Graduate students secure NIH awards to support their research
Five graduate students at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have received prestigious awards this year from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support their research.
Individual F31 National Research Service Awards are nationally competitive, and proposals submitted by graduate students are reviewed by regular NIH study sections.
The NIH also gives F32 awards to support research by post-doctoral fellows, but F31 awards are generally harder to get, said Roger Chalkley, D.Phil., senior associate dean in charge of the Office of Biomedical Research Education and Training (BRET).
Currently there are nine graduate students and 37 post-doctoral fellows at Vanderbilt who are receiving F31 and F32 support. Graduate students who received new F31 awards this year are:
• Omari Bandele, a fourth-year Biochemistry graduate student, who is mentored by Neil Osheroff, Ph.D. His project, funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, is entitled “Bioflavonoids as DNA topoisomerase II poisons.”
• Monica Franklin, a sixth-year Psychology graduate student who is mentored by David Schlundt, Ph.D. Her project, funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, is entitled “Psychological factors and Type 1 diabetes self-care.”
• Brandon Lute, a fifth-year Neuroscience graduate student who is mentored by Aurelio Galli, Ph.D. His project, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is entitled “Amphetamine regulation of the dopamine transporter.”
• Susanne Tranguch, a third-year Cell and Developmental Biology graduate student who is mentored by S.K. Dey, Ph.D. Her project, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is entitled “Cannabinoid-immunophilin signaling during pregnancy.”
• Melissa Turman, a fourth-year Chemistry graduate student who is mentored by Larry Marnett, Ph.D. Her project, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is entitled “Metabolism-dependent inactivation of cyclooxygenase-2.”
“Not all the Institutes at NIH provide funding for NRSAs for graduate students, so these fellowships are extremely competitive,” said Marnett, director of the Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology. “We are very proud that our students took the initiative to write outstanding proposals that could be funded.”
Winning an F31 award takes a lot of determination and persistence, added Dey, who directs the Division of Reproductive and Developmental Biology.
When her first proposal wasn't funded, for example, Tranguch applied again. “The philosophy of hard-working is an asset to her character,” Dey said.
For a complete listing of F31 and F32 awards at the Medical Center, go to NIH's CRISP (Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects) Web site: www.crisp.cit.nih.gov.
Click on the CRISP Query Form (red box), and then fill in two spaces: under Activity, click Fellowships; under Institution, type in Vanderbilt% (the % symbol is important; don't use quotation marks). Then click Submit Query.