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More than 33,000 people in the United States are expected to be diagnosed with leukemia this year, and once stricken with the malignant cancer of the bone marrow and blood, patients, on average, have only about five years to live. Chemistry Professor Nigel Richards and his colleagues in the College of Medicine have received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to lay the groundwork for the development of new methods of diagnosing and treating the disease.

“If you get leukemia, the treatment has really been fairly standard over the last 40 years,” Richards says. “What physicians do is give you anti-leukemia drugs and inject an enzyme into you that breaks down asparagine in the blood. By removing asparagine in the blood, the leukemia cells appear to be more sensitive to treatment with the drugs. The problem is that the enzyme injected into the blood causes an immune response—giving rise to severe side effects. In the event that the initial treatment does not fully cure the leukemia, it begins again, and is then very likely to be resistant against renewed treatment.”

Nigel Richardson

“We would like to find out what happens to the [leukemia] cell when it becomes drug resistant.”
—Nigel Richards

Richards and fellow researchers Stephen Hunger, associate professor of pediatrics, and Michael Kilberg, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, have been awarded $100,000 a year for two years to explore a hypothesis they have developed for better treating drug resistant leukemia. More specifically, the researchers will examine an enzyme called asparagine synthetase and the onset of drug resistance in leukemia cells. Using proteomics methods—a new science of coding human proteins revealed through the Human Genome Project—they hope not only to develop new methods for diagnosis but also to unravel the biological processes that cause human cells to become resistant to the drugs oncologists use to treat leukemia.

Through his prior research, Kilberg has discovered that patients become drug resistant because leukemia cells at some point start producing an enzyme called asparagine synthesize, which makes asparagine inside the cells. It is unknown why this increase in the enzyme makes leukemia cells resistant to drugs, and this is the question Richards hopes the team’s research will answer. “We would like to find out what happens to the cell when it becomes drug resistant,” he says. “How does that even work—how does increasing one enzyme cause a cell to go from drug sensitive to drug resistant? That is an amazing thing—just one cellular event can result in a situation whereby we can no longer treat the disease.”

Richards, who has taught at UF since 1991, received a PhD from Cambridge University in England in 1984. In addition to this new project, he has long-term grant funding from the NIH for his studies of enzymes that have potential clinical use in treating and preventing kidney stone formation and related diseases.

--Buffy Lockette

Grants through the Division of Sponsored Research

August 2004: Total $6,537,996
FALSETTI A B ANTHROPOLOGY COUNTY OF ONONDAGA, NY $163 ONONDAGA COUNTY FORENSICS CASEWORK
GLADWIN C H MORERA M D ANTHROPOLOGY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $12,000 DISSERTATION RESEARCH: DOES OFF-FARM WORK ENCOURAGE OR DISCOURAGE SOIL-FERTILITY ENHANCEMENT...WESTERN KENYA
MOSELEY M E WILLIAMS P R ANTHROPOLOGY NATL FDTN ON ARTS & HUMANITIES NATL ENDOW FOR THE HUMANITIES $16,770 RITUAL FETING AND RELIGIOUS CONVERSION IN AN ANCIENT NATIVE AMERICAN EMPIRE
OLIVER SMITH A R DE LA PENA A ANTHROPOLOGY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $11,300 THE INEQUALITY OF SOCIAL CAPITAL: A COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL CAPITAL MEASURES IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
GE J ASTRONOMY CALIFORNIA INST OF TECHNOLOGY JET PROPULSION LABORATORY $94,406 AN INSTRUMENT FOR HIGH PRECISION MULTI-OBJECT DOPPLER SURVEYS FOR EXTRA-SOLAR PLANETS
GE J ASTRONOMY CALIFORNIA INST OF TECHNOLOGY JET PROPULSION LABORATORY $1,313 REQUEST FOR AN OPTICAL BENCH TRANSFER AND SETUP OF A TESTBEDFOR EVALUATING THE SINGLE MODE FIBER BUNDLE
GE J ASTRONOMY CALIFORNIA INST OF TECHNOLOGY JET PROPULSION LABORATORY $95,862 A HIGH THROUGHPUT INTERFEROMETER METHOD FOR MEASURING DOPPLER RADIAL VELOCITY
TELESCO C M ASTRONOMY NASA GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH PRGM $24,000 HIGH RESOLUTION MID-INFRARED IMAGING OF TRANSITIONAL HERBIG STARS: GEOMETRICAL DISTRIBUTION OF CIRCUMSTELLAR
SOLTIS D E
SOLTIS P S		 BOTANY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $520,555 ATOL:COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH:RESOLVING THE TRUNK OF THE ANGIOSPERM TREE AND TWELVE OF ITS THORNIEST BRANCHES
BENNER S A BRADLEY M E CHEMISTRY NATL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH $44,042 SYSTEM BIOLOGY OF THE HUMAN SULTIA GENES
BENNER S A
EYLER J R		 CHEMISTRY NATL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIGMS - GENERAL MEDICAL SCI $258,000 TARGET ASSISTED COMBINATORIAL SYNTHESIS
CHRISTOU G CHEMISTRY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $215,220 TRANSITION METAL CLUSTERS AS SINGLE-MOLECULE MAGNETS
DURAN R S CHEMISTRY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $144,333 RENEWAL OF DEVELOPING AN ACTIVE AND DIVERSE UNDERGRADUATE CHEMISTRY RESEARCH PROGRAM
EYLER J R CHEMISTRY NATL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIGMS - GENERAL MEDICAL SCI $28,500 TARGET ASSISTED COMBINATORIAL SYNTHESIS
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $1,375 SOFTWARE RESEARCH SUPPORT
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $4,375 SOFTWARE RESEARCH SUPPORT
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $272 MILES COMPOUND CONTRACT
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $654 MILES COMPOUND CONTRACT
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $1,263 MILES COMPOUND CONTRACT
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $6,545 MILES COMPOUND CONTRACT
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $722 MILES COMPOUND CONTRACT
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $4,654 MILES COMPOUND CONTRACT
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $300 MILES COMPOUND CONTRACT
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION RESEARCH & ENGINEERING COMPANY $6,126 JOINT RESEARCH INTO CHEMICAL ASPECTS OF PETROLEUM
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $2,100 MILES COMPOUND CONTRACT
OMENETTO N CHEMISTRY ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV $2,375 EDITORSHIP WITH ELSEVIER SCIENCE
RICHARDSON D E CHEMISTRY U S ARMY $13,870 DEVELOPMENT OF BICARBONATE-ACTIVATED PEROXIDE AS A CHEMICAL ANDBIOLOGICAL WARFARE AGENT DECONTAMINANT
RICHARDSON D E CHEMISTRY U S ARMY $8,990 DEVELOPMENT OF BICARBONATE-ACTIVATED PEROXIDE AS A CHEMICAL ANDBIOLOGICAL WARFARE AGENT DECONTAMINANT
WAGENER K B CHEMISTRY UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA $20,000 FSGC: REGULAR POLYETHYLENE CARBOXYLATE IONOMERS
SAPIENZA C M PEARSON E J COMM PROCESS & DISORDERS NATL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIDCD - DEAFNESS & COMM DISORD $28,662 RUTH L. KIRSCHSTEIN NATL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARD INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION: COMBINED MODALITY TREATMENT OF ADSD
HENRETTA J C CTR FOR GERONTOLOGICAL STUD UNIV OF MICHIGAN $29,827 HEALTH AND RETIREMENT STUDY
MARTIN J B GEOLOGY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $336,214 COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: ARE CARBON FLUXES FROM MARINE SEDIMENTS ENHANCED BY SUBMARINE GROUND WATER DISCHARGE?
PERFIT M R GEOLOGY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $58,639 TECTONOMAGMATIC CYCLES AND THE FORMATION OF OCEANIC CRUST ATTHE CLEFT SEGMENT OF THE JUAN DE FUCA RIDGE
TRICKEY S B INST FOR THEORY & COMPUTATION U S ARMY $3,000 SUPPLEMENTAL REQUEST TO THE 2004 SANIBEL SYMPOSIUM
GOPALAKRISHNAN J MATHEMATICS NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $173,749 IMPROVING MIXED METHODS BY HYBRIDIZATION AND MULTIGRID TECHNIQUES
AVERY P R PHYSICS S E UNIVERSITY RESEARCH ASSN $1,926 DEVELOPMENT OF A PROTOTYPE SURA-SCOOP MODELING GRID
AVERY P R MITSELMAKHER G PHYSICS NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $2,372,003 ITR: THE GRIPHYN PROJECT: TOWARDS PETASCALE VIRTUAL-DATA GRIDS
DUFTY J W PHYSICS U S DEPT OF ENERGY $64,276 TIME DEPENDENT HARTREE-FOCK THEORY: GATEWAY TO NONEQUILIBRIUM PLASMA PHYSICS
HEBARD A F TANNER D B PHYSICS RAYTHEON COMPANY $49,100 SURFACE PLASMON COUPLING FOR ENHANCED TRANSMISSION IN DIFFRACTIVE OPTICS
HILL S O PHYSICS NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $212,333 DEVELOPMENT OF A TRANSIENT SPECTROMETER FOR EDUCATION AND RESEARCH INTO QUANTUM COHERENCE IN MOLECULAR NANOMAGNETS
RINZLER A G PHYSICS LOCKHEED MARTIN $26,207 METHODS OF SINGLE-WALL CARBON NANOTUBE PURIFICATION AND TRANSPARENT FILM PRODUCTION
KREPPEL A D POLITICAL SCIENCE U S DEPT OF EDUCATION $0 PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH A TITLE VI NRC/FLAS CTR FOR EUROPEAN STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
KREPPEL A D POLITICAL SCIENCE U S DEPT OF EDUCATION $239,518 PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH A TITLE VI NRC/FLAS CTR FOR EUROPEAN STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
HACKENBERG T D PSYCHOLOGY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $335,793 CROSS SPECIES ANALYSIS OF ADAPTIVE CHOICE
IWATA B A PSYCHOLOGY DEPT OF CHILDREN & FAMILIES $186,722 FLORIDA CENTER FOR SELF-INJURY
MORADI B PSYCHOLOGY NATL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIMH - MENTAL HEALTH $89,586 EXAMINING MINORITY STRESS & MENTAL HEALTH
SHEPPERD J A PSYCHOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA $7,378 A PILOT TEST OF THE ADOLESCENT INVULNERABILITY HYPOTHESIS
SORKIN R D PSYCHOLOGY U S AIR FORCE AFOSR $227,260 INTERGOVERNMENTAL PERSONNEL ACT (IPA) ASSIGNMENT FOR DR. ROBERT SORKIN
NARAYANAN V R RELIGION AM COUNCIL OF LEARNED SOCIETIE $50,000 CHURNING THE OCEAN OF STORY: RETELLING NARRATIVES OF HINDUISM IN CAMBODIA AND INDIA
HENRETTA J C SOCIOLOGY NATL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIA - NATL INSTITUTE ON AGING $227,860 FAMILY CULTURE AND INTERGENERATIONAL ALLOCATIONS
CASELLA G
BOOTH J G		 STATISTICS NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $189,198 CLUSTER ANALYSIS, PREDICTIVE DISTRIBUTIONS, AND STOCHASTIC SEARCH ALGORITHMS
PIQUERO A R STUDY OF LAW AND CRIMINOLOGY U S DEPT OF JUSTICE $28,999 OFFENDER CHARACTERISTICS, OFFENSE MIX,AND ESCALATION IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
CHAPMAN C A POULSEN J R ZOOLOGY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGCY $12,381 SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS OF HUNTING AND LOGGING ON ANIMAL ABUNDANCE, SEED DISPERSAL, AND FOREST REGENERATION
GUILLETTE JR L J ZOOLOGY U F FOUNDATION $25,000 NITRATES IN THE ENVIRONMENT
LEVEY D J
CLARK C J		 ZOOLOGY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGCY $12,280 EFFECT OF LOGGING ON MECHANISMS THAT LIMIT THE RECRUITMENT OF TROPICAL TREE SPECIES: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE MAINTENANCE
ST MARY C M
HALE R E		 ZOOLOGY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $10,000 DISSERATION RESEARCH: COMPONENTS OF PARENT AND OFFSPRING FITNESS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON PARENTAL CARE EVOLUTION

 

 

September 2004: Total $2,125,060
BURNS A F ANTHROPOLOGY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $2,000 GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM - COST OF EDUCATION ALLOWANCE
EIKENBERRY S S ASTRONOMY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $110,365 GRADUATE STUDENT PARTICIPATION AND OPTICS UPGRADES FOR THE CANARIAS INFRERED CAMERA EXPERIMENT
GE J ASTRONOMY CALIFORNIA INST OF TECHNOLOGY JET PROPULSION LABORATORY $127,431 DEVELOPMENT OF EXTREMELY COHERENT SINGLE MODE FIBER OPTIC ARRAYS FOR TPS VISIBLE NULLING INTERFEROMETER
DOLBIER JR W R SEGAL C CHEMISTRY NEW ERA TECHNOLOGIES $99,018 DEVELOPMENT OF SYNTHESIS & LARGE SCALE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGYFOR ULTRAHIGH ENERGY AND DENSITY FLUORO-ORGANIC COMPUNDS
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $8,338 MILES COMPOUND CONTRACT
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $493 MILES COMPOUND CONTRACT
KATRITZKY A R CHEMISTRY MULTIPLE COMPANIES $285 MILES COMPOUND CONTRACT
REYNOLDS J R CHEMISTRY EIC LABORATORIES INC $32,182 HIGH MOBILITY SOLID STATE DSSC MATERIALS
REYNOLDS J R CHEMISTRY EASTMAN CHEMICAL COMPANY $10,000 EASTMAN CHEMICAL COMPANY FELLOWSHIP
REYNOLDS J R CHEMISTRY VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY $89,253 ADVANCED CARBON NANOTECHNOLOGY CONSORTIUM: DISPLAYS AND DETECTORS
SCHANZE K S CHEMISTRY VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY $87,965 ADVANCED CARBON NANOTECHNOLOGY CONSORTIUM: DISPLAYS AND DETECTORS
SCHANZE K S CHEMISTRY S3 INC $5,691 LPC TESTING AT UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
SCOTT M J CHEMISTRY U S DEPT OF ENERGY $177,569 ADVANCED EXTRACTION METHODS FOR ACTINIDE/LANTHANIDE SEPARATIONS
STEWART J D CHEMISTRY BIOCATALYTICS INC $38,302 OPTIMIZING ESCHERICHIA COLI FOR CARBONYL REDUCTION
WINEFORDNER J D CHEMISTRY U S DEPT OF ENERGY CHICAGO OPERATIONS OFFICE $22,500 ATOMIC EMISSION, ABSORPTION AND FLUORESCENCE IN THE LASER INDUCED PLASMA - SUPPLEMENTAL REQUEST
WINEFORDNER J D SMITH B W CHEMISTRY AERODYNE RESEARCH INC $42,225 HAND-HELD PHYTOREMEDIATION MONITOR PHASE 1
YOST R A CHEMISTRY NATL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIEHS - ENVIRO HEALTH SCIENCES $14,040 DICHLOROACETATE KINETICS, METABOLISM AND TOXICOLOGY
ALLADI K MATHEMATICS MISCELLANEOUS DONORS $1,600 SUPPORT OF RESEARCH & EDUCATION IN APPLIED MATHEMATICS
GARVAN F G
BONA M		 MATHEMATICS NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $15,000 SPECIAL YEAR IN NUMBER THEORY AND COMBINATORICS 2004-2005
GARVAN F G
CREW R M		 MATHEMATICS NATL SECURITY AGENCY $10,000 ADDITIVE NUMBER THEORY CONFERENCE & ARITHMETIC GEOMETERY CONFERENCE
RUDYAK Y B MATHEMATICS NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $103,255 TOPOLOGICAL METHODS IN ANALYSIS AND GEOMETRY
BUCHLER J R PHYSICS NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $31,610 INTERNATIONAL: OBSERVATIONAL AND MODELING STUDY OF THE PULSA TING AGB STARS
CHAN H PHYSICS NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $157,883 ACQUISTION OF A SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPE FOR INVESTIGATING FUNDAMENTAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN SURFACES & STUDENT TRAINING
CHENG H P
KRAUSE J L		 PHYSICS U S DEPT OF ENERGY CHICAGO OPERATIONS OFFICE $323,877 MOLEDULAR- AND NANO-WIRES: PROPERTIES AND CONTROL
HIRSCHFELD P J PHYSICS U S NAVY $1,969 THEORY OF DEFECTS IN CUPRATE SUPERCONDUCTORS
MITSELMAKHER G KORYTOV A PHYSICS FERMILAB $212,491 ENDCAP MUON SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT FOR THE CMS PROJECT FY 2004
TANNER D B PHYSICS NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $62,313 INFRARED STUDIES OF CUPRATE SUPERCONDUCTORS
KREPPEL A D POLITICAL SCIENCE EUROPEAN UNION $68,739 THE EUROPEAN UNION IN THE 21ST CENTURY: A TARGETED OUTREACH PROGRAM
BRANCH M N YOON J H PSYCHOLOGY NATL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIDA - NATL INST ON DRUG ABUSE $28,892 THE EFFECTS OF COCAINE ON EATING IN PIGEONS
MORADI B PSYCHOLOGY NATL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIMH - MENTAL HEALTH $38,334 REU SUPPLEMENT FOR CRISTINA RISCO EXAMINING MINORITY STRESS & MENTAL HEALTH
SPECTOR A C DOTSON C D PSYCHOLOGY NATL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIDCD - DEAFNESS & COMM DISORD $28,253 MINORITY PREDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
SPECTOR A C GROBE C L PSYCHOLOGY NATL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH $28,253 TASTE WORKING MEMORY & DISCRIMINATION: A NEW METHOD
VOLLMER T R PSYCHOLOGY DEPT OF CHILDREN & FAMILIES $56,528 SEGUIN BEHAVIORAL SERVICESQ
EVANS D H ZOOLOGY NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION $2,000 INSTITUTIONAL ALLOWANCE: GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM ALLOWANCE
LEVEY D J ZOOLOGY U S DEPT OF AGRICULTURE FOREST SERVICE $86,406 LONG-TERM MONITORING OF FLESHY FRUIT AND HARD MAST PRODUCTIO N AND SEASONAL BIRD DISTRIBUTION AT THE SAVANNAH

Photo:
Jane Dominguez

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