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A grant from the Simeon J. Fortin
Charitable Trust enables faculty and students to research
together.
By Phyllis Hanlon
 Major
discoveries in any field — medical, academic, financial,
and/or technical — are the end result of intensive
research. Cures for illness, educational advances, fiscal
innovations and technological breakthroughs are achieved
only after years, and sometimes decades, of diligent study
and experimentation. But where do researchers come from?
Colleges provide academic courses that lead to degrees
in medicine, law, finance, nursing and a multitude of other
professions. But how does a person learn how to become
a researcher? Only through hands-on experience, according
to faculty and students at Holy Cross.
In addition to the variety of academic subjects
offered, Holy Cross provides ample opportunity for students
to step into the world of research. Through the
years, the number of grants awarded to the school has increased, making research
projects a more integral part of the curriculum. Holy Cross has received increased
support from both federal and private funding for research and research training.
This fiscal support enables schools to purchase equipment and supplies, pay
stipends to students and cover the cost of student travel
to scientific meetings.
Holy Cross has earned funding for research
projects in the past from the National Science Foundation,
the Pew Memorial Trust, Astra Pharmaceuticals, the National
Institutes of Health, Research Corporation, the Muscular Dystrophy Association,
the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Dreyfus Foundation,
the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Merck Foundation.
This year the Simeon J. Fortin Charitable Trust, established by a Worcester
grocer, can be added to that list.
Students will conduct “basic biomedical research on the cellular and molecular
mechanisms of cancer as well as on its treatments,” according to the terms
of the grant. Mary E. Morton, Charles A. Dana Faculty Fellow and associate professor
of biology, is science coordinator for externally funded science projects. She
sees this as a fabulous opportunity for students to “work one-on-one with
faculty.” Morton views the instruction that these men and women receive
in the lab as outstanding training for a future as researchers. Adopting a realistic
attitude, Morton said, “We are not going to find a cure for cancer through
these experiments. Our main objective is to provide an opportunity for students
to learn how to conduct research.” Also involved in the project is Professor
George R. Hoffmann, chair of the department of biology, who concurs with Morton. “This
research is preparing students to go into the world and continue with this type
of activity,” he said. In order to qualify for the program students
must submit an essay that outlines their backgrounds and
offers reasons for wanting to enter the research field.
Some grants awarded to Holy Cross, such as those from the Howard Hughes
Medical
Institute, fund summer student research across the sciences and mathematics.
The Fortin grant, however, is specifically geared toward involving students
in cancer research.
In all of the research projects at the school,
each student is paired with a faculty member who acts as
his or her mentor. Students continue their
research during the school year as part of their academic program. For
example, students
enroll in Honors Research, Undergraduate Research, or Biochemistry Thesis
Research and receive course credit for this as well as three additional
courses each
semester.
Freedom from classes in the summer months, however, allows these student
researchers 10 weeks of uninterrupted time in the laboratories. Faculty
members offer guidance
and encourage appropriate correlated reading to foster the students’ independent
thinking skills. Even though they explore specific theories, the students’ main
goal is to learn good research methodology through these apprenticeships.
Patrick
Barrett ’00, a premed and
biology major, will be working with Morton as they delve
into characterizing the proteins found in cancerous cells
in the lung. “This summer will be a great opportunity
to learn many new techniques and spend some time one-on-one
with a faculty member,” he said. The personal attention
that students receive during these projects is very valuable,
according to Barrett. “This experience will provide
me with skills that will benefit my future lab work and
clinical research.” Barrett is anxious to combine
the academic knowledge of his first three years at the
school with practical application.
Another student, Michael Sasso ’00, will be working with Morton to characterize
the expression of certain proteins in neuroblastoma, a type of brain cancer.
This will be his first foray into the research world. “Even though I am
a premed biology major, I don’t have any set plans for the future. Because
of this grant I will get some decent exposure to the lab environment. That will
be great preparation for graduate or medical school,” he said. Barrett
and Sasso will read previously published material in addition to working
in the lab to round out their research experience.
Timothy P. Curran ’83, now associate professor of chemistry, was motivated
to pursue the study of cancer when a promising student, Heather Lochmuller, contracted
cynovial cell cancer in her hip that metastasized to her lungs. “She was
a great source of inspiration for me,” he said. According to Curran, her
illness brought an end to what might have been a brilliant career as a physician.
This year Meredith Brown ’00 will work with Curran in exploring the
role of a protein called CD26 in the spread of cancer. Curran hopes that
the chemical
experimentation that his students and he perform may bring the medical
profession one step closer to a drug that slows the progression rate of
cancer.
Curran’s involvement in this research grant complements the work being
done by Hoffmann and Paul D. McMaster ’54, professor of chemistry. Hoffmann
and McMaster have been collaborating for the last five years on a project involving
bleomycin, an anti-cancer drug. “In large doses this anti-cancer drug causes
toxicity in the lungs,” said McMaster. Chemical compounds called aminothiols
have been found to protect against the negative effects of radiation. McMaster
and students James Harding ’00 and Jessica Mandeville ’00 will study
how these compounds alter the effects of bleomycin. McMaster and his student
collaborators hope that research in this area will eventually lead to “more
effective anti-cancer agents” or ones that have fewer adverse effects. The
faculty at Holy Cross envisions an ever-growing circle of scientists
emerging from the school as a result
of the financial grants they have received. The six students
who are engaged in research through the Fortin grant most
probably will attend medical or graduate school. The discoveries
that they make now could lead to further research projects.
Each breakthrough has the potential of impacting many lives
over the course of years. So the ripple effect of research
grants can be long lasting and far-reaching.
Holy Cross already boasts many noted alumni/ae in the
science and health fields. For example, the late James Shannon, M.D., ’25, became the first director
of the National Institutes of Health, while Anthony Marlon, M. D., ’63,
was appointed chairman and chief executive officer of Sierra Health Services.
Joseph E. Murray, M.D., ’40, received the Nobel Prize in physiology or
medicine for his groundbreaking work in human kidney transplantation. Joseph
Califano ’52 is former director of the U. S. Department of Health, Education
and Welfare. Currently, Anthony Fauci, M.D., ’62, in his role as director
of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, is one of the world’s
leading AIDS researchers. A private-sector cancer researcher, Joyce A. O’Shaughnessy,
M.D., ’78, is a former senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute.
Students who participate in these grant opportunities may someday fall within
the same ranks as these prestigious alumni.
Morton and other faculty members are concerned with
educating innovative thinkers who can critically analyze any given
situation. The intensive training and
apprenticeships that the students undergo will prepare them for eventual
careers in research.
According to Morton, “student participation in these grant opportunities
offers them good insight into the research process.” Through the generosity
of foundations and philanthropic agencies, the researchers of the 21st century
are being created now.
Phyllis Hanlon is a free-lance journalist living in Charlton,
Mass.
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