Awards for New Scholars 2003: Aging Program and Global Infectious Disease Program

Aging Program

Ellison Medical Foundation is pleased to announce the New Scholar Awardees for 2003. They are:

Shawn Cameron Ahmed, B.S., Ph.D.
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Germline Immortality in C. elegans

Cindy X. Cai, M.D., Ph.D.
Tufts University School of Medicine
Nuclear Ferritin May Protect Against Oxidative and Light-induced DNA Damage in Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells

Vera Gorbunova, Ph.D.
Baylor College of Medicine
Effect of Aging on Efficiency and Accuracy of DNA Double-Strand Break Repair

Shin-ichiro Imai, M.D., Ph.D.
Washington University School of Medicine
The function of mammalian NAD-dependent deacetylase Sir2* and NAD biosynthesis enzymes in aging-associated epigenetic gene regulation

Shuji Kishi, M.D., Ph.D.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Genetic Approaches for Functional Aging in Zebrafish

Jiyan Ma, Ph.D.
Ohio State University
The pathogenic mechanism of prion disease

Kathryn J. Moore, Ph.D.
Massachusetts General Hospital
Genetic and Functional Analysis of CD36-signaling in age-related chronic inflammatory diseases

Tannishtha Reya, Ph.D.
Duke University Medical Center
Control of stem cell self-renewal and regeneration

Stephen Robert Wicks, Ph.D.
Boston College
Natural sequence variation in C. elegans:impact on lifespan and aging

Global Infectious Disease Program

The Ellison Medical Foundation is pleased to announce the New Scholar Awardees for 2003. They are:

Yasmine Belkaid, Ph.D.
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Latency, Reactivation and Immunity in Chronic Parasitic Disease

Keril J. Blight, Ph.D.
Washington University
Characterization of the NS4B protein in hepatitis C virus

Michael D. Burkart, Ph.D.
University of California - San Diego
Biosynthetic Inhibition of Small Molecule Virulence Factors from Mycobacteria

Philip Ralph Dormitzer, M.D.,Ph.D.
Harvard Medical School
Structure-Based Approach to Rotavirus Vaccine Design and Cell Entry

Kent Hill, Ph.D.
University of California - Los Angeles
Mechanism and Biology of Trypanosome cell motility:contribution to parasite development and disease pathogenesis

Eleftherios “Terry” Mylonakis, M.D., Ph.D.
Massachusetts General Hospital
Use of the Caenorhabditis elegans model of fungal pathogenesis to identify virulence factors of the pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans

Pejman Rohani, Ph.D.
University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc.
The Ecology and Evolution of Disease Interference

Michael Jeffrey Root, M.D.,Ph.D.
Thomas Jefferson University
Targeting Viral Entry using the 5-Helix Protein Design Strategy

Anita Sil, M.D., Ph.D.
University of California, San Francisco
Molecular Analysis of Detoxification of Nitric Oxide in Histoplasma capsulatum

Ali A. Sultan, M.D., Ph.D.
Harvard School of Public Health
Molecular Mechanisms of Plasmodium Sporozoite Pathogenicity