August 2009: GDCB Professor Drena Dobbs receives funding from CIAG

Dr. Drena Dobbs, Professor of GDCB, was awarded research support from ISU's Center of Integrated Animal Genomics (CIAG) for two research projects in collaboration with other ISU faculty.

The first award, with Dr. Natalia Singh, adjunct Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences, ISU College of Veterinary Medicine, provides $28,800 for a research project entitled “Identifying Cellular RNA Targets of the Survival Motor Neuron (SMN) Protein". SMN is a ubiquitous protein linked to several human neuronal disorders. The goal of the project is to identify and characterize cellular RNAs bound by SMN. Common sequence or structural motifs shared by SMN-associated RNAs should provide insights into the physiological roles of SMN and, potentially, tools that could contribute to future diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

The second award, with Dr. Susan Carpenter, Professor of Animal Science, ISU College Agriculture and Life Sciences, provides $10,560 for a research project entitled “Structural Models of EIAV Rev Variants that Contribute to Immune Evasion and Virus Persistence". Funds will contribute to support of graduate research assistant to investigate the structural basis for functional polymorphisms in the viral regulatory protein, Rev. Rev is essential for productive replication of lentiviruses, including HIV-1. The long term goal of the project is to delineate molecular and cellular mechanisms by which genetic changes in regulatory proteins contribute to immune escape and viral persistence, and to identify specific targets for preventive and therapeutic treatment of lentiviral diseases in animals and humans, including AIDS.

CIAG's mission is to enhance research capacity and scientific prestige in Integrated Animal Genomics at ISU through support of interdisciplinary collaborative research. CIAG provides seed funding for new research projects that are likely to attract extramural funding and for innovative research projects at ISU that will benefit both animal agriculture and animal and human health http://www.ciag.iastate.edu/.