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UM Partnership Receives .9 Million NIH Grant for Superconducting Research Magnet
Image by University of Maryland Press Releases
Caption (L-R) above: Co-Directors include University of Maryland Professor David Fushman; University of Maryland Medical School Professor David J. Weber and University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) Professor Michael F. Summers.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The University of Maryland, in partnership with the University of Maryland, Baltimore and University of Maryland Baltimore County, has received a .9 million federal grant to acquire a superconducting 950 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) magnet from Bruker BioSpin that will help researchers unravel the mysteries of molecules and develop new agents to treat cancer, AIDS and other diseases.
The grant is among the largest of its kind ever awarded by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), which is part of the National Institutes of Health. The funds were made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The instrument – scheduled to be installed in November, 2011 at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore – will be shared equally among the three campuses and used by researchers throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Only one other site in the United States currently has a 950 MHz NMR spectrometer, and the University of Maryland partnership will be the only academic institutions in the county to have this powerful technology.
David Fushman, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Maryland, is a co-director of the grant, and will lead the College Park team that includes several biochemists and cell biologists whose research will be enhanced by the new NMR spectrometer.
David J. Weber, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and director of the NMR core facility there, and AIDS researcher Michael F. Summers, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, are co-directors with Professor Fushman.
The eight-ton magnet produces a supercharged magnetic field that enables scientists to investigate the three-dimensional structure of biological molecules and study their interaction with the highest degree of resolution.
"This 950 Mhz NMR is optimal for studying large molecules," explains Fushman, an expert in protein structure and dynamics who is associated with the university’s Center for Biomolecular Structure and Organization (CBSO). "This will allow us to move into studying larger protein complexes that include more than 1000 amino acids. We can begin to decipher interactions between proteins that we could not easily do before."
Fushman conducts biochemical and biophysical studies to understand the molecular basis of how proteins are marked for degradation by a signaling protein called ubiquitin. Once a protein is tagged by ubiquitin chains, it is then disposed of by a multimolecular complex called the proteasome. "The proteasome is like a big shredder which grinds up proteins that are no longer needed or which have become misfolded or degraded," says Fushman. "It controls the cell life cycle, and we know that if it isn’t functioning properly, it could lead to the development of cancer, or neurological diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, or Huntington’s, or problems with the immune response."
Kwaku Dayie, associate professor, and Vitali Tugarinov, assistant professor, both in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and members of CBSO, will also be key users of the new technology. Both have been leaders in the development of NMR methods that allow and facilitate studies of large macromolecules. Jonathan Dinman and Anne Simon, both professors of cell biology and molecular genetics and experts in the study of viruses, will also utilize the spectrometer to advance their research
"The capabilities of this ultra high field/high frequency NMR will create unique opportunities for life sciences researchers in Maryland," says Norma Allewell, vice president for research and professor of cell biology and molecular genetics at the University of Maryland. "The extraordinary resolution of the results that can be generated with this new instrument will provide unparalleled insights into the structure, dynamics, and function of the proteins and nucleic acids that are critical to life, and that also play a role in many diseases for which effective treatments are still sought. The University of Maryland has recruited a team of NMR experts and users that are fully prepared to exploit the unique capabilities of this new resource to gain new insights into cellular function, to develop new approaches to treating some of society’s most challenging diseases, and to work with the biotech community to translate these discoveries into new therapies."
This 950 MHz NMR spectrometer will enable University of Maryland researchers to delve deeper into the molecular mechanisms of proteins and nucleic acids in the body and to provide the much needed fundamental information from which drug therapies and other medical treatments can be based. Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine will utilize the technology in many areas of cancer research, including drug development, while UMBC researchers will focus on AIDS research.
For more information please contact:
Kelly E. Blake
Director of Communications
College of Chemical & Life Sciences
University of Maryland
301-405-8203
kellyb@umd.edu
www.chemlife.umd.edu
Life In Rewind
Image by Earthworm
A young man with OCD so bad it makes Howard Hughes look like a laid back dude. Well maybe not. Similar sort of seclusion, unwashed life, defecating in zip lock bags and bottles, but in this story we get to see the thoughts that drove these habits and thus understand the torture of illogical thoughts that a person with OCD must struggle to overcome meanwhile also understanding how illogical he must look to others. And it never really goes away so the cure is based in learning how to manage the compulsiveness.
The trauma that kicked off the OCD for Ed Zine is revealed early on to the reader, but it was not understood until much later by his family. The path to healing begins with an unusually dedicated doctor who earns the trust of his patient and proceeds to try everything, every drug, every therapy that he, as an expert, has used. This makes the story quite a page turner as it is not clear what is going to work, what is going to turn this around and we simply must know because it is an untenable life. We do know by the pictures that he does come out okay which makes it even more compelling to know. An experiential book.
A good read for those needing an "I thought I had it bad" kind of book. Does have the hokiness of a hero story overcoming extreme odds, but it doesn’t take away from the unusual intelligence that finally brings the disease to heal and it is a well constructed telling with in depth character studies.
Spoiler Alert:
The doctor does not actually find the treatment, but his despair at not being able to find the right path inspires Ed to see his OCD as the enemy and begin to fight the compulsive rituals he has been practicing in order to stop time. The trauma of having heard his mother’s dying breath at the age of 11 (of cancer), coupled with his father’s emotional cruelty, forever compels him to attempt to stop time in order to keep anyone else he loves from dying. Like controlling a movie by rewinding it backward and watching it again, he learns to "rewind" his life. By memorizing every step and movement he takes he rewinds the action and retraces his steps backward in order to stop time. Everything must be done in multiples that come out even so as not to move time forward. It makes sense in a parallel universe sort of way.
Obsession with first Star Wars movie, the last movie he saw before his mother’s death. In fighting to get well, Ed enlists the help of a postmaster during the period when he cannot leave his basement room in his father’s house. He begins to correspond with Star Wars costume maker to get back to the feeling he had when he was okay.
He also meets a young woman who falls in love with him and helps him by being his advocate and having patience. There is definitely a compelling quality about this man that gives his OCD a heroic aspect. He has to come to terms with it and reach out for help. The postmaster encourages him to reduce his repetitions thus enlisting techniques of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT); his girlfriend motivates him to expose himself to his fears by going outside. This is called exposure and response prevention (ERP).
The key to treatment is to only accommodate the OCD minimally. The patient needs reassurance and wants desperately to feel comfortable, but fulfilling this need only feeds the OCD. Patient needs to face his discomfort and work through it in order to learn to "survive" it. I learned to push one of my OCD clients into accepting loss. I cut up old credit cards with glee and smashed empty Kleenex boxes. When she asked me why I smashed them, I said I have to have some fun on this job. And she seemed okay with it and seemed to trust me more for having expressed myself authentically. But then the following week she remembered what she used the empty Kleenex boxes for so we had a conversation about that and I probably won’t get to smash anymore, just the empty toilet rolls, but another authority backed me up so we all survived.
This book is required reading for a certificate that will qualify me as a hoarding specialist. In studying for this certificate and for the one in chronic disorganization I am being affirmed that everything I learned to do with clients is actually perfectly viable. My clients taught me. This was one of the reasons I never bothered to do all the teleclasses to get the "degree" and because the classes conflicted with my karate class, but now that I have my black belt I have room for this goal.
Sheryl Crow performing at the Midwestern Inaugural Ball
Image by cliff1066™
Early in 2006, shortly after the end of a highly-publicized engagement to champion cyclist Lance Armstrong, Crow was diagnosed with breast cancer. The cancer was detected early, and after minimally invasive surgery and a short, precautionary round of radiation therapy, she appeared to have recovered completely.