UF College of Medicine honors top faculty researchers
The principal investigator in the largest women’s health study at the University of Florida, a pioneer in gene therapy and the inventor of Gatorade all recently received top faculty honors from the UF College of Medicine.
Dr. Marian Limacher, a professor of cardiovascular medicine and physiology, received this year’s Excellence in Clinical Research Award. The Excellence in Basic Science Research Award went to Nicholas Muzyczka, director of UF’s Powell Gene Therapy Center. Dr. J. Robert Cade, a professor of medicine and physiology, received the College of Medicine Faculty Council’s Distinguished Service Award.
The awards were presented during the annual faculty dinner, held at the University Centre Hotel as part of the College of Medicine Faculty/Student Research Day March 30. Honors for faculty research posters also were presented.
Limacher was recognized for her central role in organizing the National Institutes of Health-sponsored Women’s Health Initiative Clinical Center. UF, one of 40 centers nationwide to participate in the 15-year initiative, will help to assess the major causes of death and disability in older women. Researchers are exploring whether dietary changes, hormone therapy, and calcium and vitamin D supplements can help prevent the most debilitating health problems of women over 50, such as heart disease, breast and colorectal cancers, and osteoporosis.
Limacher, who joined UF in 1984, also was recognized for her leadership in applying for an NIH grant to increase postgraduate training opportunities in the fundamentals of clinical research. She now directs UF’s Advanced Postgraduate Program in Clinical Investigation. Limacher also plays an active role in various exercise and cardiovascular health studies.
Muzyczka, the American Cancer Society Edward R. Koger M.D. eminent scholar, was selected for his contributions to the creation and development of the Powell Gene Therapy Center. Today the UF center is widely recognized as a top gene therapy center with its investigations of treatments for lung, cardiovascular, brain and eye diseases.
Muzyczka, a professor of molecular genetics and microbiology, also was acknowledged for his leadership in developing the harmless adeno-associated virus as a vehicle for delivering “corrective” genes in gene therapy. His studies on viral replication have been instrumental in advancing the technology of gene replacement in the treatment of human disease.
In addition, he was recognized for numerous contributions to understanding the fundamental processes of DNA replication, gene expression and integration. Muzyczka joined UF in 1977.
The Distinguished Service Award was presented to Cade in recognition of his extraordinary academic career, compassionate patient care and teaching, and outstanding research and discovery efforts. Cade is internationally known for inventing Gatorade, the first sports drink that offered both fluid and electrolyte replacement. UF has received millions of dollars in royalties from the popular drink. The funds have been used to support research projects and endowments. Cade, a professor of medicine and physiology, also researches kidney and liver diseases, hypertension, lupus and diabetes.
Cade, who joined UF in 1961, currently focuses on autism, schizophrenia and serious mental illnesses. Last year, his research team published findings in the journal Autism showing a possible link between the inability to break down a specific milk protein and autism and schizophrenia. Cade also works with athletes to help them improve their training and performance.
“The College of Medicine is blessed with so many world-class scientists that it is very difficult to select just one in each category,” said Saeed Khan, president of the college’s faculty council and head of the award selection committee. “Everyone who was nominated, as well as many more, deserve recognition for their services to the college and university -- and in time surely will be so recognized.”
The research day also included poster presentations by more than 60 faculty members. Three faculty members received “best poster” recognition: Dr. Michael J. Clare-Salzler, an associate professor of pathology, Lucia Notterpek, an assistant professor of neuroscience, and Christopher M. West, an associate professor of anatomy and cell biology.
Clare-Salzler’s research suggests that type 1 diabetes is linked to a failure of some immune cells to die off—resulting in an attack on insulin-producing cells. His work further indicates that some agents may be able to kill these attacking immune cells, thereby preventing or reversing type 1 diabetes. Notterpek’s research focuses on understanding cellular alterations in inherited neurodegenerative diseases. Her cell culture studies suggest that abnormal, intracellular accumulation of the glial protein PMP22 is a key event in the development of a group of heritable problems of the peripheral nervous system.
West's lab has found that a protein called Skp1, which is required for the breakdown of certain other proteins, is found in both the nucleus and the cytoplasm of cells from the model organism Dictyostelium. The current work has identified that the nuclear form of Skp1 has a sugar chain on it, which appears to be necessary for the protein to be in the nucleus. Future work will focus on whether this sugar chain and its functions are also present in other organisms, including disease-causing pathogens and humans.