University of Richmond biology professor awarded grant from National Institutes of Health
June 21, 2007
Laura Runyen-Janecky, assistant professor of biology at University of Richmond, has been awarded a three-year grant by the National Institutes of Health to research Shigella, a bacterium that causes the diarrheal disease shigellosis.
The $193,375 grant includes funds for student researchers and equipment.
"Shigellosis is a huge public health problem in underdeveloped countries and is one of the causes of traveler's diarrhea," Runyen-Janecky said. "About one million people per year die from it, and it is a concern to U.S. military operations because troops can be deployed to countries where the disease is common, and it can be used as a bio-warfare agent."
Runyen-Janecky's research will focus on the basic biology of the bacterium, attempting to identify genes essential for Shigella's survival and explore how it lives inside the cells that line the human colon.
"No vaccines exist, and my lab is not going to directly build a vaccine," Runyen-Janecky said. "Rather, my research is one part of the puzzle to reaching the end goal for some sort of treatment."