The DMRF awarded nine equipment grants in its 2006 competition, totaling more than $200,000, to these talented individuals:
Dr. Younes Anini, Physiology & Biophysics
An award-winning young scientist, Dr. Younes Anini joined Dalhousie’s Faculty of Medicine in September 2005. The DMRF equipment grant will help him equip his lab with essential tools for his groundbreaking diabetes research. Dr. Anini is exploring a signalling protein called apelin, increasingly known for its role in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Dr. Anini is launching new studies to uncover the mechanisms that lead to apelin expression – and apelin’s role in insulin secretion, energy homeostasis and formation of body fat. His goal is a new target for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. He began his scientific studies in Paris, followed by postdoctoral training stints in France and in Canada at the University of Toronto and Ottawa Health Research Institute. He has already received nearly 20 research awards, from such organizations as the Canadian Diabetes Association, the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, Banting and Best Diabetes Centre, the Toronto Diabetes Association, the Government of Morocco and the European Pancreatic Club.
Dr. Stephen Bearne, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Dr. Stephen Bearne was the lead researcher on this application for equipment which will benefit not just him, but three of his colleagues – Drs. Barbara Karten, Roger McLeod and Catherine Too – and the entire Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Dr. Bearne’s proteomics and enzymology research has practical applications in drug design. This includes his work towards developing a new type of antibiotic to fight bacteria that cause periodontal disease and other serious infections. Dr. Karten is studying cholesterol metabolism and its role in neurodegeneration. Dr. McLeod is looking into various lipids and fatty acids and their impact on heart health. Dr. Too is investigating the influence of hormones in cancer.
Dr. Jason Berman, Pediatrics and Microbiology & Immunology
A clinician scientist with four years of post-residency training at Harvard Medical School and its affiliated children’s hospital and cancer institute, Dr. Jason Berman brings unique skills and experience to Dalhousie. A specialist in pediatric hematology/oncology, Dr. Berman is also highly trained in the use of the zebrafish model – expertise he plans to share freely with his colleagues. DMRF equipment support is helping him launch zebrafish studies to shed light on the molecular pathways that lead to leukemia, with a focus on the challenging form known as acute myelogenous leukemia. These studies will allow Dr. Berman to rapidly identify new genes and chemical agents with promising therapeutic potential. Dr. Berman is poised to play an important role in the thriving new Dalhousie Cancer Research Program.
Dr. Valerie Chappe, Physiology & Biophysics
Dr. Valerie Chappe is working closely with Dalhousie colleagues Drs. Elizabeth Cowley and Paul Linsdell on a variety of projects to further our understanding of cystic fibrosis at the cellular, molecular and genetic levels. The new DMRF-funded robotic automatic sampler will enable the trio to perform rapid analyses of key ion channels in cystic fibrosis. Among their many studies, they are exploring the body’s own airway protection mechanisms, and cell-signalling pathways which may be promising avenues to more effective new disease-management therapies. They will also use the equipment to investigate hormonal regulation of an ion channel which may play a role in the development of breast cysts and cancerous tumours.
Dr. Alexander Easton, Pathology
Dr. Alexander Easton’s research could have a profound impact on approaches to post-stroke care. He and collaborators at the University of London (U.K.) and Memorial University of Newfoundland are investigating whether or not white blood cells disrupt the blood-brain barrier following a stroke. This barrier prevents water-soluble substances from permeating blood vessels and entering the brain. But injuries such as stroke break down the blood-brain barrier, allowing proteins to enter and cause potentially deadly swelling in the brain. Conventional wisdom holds that white blood cells called neutrophils are a major culprit in the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier; Dr. Easton will use DMRF-funded equipment to challenge this theory with his own hypothesis – that neutrophils cause no damage and may even help protect the blood-brain barrier after a stroke. Dr. Easton joined Dalhousie in 2004 from the University of Alberta.
Dr. Barbara Karten, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
A recent to recruit to Dalhousie’s Faculty of Medicine from the University of Alberta, Dr. Karten is studying cholesterol metabolism and intracellular transport in the brain, and their role in the formation of steroids. Impaired steroid formation is common to many neurodegenerative diseases; Dr. Karten hopes to illuminate the role and mechanisms of cholesterol metabolism in Alzheimer’s and Niemann-Pick Type C disease. This DMRF equipment grant will enable her to establish an independent cell culture facility for the analysis of protein expression in brain and cultured cells. Dr. Karten holds a New Investigator Award from the DMRF.
Dr. Paul Murphy, Physiology & Biophysics
Senior researcher Dr. Paul Murphy is making inroads in our understanding of cancer cell survival, proliferation and metastasis. He is studying the role and regulation of growth factors in human cancers, with a current focus on fibroblast growth factor. His experiments require ultra-pure water, as impurities in tap water cause a number of problems, from interfering with sensitive readings to killing cells in culture. Other faculty members also rely on ultra-pure water for their experiments, so Dr. Murphy led a successful multi-user application to the DMRF for a sophisticated water treatment system to replace aging systems. Colleagues will use the equipment in a wide range of studies in such areas as genomics, cancer, cystic fibrosis, nervous system plasticity, chemical/virus-induced liver failure, and mechanisms of mechanosensory transduction.
Dr. Chris Richardson, Microbiology & Immunology
A Tier I Canada Research Chair in Vaccinology and Therapeutics, Dr. Chris Richardson joined Dalhousie University from the Ontario Cancer Institute and the University of Toronto. He will play a key role as a senior researcher in the new Canadian Centre for Vaccinology and Dalhousie Cancer Research Program. Among his various studies, he is looking into how hepatitis viruses evade the immune system and cause cancer. Dr. Richardson will also explore the potential of the measles virus to be engineered into vaccines against HIV, hepatitis B and C, West Nile, avian flu and SARS viruses – and if such vaccines may also be harnessed to target and cure a variety of cancers.
Dr. Kazue Semba, Anatomy & Neurobiology
Drs. Kazue Semba, Douglas Rasmusson and other co-investigators are studying the molecular mechanisms of sleep-wake cycles. They are looking into the role of such molecules as adenosine, a sleep-promoting factor, and acetylcholine and glutamate, neurotransmitters that promote wakefulness and rapid-eye-movement sleep. The researchers want to find out how daily biological rhythms interact with these and other molecules (such as hormones) to keep us awake, allow us to sleep and dream, and help us cope with lack of sleep. Their findings have implications for the understanding and treatment of sleep disorders.
« Back to Equipment Grants