John J. Kopchick Awards support 15 student and faculty research projects

Faculty and student recipients of the 2018 John J. Kopchick Awards were honored at a ceremony Nov. 10 in Nelson Commons. Photo Credit: Hannah Ruhoff/Ohio University

Fifteen 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 $75,984 in grants and fellowships during its 2018-19 cycle to advance research on topics such as type 1 diabetes, muscular function in older adults, cancer and bacterial infections. The recipients were recognized during a ceremony Nov. 10 in Nelson Commons.

“With this funding, our undergraduate and graduate students and faculty will pursue research to make discoveries that can inform best practices and improve health,” said David Koonce, interim vice president for research and creative activity and dean of the Graduate College.

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.

In the few years since inception, the John J. Kopchick Awards will have helped 13 graduate student recipients secure research internships at other university, government and industry laboratories.

The 2018 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:  Craig Nunemaker, Biomedical Sciences
 
Title of Project: A Novel Dual-acting Therapeutic Compound for the Treatment of Type 1 Diabetes

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: Alison Brittain, Biological Sciences/TBS program

Mentor: John Kopchick

Title of Project: The Effect of Podocyte-specific Growth Hormone Receptor Gene-deletion in the Diabetic Mouse

Amount:   $10,000

 

Recipient: David Cottrill, Biomedical Sciences/MCB program

Mentor: Xiaozhuo Chen

Title of Project:   Characterization of α-PGG and 6CI-TGQ as Pancreatic β-cell Therapeutics

Amount:   $9,581

 

Recipient:   William Koch, TBS program

Mentor: Craig Nunemaker

Title of Project:   A Synergistic Approach to the Standard Treatment of Type 1 Diabetes

Amount:   $10,000

 

Recipient: Silvana Duran Ortiz, Biological Sciences/MCB program

Mentor:   John Kopchick

Title of Project:   The Role of mTOR in Adult Growth Hormone (GH) Receptor Knockout Mice

Amount:   $9,445

 

Recipient: Dallin Tavoian, TBS program

Mentor:   Brian Clark

Title of Project :  Cycle High-intensity Interval Training to Improve Cardiorespiratory and Muscular Function in Older Adults

Amount:   $10,000

 

Recipient: Pratik Shriwas, Biological Sciences, MCB program

Mentor:  Xiaozhuo Chen

Title of Project:   Characterization of Pan-anti-GLUT Inhibitors as Anticancer Agents (internship only)

Amount:   $4,958

 

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: Emily Davis, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Mentor:   John Kopchick

Title of Project:   Identification of the Mechanism of Growth Hormone (GH)-Growth Hormone Receptor (GHR) Regulated Extracellular Matrix (ECM) Remodeling in GHR-Positive Human Cancers

Amount:   $1,500

 

Recipient: Maria Evers, Honors Tutorial College—Biological Sciences

Mentor:   Xiaozhuo Chen

Title of Project:   Inhibition of Purinergic Receptor (P2X7) Signaling Mediated Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) via ATPase

Amount:   $1,500

 

Recipient: Delaney Geitgey, Honors Tutorial College—Biological Sciences

Mentor:   Darlene Berryman

Title of Project:   TGF-β Signaling Pathway and White Adipose Tissue Fibrosis in Bovine Growth Hormone Transgenic Mice

Amount:   $1,500

 

Recipient: Kailey Gentner, Honors Tutorial College—Biological Sciences

Mentor:   Vishwajeet Puri

Title of Project:   Identifying a Novel Role of Fat Specific Protein 27 in Angiogenesis

Amount:   $1,500

 

Recipient:  Alyx Hazen, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Mentor:   Ramiro Malgor and Karen Coschigano

Title of Project:   Role of Wnt5a Pathways in Macrophage Polarization

Amount:   $1,500

 

Recipient:  Gillian Null, Honors Tutorial College—Biological Sciences

Mentor:   Ronan Carroll

Title of Project:   Investigating the Role of DNA Supercoiling in Regulation of Virulence in the Bacterial Pathogen Staphylococcus Aureus

Amount:   $1,500

 

Recipient:  Julie Slyby, Honors Tutorial College—Biological Sciences

Mentor:  Edward List

Title of Project:  Evaluating mTOR Signaling in the Absence of Growth Hormone Action

Amount:   $1,500

 

Recipient:   Emily Trzeciak, Honors Tutorial College—Biological Sciences

Mentor:  Ronan Carroll

Title of Project:  Global Transcriptomic Analysis of Staphylococcus Aureus Intracellular Reservoirs Enabling Recurrent Infections

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.