Growing up in the small rural town of Paintsville, Kentucky, Hilaree Frazier always loved science. She remembers that from a young age she was interested in pursing a PhD in science, but when she finished her bachelors of science at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), she was intimidated by the prospect of going straight into a doctoral program. Even though she was interested in UK's Integrated Biomedical Sciences PhD program, she didn't apply.
"I think I just didn't have enough confidence," she said.
The UK Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) has launched a new website that is especially oriented to researchers who currently use or could benefit from CCTS resources, including research services, funding opportunities, and education and career development.
The CCTS offers a spectrum of multidisciplinary support to assist investigators across the entire cycle of clinical and translational research, from protocol development and participant recruitment to regulatory affairs and evaluation.
At the University of Kentucky, the gross anatomy course that introduces students to the intricacies of body systems is reserved for graduate-level students. But, as Dr. April Richardson-Hatcher has discovered, real-world rules can be bent in a virtual universe.
A professor of anatomy and neurobiology in the UK College of Medicine, Hatcher teaches Anatomy 309: An Introduction to Regional Anatomy, a course that meets weekly in the 3-D virtual world of Second Life.
A team of nanotechnology researchers at the University of Kentucky has discovered new methods to build heat resistant nanostructures and arrays using RNA.
The research, led by Peixuan Guo, professor and William Farish Endowed Chair in Nanobiotechnology at the UK College of Pharmacy and Markey Cancer Center, is reported in an article titled "RNA as a Boiling-Resistant Anionic Polymer Material To Build Robust Structures with Defined Shape and Stoichiometry," coauthored by Emil F. Khisamutdinov and Daniel L.
We all know that exercise is good for us — it can help us lower blood pressure and cholesterol, maintain a healthy weight, and even improve mood and sleep. But can exercise improve the brain, especially as we age?
A multidisciplinary group of University of Kentucky researchers is working to answer that question.
Translational research — the process of moving a laboratory discovery into clinical applications — is a long and complex process requiring diverse expertise, ranging from basic science and regulatory affairs to participant recruitment and rclinical application. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), it can take more than a decade for a lab discovery to result in a new treatment, medical device, or prevention method.
When Premi Haynes was growing up in Pune, India, she attended Stella Maris High School, an English language convent school founded by Swiss nuns. Her second grade singing class used a book of English songs. One of the songs was "My Old Kentucky Home." At that time, Haynes had never heard of Kentucky, had no idea where it was, and had no particular ambition to go there.
Some 20 years and a twist of fate later, today Haynes is defending her Ph.D.
In addition to providing high quality health care, the University of Kentucky is also committed to finding new treatments, tests, and cures for diseases. Now, patients at UK can contribute to that effort by agreeing to participate in the Research Registry and Specimen Bank, or the "biobank."
When you have a medical procedure that involves, for example, drawing blood or sampling tissue, there is often material left over from the testing process that would otherwise be thrown away.
Nearly 700 researchers, students, policymakers and community members will gather at the Lexington Convention Center March 27 to share research, mentor junior faculty, and enhance collaborations in clinical and translational science, with special focus on addressing health disparities in Appalachia.
University of Kentucky College of Medicine student Melanie Pleiss has received the PhRMA Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship in Pharmacology/Toxicology.
The fellowship is a two year award that provides recipients with an annual stipend of $20,000 to support the research activities of a doctoral program.
"The application process is extremely competitive, with just one applicant per institution allowed to apply and only a certain number of awards given to U.S. schools of medicine, pharmacy, dentistry or veterinary medicine," said Dr.
For junior faculty with clinical and/or teaching responsibilities, it's difficult to find enough time to prioritize their own research. On top of time constraints, junior faculty members often have limited experience in the precise art of writing successful federal grant applications and managing large grants. It takes time, training, and funding to accelerate a research career. The KL2 Career Development Program provides these resources to investigators to do just that.
A new study led by University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center researcher Peter Zhou shows that targeting Twist, a nuclear protein that is an accelerant of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) program in human cells, may provide an effective approach for treating triple-negative breast cancer.
Triple-negative breast cancer has an activated EMT program, which is a process that provides cells with the increased plasticity (or flexibility) to adapt to stressed environments during embryonic development, wound healing, tissue fibrosis and metastasis.
A new study by University of Kentucky researchers shows that women who never or rarely screen for breast cancer are also unlikely to receive screening for cervical cancer. The study also identified four key barriers independently associated with the lack of these cancer screenings in Appalachian women.
Published in Women & Health, the study focused on six rural counties in Appalachian Kentucky. Researchers conducted in-person interviews with 222 women to assess their adherence (or lack thereof) to cancer screening guidelines.
There's a proverb in the business world that says, "If you don’t know, hire someone who does."
In the world of translational research, the saying might go like something this: "If you don't have the expertise or resources, collaborate with someone who does."
The nature of translational science -- the process of turning a basic science discovery into applications for human patients -- is inherently multidimensional.
In a time when competition for federal research funding is tougher than ever before, the University of Kentucky has been awarded one of the largest health grants ever made to the institution: an $11.3 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant supporting research focusing on issues that plague the Commonwealth - the twin scourges of obesity and cardiovascular disease.
Everyone wants to be home for the holidays. Unfortunately, hospital patients don't have that luxury. For those who are unable to enjoy the comforts of a holiday at home, the UK Arts in Healthcare program has scheduled a series of events to help bring the holidays to the hospital. Carolers, pianists, harpists and more will bring holiday cheer to patients, visitors and staff in December.
Of particular note:
UK HealthCare's own Dr. Jay Zwischenberger will be performing at 1 p.m., Dec.
A new clinical trial being conducted at the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging (SBCoA) and the UK Alzheimer’s Disease Center (ADC) may signal new hope in the future for those who might be afflicted with the devastating disease. Taking laboratory research pioneered at SBCoA and the associated UK ADC into human trials, the federally-funded research project will examine the therapeutic potential of microRNAs to delay or prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
Jayakrishna Ambati, professor and vice-chair in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, professor in the Department of Physiology, and the E. Vernon and Eloise C. Smith Endowed Chair in Macular Degeneration Research, at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, recently received the 2013 William R. Willard Dean's Recognition Award.
