NEW INVESTIGATOR AWARD FOR KEELE SCIENTIST

Dr Paul Horrocks, Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine (ISTM), has been awarded £428,000 by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council for a New Investigator Award entitled "Identification, validation and therapeutic potential of cis-trans interactions that direct coordinated gene expression in Plasmodium falciparum".

The highly competitive New Investigator Awards are intended to support new University lecturers with a focus on supporting research potential in new principal investigators.

Plasmodium falciparum is the causative agent of the most severe form of human malaria, a disease with a devastating global impact. Dr Horrocks' research asks "how does the parasite control the molecular processes that turns its genes on and off during its life cycle?" The answer to this question has wide ranging implications not only for our understanding of this parasite's pathology but also may offer insights into how these processes differ between the parasite and its human host – differences that may be exploited in much needed new antimalarial drugs.

This three year study integrates both bioinformatics and laboratory based in vitro studies to develop and test hypotheses regarding the regulation of flow of genetic information, particularly the role of novel proteins, and their DNA targets, that initiate this process. This work will be carried out in collaboration with Dr. Manuel Llinás of Princeton University.

MRC GRANT FOR BIOMARKERS PROJECT

Professor Sally Roberts, ISTM and Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic and District Hospital NHS Trust, with Professor James Richardson and Professor Peter Jones, ISTM, has been awarded an equal share of a £400,000 Link Grant from the Medical Research Council with Professor Bruce Caterson and colleagues in Cardiff University School of Biosciences.  The funding is for a project titled "Biomarkers of Musculoskeletal Diseases: diagnosis and treatment of arthritis".

Musculoskeletal diseases, including the degenerative joint diseases such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, are major financial and social burdens on all Western societies. At present there are no specific molecular biomarkers of matrix or cellular changes that occur with the onset, or predict the risk, of degenerative joint diseases.

The overall objective of this proposal is to develop a series of biomarker assays that can be commercialisd by an industrial partner, MD Biosciences, and used by academic and industrial researchers and clinicians for numerous applications relevant to drug discovery, monitoring outcomes in clinical trials, measuring the efficacy of treatments and the diagnosis of degenerative joint and musculoskeletal tissue diseases in human patients.

ROYAL SOCIETY AWARD

Dr Katie Szkornik, Research Institute for the Environment, Physical Sciences and Applied Mathematics, has been awarded just under £15,000 by the Royal Society for a project entitled "Holocene sea-level change in the Dyfi Estuary, west Wales, UK".

This project builds on preliminary field work undertaken in the Dyfi Estuary last year and will provide funding for more extensive field and laboratory work and the purchase of specialised equipment to support research.

In addition, Dr Szkornik has also been awarded a £500 Travel Bursary from the UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology and £200 from the Quaternary Research Association to support attendance at the forthcoming meeting of International Geoscience Programme Project 495 in South Carolina, USA in October.

DILEMMAS IN PUBLIC SERVICES

Mr Geoff Heath, Keele Management School/Research Institute for Public Policy and Management, and Dr. Jim Radcliffe, Staffordshire University, have edited a special edition of the International Journal of Public Sector Management. 

The edition is entitled 'Dilemmas of reconciling local delivery and central direction in public services'. The papers are largely derived from presentations at the 9th Annual Dilemmas in the Public Sector Conference held at the University of East London in 2005.

RESEARCH GRANTS

Professor Gwyn Williams, ISTM, has been awarded £14,308 by the Leukaemia Research Fund for an investigation of the role of ovel apoptosis regulator GAS5 in the development and therapy of Leukaemia.

Dr Alan Richardson, ISTM, has been awarded £9,586 by the North Staffordshire Medical Institute for a project titled "identification of genes conferring drug resistance in ovarian cancer".

Professor Warren Lenney, ISTM, has been awarded £4,890 by the North Staffordshire Medical Institute for a project titled "the identification of biomarkers of Aspergillus fumigatus, staphylococcus aureus, streptococcus pneumoniae and haemophilus influenzae using selected ion tube spectrometry".

Dr Brian O'Driscoll, Research Institute for the Environment, Physical Sciences and Applied Mathematics, has been awarded £1,375 by the Geological Society for fieldwork investigating PGE-enriched Cr-spinel seams on the Isle of Unst, Sheltands.

NEW APPOINTMENT

The following academic appointment commenced in post this week:

School of Medicine

Dr Chris Buttanshaw has been appointed a Senior Lecturer in Academic Public Health and was previously with North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare.

KEELE BECOMES BASE CAMP FOR LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL VISIT

Keele became home this week to 38 18 to 21 year olds as they benefitted from local Lions clubs who have part funded a trip to the UK as a reward for their special talents and contributions to their local communities.

The Youth Exchange programme is committed to broadening international awareness among young people worldwide. The programme emphasises the value of sharing and community life in another country.

Young people from across the globe have benefitted from a host of on and off site activities and made Holly Cross Hall their 'home from home', whilst enjoying the catering at Hawthorns restaurant, as well as using the meeting rooms in the Keele Management Centre complex.