Biomedical sciences research leads to promising discoveries
Sanjay Kumar , an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences , made a novel discovery that could lead to effective therapies for temporal lobe epilepsy . Kumar and his team found that an amino acid produced by the brain – called D-serine – could play a crucial role in preventing a type of epileptic seizure . Such seizures can cause lasting damage in patients , including neuronal death and loss of neuron function . Kumar ’ s research suggests that D-serine could block certain receptors in the brain that are responsible for temporal lobe epileptic seizures .
With help from Ph . D . candidates , a medical student and biomedical sciences faculty member Branko Stefanovic , Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences Akash Gunjan found a potential treatment option for keloids , a type of non-cancerous skin tumor that causes discomfort in patients and is notoriously difficult to treat . Keloids are normally removed surgically but regrow almost 100 % of the time . The research team found that a single dose of low-energy radiation delivered just skin deep within three months of surgery is highly effective in preventing recurrence .
Through a partnership with the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering , Choogon Lee , associate professor of biomedical sciences , and the research team received a $ 500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop new drug-loadable and fully degradable bio-adhesives . Biomedical adhesives can be used to deliver drugs like antibiotics to localized areas . Newly developed adhesives are being sought out because existing adhesives have significant limitations , like poor wet adhesion and complex application methods .
Associate Professor Jose Pinto co-authored a study that identified new genetic variants that could cause heart disease in infants . Researchers looked at the role of a protein called troponin and how it works to regulate the heart ’ s pumping of blood . Troponin has three parts that must interact and work in harmony to keep blood pumping properly . Pinto and his team found that certain interactions of troponin ’ s components can decrease the force of the heartbeat . The discovery could lead to new treatments for people suffering from heart disease .
Associate Professor Timothy Megraw and his colleagues are making strides in understanding how information is organized and how it travels within a cell . Cellular information , molecules and organelles travel along microtubules , which work like highways or conveyor belts in cells . Megraw and his team uncovered new insights on how microtubules are assembled and organized . Proper assembly and trafficking within microtubules is vital for the transfer of collagen , a protein necessary for healthy function of internal organs . By studying this process , researchers can uncover more clues about how and why things go wrong in cellular processes that are unique to differentiated cell types .
Pradeep Bhide , the Jim and Betty Ann Rodgers Eminent Scholar Chair of Developmental Neuroscience , is studying the risks of nicotine exposure among pregnant women and the potential for adverse neurodevelopmental effects to be transmitted to future generations . Bhide and his team were awarded more than $ 600,000 from the Florida Department of Health ’ s James and Esther King Biomedical Research Program to look at how nicotine can harm descendants in multiple generations beyond a pregnant mother and the child in her womb .
Trefoil Therapeutics , co-founded by Professor Michael Blaber , is beginning its first clinical trial using regenerative treatment for patients with corneal endothelial dystrophies . The therapy uses technology developed by Blaber and licensed by FSU .
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