Biomedical Sciences Professor Yoichi Kato has been awarded a National Institutes of Health grant of nearly $365,000 to study the "transition zone" of the cilium.

The cilium is a small cellular organelle that broadly exists throughout the human body. Defects of ciliary structure and/or function in humans cause “ciliopathies,” including retinal degeneration, cardiac defect, airway defect, polycystic kidney, sterility, obesity and mental retardation. The cilium consists of three major parts: basal body, transition zone and axoneme. Many causative factors of ciliopathies have been known to exist in the transition zone, which is important for protein trafficking between the cell cytoplasm and the inside of the cilium. Dysfunction of the transition zone results in no and/or abnormal cilia.

Although the functions of cilia and the mechanisms of cilia formation have been revealed during the past decade, the molecular mechanisms underlying the formation of the transition zone remain to be explored. 

It was recently reported that blocking the Smad2/3-dependent TGF-β signal pathway shortened cilia in several different tissues of Xenopus embryos (Tozser et al. 2015). That defect seems to be caused by functional and/or structural problems of the transition zone. In this project, Kato's lab will assess and uncover TGF-β-dependent formation and/or function of the transition zone and discover novel factors involved in the process. 
 

Biomedical Sciences Professor Yanchang Wang's lab team will have a paper published in the upcoming edition of Cell Reports. The title is "Fin1-PP1 Helps Clear Spindle Assembly Checkpoint Protein Bub1 from Kinetochores in Anaphase." The paper's authors are graduate student Michael Bokros, Honors Medical Scholar Curtis Gravenmier, Research Scholar Scientist Fengzhi Jin, Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. alumnus Daniel Richmond and Wang.

The cover of Cell Reports will also have a College of Medicine connection. It was designed by Jodi Slade, certified medical illustrator in the Office of Medical Education.

Yuan Wang, assistant professor of biomedical sciences, has received a $20,000 grant from FSU's Council on Research & Creativity. The title of her research project is "Role of FMRP in Afferent Regulated Neuronal Survival." This is a First-Year Assistant Professor Grant from the CRC, a major faculty committee appointed by the vice president for research. 

Assistant Scholar Deirdre McCarthy, who works in the laboratory of Biomedical Sciences Professor Pradeep Bhide, has received a grant from FSU's Council on Research & Creativity. 

McCarthy's project is "Nicotine-Induced Epigenetic Modification of Human Spermatozoal DNA." The award is for $14,000. 

The CRC is a major faculty committee appointed by the vice president for research.

Avon Doll and Michael Forsthoefel, both members of the Tallahassee Regional Campus clerkship faculty, have been chosen to receive prestigious awards from the Capital Medical Society.

Doll, who practices with North Florida Nephrology Associates, is receiving the group's I.B. Harrison, M.D. Humanitarian Award. It's given each year to a physician who personifies the best of the medical profession.

Forsthoefel, clerkship director for internal medicine at the Tallahassee campus, Is receiving the Outstanding Physician Award for distinguished leadership. He practices with Southern Medical Group. 

The awards will be presented March 24 at the FSU University Center Club. 

Biomedical Sciences Associate Professors Akash Gunjan and Eric Laywell received $100,000 from the Florida Center for Brain Tumor Research to study "Novel Therapeutic Strategies for Histone H3.3 Mutant Childhood Glioblastomas" for two years beginning in April.

Associate Professor James Olcese's company, KynderMed, is a top-16 finalist for the Cade Museum Prize. The Cade Museum Prize for Innovation is an annual competition for early-stage inventors and entrepreneurs in Florida. It provides $50,000 of seed capital and publicity for great ideas with market potential. There were over 100 entries. The final four will be announced March 28, and the winner will be announced April 30. This is the second time the Biomedical Sciences reearcher's company is among the finalists.

Michael Muszynski, associate dean for clinical research, was recently appointed to the editorial board of Florida Pediatrician, a peer-reviewed publication affiliated with the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The journal is published quarterly and aims to improve the health and welfare of Florida’s newborns, infants, children, adolescents and young adults. Medical students, residents and faculty members may submit articles for review for publication. Prospective FSU College of Medicine authors may contact Muszynski for additional information at michael.muszynski@med.fsu.edu.

Geriatrics Professor Ken Brummel-Smith was selected by the National Research Council and the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, as a member of the Forum on Aging, Disability and Independence from March 15, 2016 through April 26, 2020. The Forum on Aging, Disability and Independence enables discussion of issues related to bridging the research, policy and practice interests of the aging and disability communities. The Forum will host its next workshop on June 27, 2016 in Washington, D.C.