Dr. Shinichi Fukuda, postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati at the University of Kentucky's Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences has received two prestigious awards to advance his research of dry macular degeneration. . The "Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad of Japan Society for the Promotion Science," presented by the Japan Society for the Promotion Science, is a two-year award given to foster highly capable researchers with wide international perspectives.

The NIH Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) on Obesity and Cardiovascular Diseases, in collaboration with the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS) announce the availability of limited funds to support pilot projects focused on research examining obesity-associated diseases (cardiovascular, diabetes, others). These pilot grants are intended to assist investigators new to this area of research to generate sufficient data to be competitive for extramural funding.  Junior faculty members are especially encouraged to apply.

University of Kentucky College of Medicine Professor Rebecca Dutch has been named President-Elect for the American Society for Virology (ASV). The American Society of Virology, comprised of over 3,000 members from around the globe, was founded in 1981 to provide a forum for discussion and collaboration for investigators of human, animal, insect, plant, fungal and bacterial viruses. ASV sponsors a large annual meeting, promotes communication about virology research to the broader community, and represents virologists on national and international scientific councils.

University of Kentucky medical student and doctoral candidate Scott Thalman, who is developing novel imaging techniques for identifying early risk factors for sudden cardiac death, received the Halcomb Fellowship for researchers in medicine and engineering. The fellowship supports a graduate student in the University of Kentucky Colleges of Engineering and Medicine who is involved in interdisciplinary research in the field of biomedical engineering. Now a biomedical engineering student, Thalman studied solid-state physics at Brigham Young University before entering the joint medical degree

UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging (SBCoA) is hosting its fifth annual Markesbery Symposium on Aging and Dementia on Nov. 20-21. This two day program will offer sessions for both scientific and community audiences. Clinicians and researchers from the University of Kentucky and other institutions will come together to share current findings, trends and the latest updates on dementia and aging disorders, particularly as related to Alzheimer’s disease. The Markesbery Symposium is in honor of the late Dr. William R.

Joint efforts are underway by NIH and leading journals to enhance reproducibility in scientific research through increased rigor and transparency in study design, conduct and data reporting. 

Please join us to learn more about current expectations and opportunities to address these requirements for grant funding and publishing research. 

Presented by:
Office of the Vice President for Research Good Research Practice Resource Center 

D. Allan Butterfield, professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Chemistry and Sanders-Brown Center on Aging (SBCoA), has been awarded a $413,000, two-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to study a new model of Parkinson's disease (PD). PD is the second most common age-related neurodegenerative disease in the United States and is manifested by movement abnormalities, postural instability, loss of smell (anosmia), deposition of the protein, alpha-synuclein, and in late stages, cognitive dysfunction.

A University of Kentucky doctoral student in the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) served as a major contributor to a scientific reference book about emerging concepts in stem cell developmental biology, research, therapy, politics and ethics. Dr.

The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) awarded Haining Zhu, a professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, a three-year, $300,000 grant to study the underlying mechanisms of ALS. In an effort to accelerate treatments and cures for neuromuscular diseases, the MDA distributed $10 million in grants this summer to scientists conducting significant research on muscular dystrophy, ALS and other muscle-debilitating diseases. Zhu’s research seeks to understand the mutations of the Fused in Sarcoma (FUS) gene, which is a known cause of ALS.

The University of Kentucky College of Social Work in collaboration with the UK Department of Family and Community Medicine and KVC Behavioral Health is hosting a conference on integrated behavioral health into the primary care field on Sept.

In 2015, the University of Kentucky commemorated 150 years as the Commonwealth's flagship, land-grant institution.

As part of that yearlong celebration, the institution and its leaders are finding ways to underscore the enduring commitment — and linkage — between the Commonwealth and a university that exists to serve the state.

The American Heart Association’s Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (ATVB) will award Nancy Webb, a professor of pharmacology and nutritional sciences at the University of Kentucky, with its 2015 AHA Special Recognition Award in Arteriosclerosis. The ATVB council supports basic, translational and clinical research concerned with diseases of the blood vessels. The council annually bestows the Special Recognition Award to a member who has contributed significantly to the scientific council over time and enhanced this field of the profession.

A new University of Kentucky study in the journal mBio shows that tissue cysts of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, long thought to be dormant, are quite active. Led by Anthony Sinai, professor at the UK College of Medicine, the study has significant implications on the understanding of chronic toxoplasmosis in the brain, a condition suggested to contribute to a range of neurological diseases including schizophrenia in humans, and the modulation of behavior in rodents. Toxoplasmosis can be acquired from the droppings of infected cats as well as the consumption of tissue cyst contaminated mea

A new Institute of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Kentucky will integrate and leverage large data systems across the academic and medical enterprise to improve patient care, research and education. GQ Zhang, Ph.D., will join UK Aug. 1 as director of the institute. He will also serve as chief of the newly established biomedical informatics division in the UK College of Medicine and co-director of the biomedical informatics core of the UK Center for Clinical and Translational Science.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for Scientific Review recently appointed University of Kentucky behavioral pharmacologist William W. Stoops, Ph.D., as a charter member of its new Interventions to Prevent and Treat Addictions study section. Members selected for service on the committee demonstrate competence and achievement in their scientific discipline as evident by the quality of their research accomplishments, publications in scientific journals, and other significant scientific activities, achievements and honors.

UK HealthCare and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to move toward a significant partnership to provide pediatric heart care services in the region.

The University of Kentucky Saha Cardiovascular Research Center has selected four students committed to futures in cardiovascular health as the recipients of the 2015 Saha Awards for Cardiovascular Research and Education. Second-year University of Kentucky medical student Kristin Andres earned the 2015 recipient of the medical student honor.

T.J. Samson Community Hospital in Glasgow, Ky., announced that it has entered into a formal collaboration with the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center to further develop its oncology service line. “At T.J. Samson we have wonderful medical professionals that are excellent at providing individualized treatment options. By collaborating with the Markey Cancer Center, we have just provided them a whole new world of resources to offer their patients locally,” Bud Wethington, CEO/President of T.J.

For women younger than 40, cervical cancer is among the leading causes of cancer-related death. With modern vaccines to protect against the underlying cause, human papilloma virus (HPV), cervical cancer is also one of the most preventable types of cancers. As a society, we have the opportunity to wipe out or significantly reduce a disease by vaccinating the population.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) recently awarded a $750,000 grant to University of Kentucky researcher Fredrick Onono to study the potential link between obesity and breast cancer. Obese women are four times more likely to develop treatment-resistant breast cancer, but the exact mechanism for this observation is still largely a mystery.