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University of Washington School of Medicine
Online News
Vol. 11, No. 20
May 18, 2007
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To view an archived version of Online News on the UW
Medicine Web site, visit:
http://www.uwmedicine.org/Global/NewsAndEvents/somnews/index.htm
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This week’s news:
* Allan Hoffman, professor of bioengineering and chemical engineering, receives Founders Award from Controlled Release Society
* Researchers from UW and St. Jude's hospital monitor DNA repair proteins at point of double-strand break; work featured in Nature Cell Biology
* Brainworks, UWTV program featuring School of Medicine faculty and staff, nominated for an Emmy Award
* UW medical student Paula McPoland taking part in HHMI research fellowship program
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ALAN HOFFMAN RECEIVES HIGHEST HONOR FROM CONTROLLED RELEASE SOCIETY
Allan Hoffman, UW professor of bioengineering and chemical engineering, has been selected to receive the 2007 Founders Award from the Controlled Release Society. The society is the premier organization devoted to science, technology, and education in the field of controlled delivery of bioactive substances, and the Founders Award is its most prestigious honor.
Hoffman is a world leader on biomaterials and carriers for drug delivery. He has published more than 300 peer-reviewed articles, and has co-edited with Buddy Ratner the Textbook of Biomaterials Science. He is one of three members of the Department of Bioengineering who are members of the National Academy of Engineering, one of the National Academies.
Hoffman completed his bachelor's degree and graduate education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He served on the faculty there for several years before joining the UW in 1970. Hoffman will receive the award, and an accompanying $10,000 prize, at the society's annual meeting in July. He may be reached at hoffman@u.washington.edu
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DNA REPAIR PROTEINS MONITORED AT DOUBLE-STRAND BREAK
Researchers at the UW and elsewhere got a molecular view of the human cell’s DNA repair kit as it assembled on a double-strand break to link together the broken ends. Double-strand breaks are ruptures that cut completely across the twisted, ladder-like structure of DNA, breaking it into two pieces.
Using a technique developed specifically for this project, the researchers could determine when repair proteins arrived at or around the DNA break and evaluate its repair -- even when particular proteins shifted away from the break to make room for others. The research was conducted by investigators at the UW and at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, in Memphis, Tenn. Raymond J. Monnat Jr., UW professor of pathology and genome sciences, is a co-author on the paper, which was published online May 7 by Nature Cell Biology.
The findings are important because disruption of the precise movement of these repair proteins can cause mutations, cell death or cancer, and the ability to track the process so closely will give researchers critical insights into what can go wrong with DNA repair. This could lead to novel ways to make cancer cells more sensitive to therapy by blocking their ability to repair double-stranded breaks caused by chemotherapy or radiation. It could also suggest new strategies for enhancing repair of double-stranded DNA breaks caused by radiation, natural oxidants in food or the body, and other toxins that can cause disease and aging. There was previously no practical and efficient way to find and study the DNA repair proteins that affect a double-strand break in human cells.
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UWTV PROGRAM BRAINWORKS NOMINATED FOR EMMY
A UWTV program featuring UW School of Medicine faculty and UW Medicine staff has been nominated for an Emmy Award. The program, "Brainworks," was nominated by the Northwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for an Emmy in the Program Achievement Children/Youth (12 and under) category. The 44th Annual Emmy Award winners will be announced on June 2.
Brainworks is a youth-oriented program covering the structure and functions of the brain. It featured:
Brian Ross, associate professor of anesthesiology and executive director of the Institute for Surgical Intervention and Simulation (ISIS);
Eric Chudler, research associate professor of bioengineering and creator of Neuroscience For Kids, an award-winning children's educational Web site;
Kathleen Mulligan, senior lecturer in biological structure and co-author of the Digital Anatomist Project's neuro-anatomy atlas; and
Debra Rollevson, former staff member in UWMC EEG and Clinical Neurophysiology.
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UW MEDICAL STUDENT RECEIVES HHMI RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
UW third-year medical student Paula McPoland is one of 111 medical and dental students nationwide who will receive a year of research support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
McPoland was one of 69 students selected for the HHMI's 2007 Research Training Fellowships for Medical Students Program, which provides funding for a year of research at an institution of the student's choosing. Another 42 students will participate in the HHMI-NIH Research Scholars Program, in which they live at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus in Bethesda, Md., for a year and conduct research in laboratories there. The programs entail nearly $4 million in support from HHMI.
McPoland was also an HHMI undergraduate researcher, when she studied Subcloning and Expression Analysis of HepC NSSA Protein in Eukaryotic Vectors, with Stephen Polyak, research associate professor of laboratory medicine.
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Justin Reedy, editor:
206-685-0382, jreedy@u.washington.edu
Online News is copyright 2007. All rights, including electronic
redistribution, are reserved.
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