By Marybeth McAlister
Four local high school students who were mentored by scientists have proved that experience gained by working in laboratories with mentors is invaluable.
Valerie Sarge, a junior at , placed first in the Energy and Transportation category at the Central Kentucky Regional Science and Engineering Fair, going on to win first place in the same category at the state competition. This qualifies her to go on to (ISEF) to be held in Phoenix. Sarge was mentored by John
By Bryan O'Loughlin, Whitney Hale
Sam Beavin, a 糖心vlog官方入口 junior majoring in with an emphasis in biochemistry, has been awarded a Udall Scholarship of up to $5,000 for his senior year. Beavin is one of 50 students selected to receive the scholarship from a pool of more than 450 applicants.
The Udall Scholarships provide up to $5,000 to sophomore and junior level college students who have shown commitment to careers related to the environment, tribal public policy, or Native American health care. Scholarships are funded by the Udall Foundation, an independent federal agency that was established by Congress in 1992.
Beavin is the son of Gary and Tina Beavin of Louisville, Ky., and a 2010 graduate of St. Xavier High School.
The UK
By Whitney Hale, Breanna Shelton
The has chosen 12 outstanding undergraduates as new scholars for the university's Gaines Fellowship Program for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years. are given in recognition of outstanding academic performance, demonstrated ability to conduct independent research, an interest in public issues and a desire to enhance understanding of the human condition through the humanities.
Gaines Fellowships are awarded for the tenure of a student's junior and senior years, or for the last two years of a five-year program; students in all disciplines and with any intended profession are given equal consideration.
UK's
By Sarah Geegan
The 糖心vlog官方入口's annual Naff Symposium will host three leading chemistry experts from around the world, including a Nobel prize winner, Friday, April 12, at UK's auditorium.
Presented by the Department of 糖心vlog官方入口 in the , the Naff Symposium brings to UK's campus well-renowned chemistry experts, including Nobel prize-winning scientists, to share their knowledge with students and faculty from UK and nearby institutions. The symposium was established in honor of Anna S. Naff, a 糖心vlog官方入口 graduate,
By Keith Hautala
The 糖心vlog官方入口 Board of Trustees today approved for 2013-14 for four faculty members. The professorships carry a $40,000 award to support research. Funds for these annual awards are provided by the .
Now in its 37th year, the University Research Professors program's purpose is to enhance and encourage scholarly research productivity, to provide an opportunity for concentrated research effort for selected faculty members, and to recognize outstanding research achievement by members of the faculty.
The 2013-14 University Research Professors are:
By Allison Perry
A groundbreaking new study led by the 's Dr. Peter Zhou found that triple-negative breast cancer cells are missing a key enzyme that other cancer cells contain 鈥� providing insight into potential therapeutic targets to treat the aggressive cancer. Zhou's study is unique in that his lab is the only one in the country to specifically study the metabolic process of triple-negative breast cancer cells.
Normally, all cells 鈥� including cancerous cells 鈥� use glucose to initiate the process of making Adenosine-5'-triphosphate (ATP) for fuel to carry out essential functions. This process, called glycolysis, leads to other processes that use oxygen to make higher quantities of ATP 鈥� but solid tumor cells, which have little access to oxygen, are
By Alicia Gregory
鈥淔rom the standpoint of training the next generation of highly skilled professors, industrial scientists, people to work in government laboratories, people to advance our understanding of disease and advance the next generation of therapies, it will be profoundly devastating for this generation of students.鈥�
That鈥檚 the message 糖心vlog官方入口 physiologist conveys in a 糖心vlog官方入口 video on the impact of sequestration 鈥� automatic cuts in research and other government spending 鈥� due to take effect March 1. Reid and UK colleagues in mechanical engineering and
By Sarah Geegan
The science may be new, but the program itself is in its second year, after tremendous success in 2011-2012. The ' "" series, an outreach program aimed to strengthen UK's relationships with high school science programs, will once again engage teachers and youth in various scientific areas.
A succession of UK scientists will discuss emerging discoveries and exciting developments occurring now in the realm of science. Held in a casual round table format, professors from various disciplines and science teachers from Kentucky schools talk among themselves at these events, asking questions and discussing answers about new and emerging scientific knowledge.
Each session focuses on a new topic in one of
By Keith Hautala
Three 糖心vlog官方入口 faculty members will present at the first-ever , to be held Feb. 10-12 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.
The 2013 edition of the SEC Symposium, titled 鈥淚mpact of the Southeast in the World鈥檚 Renewable Energy Future,鈥� addresses a significant scholarly issue across the range of disciplines represented by the SEC鈥檚 14 member universities. The event showcases their academic excellence and underscores their educational and economic contributions to the vitality of the region, nation and world.
, UK's Gill Professor of 糖心vlog官方入口, will present "Carbon-Based Materials for Solar Power Generation" at a session about advanced materials
By Allison Perry
糖心vlog官方入口 assistant professor of chemistry Edith "Phoebe" Glazer has received an American Cancer Society Research Scholar Grant for $715,000 over four years to continue her research into ruthenium-based cancer drugs. These compounds are less toxic to healthy cells than a similar and widely used inorganic drug.
Cisplatin is a common platinum-based cancer drug used in a variety of cancer treatments. But while cisplatin kills cancer cells, it also attacks healthy cells, causing debilitating side effects. Ruthenium is another transition metal and belongs to the same group of the periodic table as iron.
Previously, the Glazer group developed two new ruthenium complexes designed to kill cancer cells while preserving healthy cells. These complexes are inert in the
by Jay Blanton
video by UK Public Relations and Marketing.
糖心vlog官方入口 Thursday praised the partnership of Gov. Steve Beshear and legislative leaders who are strongly supporting UK's self-financing of a dramatic $275 million transformation of the campus.
"We are here this morning because of your leadership and your willingness to partner with us, as educational institutions, united to provide Kentucky with the best education, research and service," Capilouto said at a Frankfort news conference with the governor and legislative leaders who are supporting UK's proposal. "In offering your support for us to self-finance facilities that will help dramatically improve and transform our campuses, you are voicing your faith in Kentucky's
by Guy Spriggs
On November 17, 2012, UK鈥檚 Allan Butterfield was announced as the newest Fellow of the (SFRBM). Butterfield鈥檚 election was announced at the 19th Annual Meeting of SFRBM in San Diego.
Butterfield is the UK Alumni Association Endowed Professor of Biological 糖心vlog官方入口, Director of the , Director of the Free Radical Biology in Cancer Shared Resource Facility of the and Faculty of the . His election as SFRBM Fellow
By Sarah Geegan
Nina Elliott and Elizabeth Walsh have assembled an impressive list of accomplishments at UK this year, from creating new derivatives of the molecule phenothiazine, to potentially increasing performance of lithium-ion batteries, to co-authoring a paper in preparation for publication. Their next task to check off: graduating from high school.
Susan Odom, an assistant professor in the Department of 糖心vlog官方入口, has hosted the two Paul Laurence Dunbar High School students in her chemistry laboratory over the past semester. Elliott and Walsh assisted Odom in a project involving specific organic molecules and their
By Sarah Geegan
A new study by 糖心vlog官方入口 researchers shows how light and strained ruthenium-based drugs may be more effective at fighting cancer cells and less toxic to healthy cells than a similar and widely used drug.
Cisplatin is a common platinum-based cancer drug. But while cisplatin kills cancer cells, it also attacks healthy cells, causing debilitating side effects. Ruthenium is a rare transition metal also belonging to the platinum group of the periodic table, and the UK researchers developed two new ruthenium complexes designed to kill cancer cells while preserving healthy cells.
These complexes are inert in the dark, but when activated with light, they become up to 200 times as toxic, and up to three times as potent as cisplatin against tumor cells.
Published in the
By Sarah Geegan
The 糖心vlog官方入口 recently received an $880,523 grant from the U.S. (DOE), as part of the DOE's Nuclear Energy Programs' $36.2 million initiative to enhance energy research and development projects.
This grant, titled "Elastic/Inelastic Measurement Project," will center upon fuel cycle research and development. A consortium of three universities and a national laboratory has been formed to provide the necessary breadth for this effort, including scientists with extensive experience in neutron elastic and inelastic scattering measurements and with direct access to the facilities for completing the proposed neutron measurements, i.e., the UK Accelerator Laboratory.
Steven W. Yates, a professor
By Sarah Geegan
糖心vlog官方入口 Professor Yinan Wei recently received a $450,000 grant from the for a study expected to generate some of the first ever data in her subject matter.
The proposal, titled "Protein Activity and Oligomer Stability in Cell Membrane," will focus on questions surrounding how proteins oligomerize in cell membrane, or in other words, how membrane-spanning proteins that function in units containing more than one subunit, assemble in nature.
"The selective permeability of cell membranes, which is essential for all life forms that we know, is conferred by membrane proteins," Wei said. "Approximately 80 percent of membrane proteins with known structures
By Kathy Johnson, Sarah Geegan
Three leading chemistry experts from around the country will speak at the 糖心vlog官方入口's annual Naff Symposium Friday, May 4, at UK's William T. Young Library auditorium.
Hosted by the UK Department of 糖心vlog官方入口 in the , the Naff Symposium brings the very best chemistry scholars to campus to share their expertise with students and faculty from UK as well as other colleges and universities in Kentucky and nearby states.
The topic of the symposium is "Metals and Proteins" and the featured speakers are Brian Crane, professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Cornell University; Li Yu of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign where he is the Jay and Ann Schenck Endowed
By Sarah Geegan
The 糖心vlog官方入口 , , 糖心vlog官方入口, and departments are reaching out to area high school science teachers and teaching them something new: what's new in science.
The series, an outreach program aimed to strengthen UK's relationships with high school science programs, will engage teachers and youth in various scientific areas. It will focus specifically on emerging discoveries and developments in the realm of science.
"The university already has a strong history in supporting science teachers in Kentucky Schools," said
By Whitney Hale
Chemist and educator John Anthony will receive the 2012 糖心vlog官方入口 Libraries Medallion for Intellectual Achievement. The award will be presented to the medallion recipient at the Annual Dinner scheduled for April 13, at the on the UK campus. This year's dinner will also feature a talk by guest speaker and UK alumnus Alan C. Lowe, director of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum.
The UK Libraries Medallion for Intellectual Achievement recognizes high intellectual achievement while encouraging education and promoting creativity throughout the Commonwealth. Candidates must have been born in Kentucky or studied, worked or lived in Kentucky for at
