School of Medicine awarded two grants

Research scientists at the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield have been awarded two federal grants.

The U.S. Army has awarded a three-year federal grant to Kounosuke Watabe, professor of medical microbiology and immunology at SIU in Springfield, to study the tumor metastasis suppressor gene in prostate cancer. The total budget for the grant is $534,437. The study will look at how the primary tumor cells of prostate cancer spread to other parts of the body in mice.

The second federal grant was given to Jodi Huggenvik, associate professor of physiology at the School of Medicine, to study tumor suppressors in prostate cancer. The total budget for the two-year grant is $219,266. The study is looking to identify two tumor suppressor genes in order to understand their function as tumor markers for prostate cancer diagnosis. The grant is an expansion of a five-year, $1.17 million grant Huggenvik received in 2001 to study tumor suppressors in pediatric cancers.

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