探索未知的生物领域
Posted on December 11, 2023 by 美国市场营销与传播
Vast numbers of tiny mysteries are waiting to be solved for humanity’s potential good ——在我们自己的身体里. Molecules regulate our body functions in ways we don’t understand. Trillions of microbes live in each one of us, interacting with our cells both harmfully 和有益.
Dr. 格伦Borchert美国国立大学药理学教授 弗雷德里克·P. 惠登医学院，探索那些未知的领域. 他的许多引人入胜的项目给人们带来了希望 fighting disease and improving the functioning of our bodies. 对于他的调查， he has received this year’s National 校友 Association Endowed 奖 for 教师 Innovation, which recognizes outstanding achievement in research.
自2017年以来，Borchert已经获得了近3美元的奖金.300万的研究经费. 他已经 received nine awards from the National Science Foundation, more than any other 南 教员.
Last summer, he was one of 30 principal investigators invited to a National Science 基金会智库在弗吉尼亚州艾尔利. 在那里，他与其他六名参与者合作 to study how we communicate with our microbiome — the fungi, bacteria, viruses and 生活在我们体内和体表的其他微生物.
His resulting research proposal was just awarded $800,000 in funding to examine the role of extracellular RNA in communicating between cells and shaping that microbiome. The grant represents a tremendous opportunity for Borchert and his collaborators, including his team at the 惠登医学院’s Borchert Laboratory.
Borchert, who also holds an appointment in the biology department in the College of Arts and Sciences, frames the many research grants his lab has received in terms of 使学生受益，并增加知识. “这对我的学生来说太棒了，” he said of an earlier National Science Foundation award. “出版的机会 findings is a great experience for them in the world of science.”
His research offers exciting potential for improving human health and even saving 生活. For example, the Borchert Lab is exploring how salmonella bacteria survive 压力条件. 沙门氏菌感染估计会导致1.3500万疾病， 26,500 hospitalizations and 420 deaths in the United States each year. 理解 the bacteria’s survival mechanisms could help make antibiotic treatments more effective.
His team also discovered a new form of transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) fragments that the body pumps into lung fluid to help combat respiratory viruses such as the 导致COVID-19的病毒.
Borchert said that research would improve understanding of how the body naturally 抗感染.
“Once we’ve collected the data from testing the tRNA fragments,” he said, “we can work toward more therapeutics for patients battling viral infections.”
The University’s National 校友 Association honored Borchert and other 南 faculty 在8月24日的年度会议上. 其他得奖者:
DR. VASILIY PROKHOROV，教授 数学与统计学系, received the Andy and Carol Denny National 校友 Excellence in Teaching 奖. Prokhorov’s passion for teaching benefits not only the University but also the greater 社区. He developed the Mobile Math Circle, a free weekly gathering of middle school and high school students guided by professional mathematicians.
DR. 王金辉，副教授 电气与计算机工程, received the Beth and Don Davis National 校友 Association Excellence in Advising 奖. Wang has advised more than 160 undergraduates and 19 graduate students, and 曾在26个学位论文/论文委员会任职. 他最近参加了一场全国比赛 Science Foundation grant program to work with Native American students to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.
DR. 托德·麦克唐纳(TODD MCDONALD)是 USA Center for Forensics, Information Technology and Security and a professor in the School of Computing, received the Olivia Rambo McGlothren National 校友 Association Outstanding Scholar 奖. 麦当劳收到了更多 than $27 million in shared and collaborative research funding during his career, including 美国政府最近拨款800万美元.S. 陆军空间和导弹防御司令部.