John J. Kopchick Awards support 17 student and faculty research projects
Seventeen Ohio University students and faculty members have received funding for their health and medical research from the John J. Kopchick Awards.
The program will provide a total of $86,367 in grants and fellowships during its 2019-20 cycle to advance research on topics such as type 1 diabetes, walking mechanics, cancer and bacterial infections. The recipients were recognized during an awards ceremony Nov. 16.
The John J. Kopchick Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB)/Translational Biomedical Sciences (TBS) 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 and 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.
The 2019 award recipients are:
John J. Kopchick Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB)/Translational Biomedical Sciences (TBS) Faculty Support Fund (up to $10,000 for MCB/TBS faculty for research activities and conference travel)
Recipient: Ronan Carroll, Biological Sciences
Title of Project: Investigating the role of bacterial secretory RNAs in host pathogen interactions
Amount: $10,000
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 : Cody Criss, TBS, DO/PHD
Title of Project: Walking mechanics and risk of early osteoarthritis development after traumatic knee injury
Mentor: Dustin Grooms
Amount: $15,000
Recipient: Elizabeth Jensen, TBS, DO/PhD
Title of Project: The role of growth hormone on the gut microbiome, translating discoveries of bacterial candidates and metabolites from mice to humans
Mentor: Darlene Berryman
Amount: $15,000
Recipient: William Koch, TBS, DO/PhD
Title of Project: Novel therapeutic for type 1 diabetes mellitus: target discovery and mechanism of action for insulin secretion and beta-cell protection
Mentor: Craig Nunemaker
Amount: $10,000
Recipient: Nathan Reynolds, TBS PhD
Title of Project: Mac-2BP as a ligand intermediary for galectin to E-selectin interactions in cancer cell adhesion
Mentors: Monica Burdick; Fabian Benencia
Amount: $9,898
Recipient: Christian Showalter, MCB, PhD
Title of Project: Using CRISPR to determine the role of sialyltransferases in the metastatic potential of breast cancer cells
Mentor: Monica Burdick
Amount: $9,969
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: Adele Bergmeier, Biological Sciences
Title of Project: Graphene oxide as a novel shielding material for ionizing radiation
Mentor: Lingying Tong
Amount: $1,500
Recipient: Maria Evers, HTC Biological Sciences
Title of Project: The functional relationship between eATP and TGF-beta in the induction of EMT in cancer cells
Mentor: Xiaozhuo Chen
Amount: $1,500
Recipient: Delaney Geitgey, HTC Biological Sciences
Title of Project: Evaluating serum concentrations of fibroblast activation protein and fibroblast growth factor 21 in growth hormone-induced adipose tissue fibrosis
Mentor: Darlene Berryman
Amount: $1,500
Recipient: Savannah Neely, Biological Sciences
Title of Project: Identifying a role of FSP27 in endoplasmic reticulum stress in mice
Mentor: Vishwajeet Puri
Amount: $1,500
Recipient: Gillian Null, HTC Biological Sciences
Title of Project: Investigating the importance of homeostatic regulation of global supercoiling levels to in vivo virulence of Staphylococcus aureus
Mentor: Ronan Carroll
Amount: $1,500
Recipient: Maria Onusko, Biological Sciences
Title of Project: Comparison of effects of growth hormone imbalance on the gut microbiome in aged bovine transgenic GH mice and GH knockout mice
Mentor: Darlene Berryman
Amount: $1,500
Recipient: Noah Powell, Biological Sciences
Title of Project: Brown Adipocyte Subpopulations
Mentor: Kevin Lee
Amount: $1,500
Recipient: Hailee Sorensen, HTC Biological Sciences
Title of Project: Characterizing the chaperone role of Hfq in Staphylococcus aureus
Mentor: Ronan Carroll
Amount: $1,500
Recipient: Joseph Terry, Biological Sciences
Title of Project: The effect of IGF-1R knockout on melanoma proliferation, metastasis and resiliency
Mentor: John Kopchick
Amount: $1,500
Recipient: Matthew Vince, Biological Sciences
Title of Project: Examining monoamine oxidase inhibitor targets using Caenorhabditis elegans
Mentor: Janet Duerr
Amount: $1,500
Recipient: Hannah West, HTC Biological Sciences
Title of Project: Knck9 and its role in islet maturation
Mentor: Craig Nunemaker
Amount: $1,500
More information about the John J. Kopchick Awards is available on the Research Division funding page: www.ohio.edu/research/funding.cfm.