Cellular Biology Fellowship & Funding page.
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